Background: Competitive educational systems and excessive use of technology have driven students toward social and mental isolation; however, a deep and multi-layered explanation of the island-mindset phenomenon as a hidden barrier to academic and social development, particularly in the Iranian cultural context, has received less attention.



Objective: The present study aimed to explore the island-mindset phenomenon (as communicative disconnection and socio-mental isolation) in female junior high school students and to explain its causes, consequences, and coping strategies.



Method: This qualitative study was conducted using the systematic grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Participants were 20 female students aged 13 to 15 years in Semnan province, selected through purposive and theoretical sampling. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding. For validation, Lincoln and Guba's criteria (credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability) were employed using techniques such as fourfold triangulation and external auditing.



Findings: Causal conditions included experiences of rejection and disconnection from the community, psychological erosion, family and environmental influences, identity erosion, and academic problems. The core phenomenon was identified as "gradual communicative disconnection from supportive contexts and resorting to forced isolation." Contextual conditions included classroom, recess, social networks, and family, while intervening conditions comprised quality of verbal interactions, social inclusion, teacher's role, and parental approach. Coping strategies included active approaches to communication, cognitive regulation, conflict management, and self-compulsion to participate. Consequences encompassed emotional problems, reduced social interactions, feelings of weakened self-worth, diminished meaning and purpose, stress and anxiety, reduced motivation, and behavioral changes.



Conclusion: The island-mindset is a multidimensional and context-dependent phenomenon shaped by the interaction of individual, familial, educational, and social factors. The educational system can play an effective role in preventing and reducing this phenomenon by strengthening social inclusion in schools, enhancing students' communication skills, empowering teachers in classroom interaction management, and expanding family-school collaboration. The resulting paradigmatic model can serve as a basis for designing comprehensive and locally-tailored interventions in schools and families for the prevention and reduction of this phenomenon.