A Comparative Analysis of Smartphone Addiction among Male and Female Undergraduate Students: Implications for Digital Wellness

The pervasive use of mobile technology among undergraduate students has radically transformed the educational landscape, offering unprecedented access to information while simultaneously introducing profound psychological risks. This paper investigates the specific null hypothesis (H0) that there is no significant difference between male and female undergraduate students regarding their smartphone addiction levels. Utilising a descriptive, correlational research design, researchers analysed a representative sample of 400 (200 male & 200 Female) fifth-semester Arts undergraduate students from the Ludhiana district of Punjab. The researcher utilised a standardised smartphone addiction scale originally constructed and validated by Vijayshri and Ansari (2017). The statistical evaluation revealed a mean smartphone addiction score of 47.7550 for males and 37.8100 for females, yielding an independent samples t-test ratio of 8.030 and a p-value of 0.000. Consequently, the null hypothesis is unequivocally rejected, demonstrating that male undergraduates exhibit statistically higher levels of digital dependency. These definitive results highlight the critical inadequacy of generalised mental health initiatives and emphasise the urgent necessity for gender-specific digital wellness programs within higher education institutions.