It’s hardly news that we’re attached to our phones. I mean, I was sending a text message while I wrote that sentence. But a new study published in the International Journal of Cyber Behaviour, Psychology and Learning suggested we’re so addicted that smartphones should come with a warning. You know, like cigarettes or booze.
The study’s main takeaway is that the more you use your smartphone, the more likely you are to become addicted to using it. As Forbes reports, the researchers show that smartphone addiction is linked with narcissism and neuroticism. This makes logical sense, given how so many people use their smartphones to broadcast personal information about themselves to the world via apps like Instagram, Swarm, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. (Not surprisingly, this finding correlatates perfectly with a study earlier this year that revealed men who take selfies are more likely to have psychopathic and narcissitic tendencies.)
The researchers from University of Denby in the UK, studied a self-selected sample of 256 smartphone users with the mean age of 29.2 who submitted an online survey. By the researcher’s qualifications, 13.3% of the sample was “addicted to smartphones.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines “addiction” as:
The state of condition of being dedicated or devoted to a thing, esp. an activity or occupation; adherence or attachment, esp. of an immoderate or compulsive kind.
What does that mean, exactly? Well, the University of Denby study found the average user was spending over 3.5 hours a day on his smartphone. In other words, longer than “Titanic.”
According to the study’s introduction, “[It] offers a perturbing view of a cruel circle of Internet addiction and loneliness.” All that time you’re interfacing with Trivia Crack, you’re not interfacing with, well, a human face. Welcome to 2015, everyone. At least we don’t have the iWatch yet!
READ MORE: What To Do When His Phone Is The Other Woman
