I Can't Keep My Cell Phone Away!
I was out with friends last weekend and I realized something. Every single one of us had our cell phones visible on the table, checking it from time to time, all while we were out for drinks “catching up”. There’s something wrong with this picture. What happened to socializing without wondering if you got an email, or checking Facebook? Has it come to the point where we are actually addicted and obsessed with checking our cell phones?
A recent study in the journal Personal and Ubiquitous Computing that showed this is extremely common. In fact, it seems to be everywhere
The authors found smartphone users have developed what they call "checking habits" -- repetitive checks of e-mail and other applications including social networks. The checks typically lasted less than 30 seconds and were often done within 10 minutes of each other.
On average, the study subjects checked their phones 34 times a day, not because they really needed to check them that many times, but because it had become a habit or compulsion.
"It's extremely common, and very hard to avoid," says Loren Frank, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. "We don't even consciously realize we're doing it -- it's an unconscious behavior."
Why Do We Check It So Often?
According to the study, “To recap the main finding, the data provides evidence for habit-formation in smartphones use, mainly attributable to their capacity of providing quick access to rewards like social networking, communications, and news”
“The cue could also be the mobile device itself— for example, seeing the phone lying on the table reminds us of rewards that could be accessed, triggering the associated usage behavior.”
"Each time you get an e-mail, it's a small jolt, a positive feedback that you're an important person," he says. "It's a little bit of an addiction in that way."
Once the brain becomes accustomed to this positive feedback, reaching out for the phone becomes an automatic action you don't even think about consciously.
Are You a Habitual Checker?
- You check your e-mail more than you need to.
Sometimes you're in the middle of an intense project at work and you really do need to check your e-mail constantly. But be honest with yourself -- if that's not the case, your constant checking might be a habit, not a conscious choice.
- You're annoying other people.
"If you hear 'put the phone away' more than once a day, you probably have a problem," says Lisa Merlo, a psychologist at the University of Florida.
- The thought of not checking makes you break out in a cold sweat.
Do you feel anxious and lost without your phone? This is a sign; you may need time away from your phone and realize the world is not going to end because it’s not there!
A few times in the data, researchers found participants reporting annoyance with repetitive habitual use. However, the majority of the participants did not consider habitual use negatively, even if it was very frequent.
Do you get annoyed when people constantly check their smartphones? Are you a victim of smartphone addiction!?
