We’ve all encountered them: people who can’t seem to put their smartphones down, constantly checking social media and text messaging when you’re trying to have a conversation and holding onto the damn devices as if they’re Gorilla Glued to their hands.
Now, at long last, there’s actual scientific evidence to prove that this type of behavior could actually damage relationships, courtesy of a recently-published Computers in Human Behavior study by Baylor University marketing professors Dr. James Roberts and Dr. Meredith David.
Dr. Roberts and Dr. David call the phenomenon partner phone snubbing or “pphubbing” and explain that it is the degree to which people use or are distracted by their mobile devices while spending time with their significant others. To examine its impact on romantic relationships, the authors conducted two separate surveys involving a total of 453 US adults.
“What we discovered,” Dr. Roberts said, “was that when someone perceived that their partner phubbed them, this created conflict and led to lower levels of reported relationship satisfaction. These lower levels of relationship satisfaction, in turn, led to lower levels of life satisfaction and, ultimately, higher levels of depression.”
Nearly one-in-four said phubbing caused relationship conflict
In the first of the two surveys, the researchers developed a nine-item “Partner Phubbing Scale” of common smartphone behaviors associated with snubbing, including whether or not partners kept their phones in their hands when couples were together, or if they would occasionally take a look at the device when there was a lull in the conversation.
The second survey used this scale and asked 145 adults about these pphubbing-related behaviors. A total of 145 adults were presented with the nine-items on the “Partner Phubbing Scale” as well as questions regarding cellphone-related conflicts, satisfaction with the relationship and life as a whole, depression levels and interpersonal attachment styles.
Nearly half (46.3 percent) of the respondents said that they had been pphubbed by their partner, while 22.6 percent said that this pphubbing caused conflict in their relationships and 36.6 percent reported feeling depressed at least some of the times, the study authors reported. Less than one-third (32 percent) said that they were very satisfied with their relationship, they added.
“In everyday interactions with significant others, people often assume that momentary distractions by their cell phones are not a big deal,” explained Dr. David. “However, our findings suggest that the more often a couple’s time spent together is interrupted by one individual attending to his/her cellphone, the less likely it is that the other individual is satisfied in the overall relationship.”
“Specifically, momentary distractions by one’s cellphone during time spent with a significant other likely lowers the significant other’s satisfaction with their relationship, and could lead to enhanced feelings of depression and lower well-being of that individual,” she added. “Thus, when spending time with one’s significant other, we encourage individuals to be cognizant of the interruptions caused by their cellphones, as these may well be harmful to their relationship.”
—–
Image credit: Thinkstock
Comments