Study discovers how cell phone use affects social interactions

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BY CLAIRE GOSCICKI Daily Staff Reporter Published March 31, 2011

The way you use cell phones says a lot about how you act after you've hung up, according to a University study.

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Appearing in the current issue of Human Communication Research, an international journal that presents contemporary communication studies research, a recent University study found that the frequency and methods of cell phone use affect how users interact with people around them. The study was led by Scott Campbell, an assistant professor of Communication Studies and Nojin Kwak, an associate professor of Communication Studies. The two hypothesized that frequent cell phone users would be less likely to talk with strangers in public settings due to what Campbell calls the tele-cocooning effect, or the tendency of cell phones to reduce interpersonal interactions. Campbell said the study shed light on an interesting paradox in that cell phones can close people off but also help them connect with the world around them. The technology itself is not good or bad, Campbell said. It is how its used and who its used with. In the study, more than 1,800 responses from a national survey suggested that cell phone users seeking news on their mobile devices were more likely to engage with people around them than people talking on cell phones. Additionally, the study found that people who use cell phones to coordinate plans are more likely to participate in public conversations. Campbell said the findings also support the notion that people who talk on cell phones frequently are less likely to communicate in public. Cell phones do have the potential to make us more focused on whats going on in our personal lives, and the personal lives of the people that were close to, Campbell said. Maybe were not paying enough attention to things outside that realm. While Campbell said he was surprised to find that cell phone use can spark conversations with strangers, the new findings also support the researchers previous hypothesis that cell phone use can strengthen familial bonds and encourage interpersonal communication. These previous findings, which were published in an issue of New Media & Society last year, challenge the popular assumption that cell phones are replacing face-to-face contact. In the 2010 study, Campbell and Kwak found that a positive link exists between the amount of time spent communicating with someone on the phone and the amount of face-to-face time with that person. Campbell said his fascination with how mobile communication devices connect and detach people motivated him to pursue research on the topic. He added that he plans to continue studying cell phones, particularly how they function in international societies.

Who we are closely connected with rubs off on us, he said. Im interested in the way that the cell phone facilitates that social contagion effect. This week, Campbell and Kwak presented separate research at a conference in Hawaii. The research focused on the ways mobile communication facilitates connectedness and disconnectedness between adults in South Korea. Kwak, who is in Hawaii, could not be reached for comment. Campbell said there is a lot left to explore in the field of telecommunications. Compared with other technology studies, only a sliver of research is being done on mobile communication, Campbell said. Its outrageous because cell phones are contributing so much to social change. I think its meaningful and something that people take for granted. Next fall, Campbell plans to teach a course in the Department of Communication Studies called Social Consequences of Mobile Communication, which will examine mobile device use and the impact it has on social interactions. (The course) will basically explore the social changes that were witnessing right now with mobile communication, he said.

Most of us are no stranger to this scenario: A group of friends sits down to a meal together, laughing, swapping stories, and catching up on the news but not necessarily with the people in front of them! Nowadays, its not unusual to have ones phone handy on the table, easily within reach for looking up movie times, checking e-mails, showing off photos, or taking a call or two. Its a rare person who doesnt give in to a quick glance at the phone every now and then. Todays multifunctional phones have become an indispensable lifeline to the rest of the world. We might expect that the widespread availability of mobile phones boosts interpersonal connections, by allowing people to stay in touch constantly. But a recent set of studies by Andrew K. Przybylski and Netta Weinstein of the University of Essex showed that our phones can hurt our close relationships. Amazingly, they found that simply having a phone nearby, without even checking it, can be detrimental to our attempts at interpersonal connection. Przybylski and Weinstein asked pairs of strangers to discuss a moderately intimate topic (an interesting event that had occurred to them within the last month) for 10 minutes. The strangers left their own belongings in a waiting area and proceeded to a private booth. Within the booth, they found two chairs facing each other and, a few feet away, out of their direct line of vision, there was a desk that held a book and one other item. Unbeknownst to the pair, the key difference in their interactions would

be the second item on the desk. Some pairs engaged in their discussion with a nondescript cell phone nearby, whereas other pairs conversed while a pocket notebook lay nearby. After they finished the discussion, each of the strangers completed questionnaires about the relationship quality (connectedness) and feelings of closeness they had experienced. The pairs who chatted in the presence of the cell phone reported lower relationship quality and less closeness. Przybylski and Weinstein followed up with a new experiment to see, in which contexts, the presence of a cell phone matters the most. This time, each pair of strangers was assigned a casual topic (their thoughts and feelings about plastic trees) or a meaningful topic (the most important events of the past year) to discuss again, either with a cell phone or a notebook nearby. After their 10-minute discussion, the strangers answered questions about relationship quality, their feelings of trust, and the empathy they had felt from their discussion partners. The presence of the cell phone had no effect on relationship quality, trust, and empathy, but only if the pair discussed the casual topic. In contrast, there were significant differences if the topic was meaningful. The pairs who conversed with a cell phone in the vicinity reported that their relationship quality was worse. The pairs also reported feeling less trust and thought that their partners showed less empathy if there was a cell phone present. Thus, interacting in a neutral environment, without a cell phone nearby, seems to help foster closeness, connectedness, interpersonal trust, and perceptions of empathy the building-blocks of relationships. Past studies have suggested that because of the many social, instrumental, and entertainment options phones afford us, they often divert our attention from our current environment, whether we are speeding down a highway or sitting through a meeting. The new research suggests that cell phones may serve as a reminder of the wider network to which we could connect, inhibiting our ability to connect with the people right next to us. Cell phone usage may evenreduce our social consciousness.