ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SOCIAL MEDIA ENGAGEMENT AND THE SPIRITUAL MATURITY OF ELEVENTH-GRADE STUDENTS AT IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the association between social media engagement and the spiritual maturity of eleventh-grade students at Immanuel Christian Private High School Medan. The research was carried out in June–July 2023 involving students from class XI as the participants. The total population consisted of 30 students, and because the number of participants was limited, the census sampling technique was applied, meaning all members of the population were included as research respondents. In this study, social media engagement serves as the independent variable, while students’ spiritual maturity functions as the dependent variable. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire distributed to the respondents. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis and Spearman Rank correlation analysis (rs) to determine the strength of the relationship between the variables. The results of the analysis reveal that social media engagement has a positive and statistically significant relationship with the spiritual maturity of students, indicated by a calculated t value of 6.75 which exceeds the t-table value at the 0.05 significance level (2.045). These findings suggest that the constructive use of social media may contribute to the enhancement of students’ spiritual maturity.