Effect of cell phone attachment-Final Research Paper

Running head: EFFECT OF CELL PHONE ATTACHMENT 1
Effect of Cell Phone Attachment on Anxiety Levels
Andrea Duenas, Bernadette Enriquez, Gurvinder Hothi, and Jacqueline Limon
Mt. San Antonio College

EFFECT OF CELL PHONE ATTACHMENT 2
Abstract
The purpose of our study was to find out whether having one’s cell phone taken away
would increase one’s anxiety level. The participants in the study were all Mt. San Antonio
College psychology students, and they were asked by their professors to participate to receive
extra credit. 37 participants, 25 females and 12 males, ranging from ages 18 to 52, participated in
the research. Participants were spilt up into two groups: the control group where students kept
their cell phones and the experimental group where students were asked to hand over their cell
phones. The data were collected by giving the two groups a passage to read, a memory test and
an anxiety test. The only difference was that the experimental group had their cell phones taken
away at the beginning of the experiment. The data revealed significant findings. Those who had
their cell phones taken away had higher anxiety levels than those who did not. Perhaps this
reveals the level of attachment people in today’s society have to their cell phone and how being
away from their devices causes distress.

Effect of Cell Phone Attachment on Anxiety Levels
Doesn’t it seem like everywhere we go, out to restaurants, in school, on the bus, at
amusement parks, almost anywhere we can think of, we can look around see that most people are
doing something on their cell phones? Cell phones are everywhere and almost everyone has one.
They have completely changed our lives. Today, people go out to eat with their friends and loved
ones, and often times they are not even communicating with each other! No, they are all sitting at
the table with their eyes glued to their cell phones. We have also often heard people say that if
they forget their cell phones at home for the day, their whole day turns upside down. They are
thinking about the absence of their phone all day, often times making themselves nervous. The
worst part of it all though, is when people commit the dangerous act of using their cell phone and
driving. So why is it, that even after we have seen and heard the countless tragedies of people
being seriously injured or killed because they were distracted by their cell phone while driving,
so many people continue to drive distracted? It seems that the impulse of checking their cell
phone is too strong that they could not possibly wait until they were no longer driving to check
it. Is this impulse brought on by an extremely strong attachment to cell phones? Has our
obsession with technology gone too far, or do the benefits and advances created by technology
undermine the potential dangers?
Subrahmanyam and Greenfield (2008) tap into the beginning layers of this important and
interesting discussion. The researchers conducted a review of the research on the topic of
technology and how it impacts the lives of youth. The main research question posed was “Is time
spent in online communication coming at the expense of time spent in face-to-face
communication?” (p.124). They established that they would answer this question by using a
theoretical framework that would examine how technology would shape two important ideas of

adolescence: how they establish interpersonal connections and how they construct their
identities. Other questions that were posed throughout the article included: “How does
adolescents’ electronic communication with their friends affect their friendship networks and, in
turn, their well-being?” (p. 125) and “what role do cell phone usage have on family life?” (p.135)
The participants targeted throughout the article were youth, primarily in their teens and twenties.
The majority of the many studies presented in the article were large survey studies. Many of
them were conducted online, which helped keep the information confidential, thus often leading
to honest results. A couple experiments that were conducted were also referenced. The authors
used the works of many other researchers to make conclusions about the different questions
presented in the paper. The authors believe that many of society’s traditional issues, which
include: intimacy, sexuality and identity, have all been pushed onto an electronic platform. The
authors said that even though technology has many benefits, including the possibility of relieving
social anxiety caused by social rejection, the benefits go hand-in-hand with a vast array of
problems. The authors stated that society has the enormous challenge of keeping adolescents
physically and psychologically safe, while at the same time allowing them to explore themselves
as they develop a healthy state of being/self. The ability to figure out how to increase the benefits
of technology, while at the same time trying to eliminate all the potential hazards that technology
brings, is a problem to be tackled by future researchers. The authors concluded the paper by
stating that the relationships and interactions that adolescents have in real-life will affect how
they use the ‘electronic world’ and, in turn, how it will impact their development. The different
ways in which people use the electronic devices to communicate with others could leave lasting
impressions of relationships and how people feel about themselves.

