Linda Fisher*, an east-end Toronto consultant, thinks her smartphone use is basically under control. There are, however, a few aspects of her use that concern her.
In the daytime, Fisher spends time on her smartphone to avoid unhappy thoughts. At night, if she’s woken up by a nightmare, she uses games to chase the bad dream away.
“I pick up my phone and design a room on Design Home," she said. "I get the bad thought out of my head and I go back to sleep.”
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A recent study from the department of psychology at the University of Toronto confirms that Fisher’s pattern of smartphone use is hardly unique. The research, which involved more than 50,000 participants — the largest study of global problematic smartphone use to date — shows that, across the board, women report more problematic smartphone use than men.
The researchers also discovered a correlation between this type of use and mood disorders — such as anxiety and depression — but it’s far from clear that the smartphones are causing the disorders.
“If women are experiencing more depression and more anxiety and are trying to avoid these feelings by using their phone as a pacifier, that might be partly why we see gender differences in problematic smartphone use,” said Jay Olson, lead author of the study “Sex, Age and Smartphone Addiction Across 41 Countries.”
The “adult pacifier” theory of mindless overuse of our phones is an increasingly popular hypothesis, thanks to research by Shiri Melumad, PhD and assistant professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Melumad’s research found that people seeking ways to cope with stress or avoid negative feelings used their smartphones as “attachment objects,” similar to the way a child uses a security blanket or favourite toy.
In addition to the idea that women might turn to their phones as a coping mechanism, Olson says that problematic usage could stem from the fact that women are more likely to use their phones for messaging and social media than men.
“We know that social use often leads to habitual use,” said Olson. “We also know that habitual use often ends up becoming problematic.”
A study found that people often used their smartphones as “attachment objects,” similar to the way a child uses a security blanket or favourite toy.
Unsplash
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The upshot of this research is that it underlines the need to offer different solutions for people who want to curb excessive smartphone use according to demographics (there were also differences observed according to age and geographical region). The hard part, though, is that it flicks at the very reasons many women have trouble putting the phone down in the first place — reasons that have nothing to do with technology.
“I think it’s because the societal expectations of women to bond with others and seek out social support are so ingrained,” said Taryn Grieder, who has a PhD in medical neuroscience and is an assistant professor in psychology at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “The main driver of increased usage is likely that we’re just more likely to spend time connecting with other people.”
There may also be biological factors at play, such as oxytocin and estrogen, which Grieder said make women more likely to “tend and befriend.”
Hormones aside, if asked, plenty of women will gladly explain that it’s hard to turn off the phone (or even switch to airplane mode) if you’re the emergency contact for a half-dozen people.
“There’s definitely a cultural and societal expectation that women will be available and are going to be the ones to contact for support,” said Grieder, “Who do you call when you need help? You call your mom.”
Between feeling the need to always be “on call,” needing phones to chase away nightmares or simply using phones as an alarm clock, a lot of smartphones wind up in the bedroom which, Olson said, can interfere with our ability to achieve deep sleep. The notifications might not wake us, but the brain is aware of the pings.
That’s why one of the recommendations for healthier smartphone use at Healthy Screens (a resource that Olson and colleagues launched) is kicking the phone out of bed. There’s also a “Smartphone Addiction Scale” test and other tips for curbing problematic use, including setting the screen to grey-scale, reducing notifications and leaving the phone at home.
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If the thought of doing that made you panic, you’re not alone.
“Come on,” said Grieder, a mother of three, “I would feel like I lost my arm if I left my phone at home.
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