Attached to your smartphone? A dyadic perspective on perceived partner phubbing and attachment in long-term couple relationships

Abstract

Partner phubbing (Pphubbing) means snubbing a romantic partner by using one's smartphone in his or her presence. Pphubbing behavior has been predicted by characteristics such as neuroticism or attachment insecurity and has been associated with lower relationship satisfaction. Little is known about the influence of Pphubbing in long-term couples. We used data of 163 German heterosexual couples with an average relationship duration of 22 years to investigate interrelations of perceived Pphubbing with relationship satisfaction, age, and attachment orientation. Pphubbing was associated with attachment orientation and with younger age in both sexes, and with lower relationship satisfaction in men, but not in women. Dyadic analyses showed an overall actor effect of attachment anxiety as well as a partner effect of attachment avoidance in women. We also identified interaction effects of attachment avoidance and sex. These findings are discussed in the light of long-standing attachment dynamics and gender roles in long-term couples, and regarding possible mechanisms by which attachment and perceived Pphubbing impact relationship satisfaction.