After recently reading an article in the Atlantic regarding our generation’s addiction to social media, I wanted to further investigate. The article itself was backed by very few evidence based facts, but I had heard that “FOMO” or “fear of missing out” had become a valid diagnosis according to the most recent DSM. I searched for a study that actually operationalized the psychological impact of social medias, and was most interested in the 2014 study that measured anxiety levels in college aged students when their cell phones were taken away from them. The research question for the journal article was asking whether individuals of low, moderate or heavy mobile device use experience anxiety when their cell phone is taken away from them. I found this topic interesting because college students are the main demographic of cellular device over-usage, something that I did not know but makes sense in relation to my life as well. The three hypotheses stated that:
- Participants without the use of their device will report significantly more anxiety over time, regardless of whether they had their device taken away or it was turned off and out of sight
- Participants without the use of their device will report significantly more anxiety than those with their device close by, even though the latter are not able to access their device
- Participants who use their WMD more during a typical day will report significantly more anxiety than those who use their WMD less in a typical day.
The methodology of the study tested a few conditions related to the three hypotheses. Participants were randomly assigned to have their cell phones taken away and were forced to sit quietly during the study, with State/Trait Anxiety Inventory tests administered in intervals of every 10 minutes. The hypotheses were supported, with participants exhibiting increasing anxiety as time progressed, however this was only displayed by moderate or heavy users of cellular devices. These results imply that constant use of cellular devices is unhealthy and produces a psychological attachment to the devices.
I think this finding is very relatable to myself and my fellow classmates. I have also noticed how people my age participate in their surroundings much less than our parents and even people 10 years older than us. However, I have especially noticed the symptoms of anxiety that come with social media the notifications associated with it. Each platform even utilizes certain colors such as red buttons to alert users. The color blue is utilized for almost every platform because it has been proven to emit a sense of trustworthiness, relaxation and stability. Social media creators hyper investigate the users that they seek. It is in this way that social media platforms run as a business, however instead of financial profit, they benefit off of a social currency that includes time consumption and psychological attachment.
Cheever, N.A., Rosen, L.D., Carrier L.M., Chavez A. (2014). Out of sight is not out of mind: The
impact of restricting wireless mobile device use on anxiety levels among low, moderate and high users. Computers in Human Behavior, 37, 290-297.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563214002805
Additional article: http://www.bluleadz.com/blog/bid/94213/Why-Are-Social-Media-Sites-Blue
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ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting post in that the research provides evidence for the growing amount of attachment to and dependency people have on their phones.
ReplyDeleteI think it makes sense that a young person would feel anxiety from having their phone taken away. It could be caused by a lot of things like the fear of losing or forgetting it and having to replace it. Cellphones can be seen as a link between a person and their ongoing social lives. One can remain "caught up" in other people's lives without seeing them face-to-face. Cell phones help us to remain connected to other people and this allows for a modern kind of intimacy. In the United States, it is as though every person has a cell phone (at least an overwhelming majority of adults do). It has become a convenient, personal, and direct line of contact to each and every person that owns one. Because of this, it has become habitual to carry around a cell phone and this has become intensified by the entertainment value that cell phones possess today. Furthermore, I've seen people cope with awkward situations by mentally extracting themselves and diverting their attention to cell phone notifications. I think that overall, there is convenience, safety, and a sense of inclusivity that cell phones provide and that that is a privilege to have. So much so that the surrendering of a device that links together and personifies a person's social life, is like removing them from it.
From my personal experience, I have cell phone numbers stored in my phone from the past eight years. Not all of these people use Facebook, so my phone is the only way to contact them because I do not have the numbers written down anywhere. I also like to keep my phone safe because I practice photography with it. My phone allows me to carry around a photo album and an address book in my pocket. A phone can become archives of special moments as well and the idea of something happening to all of it is negative enough to illicit a response given the amount of personal importance the device carries.
This post caught my attention because I didn't know that FOMO was a diagnosis in the DSM. I always thought that the term FOMO was something that millennials used frequently almost as a slang term. Therefore, it was very interesting to see the underlying psychological effects. I consider myself a heavy cell phone user, and I've definitely felt anxious without it. A few days ago I misplaced it but I was running late to class, so I went to my classes without my phone. I felt very distracted, for all I could think about was, "I wonder who has texted me. I wonder if anyone has sent me a snapchat. What if someone is trying to call me? What am I missing out on?" Clearly, I experienced FOMO that day. I think that more research should be done on anxiety levels related social media or cell phone use. Based on my experiences and my peers' experiences, I've noticed that simply scrolling through social media newsfeeds can illicit feelings of anxiety.
ReplyDeleteThis post was very interesting because I was not aware that FOMO is considered an official diagnosis by clinicians. Although it was mentioned that FOMO is a disorder described in the DSM-5, I could not find it anywhere in the manual. This led me to question how FOMO is actually classified, because there are a couple different categories I can think of that it might belong to. The first possibility is that FOMO may be classified as an anxiety disorder, since this article is mainly focused on the rising levels of anxiety of those who were removed from their cell phones. However, FOMO may also meet the criteria of a specific phobia. In another Psychology class, we talked about a similar phobia, nomophobia, which is the fear being without your mobile phone. Perhaps FOMO should be categorized as a specific phobia as well. Another possible way to categorize FOMO would be to place it with addictive disorders. There is currently only one 'behavioral addiction disorder' in the DSM-5, however there is discussion of possibly adding an entire section dedicated to this sub-type of addictive disorders to the next version of the manual.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article about the concept of behavioral addictions and how they relate to substance addiction disorders: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3164585/