New research provides evidence that people who have been phubbed by their romantic partner are more likely to spy on their partner’s electronic communications. The findings were published in Computers in human behavior.
Phubbing is the act of snubbing someone in favor of your phone. It’s a new phenomenon, made possible by the ubiquitous nature of mobile devices. And it’s becoming more and more common, as more and more people find themselves tethered to their screens. Phubbing can involve ignoring someone trying to talk to you, or simply paying more attention to your phone than the person in front of you. Either way, it’s a form of rudeness that can have a real impact on relationships.
“Digital technology is constantly evolving, and so are the opportunities and challenges it presents for our intimate relationships,” said study author Janneke M. Schokkenbroek (@JMSchokkenbroek), PhD student at the University of Ghent.
“With the ease of access to smartphones and other digital devices, we have the whole world in the palm of our hands, and more and more of our lives are happening online. However, none of us have received manual on how to navigate all of these in-person and online experiences and interactions and foster and maintain healthy relationships at the same time, which is why I started researching the role of digital technology in intimate relationships and the challenges it can present.
Researchers asked 346 participants in romantic relationships to rate how often their partner engaged in phubbing. They also asked participants to report how often they engaged in partner-monitoring behaviors, such as reading their partner’s instant messages or emails. They also performed assessments of the partner’s perceived reactivity and anxiety.
Phubbing was quite common. About 93% of women and 89% of men said they had been phubby by their partner at least once in the past two weeks. Partner-monitoring behaviors were less common. About 38% of women and 21% of men admitted to reviewing their partner’s online behavior at least once in the past two weeks. Watchful behaviors were more common among younger participants, in shorter relationships, and female.
Importantly, Schokkenbroek and colleagues found that the experience of being phubbed was associated with partner monitoring. Those who reported being phubby by a romantic partner more frequently tended to monitor their partner’s electronic communications more frequently.
“The results of our study illustrate that, for some people, the experience of being ignored by their partner because they look at their smartphone instead can lead to feelings of doubt about their partner’s commitment to them, which which can induce feelings of stress and anxiety,” Schokkenbroek told PsyPost. “To deal with these feelings, some people snoop around their partner’s online activities (this is also known as ‘surveillance’. partner email”) to gather information about what their partner is doing when they are so busy on their phone.”
“Almost everyone looks at their phone from time to time while interacting with their partner, but it is important to realize that this can have a negative impact on our partner and our relationship. We need to be aware of this and ensure that our partner still feels validated and heard and does not interpret the phubbing behavior as disinterest in them or the relationship.For example, it may be a good idea to explain to your partner why you are looking at your phone at the time or to include it in the activity.
The results held even after controlling for participants’ gender, age, and relationship duration. But the researchers noted that phubbing alone accounted for only about 5% of the variance in electronic partner monitoring.
“The model we tested explained only a very small part of why people engage in electronic partner monitoring,” Schokkenbroek explained. “This means that there are still many other explanations as to why people spy on their partner’s online activities and how their partner’s phubbing behavior plays a role in this.”
“While our findings provide very important information about the use of harmful technologies in our intimate relationships, it is important to realize that these findings are likely to apply only to a small group of people,” said added the researcher. “The extent to which phubbing behavior is perceived as hurtful differs from person to person and may also depend on the context. Not everyone finds it hurtful that their partner pays attention to their phone rather than them, and not everyone will feel the need to look into their partner’s activities because of it.
“Also, the context in which phubbing occurs can be important to consider: for example, for most people it is probably less of an issue when their partner is paying attention to their phone rather than them when ‘they’re both at home watching TV compared to when they’re at a restaurant having dinner together.
The study, “Phubbed and Curious: The Relationship Between Partner Phubbing and Electronic Partner Monitoring,” was authored by Janneke M. Schokkenbroek, Wim Hardyns, and Koen Ponneta.
#Romantic #partners #phub #spy #digital #communications #study #finds
