According to a team of American researchers, the mobile phone addiction is similar to other behavioral addictions, including that compulsive shopping.
“Materialism and impulsiveness that underlie the addiction to the mobile phone and SMS (instant messages,”short message service”) can be compared with the pathologies of consumption, such as compulsive shopping and reckless use of the credit card,” according to the findings of the study from Baylor University.
“Cell phones are an integral part of our consumer culture,” said James Roberts, one of the authors. “They are not only a tool of consumption, they are used as a symbol of social status. But also, they erode the interpersonal relationships. »
For authors, the mobile phone can be regarded as the equivalent of a lollipop of toddlers, corresponding to impulsive tendencies of the user. Impulsivity that are known to play an important role in addiction, whether behavioral or substances.
Previous studies had shown that young adults send an average of 109.5 SMS per day, or approximately 3 200 SMS messages per month.
Their latest study, which highlights the concepts of materialism and impulsivity underlying addiction to mobile phones and SMS, was conducted in 191 students in business schools in the United States. They completed a questionnaire of investigation of these fields.
They receive 113 SMS and consult their phone about 60 times per day on average. The University students spend on average 7 hours daily in various interactions with information and communication technologies.
At first glance, there is a tendency to dismiss the question of such aberrant use of cell phones by considering it as a mere sin of youth.
“But a set of data in the literature gave credit to a notion of addiction to the mobile phone, in the same way as other behavioral addictions,” said Roberts.
› Dr. BEATRICE VUAILLE
Journal of Behavioral Addictions. The study is available on http://www.akademia.com/content/q41011j715q26n7h/
Image courtesy of TerryJohnston