Spiritual transcendence, happiness, cognitive and affective mindfulness, and social media addiction among university students: A moderated mediation model study
Abdulselami Sarıgül, Alican Kaya, Hasan Batmaz, Mark D Griffiths
Addicta: The Turkish Journal on Addictions June 23, 2026 DOI: 10.15805/addicta.2026.505 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 572 |
| Population | Young adults (321 females, 251 males) recruited via convenience sampling |
| Topics | Addiction Meditation |
| Key findings | Spiritual transcendence predicted lower social media addiction directly and indirectly through greater happiness, with happiness partially explaining the inverse relationship. Cognitive and affective mindfulness moderated the links between spiritual transcendence and both social media addiction and happiness. The authors suggest high mindfulness plus increased spiritual transcendence may help reduce adverse effects of social media addiction. |
Abstract
Social media addiction has become an area of increasing research interest over the past decade. Many factors and variables are associated with the development of social media addiction, as well as others that have remained unexplored. Therefore, the present study examined some of these novel factors. More specifically, the study examined whether happiness mediated the association between spiritual transcendence and social media addiction and whether cognitive and affective mindfulness moderated the mediating effect between these variables. Data were collected from 572 young adults (321 females, 251 males) using convenience sampling. Moderated mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The results indicated that happiness was a mediator in the relationship between spiritual transcendence and social media addiction. Moderated mediation analysis showed that spiritual transcendence directly predicted social media addiction and also predicted it indirectly through its effect on happiness. Moreover, cognitive and affective mindfulness was a moderator in the relationship between spiritual transcendence and social media addiction, and between spiritual transcendence and happiness. The results also showed that the inverse relationship between spiritual transcendence and social media addiction was partially explained by happiness. The findings suggest that (i) higher levels of spiritual transcendence are associated with greater happiness, and (ii) high cognitive and affective mindfulness, along with increased spiritual transcendence, may be helpful in reducing the adverse effects of social media addiction.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on addiction, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persisting Reductions in Cannabis, Opioid, and Stimulant Misuse After Naturalistic Psychedelic Use: An Online Survey Online survey respondents | 2020 | Cross-sectional survey | |
| The users of Novel Psychoactive Substances: Online survey about their characteristics, attitudes and motivations International users of novel psychoactive substances recruited via bluelight.org | 2016 | Cross-sectional online survey | n = 619 |
| User perceptions of the benefits and harms of hallucinogenic drug use: A web-based questionnaire study Users of hallucinogenic drugs who completed a web-based questionnaire | 2010 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 600 |
| Psychological and neuropsychological assessment of regular hoasca users. Regular hoasca users from a U.S. branch of União do Vegetal and matched non-user controls | 2016 | Cross-sectional study | n = 57 |
| Client and counselor attitudes toward the use of medications for treatment of opioid dependence. Counselors and clients from outpatient, methadone, and residential drug treatment programs | 2007 | Cross-sectional survey | n = 1,459 |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- Rediscovering the Later Version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Self-Transcendence and Opportunities for Theory, Research, and Unification Review of General Psychology December 1, 2006
- The Turkish Version of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised Europe’s Journal of Psychology October 8, 2012
- Mindfulness-induced endogenous theta stimulation occasions self-transcendence and inhibits addictive behavior. Science Advances October 14, 2022
- SERIAL MULTIPLE MEDIATION OF SELF-TRANSCENDENCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESILIENCE IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEAR OF COVID-19 AND SUBJECTIVE HAPPINESS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS European Journal of Education Studies July 1, 2022
- Mediators of acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies for anxiety and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review April 1, 2022
and 3 more in the library