How Motorola and Harvard University study reveal that Nomophobia is getting worse

It’s no secret that smartphones take up a large part of our time and attention spans. Smartphones are talking up a large part of our time and attention. Heck, just writing this sentence, I glanced at my smartphones about 5 times!!

In an effort to understand people’s “phone-life balance" Motorola has released results from a new survey that examines smartphone habits and its impact relationships as reported in the article “Motorola’s survey confirms we’re addicted to our smartphones” published 21 February 2018 by Brenda Stolyar, Digitaltrends.

Motorola developed a global study in partnership Dr. Nancy Etcoff from Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry. Independent research company Ipsos undertook the survey on their behalf to look at behaviors and phone use habits across generations.

This was in an effort to understand how smartphones impact our relationships with ourselves as well as others. So what did the study uncover that we didn’t already know?

Motorola and Harvard University – Problems in smartphone-land

The study found that:

1.      33% of respondents prioritize their smartphone over interacting with other people, like friends and family

2.      53% of Gen Z respondents described their phone as their best friend

3.      33% admit to panicking when they have lost their smartphones

4.      29% of participants also agreed they are already thinking about the next time they will be able to use it

5.      50% of the participants agreed they compulsively checked phone and felt the need to do it constantly

Clearly many who took this survey suffer from Nomophobia, which literally means a fear of being without your smartphone as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How to deal with Smartphone Addiction as Wearables trend indicates it is getting worse”.

Good to note here are those of us hose born from the 1990s to the early 2000s, effectively the so-called Millennial group!!

The study also identified three key problematic smartphone behaviors:

1.      Compulsive checking

2.      Excessive phone time

3.      Emotional over-dependence

Also, many recognize that this was a problem and are actively trying to quit or at least want to find a balance as the survey further revealed:

1.      61% of participants who agreed they want to use the phone more efficiently yet not miss moments in their life

2.      30% also agreed they spend too much time on their smartphones and said they'd be happier if they cut back

3.      60% said it was important to have a life separate from their phones

So how and why did Motorola conduct this survey?

Motorola and Harvard University - Smartphone Survey reveals Nomophobia is a real problem

This research was very similar to one done by Antivirus maker Kaspersky Lab who suggested that it is not only killing our relationships, but our ability to think as well as our actions under the sheets as well as noted in my blog article entitled “Kaspersky Lab Smartphone Dependency Study suggests smartphones are killing Reasoning and Sex”.

Motorola recognizes that smartphone users are in need of a better phone-life balance. With this knowledge, in an effort to help others, the company has put together a simple 10-question survey that allows you to:

1.      Understand how you compare to other phone users

2.      Provide tips to improve your smartphone habits

In the end, self-control and quitting cold turkey may be necessary, especially if you are planning to study for exams as pointed out in my MICO Wars blog article entitled

“How Jamaicans can stay awake all night while studying for Exams”.

Sharing is caring so share this with your friends who are trying to quit!!!!