Publication Type
Master Thesis
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2025
Abstract
The urge to use social media is prevalent and costly in modern society. However, little has been researched on how nature exposure can manage urge to use social media to combat its negative consequences. It was hypothesized that nature exposure through Instagram posts in Study 1 and nature park in Study 2 reduces urge to use social media. The underlying mechanisms were tested in a theory-driven serial mediation model, in which positive emotions, attention restoration and self-regulation served as serial mediators. Study 1 employed Instagram experimental manipulation in a laboratory setting by randomly assigning 206 undergraduates to view Instagram accounts with either posts of nature or city environment. Improvement in methodology and ecological validity were made in Study 2 by exposing 83 undergraduates to either nature at Fort Canning Park or city environment at the university’s psychology laboratory room in a field setting. Although the hypothesized serial mediation effects — through three mediators — were unsupported in both studies, Study 2 revealed two notable significant results. Firstly, a significant direct effect of real nature exposure reducing urge to use social media during break and secondly, a significant indirect effect through positive emotions and self-regulation were demonstrated in Study 2. As such, the current research has important implications for how individuals and institutions can adopt real, physical nature exposure to reduce social media urge and improve digital well being.
Keywords
nature exposure, attention restoration, positive emotions, self-regulation, urge to use social media, social media addiction
Degree Awarded
MPhil in Psychology
Discipline
Social Media | Social Psychology
Supervisor(s)
YANG, Hwajin
First Page
1
Last Page
92
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
AW, Jia Yi.
Nature of smartphone use: The underlying mechanisms between nature exposure and urge to use social media. (2025). 1-92.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/763
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.