Advisor(s)

Ian Hawkins

Committee Member(s)

Fan Yang
Ian Hawkins
Jonathan Amsbary

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

6-18-2026

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Arts & Humanities

Abstract

Social media is so deeply ingrained and integrated into daily life that concerns about its impact on psychological wellbeing continue to grow, prompting pressing questions about how to foster healthier and more intentional use of technology. Recent studies suggest that low-agency mindsets toward social media lead users to develop habitual usage patterns and ambiguous information consumption behaviors, both of which negatively impact psychological outcomes. However, limited research is available on mechanisms that could effectively alter these mindsets. This study uses an experimental methodology to investigate whether mindfulness interventions delivered through varying levels of media immersion can improve psychological mindsets toward social media and subsequently wellbeing. Building upon existing literature on the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions for psychological resilience and self- regulation, this study proposes mindfulness interventions that are more immersive will foster a more agentic mindset toward social media use and improve wellbeing. Measured outcomes include psychological mindset toward social media, self-control measures, social media usage patterns and wellbeing assessments. This research addresses an important gap in understanding how mindfulness interventions can be leveraged to improve healthy technology engagement in our digital society. Keywords: Mindfulness, Social Media Mindset, Agentic Mindset, Wellbeing, Virtual Reality, Immersive Technology

Keywords

Agentic Mindset;Immersive Technology;Mindfulness;Social Media Mindset;Virtual Reality;Wellbeing

Download

Included in

Communication Commons

Share

COinS