Reduced Student Life Satisfaction and Academic Performance: Unraveling the Dark Side of ChatGPT in the Higher Education Context

Abstract

Little is known about the dark side of ChatGPT adoption in the higher education context; the current study, therefore, adopts the stressor-strain-outcome model to examine how compulsive use of ChatGPT and its consequences, such as loneliness and social avoidance (stressors), lead to the increased level of psychological distress (strain), which, in turn, negatively has the detrimental impacts on student life satisfaction and academic performance (outcomes). Moreover, the recent study also aims to test the moderating role of technostress in the strain-outcome relationship. Drawing on the sample of 2709 higher education students collected across 16 universities in Vietnam using a stratified random sampling approach, results reveal a positive correlation between compulsive use of ChatGPT, loneliness, social avoidance, and psychological distress. Furthermore, psychological distress mediates the relationship between compulsive ChatGPT use, diminished life satisfaction, and reduced academic performance. The study also shows a series of indirect effects of compulsive ChatGPT use on academic performance through sequential mediation pathways involving loneliness and social avoidance. Noticeably, the current research reveals that technostress not only reinforces the negative impacts of psychological distress on student life satisfaction and academic performance but also weakens the positive effect of student life satisfaction and academic performance. Based on the findings of this research, some practical and interventional recommendations are provided.

Keywords:

• Compulsive ChatGPT use
• stressor-strain-outcome model
• psychological distress
• student life satisfaction
• academic performance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cong Doanh Duong

Cong Doanh Duong is an assoc. Prof., PhD at National Economics University, Vietnam. His area of scientific interest includes entrepreneurship and sustainable development. He is on the editorial boards of some journals, such as Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Oeconomia Copernicana, and The International Journal of Management Education.

Trong Nghia Vu

Trong Nghia Vu, Head of Communication Department, National Economics University, Vietnam. His area of scientific interest includes entrepreneurship and corporate governance. His research has appeared in some journals, including The International Journal of Management Education and the Journal of International Education in Business.

Thi Viet Nga Ngo

Thi Viet Nga Ngo, is a Researcher/Lecturer at the Faculty of Business Management, National Economics University in Vietnam. Her research interests include entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing. Her work has appeared in the International Journal of Innovation Science, Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, and The International Journal of Management Education.

Ngoc Diep Do

Ngoc Diep Do, is a Researcher/Lecturer at the Faculty of Business Management at the National Economics University in Vietnam. Her research interests include entrepreneurship and sustainability. Her work has appeared in the SAGE Open.

Nhat Minh Tran

Nhat Minh Tran, PhD student, is a researcher/lecturer at the Faculty of Business Management at the National Economics University in Vietnam. Her work has appeared in the SAGE Open, Cogent Business & Management, Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Business: Theory and Practice.