JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS EDUCATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Vol 7, No 1 (2026): JEE, APRIL 2026

A Behavioral Finance Approach to Student Academic Performance: The Role of Screen Time and Sleep.

Imuede, Emmanuel Oyasor (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Apr 2026

Abstract

This study examines how behavioral factors impact students' academic performance. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Bayesian regression, and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), the research explores both direct and indirect effects of daily time allocation on exam outcomes. The analysis focuses on variables such as study hours, social media use, Netflix viewing, sleep duration, and constructs of productive versus leisure use of time. SEM results show that mental health (β = 0.355, p < 0.001), exercise frequency (β = 0.167, p < 0.001), and sleep hours (β = 0.133, p < 0.001) significantly enhance productive time use, which strongly predicts higher exam scores (β = 1.114, p < 0.001). Leisure activities like social media and Netflix have a moderate negative effect on academic performance (β = -0.395, p = 0.002). Bayesian regression confirms these findings, with study hours showing a strong positive effect (mean = 12.663, HDI = [12.090, 13.244]) and social media (mean = -2.786) and Netflix hours (mean = -2.229) exhibiting strong negative impacts. Sleep hours have a moderate positive effect (mean = 2.219).The OLS model explains 71.4% of the variance in exam scores, identifying study hours/day (β = 0.432, p < 0.001) and sleep (β = 0.188, p < 0.001) as significant positive predictors, while social media (β = -0.071) and Netflix hours (β = -0.046) contribute negatively. These findings reflect behavioral finance principles, where time and cognitive resources are allocated under bounded rationality, emphasizing the cost of leisure screen time on academic outcomes.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

jee

Publisher

Subject

Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Economics, Econometrics & Finance Education

Description

Journal of Economics Education and Entrepreneurship (JEE) is a journal that was started publishing in 2020 in the Economics Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Lambung Mangkurat. JEE is a collection of research articles and studies of lecturers, ...