Social Media Use and Academic Procrastination Among University Students: A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies

Abstract

The widespread use of social media among university students has raised increasing concerns regarding its possible association with academic behaviors, including procrastination. This systematic review aimed to synthesize empirical evidence on the relationship between social media use and academic procrastination among university students. Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic search was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, ERIC, and PubMed and was last updated in August 2026. Quantitative peer-reviewed empirical studies examining the association between social media use and academic procrastination in university populations were included. Twenty-nine articles comprising 30 study samples met the inclusion criteria. Overall, the evidence indicated a recurrent positive association between social media use and academic procrastination, although the magnitude and form of the relationship varied across distinct operationalizations, including general use, problematic use, addiction, social media disorder, and platform- or behavior-specific forms of use. Several studies also reported indirect associations involving psychological variables such as self-control, academic self-efficacy, grit, and fear of missing out. However, the evidence was predominantly cross-sectional and characterized by substantial conceptual, measurement, and analytical heterogeneity, limiting causal interpretation and direct quantitative comparison across studies.