Preferring mobile phone over in person communication makes people lonely, stressed: Study

A new study conducted in Romania has found that those who engage in phubbing may experience greater loneliness and mental stress. Phubbing means preferring a mobile phone over communicating with someone in person.

The study, published in BMC Psychology, found that the person subjected to phubbing, referred to as “phubbee,” may feel ignored and unimportant.

The authors of the study, Alexandra Maftei and Cornelia Măirean, wanted to examine the links between phubbing experiences, loneliness, life satisfaction, and psychological distress of adult phubbees.

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How was the study conducted?

The study involved above 700 Romanian adults, aged between 18 and 77, with an average age of 24 years.

Of these participants, 74 per cent were females. Around 44 per cent of them were in a romantic relationship while 36 per cent were single and 18 per cent were married.

Participants were asked to assess themselves regarding their depression, anxiety, and stress levels. They were also analysed for their phubbing behaviour, loneliness and time spent on social media.

Results and observations

The study confirmed that phubbing was linked to higher levels of stress and loneliness among most adults.

Individuals who felt lonelier were also more likely to report lower life satisfaction and greater psychological distress.

The study also suggested that while phubbing can slightly increase the level of satisfaction among adults, the positive effect gets overshadowed by the negatives associated with loneliness.

“The study highlights the significant role of perceived phubbing when discussing psychological distress and life satisfaction, underlining the need to address further the (mis)use of digital devices (e.g., smartphones) within interpersonal relationships, as well as the need to understand better the outcomes of such behaviors to shape effective interventions in this regard,” the study authors concluded.

Limitations

The study stops short of drawing any cause-and-effect conclusion, meaning it is not necessary that only phubbing leads to increased loneliness as the opposite—only lonely people engage in phubbing—could also be true.

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The study comprised mostly young people, most of them being female. This raises the possibility that varied results may be observed if participants from diverse demography are included.

(With inputs from agencies)