Conditional indirect effects of gender and school on internet use for academic activities and social-moral development among secondary school students in Nigeria

Social networking sites (SNS) are becoming platforms for educational activities and thereby facilitating student–student and student–teacher academic and social interaction. Do these dynamics influence adolescent students’ social and moral development and if they do, by what mechanism? This study depicts the moderated effects of gender and school on the relationship between students’ use of internet for academic activities and their social and moral development which was mediated by SNS-use. Locally adapted and standardised questionnaires were administered to 637 adolescent students (Mean age = 15.98; Range = 14–18 years; Females = 68.3%). Conceptual models positing moderated mediated relationships were used to test the study’s hypotheses. First, findings showed that SNS-use mediated the relationship between students’ use of internet for academic activities and their social-moral development; and gender moderated these indirect effects (Process model 58). Second, the type of school moderated one indirect path in the mediated relationship between students’ use of internet for academic activities and their social-moral development through SNS-use (Process model 7). These findings suggest that it is SNS-use by adolescent students that engenders internet use for academic activities and this fosters their social-moral development, but this is more pronounced among male adolescent students and among those from public schools. The implications are discussed and recommendations made.