BEING SEPARATED FROM your smartphone could be making you stupid, according to a new study from the University of Missouri.
The study found that iPhone users who didn’t have their phones immediately available to them performed poorer on cognitive tasks. Separation anxiety from your phone is real, we knew it.
The experiment–which was published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication–saw a group of iPhone users solving a series of puzzles. Participants who were allowed to keep their iPhones on them performed better than those who didn’t. The latter group were even found to experience physical changes such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. Participants were initially told they were testing blood pressure measuring cuffs, and had to have their phone taken away to avoid interference.
The study suggests that due to this physical and psychological side-effects, it’s better to have your phone with you during vital situations to relieve anxiety and improve concentration, though research into the area of nomophobia (the fear of being out of mobile phone contact) sparse.
The study’s lead author Russell Clayton said:
Our findings suggest that iPhone separation can negatively impact performance on mental tasks. Additionally, the results from our study suggest that iPhones are capable of becoming an extension of our selves such that when separated, we experience a lessening of ‘self’ and a negative physiological state.
We’re fine. Totally fine.
