The article examines the relationships between social comparison, academic motivation, procrastination, and self-esteem in university students of Generation Z within the digital learning environment. The aim of the study is to identify how the orientation towards social comparison is associated with types of academic motivation, the severity of procrastination, and the level of self-esteem. The sample consisted of 58 students enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree programme in Social Work and Youth Work (aged 18–27). Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire that included items based on existing scales of social comparison, academic motivation, academic procrastination, and self-esteem, as well as open-ended questions about students’ subjective experience of social comparison. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and content analysis of open-ended responses were conducted. The findings show that a stronger orientation towards social comparison is positively associated with procrastination and external motivation, and negatively associated with internal motivation and self-esteem. Internal motivation and self-esteem form a cluster of protective factors that reduce the risk of procrastinatory behaviour. The qualitative analysis reveals the ambivalent nature of social comparison, which may become both a source of anxiety and lowered self-esteem and a resource for development and self-development. The paper discusses educational conditions in the digital environment that may help reduce the risks of maladaptive social comparison while strengthening the developmental potential of students’ academic motivation.
social comparison, academic motivation, procrastination, self-esteem, Generation Z students, digital learning environment, self-development
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