1. Mediaite
  2. Gossip Cop
  3. Geekosystem
  4. Styleite
  5. SportsGrid
  6. The Mary Sue
  7. The Jane Dough
  8. The Braiser
/eyeroll

Study Probes the Depths of Cell Phone Attachment, Proves We May Have a Problem

by Erin Podolak | 1:55 pm, August 8th, 2011

No sex, no shoes, no problem? Maybe if you are as attached to your cellphone as one new study would suggest. A new study, commissioned by communications company TeleNav, says that our society is obsessed with cellphones. The study sought an answer to the question: Exactly what would people give up before their cell phone? The answer is a surprising amount of life’s pleasures (and essentials).

The results show there are differences between the different types of smartphone and between genders, but overall, people were willing to go to great lengths to keep their phone in the palm of their hand. A third of all people surveyed were willing to give up sex for a week rather than go without their cellphone (although, 70 percent of these people were women). Another 70 percent said they would give up alcohol, 63 percent were willing to forego chocolate, and 55 percent of people were willing to go without caffeine rather than have no access to their cell phone. However, there were some limits to how far people would take their cellphone separation anxiety.

Only one in five people were willing to go without shoes rather than lose their cellphone, but that is still 21% of people surveyed who would rather walk down the street barefoot than not be able to text. There was an interesting difference in who was willing to go barefoot based on the type of phone owned. Among iPhone owners, 43 percent were willing to go barefoot, while only 27 percent of Android users and 25 percent of BlackBerry owners were willing to relinquish their shoes.

Perhaps the most telling of the survey responses was that 22 percent of people said they would be willing to go a week without seeing their significant other rather than go without their phone. Who needs a girlfriend when you have a smartphone? Not so sure about that one — if you can go without personal relationships because of your phone, it might be time to put the technology down and back away slowly. Check out the infographic below for more details about the study’s findings.

(via All Things D)

  • The ODD God

    I think it’s unfair to say that a person values their cell phone more than their significant other based on this. They weren’t giving up one or the other for life – it was for a week. Some people use their Smartphones for more important purposes than texting, and also just to call and stay in touch with relatives/friends. For some people, their lives would be far less affected by the “loss” of their girlfriend for a week than their cell phone.

  • Talesin BatBat

    Also note that they specified giving up X for a week; didn’t specify that the cellphone would also only be given up for a week. As far as giving up an SO for that long, I know couples that will regularly go a week only even speaking to each other once or twice at *all*. May just have been bad reporting though.

    …wait, sleeping with your cell nearby is a ‘problem’ according to this? I do for convenience… wake up more easily for calls, and not have to wander into another room before it goes to voicemail; it also serves as an alarm/night clock, audiobook reader, and even a remote control for my bedroom ‘tv’ setup (roku box hooked up to an auto-off LCD monitor). 
       Being without a smartphone during the day is a lot more than just not being able to text; at least for me it also loses my encrypted password vault, ability to connect to servers for emergency fixes, email communication with older managers, IM communication with younger managers, on-the-spot fact/fix lookup, GPS navigation to sites, timesheet logging, in-car streaming music, and all of the other things that a ‘feature phone’ (texting, ability to send/receive calls) normally provides.

    I’d honestly be more worried about the 30% who wouldn’t give up alcohol for a week, or the almost 50% who wouldn’t give up exercising. An addiction? Maybe. I just see it as having an incredibly powerful suite of tools to make daily life easier. 
    By the rationale expressed in the article/study, I’m addicted to my electric lighting, too. It’s just another sign of the out-of-touch getting scared as the world changes, and they don’t.

  • http://twitter.com/Cynthia_Burkey Cindi Burkey

    The problem is that people who prefer talking into their machines/paying attention to machines to communicate with people elsewhere are becoming increasingly disconnected to their present, their neighborhoods, their communities, the people they see every day.
    This will have/is having major social implications, which is, I think, the point of this article.  A life not examined is not worth living.  Not to mention that over a quarter of traffic accidents are caused by yakking on headsets and handhelds both, according to the National Safety Council.   Lots of people maimed and dying there.  Definitely a public health and safety issue that needs more exposure.


Abrams Media Network click here for advertising opportunities

© 2012 Geekosystem, LLC | About Us | Advertise | Newsletter | Jobs | Privacy | User Agreement | Disclaimer | Power Grid FAQ | Contact | Archives | RSS RSS
Dan Abrams, Founder | Power Grid by Sound Strategies | Hosting by Datagram