A correlated study on social media usage and cognitive absorption among young adults

Social media has altered the way people communicate, work, learn and analyse. Previous studies have tried to explore the relationship between social media, internet addiction, attention and cognitive absorption. However, limited research exists regarding direct correlation between social media usage and cognitive absorption among young adults and its association with temporal dissociation, focused immersion, control, curiosity and heightened enjoyment. This study aims to examine the relationship between the two variables i.e. social media usage and cognitive absorption along with its subdimensions. The study was performed on 100 young adults between the age of 18 to 25 years, who were randomly sampled from the population of Rajasthan, India. Data were collected using standardized self-report questionnaires, including Social Media Use Scale (Alison B. Tuck and Renee J. Thompson, 2024) & Cognitive Absorption Scale (Ritu Agarwal and Elena Karahanna, 2000). Scores were computed using Pearson correlation analysis. A statistically strong significant positive correlation exists between these two variables. The findings suggests that increased use of social media led to high cognitive absorption which is deep psychological engagement and enjoyment while using these sites. This highlights the importance of implementing effective interventions.