The basic definition of phubbing is to choose technology, specifically your smartphone, over human interaction:
phone snubbing = phubbing. It’s something we’re all seeing around us on a daily basis these days.
More and more, studies are showing (and as most of us are seeing for ourselves) the harmful effects of this relatively new bad habit.
4 Dangers of Phubbing
Conversations about cell phone health often focus on radiation and its potential impact on the brain and other organs. Now, let's take a look at what phubbing can do to your mental and emotional health:1. General Relationship Killer
Whether you’re someone who is commonly phubbing others or you’re on the receiving end of it, there’s no doubt about it — it often leads to emotional distress. When two people are physically together and one or both are choosing a phone over human interaction, feelings of disconnection, anger and resentment may crop up. Depending on the people involved and how often the phubbing takes place, the damage can be ongoing or even permanent.
2. Harms Romantic Partnerships
When spouses or significant others phub each other, they’re more likely to be dissatisfied with their relationship and their lives in general. They’re also more likely to feel depressed. The study also found that people with anxious attachment styles reported higher levels of cell phone conflict than those with less anxious attachment styles.
3. Damages Mental Health
Researchers have found that phubbing threatens four fundamental human needs:
4. Negative Impacts on Physical, Mental and Social Health in Youth
Many of us have heard about or know firsthand how phubbing can have “significant consequences” on the social health, relationship health, and self-flourishing of young adults. Researchers also found phubbing to be “significantly related to depression and distress.”
5 Signs of Phubbing
1. Looking at your phone while someone is talking to you2. Taking out a phone in social settings
3. Never allowing your phone to be out of your sight
4. Constantly checking a cell phone
5. Using a cell phone or other technology in bed
How to Overcome Phubbing & Smartphone Addiction
If you’re trying to stop phubbing, it’s important to learn how to spend time without your phone. When you're speaking with someone, make it a personal rule to not look at your phone unless it’s an emergency of some kind.Schedule a Phone-Free Hour
Set up some rules about phone-free time, where you put your phone somewhere where you can’t hear it, for a full hour every night and spend some quality time together.”
Set Up Phone-Free Zones
Not using technology while eating meals together is another common recommendation to stop addictive behavior related to cellphone use. Setting boundaries like this for yourself and your family can go a long way.
Don’t Phub Others for Work
For many of us, at the end of the day and when we look back on our lives, we don’t want to think we traded in our most precious relationships to be tied to our work 24-7. Being in the real estate business, I am always on my phone and need to be available for my clients. It's a struggle, I know!
Bottom Line:
- Phubbing has become an increasing problem amongst people of all ages in recent years.
- Reducing cellphone use, especially when in social situations, is the main way to decrease phubbing.
- Even though it’s a funny sounding word, phubbing is a problem we really need to address.
