The Two Faces of Technology: The Link Between Digital Well-Being and Digital Escape Behaviors

Öz

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between university students' digital well-being levels and their cyberloafing behaviours, and to determine the predictive effect of digital well-being on cyberloafing. The study was conducted using quantitative research approach and was designed as a correlational survey model. The study employed a range of analytical methods, including descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, correlation, and multiple linear regression analyses. The findings indicate that students demonstrate medium to high levels of digital well-being, while their levels of cyberloafing are classified as medium. In contrast to prevailing assumptions, an escalating level of digital well-being has been observed to coincide with a corresponding rise in the prevalence of cyberloafing. Female students' digital well-being and cyberloafing scores were lower than those of male students, and cyberloafing behaviours increased with grade level. Increased daily internet use reduces digital well-being while increasing cyberloafing. The findings of this study indicated that digital satisfaction, a component of digital well-being, functions as a substantial predictor of cyberloafing. The findings indicate that the development of strategies to support digital well-being may play an important role in reducing cyberloafing behaviours.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Digital well-being
• cyberloafing
• university students
• digital satisfaction
• digital behaviors

Teknolojinin İki Yüzü: Dijital İyi Oluş ile Dijital Kaçış Davranışları Arasındaki Bağ

Öz

Bu araştırmanın amacı, üniversite öğrencilerinin dijital iyi oluş düzeyleri ile siber aylaklık davranışları arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemek ve dijital iyi oluşun siber aylaklık üzerindeki yordayıcı etkisini belirlemektir. Nicel araştırma yaklaşımıyla yürütülen çalışma, ilişkisel tarama modeliyle desenlenmiştir. Araştırmada betimleyici istatistikler, t-testi, varyans analizi, korelasyon ve çoklu doğrusal regresyon analizleri kullanılmıştır. Bulgular, öğrencilerin dijital iyi oluş düzeylerinin orta-üst düzeyde, siber aylaklık eğilimlerinin ise orta seviyede olduğunu göstermektedir. Dijital iyi oluş düzeyi arttıkça siber aylaklık eğiliminin de artması beklenenin tersine bir sonuç olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Cinsiyet değişkeni açısından kadın öğrencilerin dijital iyi oluş ve siber aylaklık puanlarının erkeklerden düşük olduğu; sınıf düzeyi arttıkça siber aylaklık davranışlarının arttığı saptanmıştır. Günlük internet kullanım süresinin artması dijital iyi oluşu azaltırken siber aylaklık eğilimini yükseltmektedir. Dijital iyi oluşun alt boyutlarından dijital memnuniyetin siber aylaklık üzerinde anlamlı bir yordayıcı olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bulgular, dijital iyi oluşu destekleyen stratejilerin geliştirilmesinin siber aylaklık davranışlarını azaltmada önemli bir rol oynayabileceğini göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Dijital iyi oluş
• siber aylaklık
• üniversite öğrencileri
• dijital memnuniyet
• dijital davranışlar

Kaynakça

1. Akbulut, Y., Dönmez, O., & Dursun, Ö. Ö. (2017). Cyberloafing and social desirability bias among students and employees. Computers in Human Behavior, 72, 87-95.
2. Akbulut, Y., Dursun, Ö. Ö., Dönmez, O., & Şahin, Y. L. (2016). In search of a measure to investigate cyberloafing in educational settings. Computers in Human Behavior, 55(Part B), 616–625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.002
3. Arıkan, F., ve Özgür, H. (2019). Öğretmen adaylarının siber aylaklık ve bilişsel kapılma düzeylerinin çeşitli değişkenler açısından incelenmesi. Trakya Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 21(2), 863-885.
4. Arslankara, V. B., Demir, A., Öztaş, Ö., & Usta, E. (2022). Digital well-being scale validity and reliability study. Journal of Teacher Education and Lifelong Learning, 4(2), 263-274. https://doi.org/10.51535/tell.1206193
5. Bağrıaçık Yılmaz, A. (2017). Lisansüstü öğrencilerinin siber aylaklık düzeylerinin çeşitli değişkenler açısından incelenmesi: Karma bir çalışma. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 18(2), 113-134.
6. Baturay, M. H., & Toker, S. (2015). An investigation of the impact of demographics on cyberloafing from an educational setting angle. Computers in Human Behavior, 50, 358-366.
7. Beland, L., & Murphy, R. (2015). Centre for Economic Performance DiscussionPaper No 1350, Technology, Distraction & Student Performance. http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1350.pdf
8. Busch, P. A., & McCarthy, S. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area. Computers in Human Behavior, 114(2021), 106414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106414

