People who are less emotionally stable are more likely to be addicted to their smart phone, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Derby and Nottingham Trent University conducted an online study with 640 smartphone users aged between 13 and 69 to look for the association between smart phone use and personality traits.
The study found that people who struggle with their mental health problems were more likely to “intensively” use their smartphones “as a form of therapy.”
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It also found that as anxiety levels increase in an individual, he or she is more likely to use a smartphone.
“This is because people may be experiencing problems in their lives such as stress, anxiety, depression, family problems, so in that state they are emotionally unstable, meaning they may seek respite in very excessive smartphone use,” said Dr Zaheer Hussain, a study author and lecturer in Psychology at the University of Derby.”This is worrying,” he said.
People who are closed off or less open with their emotions are more likely to have problems with smartphone use, said the study.
Researchers found that the most utilised smartphone applications among the participants were social networking apps, which account for roughly half of all utilised apps, followed by instant messaging and music apps.
Smartphone addicts engage in a “passive social network,” said Hussain.
“This is where you spend a lot of time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, browsing other peoples’ comments, pictures and posts … so there is no real positive social interaction.”
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“Problematic smartphone use is more complex than previously thought and our research has highlighted the interplay of various psychological factors in the study of smart phone use,” he said.
A smart phone is a handheld personal computer with a mobile operating system and an integrated mobile broadband cellular network connection for voice, SMS, and Internet data communication; most if not all smartphones also support Wi-Fi. Smartphones are typically pocket-sized, as opposed to tablets, which are much larger.
They are able to run a variety of software components, known as “apps”. Most basic apps (e.g. event calendar, camera, web browser) come pre-installed with the system, while others are available for download from official sources like the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
Apps can receive bug fixes and gain additional functionality through software updates; similarly, operating systems are able to update. Modern smartphones have a touchscreen colour display with a graphical user interface that covers the front surface and enables the user to use a virtual keyboard to type and press onscreen icons to activate “app” features. Mobile payment is now a common theme amongst most smartphones.
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