Is socially disruptive smartphone use detrimental to well-being? A systematic meta-analytic review on being phubbed

ABSTRACT

Phubbing—i.e. excluding and ignoring others through smartphone use—is a pervasive phenomenon. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of its consequences is still lacking. This systematic meta-analytic review aimed to (1) synthesize the associations between being phubbed and emotional and cognitive, social, and behavioural well-being, (2) test the strength of these associations, and (3) investigate moderating influences. Literature searches according to PRISMA-guidelines yielded k = 83 included studies. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted for 24 of 72 extracted consequences. Subgroup analyses were performed for phubbees’ relationship to interlocutors, age group, and study design. The overall sample was N = 53,916 with a mean age of 19.68 years. Being phubbed was moderately to strongly (e.g. $\hat{\rho }$= .23–.75) associated with various adverse consequences (e.g. depression, relationship dissatisfaction, derogation of interlocutors, smartphone addiction). Effects were larger for adolescents than for adults. The findings are in line with existing theoretical assumptions (e.g. the temporal need-threat model of ostracism) corroborating that phubbing is a detrimental experience. Thus, phubbing appears to be a public health issue which should be addressed through suitable interventions in order to enhance healthy human-human and human-technology interactions.

KEYWORDS:

• Information technology; mental health; problematic mobile phone use; smartphone addiction
• social exclusion
• technoference

Acknowledgements

We want to thank Paula Bartling, Lina Brockmeier, and Christopher Grolla for their support during the data collection phase of this work.

Data availability statement

The data and the R code used in this systematic meta-analytic review are available via the Open Science Framework (OSF) at https://osf.io/zdpx4.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).