Reid and Reid (2007) express the different ways people use their cellphones, and how it
affects them. The researchers asked about why people tend to communicate through short
message service (SMS) in their relationships, instead of communicating directly face-to-face, or
even simply calling someone over the phone. Text messages seem to be used more frequently
due to one having more time to analyze a message before it being sent. The researchers also
questioned if people that socially interact via the internet would be happier than people who
prefer texting. The researchers had two different hypotheses, the first being that loneliness and
social anxieties would not be correlated, and the preferences of individuals would be linked
towards their own divergent opinions. The second hypothesis states that individuals’ divergent
beliefs correspond to social anxiety and loneliness within cellphone users.
For this research, the authors randomly selected participants by using a research website
questionnaire. A total of 158 participants completed the survey in which they declared they
owned at least one cell phone device (p. 2). The participants were between the ages of 16 and 55
years of age, 20.9% were from the United States, and 51.3% were from the United Kingdom.
The research included several variables. Social anxiety was measured by a 15-item interaction
anxiousness subscale of the Leary Social Anxiousness scale. This was used to measure the
participants’ anxiety level before any social encounters. Loneliness was measured by the UCLA
version of Loneliness Scale, where it assessed subjective feelings, loneliness, shyness, and social
isolation. The amount of cell phone use was measured by two different types of surveys; one was
based off 26 items of Leung’s online chat survey that expresses affection for entertainment,
relaxation to appear fashionable, sociable, and for escapism. The last variable to be measured
was preferences for texting and talking on the cellphone. This was measured by three questions:
Do they prefer talking or texting? What is an individual’s estimated number of text messages

they receive/send over a month? And lastly, the researchers asked the participants for the number
of phone calls they made in the same month.
The first hypothesis suggested that loneliness, and anxiousness were not correlated.
Through their research, they found that this hypothesis was supported. People who were lonely
preferred making phone calls instead of text messaging, and anxious people preferred to use text
messaging instead of making phone calls. For the second hypothesis, the researchers indicated
that loneliness, and anxiousness would be formed differently by each person. This hypothesis
was also supported, for each individual had different perspectives depending on their self-
presentation, intimacy level, and escapism. Finally, the divergent beliefs of an individual differed
from the participant’s social contacts. This research provides an interesting insight into how
loneliness and anxiety can affect the way people use cell phones. Alternatively, it would be
interesting to see how the intensive use of cell phones affect other aspects of human behavior.
Murdock (2013) investigated the interesting relationship between people’s use of text
messaging and sleeping patterns. Murdock hypothesized that the number of daily text messages
that a person sends, would have an effect on sleeping patterns, feeling of being burnt-out, and on
overall well-being. The main participants in this study were 83 first year college students that
included 56 women and 27 men, all between the ages of 18 and 21 years of age. Their ethnicities
were white (75%), black/ African-American (5%), Hispanic/Latino (5%), Asian (4%), biracial
(4%), and those of whom declined to state their ethnicities (8%). These participants were
selected by their own willingness to participate in the study and were promised extra credit in
their psychology classes. After being selected for the study, the participants completed a consent
form and filled out their surveys on computers that were only to be used for this study. The data
were collected simply by asking the participants to reveal their age, gender, race, how many text

messages they had sent that day, how were they were feeling that day, and other related
questions. The variables that were being studied were interpersonal stress, number of daily texts,
academic and social burnout, well-being, and sleeping problems. To measure interpersonal stress
they used The Bergen Social Relationship, to measure academic and social burnout they used the
Maslach Burnout Inventory, and to measure sleeping problems they used the Pittsburgh Sleep
Quality Index. This study concluded that there was no difference between genders when
measuring each factor. Although, when it came to the levels of interpersonal stress it did show
higher levels of feeling burnout, but the number of daily texts did not affect the feeling of being
burnt out. When it came to well-being, the number of daily texts was not a predictor of how they
felt about themselves. Lastly, when predicting the students’ sleeping patterns, they discovered
that the number of daily text messages sent negatively affected the students’ sleeping patterns.
Overall, the research supported that the number of daily text messages sent did in fact affect
sleep in first year college students. Since texting can have such adverse effects on sleeping
patterns, it would be interesting to investigate other ways in which cell phone usage can be
harmful to the user and others around the user.
Weller, Shackleford, Dieckmann, and Slovic (2013) hypothesized that one's personal
level of attachment to one's phone would predict the number of times one would engage in risky
driving behaviors, such as talking or texting while driving, and accessing the internet to use
social media such as Facebook or Instagram while driving (Weller et al., 2013). The study was
conducted with a sample of (N=1006) young drivers between the ages of 17-28. The researchers
claimed to have taken a representative sample of young drivers nationwide. The participants
were categorized as either Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, or
mixed race. As a result, 78.1% of the participants were Caucasian, 5.9% African American, 7.4%

Hispanic, and 8.7% either “Other, Non-Hispanic” or “mixed race”. The participants were also
categorized by educational level, such as high school graduate, college graduate, or some
college.
In addition, the researchers used specific criteria for drivers to be eligible in the study.
One was eligible if one possessed a valid U.S driver’s license, was between the ages of 17 and 28
years old, drove at least three times per week and owned a cell phone (Weller et al., 2013). The
researchers used a survey sent out to eligible participants via email. The researchers invited 3216
people to participate in the study. Out of the 3216 emails sent, 1734 people declined to
participate and 1482 accepted. Those who were accepted then completed a screener. Out of the
1482 people who completed the screener, 173 did not possess a driver’s license, 173 did not
drive three days per week, and 55 did not own a cell phone. This left 1041 who qualified for the
study. One thousand and six people then completed the survey, while 35 were categorized as
incomplete responses or careless responding. The survey was conducted through Knowledge
Networks, an online research survey panel used for government and academic research.
Incentives such as raffle and cash prizes were given in order to encourage participation and
survey completion.
The authors identified the variables in the study as cell phone attachment and engagement
of risky driving behavior. Eligible participants answered questions about driving behaviors and
about perceived dangerous driving behavior. Additionally, they were asked to self-report the
number of driving trips in which they used their phone to text or talk. Finally, they were asked
about the level of attachment they had to their cell phone by using a Likert scale in which they
indicated their level of agreement by rating how they would feel if they left their phone at home
or if they would rather lose their wallet or cell phone, etc.

