Examining the effects of future anxiety, psychological capital and social media usage levels on creating the meaning and purpose of life

This research aims to examine the effects of future anxiety, psychological capital, and social media usage levels on the construction of the meaning and purpose of life among university students. The population of the study consists of university students aged 18-25 in Turkey during the 2023-2024 academic year. A total of 303 students were selected using a convenience and eligibility sampling method. Data were collected using a sociodemographic information form, the Meaning and Purpose of Life Scale, the Social Media Usage Scale, the Psychological Capital Perception Scale, and the Future Anxiety Scale for University Students. Demographic results revealed that gender had a significant difference in the hope sub-dimension, favoring males, and that there was a negative relationship between social media usage duration and the meaning and purpose of life, while a positive relationship was found in the meaningless and purposeless dimensions. Additionally, a negative relationship was detected between social media usage duration and future anxiety. It was observed that students with single-parent households, low social media usage, mothers who were retired, and unemployed fathers had higher scores for the meaning and purpose of life. The findings of the study showed a negative relationship between the meaning of life and psychological capital, and that future anxiety, in general, had weak and mostly negative relationships with both psychological capital and the meaning of life. The sub-dimension of hopelessness showed a positive relationship with all psychological capital sub-dimensions except for self-efficacy, while future anxiety and psychological resilience were negatively related to social media usage. Future anxiety showed a positive and significant relationship with psychological capital, explaining 26% of the variance. A negative relationship was found between social media usage and future anxiety, explaining 3% of the variance. These findings suggest that psychological capital, social media usage, and future anxiety play an influential role in the process of constructing the meaning and purpose of life among university students.