By: iPadfanzz staff on February 11, 2013
The growing breed of smartphones is making young people across the global too tied to the addiction of compulsively touching the smartphone in order to check out the text messages, voice calls, mail, and play games and apps. A new search suggest that people are checking their mobile phone every six-and-a-half minutes.
In total, users check their smartphones an average of 150 times during a waking day of 16 hours, the study revealed.
Psychologists say for some it can become a compulsion while others feel feelings of withdrawal when they are not with their phone.
Dr James Roberts, of Baylor's Hankamer School of Business, in Texas, had said the “instant messaging” addiction was driven by “materialism and impulsiveness”. Mobile forms a big part of out consumer culture, he had said.
Just like other addictions such as compulsive buying and credit card misuse, getting hooked on a mobile is also similar.
It is not that only people with smartphone are addicted to checking their phones frequently, even people who have only feature phones do it numerous times in a day.
Mobile technology consultant Tomi Ahonen who analysed the study, said that people make, receive or avoid 22 phone calls every day.
They also send or receive text messages 23 times a day, Ahonen said, and check the clock 18 times.
Earlier studies have suggested that young adults, aged 18 to 29, send on average 109.5 texts a day, or approximately 3,200 messages a month. They receive an additional 113 texts and check their phones 60 times in a typical day and students spend about seven hours a day interacting with information and communication technology.
Researchers say the over-usage of mobile phones is also due to the reason that they are accessible any time – including during class, park, home – and that their functions are ever expanding, thus making their usage even more likely.
At the same time, researchers say a majority of youngsters claim losing their phone would be "disastrous to their social lives".
A previous study showed that young people are now so addicted to their mobile phones it feels like they have lost a limb when they are without them.
According to a recent study, nearly three out of four Americans said that losing their phone would make them feel "panicked." "This can really exacerbate it or (cause) their symptoms to manifest themselves," a study had said.
A side-effect of this could be seen when someone who already worries about what others think of them could become easily agitated if their phone calls or messages aren't returned right away.
The problem seems to be growing and is taking people away from their regular work.
