Motivational Beliefs, Social Media Addiction, and Interpersonal Communication Skill Among International Students in Thailand

Abstract

Student motivation in terms of academics continues to be a problem in education while there is a growing use of social media and an apparent decline in interpersonal skills. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the associations that social media addiction and interpersonal communication skills have with motivational beliefs among international students in Thailand. Using a cross-sectional survey design (n = 98), the results indicated that social media addiction has a negative relationship with motivational beliefs while interpersonal skills has a positive relationship with motivational beliefs. The final model with social media addiction and interpersonal communication skills explains 27% of the variance of motivational beliefs. This indicates that teachers may want to exercise caution with student use of social media while also considering ways to foster interpersonal communication skills in their classrooms.