Exploring the influence of instagram use on materialism and situational intrinsic learning motivation: An online experimental study

Abstract

In recent years, social media such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have become an essential part of the everyday lives of children and young adults. Integrating elements of these social media into higher education may have the potential to enhance situational intrinsic learning motivation through the emotional design and proximity to students' lives, but this also poses the risk of fostering a situational materialistic focus due to the ubiquitous materialistic content on especially Instagram, undermining situational intrinsic learning motivation. In the present study, we examined if the primary use of Instagram is associated with higher materialism and how exposure to Instagram-framed pictures influences situational intrinsic learning motivation. The current study conducted an online experiment. Participants (N = 148) were randomly assigned to one of three groups after they rated items about general and problematic social media use and materialism. In the first two groups, participants were asked to rate the pleasantness of luxury or nature Instagram-framed pictures. A third group received no pictures. Afterwards, the situational intrinsic learning motivation was assessed through a mock working task. The findings prove that people who (primarily) use Instagram tend to be more materialistic than people who (primarily) use another social medium and that exposure to Instagram-framed pictures neither positively nor negatively influenced situational intrinsic learning motivation but moderated the relationship between problematic social media use and situational intrinsic learning motivation. Limitations, implications, and future directions for social media use inhigher education are discussed.