The Meaning of Life as a Mediator between Interpersonal Alienation and Smartphone Addiction in the Covid-19 Pandemic among Students of Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas Branch

The purpose of this study was to investigate the meaning of life as a mediator between interpersonal alienation and smartphone addiction in the COVID-19 pandemic among students in Bandar Abbas City. The descriptive-correlational research method was structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the research included all male and female students studying at Bandar Abbas Azad University in the academic year 2021-2022, of which 378 were selected and studied using a purposive sampling method. The meaning of life questionnaire (Steger et al., 2006, MLQ), interpersonal alienation (Bani Fatemeh et al., 2013, SAQ), and smartphone addiction scale (Ko, 2009, SAS) were used to collect data. The data was analyzed by structural equation analysis method. The research findings showed that there is a significant direct effect of interpersonal alienation on smartphone addiction (P<0.05). Also, the meaning of life has a direct and significant effect on smartphone addiction (P<0.05). Also, the results showed that interpersonal alienation has an indirect effect on smartphone addiction through the mediation of the meaning of life. The final model also had a good fit. Therefore, it can be concluded that to reduce smartphone addiction, one should focus on the meaning of life and reduce interpersonal alienation.