Mobile Phone Use Effects on People’s Lifestyles

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Introduction

With current technological advances, mobile phones have ceased to be a privilege and have become a necessity. According to a recent report, there were 4.78 billion mobile users globally in 2020, which equals about 61% of the world population (Li et al., 2020). However, mobile phones, especially smartphones with internet access, are a double-edged sword: they have given people many new opportunities but also present risks to their well-being. Mobile phones allow individuals to communicate with others over long distances, share different types of data and get immediate access to information. Along with these benefits, smartphones have become a novel source of addiction. Students are especially vulnerable to mobile phone addiction because they are mentally immature and free from responsibilities to their own families (Arefin et al., 2017; Li et al., 2020). Therefore, it is important to study how mobile phones affect individuals’ lifestyles to prevent the development of mobile phone addiction.

Outline

In this presentation, I will discuss the findings of my research on the influence of mobile phones on people’s lifestyles. First, I will provide the background of the problem, demonstrating what challenges mobile phone addiction presents to people, especially students. In particular, I will describe how this addiction manifests and influences students’ lives. Further, I will outline how I conducted my research and what results I obtained. Finally, I will draw conclusions and give recommendations for students and educational institutions regarding how they can prevent and cope with mobile phone addiction.

Background: Signs of Mobile Phone Addiction

First of all, it is necessary to understand what distinguishes mobile phone addiction from healthy regular phone usage. According to Parasuraman et al. (2017), a smartphone-addicted person frequently checks the phone for no reason, is often distracted by phone applications, feels anxious without the phone, and wakes up at night to check mobile notifications. In addition, the study conducted by Boumosleh and Jaalouk (2018) shows that students’ academic performance may suffer if they use their phones for activities unrelated to their education. Another study carried out by Arefin et al. (2017) demonstrated that, like other addictions, smartphone dependency involved withdrawal symptoms, such as the inability to reduce mobile phone usage and feeling anxious and impatient. Thus, mobile phone addiction is an unhealthy behavior manifested by frequent impulsive use of the phone with no real need for it.

Mobile phone addiction has multiple negative consequences for individuals’ health and social functioning. For example, Parasuraman et al. (2017) point out that smartphone addiction leads to dry eyes, computer vision syndrome, neck pain, as well as such mental health issues as insomnia and low self-confidence. According to Gligor and Mozoș (2019), smartphone addiction in students is associated with chronic stress, and Li et al. (2020) have established a correlation between mobile phone dependency and such disorders as anxiety and depression. Ibrahim et al. (2018) investigated the association between sleep quality and smartphone addiction and found that students who extensively used their smartphones during the day had poor sleep quality. Finally, as was mentioned earlier, those students whose extensive phone activities were not related to their studies suffered from poor academic achievement.

Primary Research Design

The purpose of my research was to investigate how mobile phones affect people’s lifestyles. The research method was a survey that was administered online. The study sample included 37 mobile users, 22 of whom were male and 15 female. 16.2% of respondents were 20-year-old and younger; 75.7% were aged between 21 and 40 years, and 8.1% were aged over 40 years. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Respondents were asked questions related to their mobile phone use. Most questions had predetermined answers, but in two questions, participants were asked to provide a short answer.

Results

The results of the survey showed that 45.9% of participants used their mobile phones mainly for social media, 37.8% for calls and messages, 13.5% for games, and 2.8% for business. Almost 60% spend between 2 to 6 hours per day on their smartphones, and for 32% of participants, this time exceeded 6 hours a day.

Further, it has been found that only 8.3% of respondents spend over $200 per month on their mobile phones, and 19.4% spend between $101 and $200. 94.6% of respondents said that they always took a mobile phone when going out, and the rest did so only sometimes. In response to the question about whether they used their phones when asked not to do so, for example, in church or during a family dinner, 70.3% of the respondents answered in the affirmative. It has also been discovered that 10.8% of participants preferred talking over the phone rather than communicating face-to-face. 48.6% preferred face-to-face communication, and 40.5% were comfortable with both options. In addition, the research revealed that phone-related painful experiences were prevalent, and a phone falling on the face occurred the most frequently. Finally, most students had reduced sleep duration because of their phone use. The most frequently mentioned reasons for delaying going to bed were watching YouTube videos or movies and utilizing social media.

Conclusions

Based on the research results, it may be concluded that mobile phone use is highly prevalent among people, but many of them use these devices in an unhealthy way. The study indicates that the majority of participants utilize their smartphones for social media and games, and most of them are willing to violate social norms discouraging the use of mobile phones under certain circumstances. One can also assume that some participants have mobile phone addiction, especially those who prefer communication over the phone rather than face-to-face conversations. According to Basu et al. (2018), such preferences are one sign of smartphone dependency. In addition, most respondents have experienced phone-related painful experiences, such as the phones falling on their faces. It can also be concluded that mobile phone use negatively affects sleep duration because individuals often delay going to bed due to phone activities such as exploring social media and watching movies.

Recommendations for Students

In order to reduce the negative effects of mobile phone use on their lifestyles and academic performance, students should limit the time they spend on their smartphones. They can turn off their mobile phones while studying to eliminate distractions. For improving the quality of sleep, they should not bring their phone to bed. If extensive use of social media or games is an issue, it is recommended that these apps be deleted. Additionally, individuals are advised to replace smartphones with healthier activities, such as exercise or reading, and choose face-to-face communication whenever possible.

Recommendations for Educational Institutions

Educational institutions can help students cope with the negative effects of mobile phone use and prevent addiction. First of all, they should educate students about the consequences of smartphone addiction to create awareness of the problem and lay the foundation for relevant policies. Further, policies prohibiting the use of phones for non-educational purposes can be established. One more recommendation is to encourage students to utilize smartphones for developing cognitive abilities and learning.

Reference List

Arefin, S. et al. (2017) ‘Impact of smartphone addiction on academic performance of business students: a case study, Independent Journal of Management & Production, 8(3), pp. 955-975.

Basu, S. et al. (2018) ‘addiction-like behavior associated with mobile phone usage among medical students in Delhi’, Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 40(5), pp. 446–451.

Boumosleh, J. and Jaalouk, D. (2018) ‘Smartphone addiction among university students and its relationship with academic performance’, Global Journal of Health Science, 10(1), pp. 48-59.

Gligor, Ș., and Mozoș, I. (2019) ‘Indicators of smartphone addiction and stress score in university students’, Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift, 131, pp. 120–125.

Ibrahim, N. K. et al. (2018) ‘Mobile phone addiction and its relationship to sleep quality and academic achievement of medical students at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’, Journal of Research in Health Sciences, 18(3), p. e00420.

Li, Y. et al. (2020) ‘Correlations between mobile phone addiction and anxiety, depression, impulsivity, and poor sleep quality among college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 9(3), pp. 551–571. Web.

Parasuraman, S. et al. (2017) ‘Smartphone usage and increased risk of mobile phone addiction: a concurrent study, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation, 7(3), pp. 125–131. Web.

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