Cell Phone Addiction, Anxiety, And Performance

2130 Words5 Pages

The Relationship Between Cell Phone Addiction, Anxiety, and Performance Students’ subtly interests of cell phones has been replaced with an obsessive attachment. Cell phones are owned by approximately 96% of all undergraduates and they provide a constant distraction that rarely leaves the side of their user (Smith, Rainie, & Zickuhr, 2011). A study conducted by Junco and Cotten (2012) surveyed “over 1649 college students and found that they (students) spend 97 minutes a day texting, 118 minutes searching the Internet, 41 minutes on Facebook, 49 minutes emailing, and 51 minutes talking on their cell phone;” that is a grand total of 356 minutes spent on cell phones every day. Due to so many students spending such a vast amount of their time on cell phones, it is understandable that they may become addicted to their phones. This addiction to their cell phones creates an atmosphere filled with a never-ending demand for their attention (Junco & Cotten, 2012). This demand for students’ attention can weigh heavily upon their general well-being, possibly affecting their level of anxiety when they are not allowed to touch their cell phone. Lepp, Barkley, Sanders, Rebold, and Gates (2013, p. 79) presume “that college students’ cell phone use is negatively associated with academic performance as well as mental and physical health.” In this study, the relationship between performance and anxiety will be assessed, as well as addiction’s effect on those two variables. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a causal relationship between cell phone addiction on the one hand and anxiety and performance on the other. Past research has shown that students spend a great quantity of time on their cell ... ... middle of paper ... ...64 additional stimuli presented are old or new. They will be instructed by the experimenter as well as directed by onscreen directions to press the ‘o’ key if the sound is old and to press the ‘n’ key if the sound is new. One half of the trials will be new, while the other half will be previously heard stimuli from the auditory study, thus making them old sounds. Lastly, participants will complete a short questionnaire (see Appendix B) on demographic information including items such as gender, race, age, etc. Nevertheless, since it is crucial to keep the purpose of the study secret, questions related to the participants’ cell phone will be vague and brief. After the study is completed, emails will be sent out to participants as a debriefing method to inform them of the deception in the study. Participants will be allowed to reach out for questions if necessary.

Open Document