I recently read a study about Addictive Personality and Problematic Mobile Phone Use done by Motoharu Takao, Ph. D., Susumu Takahashi, M.S., and Masayoshi Kitamura, M.A. Their study tried to see if there was a correlation between commonly known addictive personality traits and problematic cell phone use. The personalization of a mobile phone can also be a mean of self identity, which leads to over attachment to mobile phones. There is a lack of reliable diagnostic markers but the study examined similarities between other addictive behaviour such as smoking, drugs, alcohol abuse, internet, and gambling. People addicted to their mobile phones usually are characterized by being depressed, lost, or isolated without their phone, their work and lives are disturbed by frequent calls, texts, emails and active chats. Self monitoring, low self esteem, approval motivation, and loneliness are also well known predictor traits for addictive tendencies. Low self esteem is closely related to problematic mobile phone use as well as other kinds of addictive behavior. Approval motivation and self monitoring is closely related to extraversion and self esteem which are possible predictors to problematic cell phone use.
The study concluded that problematic mobile phone use was a function of gender, self monitoring and approval motivation but not of loneliness. High self-monitors are social in nature and sensitive to social cues and susceptible to peer pressor. They are more prone to risk behavior and sensation seeking problematic behavior. Approval motivation is closely related to problematic mobile phone use because they are disposed to seeking approval, assurance and admiration among their peers. They said that management of problematic use could be done in two ways, one could focus on the functions of the mobile device. Mobile devices could be designed purely to display their functions without a design that would stimulate or fascinate problematic users. Another way could be teaching students about awareness to the possiblity of being addicted to their mobile phone and therefore possibly preventing problematic use.
This study really came close to home because recently a law has been passed in Maryland that makes it illegal to use hand held devices while driving, yet there are still people on the road using their phones while driving. This activity NEEDS to stop. There have been MANY texting while driving accidents and it has been proven over and over again that taking your eyes off the road for just a second could result in an accident. Now that we know the traits that are correlated to problematic use, maybe we could develop ways to help these people. Or possibly since technology seems to get better and better each year, maybe develop technology that SOLVES these problems.
For my concluding note, PLEASE DO NOT TEXT and DRIVE. My car was rear ended and TOTALLED on 495 a few months ago, because of a MOTHER who had her 4 year old son in the car was looking at her phone while driving. If I wasn't paying attention, it could have been a 3+ car pile up, but I saw the person in front of me STOP because I DON'T text and drive anymore. I slowed down and was able to avoid hitting the person in front of me, but unfortunately the person behind me did not, and she hit me at almost 60 mph. So if there is any lesson to be taken away from this, it is obvious that there is problematic cell phone use and it needs to end.
