Author(s)

Xianjie Peng ¹, Haochen Zang ², Keren Jiang ³

Affiliation(s)

¹ College of Arts & Media, Tongji University, Jiading District, Shanghai, China
² Institute of Vocational Education, Tongji University, Jiading District, Shanghai, China
³ Shantou Wanshun New Material Group Co., Ltd., Shantou, Guangdong, China

Corresponding Author

Keren Jiang

ABSTRACT

Z-Generation (Gen Z) students have access to more information than any other generation at their age. Mentor-student relationship is the core interpersonal relationship during the graduate stage. How do Gen Z graduate students perceive the role of their mentor, when "anything they want to know is only a click away"? Based on Self-Determination Theory and Compensatory Internet Use Theory, this study investigated the relationship between mentor-student relationship and smartphone dependence among 1,432 Chinese social science and humanities (SSH) graduate students. A moderated mediation model was constructed to focus on the role of research self-efficacy and growth mindset. The results showed that a positive mentor-student relationship is found to have a significant negative predictive effect on smartphone dependence. Scientific self-efficacy is identified as a mediator in the relationship between the mentor-student relationship and smartphone dependence. Additionally, growth mindset is found to moderate the predictive effect of the mentor-student relationship on research self-efficacy. The results of this study revealed the mechanism of mentor-student relationship on graduate students' smartphone dependence, offering valuable insights for rethinking the role of mentors in the modern educational environment.

KEYWORDS

Mentor-Student Relationship, Smartphone Dependence, Graduate Education, Self-Determination Theory, Growth Mindset, Research Self-efficacy

CITE THIS PAPER

Xianjie Peng, Haochen Zang, Keren Jiang, "Off Orbit" or "Into the Wilderness": The Effect of Mentor-Student Relationship on Smartphone Dependence of Z-Generation Graduate Students. Advances in Educational Technology and Psychology (2025) Vol. 9: 70-79. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/aetp.2025.090109.

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