Does the Internet Expand the Educational Gap Among Different Social Classes? The Protective Role of Future Orientation

Overview

Journal Front Psychol

Date 2021 May 21

PMID 34017285

Citations 3

Authors

Jing-Jing Chen

Ming Fei Liu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Amid the social background of China where the Internet has penetrated into every corner of an adolescent's life, we were concerned of the role of Internet usage in influencing the educational gap among social classes. We investigated the mediating role of Internet usage preference for entertainment in the relationship between the family socioeconomic status (SES) and the adolescent's academic achievement and explored the moderating role of future orientation in the relationship. A total of 614 junior high school students were recruited to complete a questionnaire survey, including questionnaires for family SES, Internet usage preference, and adolescent future orientation. The results showed that (1) the relationship between family SES and academic achievement was mediated by Internet usage preference for entertainment; (2) the indirect effect was moderated by future orientation, such that the negative association between family SES and Internet usage preference for entertainment was only indicated in adolescents with low future orientation; and (3) the direct association between family SES and Internet usage preference for entertainment was moderated by future orientation.

Citing Articles

Family capital, social stratification, and access to higher education: An empirical study in mainland China.

Tan Q, Li C, Wu P, Abbas S, Teng L Front Psychol. 2023; 13:1035715.

PMID: 36704684 PMC: 9873373. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1035715.

Internet Use and Academic Achievement Among Chinese Adolescents: Examining the Mediating Role of Future Orientation in a Rural-Urban Dual System.

Chen J, Bai J Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2022; 15:2439-2448.

PMID: 36093412 PMC: 9462386. DOI: 10.2147/PRBM.S343199.

Cognitive and Affective Learning in English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second Language Instructional-Learning Contexts: Does Teacher Immediacy Matter?.

Wang X Front Psychol. 2021; 12:759784.

PMID: 34721239 PMC: 8548565. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.759784.

References

Li S, Xu Q, Xia R . Relationship Between SES and Academic Achievement of Junior High School Students in China: The Mediating Effect of Self-Concept. Front Psychol. 2020; 10:2513. PMC: 6957470. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02513. View

Masten A . Global perspectives on resilience in children and youth. Child Dev. 2013; 85(1):6-20. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12205. View

Suler J . To get what you need: healthy and pathological internet use. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2009; 2(5):385-93. DOI: 10.1089/cpb.1999.2.385. View

Bradley R, Corwyn R . Socioeconomic status and child development. Annu Rev Psychol. 2001; 53:371-99. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135233. View

Barr A . Family socioeconomic status, family health, and changes in students' math achievement across high school: A mediational model. Soc Sci Med. 2015; 140:27-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.06.028. View

Mossle T, Kleimann M, Rehbein F, Pfeiffer C . Media use and school achievement--boys at risk?. Br J Dev Psychol. 2010; 28(Pt 3):699-725. DOI: 10.1348/026151009x475307. View

Chen Q, Kong Y, Gao W, Mo L . Effects of Socioeconomic Status, Parent-Child Relationship, and Learning Motivation on Reading Ability. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:1297. PMC: 6068389. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01297. View

Bramlett R . Time perspective of substance abuse patients: comparison of the scales in Stanford Time Perspective Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. Psychol Rep. 1995; 77(3 Pt 1):899-905. DOI: 10.2466/pr0.1995.77.3.899. View

Luthar S, Cicchetti D, Becker B . The construct of resilience: a critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Dev. 2000; 71(3):543-62. PMC: 1885202. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00164. View

10.

Preacher K, Hayes A . SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behav Res Methods Instrum Comput. 2005; 36(4):717-31. DOI: 10.3758/bf03206553. View

11.

Baron R, Kenny D . The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986; 51(6):1173-82. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.51.6.1173. View

12.

Faltynkova A, Blinka L, Sevcikova A, Husarova D . The Associations between Family-Related Factors and Excessive Internet Use in Adolescents. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(5). PMC: 7084393. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17051754. View

13.

Ophir E, Nass C, Wagner A . Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009; 106(37):15583-7. PMC: 2747164. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903620106. View

14.

Matthews K, Gallo L . Psychological perspectives on pathways linking socioeconomic status and physical health. Annu Rev Psychol. 2010; 62:501-30. PMC: 3121154. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.psych.031809.130711. View

15.

Kraus M, Piff P, Mendoza-Denton R, Rheinschmidt M, Keltner D . Social class, solipsism, and contextualism: how the rich are different from the poor. Psychol Rev. 2012; 119(3):546-72. DOI: 10.1037/a0028756. View