Effects of Smartphones on Well-Being

With the advent of smartphones, there has been a rise in the research studying the effects of smartphone on our well-being.

American adults spent 3.5 hours a day on their phones in 2019 and teenagers spent more than 7 hours in front of a screen across all devices.

Across large representative samples of adolescents, researchers have found that more self-reported screen time predicts slightly lower well-being.¹

However, the effect is small and the relationship isn’t linear– people who spent some time in front of screens feel better than those who spend no time though heavy users feel worse than light users.

There is disagreement on the implications of these results. Some suggest the effect of screens is as negligible as that of wearing glasses or eating potatoes.

Others suggest that it can explain recent upswings in suicide and depression that have coincided with the increased adoption of smartphones. It is far-fetched to draw either of these conclusions based solely on correlational analyses.

According to the displacement hypothesis², screen time influences psychological outcomes by replacing other activities such as sleeping or socialising.

According to the interference hypothesis, the frequency of phone use is critical for understanding the effects of smartphones on well-being. For example, during lunch with a friend, we may spend only a small fraction of the time looking at our phones but the conversation could be disrupted by brief yet frequent phone checks³.

Phones can fragment attention exogenously through notifications. A field experiment found that receiving notifications in 3 daily batches, compared to receiving them as usual, made users happier and less stressed.

Smartphones can also boost well-being by affording access to information and communication otherwise inaccessible. For example, people who use their phones to locate an unfamiliar building feel happier than those who ask locals for directions.

Smartphones can either boost or hurt well-being based on how and when they’re used. Overall, the net effects of phones on well-being are negligible but become substantial with heavy use.

References:
1. Orben et al, 2019
2. Neuman SB, 1988
3. Kushlev et al, 2020