According to a survey conducted by a research team led by Utrecht University (UU) in the Netherlands, it is not “how long” people spend on social media such as TikTok, but rather a failure of self-control, such as “continuing to look despite wanting to stop,” that actually causes people to go to bed significantly later.
There have been concerns that SNS use may have a negative impact on health and academic performance, but it’s not just prolonged use that is contributing to staying up late – it’s the psychological state of continuing to use the device despite wanting to quit.
So how can we break out of this cycle of social media procrastinating on bedtime?
Just a little bit more…but I can’t stop!?
You start watching a video before going to bed thinking, “Just a little bit more,” but then you get so engrossed in it that the next thing you know it’s the middle of the night — many of us have had this experience.
In fact, it has been reported that SNS usage has increased significantly compared to before due to restrictions on going out and the spread of remote classes caused by the spread of COVID-19 (Dixon, 2022).
On the other hand, the results are not necessarily consistent, with some studies finding that “spending long periods of time on social media” is associated with poorer academic performance, well-being, and sleep quality in young people , while other studies finding no significant effects.
Originally, attention tended to be focused only on the amount of time spent on social media, but in recent years, attention has begun to shift to the idea that it is the lack of self-control — “wanting to stop but not being able to” — that leads to staying up late and declining academic performance.
Therefore, the researchers decided to focus not only on “how much TikTok is used” but also on “the situations in which use occurs due to a failure of self-control” to examine the specific effects on sleep and academic performance.
Social media’s “failure to control yourself” is messing with your bedtime!
First, the research team conducted an online survey of two groups: Chinese junior high school students and Chinese university students studying in the Netherlands.
What was unique about the study was that participants were asked not only how often and for how long they use TikTok, but also in detail about their ” failures of self -control,” asking, “Have you ever found yourself using TikTok even though you knew it would interfere with your study or sleep time?”
In addition, the academic performance of junior high school students was measured using average test scores, and the academic performance of university students was measured using GPA (grade point average). Well-being measures such as sleep quality, bedtime procrastination, mood, and satisfaction with school (university) life were also measured.
The analysis showed that the link between procrastinating on bedtime and a lack of self-control, rather than the length of time people have been using TikTok, was particularly strong.
This was consistently observed in both junior high school and university student groups, suggesting that the key to staying up late may lie in the “inability to stop” psychology rather than “time.”
On the other hand, regarding the relationship with academic performance, a visible negative impact was suggested for junior high school students, but it is notable that a similar trend was not necessarily seen for university students.
The researchers believe that this difference may be related to differences in age and learning environment.
These results suggest that “controlling self-control” will be a major challenge.
Lack of sleep and declining academic performance: the culprit is a “breakdown of self-control”!?
This survey shows that there are aspects of TikTok that cannot be explained solely by the quantitative indicator of “how long people have been using it.”
In particular, a failure of self-control, i.e. “knowing you’re using too much but not being able to stop,” was a major factor in delaying bedtime, common to both groups (junior high school and university students).
In addition, because short-video apps like TikTok provide users with an endless supply of stimuli that can be enjoyed in a short period of time, it is believed that there exists a mechanism that makes users more susceptible to “failures of self-control.”
However, for more “distant” outcomes such as academic achievement and well-being, the effects varied depending on age and school environment.
For example, while there was a tendency for a failure of self-control to be associated with lower academic achievement in middle school students, the association was not as clear in university students.
The research team points out that there may be other factors at play when it comes to university students whose study methods and daily schedules are undergoing major changes, making the effects less visible.
In addition, results such as well-being and academic performance may change gradually due to a combination of multiple factors, such as lack of sleep and long periods of social media use, so it can be said that “changes are difficult to detect in the short term.”
In other words, if video watching continues due to a failure of self-control, it could potentially lead to a decline in well-being and academic performance in the long term.
In this way, it has been suggested once again that when considering the impact of SNS use, it is important to pay attention to the psychological state that makes people continue using SNS despite wanting to quit, rather than the simple amount of time spent using the service.
Since the study itself is a one-time survey, it cannot conclusively prove causation, but future follow-up studies may shed more light on how “failures in self-control” affect academic performance, health, and daily satisfaction.
Either way, for those who want to “stop staying up late,” it’s important not only to be mindful of the amount of time they spend on social media, but also to reconsider the situations and emotions that lead them to pick up their smartphones.