Investigating Phubbing in Everyday Life: Challenges & Lessons for Future Research

Reiter, T., Sakel, S., Scharbert, J., ter Horst, J., Back, M., Van Zalk, M., Buehner, M., & Schoedel, R.

Abstract

The ubiquitous presence of smartphones has made them an integral part of our social lives. A well-known example of this phenomenon is phubbing, where smartphone use distracts people from their daily interpersonal interactions. While previous research has mostly relied on often biased global self-reports, our work introduces a novel approach to assessing phubbing in real life. To this end, we conducted an empirical study that integrated experience sampling and mobile sensing methods to obtain a more objective measure of phubbing behavior. Based on the evaluation of our concept, we contribute insights on reliable phubbing assessment in real life and the design of phubbing-aware technologies based on it. By highlighting the challenges associated with existing methods, we aim to stimulate discussion in the field of HCI and encourage the development of socially friendly technologies that benefit real-life interpersonal interactions.