Smartphones & the silent disruptor: How phubbing erodes social bonds

If children prefer to spend time on smartphones rather than inter‑ acting with others in a social set‑ ting, they are just phub‑ bing. Are they just talking to friends or doom scrolling the content in social media platforms? What happens if phubbing continues?

A recent study*, published in the Current Psychology journal, sheds light on the psy‑ chological and behavioural as‑ pects of phubbing, and reveals its profound impact on inter‑ personal communication and well‑being.

Smartphones are an indispensable part of our daily lives. Even as they help us stay connected and productive, smart‑ phone use has given rise to troubling social behaviour: Phubbing or the act of ignoring people around us, focusing on our phone.

The study surveyed 938 undergrad‑ uate students in the US, 48.4% men and 51.6% women, to explore how social media addiction, Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and personality traits contrib‑ ute to phubbing. Social media addiction emerged as the strongest predictor of phubbing behavior.

Students who scored high on the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS) — a tool used to assess social media habits — were more likely to engage in phubbing, underscoring the addictive pull of platforms that thrive on constant en‑ gagement.

FOMO also played a notable role. Defined as the persistent anx‑ iety that others are enjoying rewarding experiences without us, FOMO drives individuals to com‑ pulsively check their phones. This need for digital connectedness often comes at the ex‑ pense of real‑world relationships. While FOMO was less pre‑ dictive than social media addiction, it still contributes to phub‑ bing tendencies.

Personality traits added another layer of complexity. Students who were more conscientious, organised, disciplined, and mindful, were less likely to dis‑ rupt conversations with phone use. Similarly, extroverts, who thrive on face‑to‑face interactions, showed lower levels of phubbing compared to their in‑ troverted peers.

Conversely, lower emotional stabili‑ ty correlated with higher phone obsession, suggest‑ ing that individuals strug‑ gling with social isolation or anxiety may turn to their devices as compensa‑ tory tools.

Men reported high‑ er phubbing scores than women. This may be linked to broader patterns of ad‑ dictive behaviours, which tend to be more prevalent among men.

The implications are clear. Phub‑ bing is not a trivial annoyance, but a behaviour rooted in psychological vul‑ nerabilities and digital dependencies. It undermines communication, weakens trust and erodes the quality of relation‑ ships. In social contexts, the act of diverting attention to phone signals disengagement, leaving companions feeling undervalued and ignored. Phubbing is clearly a paradox of modern connectivity: While smart‑ phones promise closeness, they often fos‑ ter isolation.

This study confirms that social media addiction is the most powerful driver of phubbing, with FOMO and certain per‑ sonality traits amplifying the risk. As so‑ ciety grapples with the costs of constant connectivity, recognising and curbing phubbing may be essential to promote genuine human interactions.

(The phubbing phenomenon: A cross-sectional study on the relationships among social media addiction, fear of missing out, personality traits, and phubbing behavior, by Li-Chiu Chi, Tseng-Chung Tang & Eugene Tang)

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