Put the Phone Down

Abstract

If there ever was a key to happiness, this key would open a door that leads straight to a rich social life. And in the era of smartphones, this key to social connection is in our pockets anytime and anywhere. Or is it? Using the experience sampling method (ESM), we explore the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the context of face-to-face (FtF) social interactions, testing two competing hypotheses: (1) a complementarity hypothesis stating that more channels of communication should be associated with higher well-being and (2) an interference hypothesis stating that FtF interactions could be impoverished by adding computer-mediated channels of communication. We surveyed 174 millennials (M _age = 19.28; range: 17–22) 5 times a day over a period of a week (4,508 episodes). When participants reported a mix of CMC and FtF socializing in the same episode, they felt worse and less connected than when solely interacting FtF.

Keywords

communication Internet/cyberpsychology social interaction well-being computer-mediated communication media psychology social connectedness smartphones human–computer interaction

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Baumeister

R. F.

Leary

M. R.

(1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497

Birnholtz

J. P.

Hancock

Smith

Reynolds

(2012). Understanding unavailability in a world of constant connection. Interactions, 19, 32–35. doi:10.1145/2334184.2334193

Braun Research Inc. (2015). Trends in consumer mobility report, 1–12. Retrieved November 11, 2016, from http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/files/doc_library/additional/2015_BAC_Trends_in_Consumer_Mobility_Report.pdf

Burke

Kraut

R. E.

(2016). The relationship between Facebook use and well-being depends on communication type and tie strength. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 21, 265–281. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12162

Cohen

(1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155

Daft

R. L.

Lengel

R. H.

(1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554–571. doi:10.1287/mnsc.32.5.554

Diener

Seligman

M. E.

(2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81–84.

Duggan . (2013). Cell phone activities 2013: Pew Research Center. Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/old-media//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_Cell%20Phone%20Activities%20May%202013.pdf

Epley

Schroeder

(2014). Mistakenly seeking solitude. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1980–1999. doi:10.1037/a0037323

10.

Experian Marketing Services. (2013). The 2013 Digital Marketer, 1–59. Retrieved November 11, 2016, from http://www.experian.com/marketing-services/2013-digital-marketer-report.html

11.

Fiske

(2014). Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

12.

Griffin

(2010). The lonely society? Mental Health Foundation, 1–43. Retrieved November 11, 2016, from http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/the_lonely_society_report.pdf

13.

Guillory

J. E.

Hancock

J. T.

Woodruff

Keilman

(2015). Text messaging reduces analgesic requirements during surgery. Pain Medicine (Malden, Mass.), 16, 667–672. doi:10.1111/pme.12610

14.

Hall

J. A.

Baym

N. K.

(2012). Calling and texting (too much): Mobile maintenance expectations, (over)dependence, entrapment, and friendship satisfaction. New Media & Society, 14, 316–331. doi:10.1177/1461444811415047

15.

Hektner

J. M.

Schmidt

J. A.

Csikszentmihalyi

(Eds.). (2006). Experience sampling method: Measuring the quality of everyday life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

16.

Hofmann

Patel

P. V.

(2015). SurveySignal: A convenient solution for experience sampling research using participants’ own smartphones. Social Science Computer Review, 33, 235–253. doi:10.1177/0894439314525117

17.

Kahneman

Krueger

A. B.

Schkade

D. A.

Schwarz

Stone

A. A.

(2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306, 1776–1780. doi:10.1126/science.1103572

18.

Kashdan

T. B.

Steger

(2006). Expanding the topography of social anxiety: An experience sampling assessment of positive emotions and events, and emotion suppression. Psychological Science, 17, 120–128.

19.

Kenrick

D. T.

Griskevicius

Neuberg

S. L.

Schaller

(2010). Renovating the pyramid of needs: Contemporary extensions built upon ancient foundations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 292–314. doi:10.1177/1745691610369469

20.

Killingsworth

M. A.

Gilbert

D. T.

(2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. doi:10.1126/science.1192439

21.

Kross

Verduyn

Demiralp

Park

Lee

D. S.

Lin

… Ybarra

(2013). Facebook use predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults. PLoS One, 8, e69841. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069841.s006

22.

