Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance

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Abstract Escalating smartphone reliance is a debated issue, especially when it comes to the digital wellbeing of young people. Hence, this article addresses smartphone use as a morally contested activity among young adults. We first analyse the existence of moral dissonance pertaining to one’s own smartphone use – whether one uses the device according to internalised norms or not. Second, we explore moral distancing – to what extent morally problematic smartphone use is ascribed to others rather than to oneself. Combining survey results with focus-group interviews from Sweden, the study shows that moral distancing is less pronounced among young adults than in the overall population. It also shows that young people’s capacity to domesticate digital media in a morally congruent way plays into the social reproduction of gender and class. While the smartphone is socially normalised, young adults, especially women, report a great deal of moral reflexivity and distress in relation to the device.