9. Büchi, M. (2021). Digital well-being theory and research. New Media & Society, 26(1), 172-189. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211056851
10. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (2020). Sosyal bilimler için veri analizi el kitabı: İstatistik, araştırma deseni, SPSS uygulamaları ve yorum (27. baskı). Pegem Akademi.
11. Büyüköztürk, Ş., Kılıç-Çakmak, E., Akgün, Ö. E., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2020). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri (28. baskı). Pegem Akademi.
12. Dağlı, M. (2024). Öğretmen adaylarının web 2.0 araç kullanım yetkinlikleri ve siber aylaklık eğilimleri arasındaki ilişki. Türkiye Bilimsel Araştırmalar Dergisi, 9(1), 61-84.
13. Data Reportal (2025). https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-turkey
14. Elhai, J. D., Dvorak, R. D., Levine, J. C., & Hall, B. J. (2017). Problematic smartphone use: A conceptual overview and systematic review of relations with anxiety and depression psychopathology. Journal of Affective Disorders, 207, 251–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2016.08.030
15. Ergün, E., ve Altun, A. (2012). Öğrenci gözüyle siber aylaklık ve nedenleri. Eğitim Teknolojisi Kuram ve Uygulama, 2(1), 36-53.
16. Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
17. Gebre, E., Saroyan, A., & Bracewell, R. (2014). Students' engagement in technology richclassrooms and its relationship to professors' conceptions of effective teaching. BrJ Educ Technol British Journal of Educational Technology, 83-96.
18. George, D., & Mallery, P. (2010). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference (10th ed.). Pearson.
19. Google (2025). Digital Wellbeing Experiments. https://experiments.withgoogle.com/collection/digitalwellbeing
20. Gökçearslan, Ş., Mumcu, F. K., Haşlaman, T., & Çevik, Y. D. (2016). Modelling smartphone addiction: The role of smartphone usage, self-regulation, general self-efficacy and cyberloafing in university students. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 639-649.
21. Gui M., Fasoli M., Carradore R. (2017). “Digital Well-Being”. Developing a New Theoretical Tool For Media Literacy Research. Italian Journal of Sociology of Education, 9(1), 155-173. DOI: 10.14658/PUPJ-IJSE-2017-1-8
22. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
23. Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118
24. Islambouli, R., Ingram, S., Farah, J. C., Charlesworth, Z., Aouad, R., Delabays, A., … Gillet, D. (2025). Exploring the Negative Impact of Smartphone Usage on Students’ Digital Wellbeing: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2025.2499943
25. Karabatak, S., & Alanoğlu, M. (2021). Perceived social support as a predictor of teacher candidates' smartphone cyberloafing. International Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies, 8(4), 195-209.
26. Karabatak, S., Polat, E., & Alanoglu, M. (2024). Investigation of Teacher Candidates' Digital Well-Being Levels with Respect to Various Variables. İçinde 2024 12th International Symposium on Digital Forensics and Security (ISDFS) (ss. 01-05). IEEE.
27. Karasar, N. (2020). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemi: Kavramlar, ilkeler, teknikler (35. baskı). Nobel Yayıncılık.
28. Nayak, J. K. (2018). Relationship among smartphone usage, addiction, academic performance and the moderating role of gender: A study of higher education students in India. Computers & Education, 123, 164-173.
29. Kayan, F. (2025). X Kuşağı Tüketicilerinin Dijital Davranışları: Demografik Faktörlerin Dijital İyi Oluş, Dijital Tatmin, Güvenli Davranış ve Dijital Refah Üzerindeki Etkilerinin İncelenmesi. Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, (69), 1-17.
30. Kim, M., Kim, I., & Lee, U. (2021). Beneficial neglect: Instant message notification handling behaviors and academic performance Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, 5(1), 1–26.
31. Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed.). The Guilford Press.
32. Kraushaar, J. M. and Novak, D. C. (2010). Examining the affects of student multitasking with laptops during the lecture. Journal of Information Systems Education, 21, 241 – 251.
33. Kuznekoff, J., Munz, S., & Titsworth, S. (2015). Mobile Phones in the Classroom:Examining the Effects of Texting, Twitter, and Message Content on Student Learning. Communication Education, 64(3), 344-365. doi:10.1080/03634523.2015.1038727
34. Kuznekoff, J. H., & Titsworth, S. (2013). The Impact of Mobile Phone Usage on Student Learning. Communication Education, 62(3), 233–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2013.767917
35. Lim, V. K. (2002). The IT way of loafing on the job: Cyberloafing, neutralizing and organizational justice. Journal of organizational behavior: the international journal of industrial, occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 23(5), 675-694.
36. Mavuso, N., Jere, N., & Matsebula, F. (2020). An evaluation of students addiction to mobile devices at a South African University [Paper presentation]. 2020 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Computing and Data Communication Systems (icABCD) (ss. 1–7). IEEE. doi: 10.1109/icABCD49160.2020.9183883.
