Cell Phone Addiction
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 6:16AM
Could you be addicted to your cell phone? A team of addiction researchers thinks so. In a study published online on November 17, 2012 by the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, the investigators linked the near constant use of cell phones and instant messaging (particularly among college students) to well known “consumption pathologies” such as compulsive buying and credit card misuse. The investigators trace cell phone “addiction” to materialism and impulsiveness and note that impulsiveness plays an important role in addiction. They cite studies showing that young adults send an average of 109.5 text messages daily, receive an additional 113 text messages and typically check their cell phones 60 times a day. On the basis of self-report surveys of 191 business students at two U.S. universities, the researchers concluded that cell phones are used by approximately 90 percent of college students, most of whom claim that losing their cell phones would be disastrous to their social lives.
Reader Comments (2)
I'm fairly blessed that I grew up in Generation X in the early seventies. I grew up just as mobile and personal technologies were in their infancy, but at the same time grew up in an older style of thinking before the heavier personal technolgy use of Generation Y. I can use a cellphone for the conveniences it provides in communication, but at the same time I can limit my use to very specific needs. I still prefer to socialize offline and in person.
Wow! thanks so much for this post! I reposted it everywhere I could on facebook and twitter.... I thought for a long time that people got addicted to their cellphone, but never encountered a "professional" opinion about it. It seemed to me that people acted with their cellphones in a similar way as gamblers... now I know!