Abstract:
Awareness of privacy settings on social networks has become a growing concern
among university students due to their frequent online engagement and vulnerability
to privacy risks. Although privacy tools are widely available, many undergraduates
fail to utilise them effectively because of inadequate knowledge, unfavourable
attitudes, limited peer encouragement, and a lack of prior experience with privacy related issues. The objectives of this study were to examine the influence of
knowledge, attitude, peer influence, and personal experience on privacy awareness
among third- and fourth-year undergraduates at Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and
to analyse the moderating role of gender. Quantitative research design was followed,
and information was gathered by employing a self-administered questionnaire that
was given to 380 students by employing quota sampling. The SPSS application was
used to conduct statistical analysis, and descriptive statistics, correlation analysis,
multiple regression analysis, and moderation analysis were used to explain the results.
The findings revealed that knowledge, attitude, peer influence, and experience
significantly contributed to students’ awareness of privacy settings, with knowledge
emerging as the strongest predictor. Moreover, gender moderated some of these
relationships. These findings highlight the importance of integrating privacy
education and digital literacy initiatives into higher education curricula. It is
recommended to incorporate privacy awareness into academic programs, promote
peer-led awareness campaigns, and design gender-sensitive digital learning
interventions.
