Perceived Stress and Use of Social
Media Among Management Students
During Covid-19 Pandemic:
An Emphasis on Fatalistic
Attitude and Mental Well-being
Bijaya Kumar Sundaray*, Pragyan Parimita Sarangi** and Soumendra Kumar Patra***
PUBLISHED :30 AUG 2024
Abstract
India has been facing the brunt of the devastating second wave of the Covid pandemic. The
prolonged lockdown and consequent social isolations have given a boost to the usage of social
media. One of the most affected segments during the period is the students. The present study
is an effort to study the different usage patterns of social media by the management students
due to perceived stress and its impact on mental well-being as well as fatalistic attitude. The
final semester management students from various public and private universities were the
respondents for the study. The data for the study was collected in Google Form which was
administered through WhatsApp. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been used for
testing the conceptual model for the study. The findings of the study portrays that to cope up
with the perceived stress during covid pandemic the management students have used the
social media as an avoidance and escaping strategy. Usage of social media patterns also
influences mental wellbeing and fatalistic attitude of the young students. Further the study
revealed the existence of relationship between mental wellbeing and fatalistic attitude of the
students.
Key Words
Fatalistic attitude, Managing boredom, Mental well-being, Perceived stress,
Problem solving, Social media
Author Biography
Bijaya Kumar Sundaray
Reader, Department of Personnel Management & Industrial Relations (PM & IR), Utkal University,
Bhubaneswar-751004, Odisha, India; and is the corresponding author. E-mail:
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Pragyan Parimita Sarangi
Associate Professor, Srusti Academy of Management, Bhubaneswar-751024, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
E-mail:
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Soumendra Kumar Patra
Sr. Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack-753003,
Odisha, India. E-mail:
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