Attention or Distraction? The Impact of Mobile Phone on Users' Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Cumulative evidence has demonstrated that mobile phone distraction, in particular among emerging adults, is a growing problem. Considerable efforts have been made to contribute to the literature by proposing cognitive emotion pre-occupation which acts as an underlying mechanism through which mobile phone distraction results in a reduction in psychological well-being. The proposed model is supported by distraction-conflict theory which reveals that users, with high attention control, are better at coping with the negative consequences of mobile phone distraction. The data, consisting of 914 University students in China, was analyzed using statistical tools. The results support that mobile phone distraction has a significant positive relationship with cognitive emotional pre-occupation which negatively affects users' psychological well-being. Our findings also reveal that attention control moderated the mediation effect of cognitive emotional pre-occupation in association with mobile phone distraction and psychological well-being. The theoretical and practical implications are also discussed along with limitations and future research.

Çevrimiçi Ödevlerde Dikkat Dağılması Ölçeğinin Türkçeye Uyarlanması

“…Dikkat kontrolü yüksek olan bireylerin çevresindeki dikkat dağıtıcılarla başa çıkabilme eğilimi içerisinde olması beklendik bir sonuç olmuştur. Literatürde yapılan birden çok çalışmada da iki durum birbirlerine karşıt olarak ifade edilmiştir (Caris, 2019;Chu, Qaisar, Shah ve Jalil, 2021). Benzer biçimde yapılan çalışmalarda ödevleri yaparken sosyal medya kullanımına ilişkin davranışları ifade eden sosyal medyayla çoklu görev yapma davranışları ile öz düzenlemenin dikkat kontrolü arasında negatif ilişki olduğu bulunmuştur (Kokoç, 2021).…”

Entertainment apps, limited attention and investment performance

“…Previous studies showed that the use of mobile phones makes it difficult to perform daily routine activities (Liebherr et al, 2020;Chu et al, 2021). In contrast, some studies showed that smartphone apps are positively used for education and health monitoring.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Smartphone Distraction Scale in Chinese College Students: Validity, Reliability and Influencing Factors

“…Internal distractions include hunger, tiredness, illness, anxiety and daydreaming. While external distractions include factors like visual triggers, social interactions, music, text messages and telephone calls ( 10 ). The smartphone has made distraction easier, due to its portability and the diversity of entertaining features.…”

“…To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, previous studies have developed several instruments for assessing smartphone distraction. These scales are limited to a few items that assess distraction and include the mobile phone distraction scale ( 10 ) and the Social Media Disorder (SMD) scale ( 36 ). While some items can assess distraction, they are neither comprehensive nor able to assess the cognitive and emotional processes of distraction.…”