Kushlev

Dunn

E. W.

(2015). Checking email less frequently reduces stress. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, 220–228. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.11.005

23.

Larson

Csikszentmihalyi

(1983). The experience sampling method. New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Science, 15, 41–56.

24.

Liefooghe

Barrouillet

Vandierendonck

Camos

(2008). Working memory costs of task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 478–494. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.34.3.478

25.

Maas

C. J. M.

Hox

J. J.

(2005). Sufficient sample sizes for multilevel modeling. Methodology 1, 86–92 doi:10.1027/1614-1881.1.3.86

26.

Maslow

A. H.

(1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.

27.

Meeker

(2013). Internet trends. Retrieved on May 22, 2015 from http://www.kpcb.com/blog/2013-internet-trends

28.

Miron-shatz

Stone

Kahneman

(2009). Memories of yesterday’s emotions: Does the valence of experience affect the memory-experience gap? Emotion, 9, 885–891. doi:10.1037/a0017823

29.

Ophir

Nass

Wagner

A. D.

(2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 15583–15587. doi:10.1073/pnas.0903620106

30.

Park

Lee

Chung

J. E.

(2016). Uses of cellphone texting: An integration of motivations, usage patterns, and psychological outcomes. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 712–719. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.041

31.

Pew Research Center. (2015). The smartphone difference. Pew Research Center, 1–60. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

32.

Pielot

Church

de Oliveira

(2014). An in-situ study of mobile phone notifications. Proceedings of the 16th international conference on human-computer interaction with mobile devices & services—MobileHCI ‘14, 233–242. New York, NY: ACM Press. doi:10.1145/2628363.2628364

33.

Pittman

Reich

(2016). Social media and loneliness: Why an Instagram picture may be worth more than a thousand Twitter words. Computers in Human Behavior, 62, 155–167. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.084

34.

Pollet

T. V.

Roberts

S. G.

Dunbar

R. I.

(2011). Use of social network sites and instant messaging does not lead to increased offline social network size, or to emotionally closer relationships with offline network members. Cyberpsychology Behavior and Social Networking, 14, 253–258. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0161

35.

Rainie

Zickuhr

(2015). Americans’ views on mobile etiquette. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/26/americans-views-on-mobile-etiquette/

36.

Reis

H. T.

Sheldon

K. M.

Gable

S. L.

Roscoe

Ryan

R M.

(2000). Daily well-being: The role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 419–435. doi:10.1177/0146167200266002

37.

Ryff

C. D.

(1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.57.6.1069

38.

Rubinstein

J. S.

Meyer

D. E.

Evans

J. E.

(2001). Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27, 763–797. doi:10.1037//0096-1523.27.4.763

39.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

40.

Sandstrom

G. M

Dunn

E. W.

(2014). Is efficiency overrated? Minimal social interactions lead to belonging and positive affect. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 437–442 . doi:10.1177/1948550613502990

41.

Schimmack

Grob

(2000). Dimensional models of core affect: A quantitative comparison by means of structural equation modeling. European Journal of Personality, 14, 325–345. doi:10.1002/1099-0984(200007/08)14:4<325::AID-PER380>3.0.CO;2-I

42.

Smith

(2012). The best (and worst) of mobile connectivity. Pew Internet & American Life Project, 1–8. Retrieved November 10, 2016 from http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/11/30/the-best-and-worst-of-mobile-connectivity/

43.

Turkle

(2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. Old Saybrook, CN: Tantor Media.

44.

Turkle

(2015). Reclaiming conversation: The power of talk in a digital age. New York, NY: Penguin Press.

45.

Turner

J. W.

Reinsch

Tinsley

(2008). Multicommunicating: A practice whose time has come? Academy of Management Review, 33, 391–403. doi10.5465/AMR.2008.31193450

46.

Valkenburg

P. M.

Peter

(2007). Online communication and adolescent well-being: Testing the stimulation versus the displacement hypothesis. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1169–1182. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00368.x

47.

Wilson

R. E.

Gosling

S. D.

Graham

L. T.

(2012). A review of Facebook research in the social sciences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 203–220. doi:10.1177/1745691612442904