Country Indicators Moderating the Relationship Between Phubbing and Psychological Distress: A Study in 20 Countries.

Juraj Holdoš,Anise M S Wu,Shu Yu,Bojan Musil,Agata Błachnio,Anita Milanovic,Mithat Durak,Rebecca Bendayan,Elvis Mazzoni,Julia Gorbaniuk,Aneta Przepiórka,Meiko Makita,María J Blanca,Monika Mcneill,Martina Benvenuti,Gwendolyn Seidman,Ana Ivanova,Belén Rando,Sadia Malik,Lancy D’Souza,Emre Şenol-Durak ,Ana María Abreu ,Igor Pantić ,Mariek Vanden Abeele ,Alan César Belo Angeluci ,Menachem Ben‐Ezra ,Tihana Brkljačić ,Nenad Čuš Babič ,Mariusz Wołońciej,Oleg Gorbaniuk

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.588174

Abstract

Problematic mobile phone use can be related to negative mental states. Some studies indicate that behavioural dependency is related to variables associated with the country of origin. The aim of our study was to investigate if country indicators moderated the relationship between phubbing and psychological distress. Our sample consisted of 7,315 individuals from 20 countries, who completed the Phubbing Scale and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). The analyses also included country indicators: the Gender Gap Index (GGI), the Human Development Index (HDI), the Social Progress Index (SPI), Hofstede’s dimensions of culture, and the World Happiness Index (WHI). Our results showed that psychological distress was related to at least one dimension of phubbing (i.e., to communication disturbance or phone obsession) in all countries, which means this relationship is culturally universal. The results of the study demonstrate the importance of testing measurement invariance to determine what type of analysis and what type of conclusion are valid in a given study or comparison. Moreover, the increasing or decreasing correlation between phubbing and distress is related to some culture-level indices.

Highlights

A great body of research reports the increasing use of mobile phones (e.g., Lopez-Fernandez et al, 2017; Al-Saggaf and MacCulloch, 2019)
The results of our study demonstrate the importance of measurement invariance testing, the results of which indicate what type of analysis and what type of conclusion are valid in a given cross-cultural comparison
We have found that psychological distress is related to communication disturbance and that, for the most part, this relation is culturally universal

Summary

Introduction

A great body of research reports the increasing use of mobile phones (e.g., Lopez-Fernandez et al, 2017; Al-Saggaf and MacCulloch, 2019). A new phenomenon has emerged recently, whereby phone users ignore other people around them by using their mobile phones instead (Karadaget al., 2015; Abeele, 2019; Abeele et al, 2019; Balta et al, 2020) This phenomenon is called “phubbing,” and its name is derived from two words: “phone” and “snubbing.” Phubbing behaviour is typically seen among individuals who are distracted by their phone when it is not ringing or vibrating and who are not paying attention to others around them (Afdal et al, 2019). Phubbing in turn often leads to violations of cultural values and to disrespectful attitudes, regardless of culture (Afdal et al, 2019)

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