Journal
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Volume 36, Issue 6, Pages 1619-1639Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/0265407518769387
Keywords
Human-computer interaction; mobile computing; parenthood; psychological need satisfaction; smartphones; social interaction; subjective well-being; ubiquitous computing
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Funding
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council [H08-02739]
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In the U.S., 95% of smartphone users admit to having used their smartphones during their latest social gathering. Although smartphones are designed to connect us with others, such smartphone use may create a source of distraction that disconnects us from the people in our immediate social environment. Focusing on one fundamental social relationship-between parents and their children-we examined whether smartphones made parents feel distracted, thereby undermining key benefits parents reap when spending time with their children. Ina field experiment at a science museum (Study 1), we randomly assigned parents to use their phones frequently or infrequently. Frequent phone use led parents to feel more distracted, which in turn impaired feelings of social connection and the meaning that parents derived when spending time with their children. In an additional weeklong diary study (Study 2), we found further evidence that smartphones can distract parents from reaping a sense of social connection when spending time with their children. These studies suggest that being constantly connected to the Internet may carry subtle costs for the fabric of social life.
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