A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Media Multitasking in American and Malaysian College Students

Asian societies have adopted electronic media in equal measure to western societies. Media use, its impacts and correlates have been examined in western and some Asian societies, but this study is unique in examining Malaysian students’ use of media. Malaysian and American college students reported their electronic media use, reading activities and patterns of multitasking with media while studying. They also were administered an academic distractibility questionnaire and a standard self-report measure of impulsiveness. Results indicated that Malaysians reported more electronic media use than Americans as well as more multitasking with media and multitasking while studying. For both Malaysians and Americans, students who reported using social networking while studying scored higher on measures of distractibility and impulsiveness. A more complex pattern of results for other types of media use and reading are described. A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Media Multitasking in American and Malaysian College Students