Social Media Addiction, Boredom Proneness, and Mind-Wandering in Young Adults

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the relationship between social media addiction, mind-wandering, and boredom proneness among young adults. Findings revealed a moderately strong correlation between social media addiction and mind-wandering, suggesting that excessive engagement with digital platforms can lead to cognitive fragmentation and spontaneous attentional shifts. This may be attributed to the way social media delivers rapid, high-reward stimuli that train the brain to seek constant novelty, thereby encouraging drifting attention and reducing sustained focus. Interestingly, boredom proneness showed only weak positive correlations with both social media addiction and mind-wandering, implying that boredom may not be consciously registered at all. Instead, it appears to be preemptively suppressed and replaced by conditioned responses such as task-switching, habitual scrolling, and cognitive drift. Drawing from theories such as Compensatory Internet Use, Dual-Process Models, and the Default Mode Network, the study highlights how modern digital environments may short-circuit emotional awareness, reinforcing cycles of distraction and passive consumption. Implications for attention, emotional processing, and digital well-being are discussed.