The Effect of Exercise Duration on Mobile Phone Dependence among College Students: The Mediating Role of Self-Control

Abstract

This research focused on the social concern of college students’ participation in physical exercise and mobile phone dependence. The research model and hypotheses in this study were constructed based on the self-control theory and by reviewing previous research. This research distributed questionnaires to 207 college students from a university in Guangzhou, China to obtain relevant data. Mediation analysis was employed to test the four hypotheses drawn from empirical and conceptual research. The results of this research showed that first, the longer the exercise duration of college students, the higher the level of their self-control, thus exercise duration has a significant positive impact on self-control. Second, increasing the exercise duration of college students had no effect on their mobile phone dependence. Third, the higher the level of self-control, the lower the dependence on mobile phones, thus signifying that self-control has significantly negative impact on mobile phone dependence. Fourth, self-control plays a mediating role in the effect of exercise duration on mobile phone dependence. In conclusion, the longer the exercise duration of college students, the higher the level of self-control, in which it is able to significantly reduce the dependence on mobile phones.