Age-specific perception of fabbing

Abstract

Introduction. In modern society, when many can no longer imagine their lives without smartphones and social networks, new phenomena of social interaction appear, among which fabbing is the practice of ignoring communication partners in favor of a mobile device. The role structure of fabbing is represented by two main positions: the role of fabber – the one who carries out fabbing, neglecting the interlocutor, and the role of fabby – the victim of fabbing – the one who is neglected in the process of communication. At the same time, the data available in psychology indicate a number of negative consequences of fabbing not only for those who are neglected, but also for the fabbers themselves. At the same time, despite numerous studies, some questions concerning fabbing remain open in science, including the specifics of its perception by people of different ages. This article analyzes the ideas about fabbing of young and mature people, the peculiarities of their subjective assessment of the frequency of fabbing and the degree of their own comfort in its presence, as well as self-identification with the role position of fabber and Fabby.Materials and Methods. The study involved 227 people, including 147 respondents of adolescent age (X=19.4+0.71) and 80 respondents of mature age (X=41.6+2.08). To collect empirical data, a set of techniques was used, including a scale of the frequency of mobbing and the degree of comfort in the presence of fabbing; an author's questionnaire; a modified version of the questionnaire by S.Bem.Results and Discussion. It has been established that in the situation of fabbing, mature-aged people feel less comfortable than respondents of youthful age, and fabbing itself is recognized by almost everyone as the norm of behavior in the youth environment. Both similarity and difference of views of persons of youthful and mature age regarding the possible causes and typical consequences of fabbing, feelings of fabby and their own reactions in the situation of fabbing behavior of interlocutors were found. It is stated that, judging by self-identification with the role positions of Fabber and Fabby, both role positions are generally characteristic for girls and boys, whereas for mature women and men, the position of Fabby is more characteristic.Conclusions. Based on the results obtained in an empirical study, we can talk about the presence of some age-specific perception of fabbing, which concerns both views on the phenomenon of fabbing itself and one's own behavior in the situation of its manifestation.