37. McCoy, B. R. (2016). Digital distractions in the classroom phase II: Student classroom use of digital devices for non-class related purposes. Journal of Media Education, 7(1), 5-32.
38. Öncül G (2020) Defining the need: Digital literacy skills for first-year university students. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education 13(4), 925–943.
39. Özkan, M., & Solmaz, B. (2015). Mobile addiction of generation z and its effects on their social lifes:(An application among university students in the 18-23 age group). Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 205, 92-98.
40. Pallant, J. (2020). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
41. Polat, M. (2024). Derslerde akıllı telefon siber aylaklığı ölçeği (DATSAÖ): Üniversite öğrencileri için bir ölçek uyarlama çalışması. Social Sciences Studies Journal (SSS Journal), 4(21), 3114-3127.
42. Prabowo, T. T., Sitthiworachart, J., Sriwisathiyakun, K., & Morris, J. (2025). Demographic determinants of digital well-being among Indonesian library and information science students. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 09610006251349833.
43. Roffarello, A. M., & De Russis, L. (2019). The race towards digital wellbeing: Issues and opportunities [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–14).
44. Roffarello, A. M., & De Russis, L. (2023). Achieving digital wellbeing through digital self-control tools: A systematic review and meta-analysis. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 30(4), 1-66.
45. Rozgonjuk, D., Kattago, M., & Täht, K. (2018). Social media use in lectures mediates the relationship between procrastination and problematic smartphone use. Computers in Human Behavior, 89, 191–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.08.003
46. Sarıtepeci, M., & Sert, U. (2021). Cyberloafing level of university students: A scale development study. Research on Education and Psychology, 5(1), 41-52.
47. Sert, U., & Sarıtepeci, M. (2024). Predictive relationships related to the levels of cyberloafing in the educational settings and game addiction of university students. Eğitim Teknolojisi Kuram Ve Uygulama, 14(1), 89-121. https://doi.org/10.17943/etku.1296990
48. Shane-Simpson, C., & Bakken, T. (2022). Students’ Fear of Missing Out Predicts In-Class Social Media Use. Teaching of Psychology, 51(2), 141-150. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211060752
49. Şahin, Y. L. (2020). Facebook kullanıcılarının akademik erteleme davranışları ile eğitsel ortamlardaki siber aylaklık durumlarının incelenmesi. Ahi Evran Üniversitesi Kırşehir Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 21(1), 629-666.
50. Şenel, S., Günaydın, S., Sarıtaş, M. T., ve Çiğdem, H. (2019). Üniversite öğrencilerinin siber aylaklık seviyelerini yordayan faktörler. Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 27(1), 95-105.
51. Şumuer, E., & Kaşıkcı, D. N. (2022). The role of smartphones in college students’ mind-wandering during learning. Computers & Education, 190, 104616.
52. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Pearson.
53. Tangmunkongvorakul, A., Musumari, P. M., Thongpibul, K., Srithanaviboonchai, K., Techasrivichien, T., Suguimoto, S. P., ... & Kihara, M. (2019). Association of excessive smartphone use with psychological well-being among university students in Chiang Mai, Thailand. PloS one, 14(1), e0210294.
54. Tatlı, Y. T. (2021). Teacher Candidates' Cyberloafing Behaviors in Terms of Different Variables. European Journal of Educational Sciences, 8(3), 81-100.
55. Tayiz, V., Vangölü, M. S., Özok, H. İ., & Tanhan, F. (2025). Concept of Digital Well-being. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 17(4), 673-686.
56. UNICEF (2023). Bridging the gender digital divide: Challenges and an urgent call for action for equitable digital skills development. https://data.unicef.org/resources/ictgenderdivide/
57. Vanden Abeele, M. M. P. (2021). Digital wellbeing as a dynamic construct. Communication Theory, 31(4), 932–955. https://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaa024
58. Vanden Abeele, M. M., Vandebosch, H., Koster, E. H., De Leyn, T., Van Gaeveren, K., de Segovia Vicente, D., ... & Baillien, E. (2024). Why, how, when, and for whom does digital disconnection work? A process-based framework of digital disconnection. Communication Theory, 34(1), 3-17.
59. Virós-Martín, C., Montaña-Blasco, M., & Jiménez-Morales, M. (2024). Can’t stop scrolling! Adolescents’ patterns of TikTok use and digital well-being self-perception. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1-11.
60. Widdicks, K., Bates, O., Hazas, M., & Friday, A. (2017). Designing for digital wellbeing and its challenges in everyday life [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of ACM Conference (Conference’17) (Vol. 4). ACM, New York, NY, USA.
61. Yıldız Durak, H. (2020). Cyberloafing in learning environments where online social networking sites are used as learning tools: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 58(3), 539-569.
62. Yılmaz, R., & Yurdugül, H. (2018). Cyberloafing in IT classrooms: Exploring the role of the psycho-social environment in the classroom, attitude to computers and computing courses, motivation and learning strategies. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 30, 530-552.