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An investigation of the antecedents and consequences of "phubbing": how being snubbed in favour of a mobile phone permeates and affects social life

Chotpitayasunondh, Varoth (2018) An investigation of the antecedents and consequences of "phubbing": how being snubbed in favour of a mobile phone permeates and affects social life. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent,. (KAR id:70881)

Abstract

Smartphones have changed the way people interact with each other in modern society. However, while they are becoming more omnipresent in human life, there is increasing concern that they are often used at inappropriate times during social interactions, and that people often ignore others in favour of their phones. In this thesis, we explore the phenomenon of "phubbing" - the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by concentrating on one's mobile phone. In a series of ten empirical studies, we demonstrate that Internet addiction, fear of missing out, and self-control predict smartphone addiction, which in turn predicts the extent to which people phub. This path also predicts the extent to which people feel that phubbing is normative, both via (a) the extent to which people are phubbed themselves, and (b) independently. Phubbing also significantly dampens perceived communication quality and relationship satisfaction in dyadic conversation. These effects are mediated by reduced feelings of belonging and both positive and negative affect. In addition, the results indicate that the degree to which someone is affected by phubbing is not determined by the relationship status between phubber and phubbee. We also develop and validate the Generic Scale of Phubbing (GSP) to assess phubbing behaviour, and the Generic Scale of Being Phubbed (GSBP) to assess the experience of being phubbed. Both scales reveal good psychometric properties. In conclusion, the results of the current research allow us to better understand how phubbing permeates and affects human social life.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
Thesis advisor: Douglas, Karen
Uncontrolled keywords: Phubbing
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
SWORD Depositor: System Moodle
Depositing User: System Moodle
Date Deposited: 10 Dec 2018 12:10 UTC
Last Modified: 10 Dec 2022 11:41 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/70881 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Chotpitayasunondh, Varoth.

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