PHUBBING
What is phubbing?
It is the behavior of ignoring a person you’re with and giving your attention to your cell phone instead, which interferes with interpersonal communication and eye contact. Ignoring someone by focusing on your cell phone is called “phubbing”; the “phubber” is the one who engages in this behavior; and the person being ignored the “phubbee”. As with bullying and mobbing, these behaviors are unfortunately now very common in modern societies (Haigh, 2015). A relevant study question, therefore, relates to how behaviors linked to phubbing are considered acceptable or normative in certain social environments.
Our day-to-day life is permeated by the use of cell phones, and we use them more and more every day. We use them to work, study, share information and develop social relationships. However, cell phone use may lead to dependence, tolerance and abstinence, in addition to other problems generally caused by behavioral addictions (Khoo & Yang, 2022).
There are scales that can measure the degree of phubbing. Our team has adapted and validated one to the Argentine context. What is most interesting in this case are the consequences of phubbing such as social isolation or feelings of loneliness, which is why it is important to evaluate a combination of variables.