Fatal Attractions: Attachment to Smartphones Predicts Anthropomorphic Beliefs and Dangerous Behaviors

Jessica E. Bodford, Sau Kwan, David S. Sobota

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

As technology's presence grows increasingly concrete in global societies, so too do our relationships with the devices we keep close at hand from day to day. Whereas research has, in the past, framed smartphone addiction in terms of possessional attachment, the present research hypothesizes that anxious smartphone attachment stems from human attachment, in which Anxiously attached individuals may be more likely to generalize their anxious attachment style to communication devices. In the present study, we found support for this hypothesis and showed that anxious smartphone attachment predicts (1) anthropomorphic beliefs, (2) reliance on - or "clinginess" toward - smartphones, and (3) a seemingly compulsive urge to answer one's phone, even in dangerous situations (e.g., while driving). Taken together, we seek to provide a theoretical framework and methodological tools to identify the sources of technology attachment and those most at risk of engaging in dangerous or inappropriate behaviors as a result of attachment to ever-present mobile devices.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)320-326
Number of pages7
JournalCyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking
Volume20
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2017

Keywords

  • anthropomorphism
  • attachment
  • smartphones
  • texting and driving

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Communication
  • Applied Psychology
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Science Applications

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Fatal Attractions: Attachment to Smartphones Predicts Anthropomorphic Beliefs and Dangerous Behaviors'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this