Even 10 minutes without your smartphone can make you feel anxious if you’re nomophobic or afraid of being out of mobile contact, according to new research which offers more evidence of the fact that we’re becoming increasingly dependent upon tech. Professor of Psychology at California State University, Larry Rosen, headed this study which puts mobile addiction in the roster of things you can get overly fond of.
We’re seeing a worrying trend of people considering their devices to be part of themselves, with a Pennsylvania State University survey hinting that the more we customize our smartphones, the more we get attached to them. Professor Rosen’s study had about half of 163 college students switching off their gadgets and keeping them out of sight, while the other half had their phones taken away from them.
Published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, the experiment required participants to sit quietly without any distractions to help pass the time. It lasted for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, and quite predictably saw the students’ anxiety increase as more time went by. Prolonged and constant use of wireless mobile devices is thought to cause psychological dependency and result in mental uneasiness when separated from such technology.
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At the same time, it was noticed that this pattern of a continued spike in anxiety as the minutes passed by was only noticed in those who claimed to be moderate or heavy mobile users. Now come on handset junkies, toss away your handset, it’ll help save a rainforest and some endangered animals maybe.