Are your friends ignoring you while focusing on their smartphones? It could be a sign of a mental illness dictated by a true psychological addiction according to WebMD which reports a study conducted by researcher Juhyung Sun from the University of Oklahoma.
Addiction to notifications
According to the results of the study, published in Behavior &; Information Technology, people with greater social anxiety or depression are more likely to become addicted to their smartphones, as the researcher himself reports. This addiction can lead to a kind of “notification” mania: each time a notification arrives, and therefore the smartphone produces a sound or a vibration to alert the user, the dependent person is much more sensitive than the others and rushes to pick up the smartphone to check the message, even when interacting, for example, talking, with another person.
Snobbery towards others
This behavior can lead to another related behavior: a kind of “snobbery” towards others, for example when they speak. This is a phenomenon which, in English, is also called “phubbing”. It may not be simple rudeness but, in some cases of pre-existing conditions, a more complex mental health condition.
The study
Researchers conducted a study on different participants who were asked various questions. The results showed that there was a strong link between ignoring friends to check the smartphone screen and depression and social anxiety. The more depressed people were, the more likely they were to avoid interactions, while people who suffered the most from social anxiety were the ones who checked their smartphones the most and generally found smartphone interactions more comfortable than face-to-face interactions. face to face. The same researchers also found links between obsessive smartphone control and certain personality traits, including a tendency to focus on negative emotions and neuroticism.