Investigation of the Relationship between Recreation Awareness and Technology Addiction of University Students

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine the leisure consciousness and technology addiction of students studying in different departments of universities on a relational basis. Causal comparison and relational survey methods, which are quantitative research methods, were used in the study. The population of the study is the students who are studying in universities in Turkey in the academic year 2023-2024. The sample consisted of a total of 347 students studying at the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Tourism who were voluntarily selected from the above population through purposive sampling. Data were collected using the Technology Addiction Scale and the Recreation Awareness Scale. Unpaired t-test and ANOVA test were used to analyze the data. According to the results of the research; it was seen that the mean scores obtained from the Recreation Awareness Scale were generally high, and the overall risk of technology addiction was at a moderate level. In terms of leisure awareness, female students had higher mean scores especially in the dimensions of "pleasure-entertainment" and "self-improvement", and third and fourth grade students had higher leisure awareness scores compared to first grade students. In terms of technology addiction, male students had higher addiction scores than female students on the "instant messaging" and "online gaming" sub-dimensions, and first-year students had higher technology addiction scores than third- and fourth-year students. It was found that 5% of the total variance in technology addiction was explained by leisure consciousness. In this framework, it is recommended that researchers should include longitudinal or experimental design studies, and university administrators and student affairs units should systematically encourage students by diversifying recreational activities on campus.