The authors found that a driver’s age predicted risky driving behavior. In addition, this
research study confirmed past research that stated that the less one perceived cell phone use
while driving as risky, the more one engaged in this type of behavior. Most importantly, this
research supported the hypothesis and found that the more attached one felt to their cell phone,
the higher the number of times one would engage in cell phone use while driving. These findings
are significant because it will help shape future research involving driving and cell phone use,
and additionally, it helps pave the way for future research, where cell phone attachment and
anxiety can be measured.
The research indicates that people have acquired an increased level of attachment towards
their cell phones in recent years. We predict that most Mt. San Antonio College Psychology
students have a strong level of object attachment towards their phone, which we predict will
cause a high level of anxiety when we take their cell phones away.
Weller et al. (2013) research confirmed that although one was aware of the risks involved
while using a cell phone and driving, one would still choose to use it if their attachment was
high. In the current study, we predict high levels of anxiety when our participants’ phones are
taken away. We plan to randomly assign two groups of Mt. San Antonio College Psychology
students to participate in a study where they will be told they are participating in a study about
memory. Out of the 40 participants, 20 will be in the experimental group and 20 will be in the
control group. In the experimental group, we will ask the participants to hand over their cell
phones before starting the memory test. After they take the memory test, we will also ask them to
take an anxiety test. The control group will not be asked to give up their cell phones but will take
the memory and anxiety tests. In our study, our independent variable will be cell phone
possession and the dependent variable will be their anxiety level. We hope that by conducting

research on cell phone possession and anxiety, our study will help to further the understanding of
cell phone attachment and how it affects our everyday lives.
Method
Participants
The participants in the study consisted of Mt. San Antonio College Psychology students.
The total number of participants in the study was 40. We had 2 conditions and each group
participated in just 1 of those conditions. There were 20 in our experimental (cell phone taken
away) and 20 in our control group (cell phone NOT taken away). In the experimental group there
were 10 females and 10 males, and in the control group there were a total of 12 females and 8
males. The mean age of the participants was 23.3 years old. In the experimental group there was
about (40%) Hispanic, (30%) Caucasian, (20%) African American and (10%) other. In our
control group there was about (50%) Hispanic, (20%) Caucasian, (15%) African American, and
(15%) other. Participants were asked by their psychology professor to voluntarily participate in
the study and were offered extra credit in their classes after participation.
Materials and Procedure
The materials used to collect the data for this study were 20 post-it notes that kept track
of the participants’ cell phones, six clear containers that held participants’ cell phones in plain
sight, a memory test, and an anxiety test that measured participants’ anxiety levels with and
without their cellphones. A script was used to automate the experiment; this ensured that all
participants received the exact same instructions.
Before we began the study, participants read and signed a consent form in order to
participate which made them aware that no harm would be done to them. In order to manipulate
the independent variable the participants were divided into two groups. One group kept their cell

phones, while the other group gave permission to lose the possession of their cellphone in order
to continue to take part in the study. Whether the cell phone was kept or taken away, each group
was given both a memory test and an anxiety test. The memory test included a short story titled
“Sub Sandwich” followed by five questions such as asking what type of sandwich was made, and
other questions that tested memory pertaining to the story. The memory test itself served as a
deterrent to the actual study, and did not provide any data about the groups. After the memory
test was completed, the participants took an anxiety test. The anxiety test was used to measure
the participants’ anxiety level by asking questions about how they were feeling. During the
entirety of the study, the researchers were taking mental notes of the participants’ behavior to see
if we noticed any anxious behaviors occurring (nail biting, hair twirling, pencil tapping, etc.) and
whether they differed between groups.
Once all tests were complete, the experimental group had their phones returned to them.
The entire experiment lasted approximately 20 minutes. A debriefing statement explaining the
purpose of the study was then read to all participants. We explained our hypothesis that the
group whose cell phone was taken away would show increased anxiety when compared to the
group that kept their cell phones. Finally, the participants were thanked for participating, were
given contact information if they had any other questions or concerns regarding the study, and
were then dismissed.
Results
We hypothesized that those students who had their cell phones taken away would have
higher anxiety levels than those students who did not have their cell phones taken away. In order
to investigate whether having one’s cell phone taken away had an effect on one’s anxiety, we
conducted an independent t-test. The t-test compared the anxiety levels of those students who

had their cell phone taken away to those who did not. The t-test revealed significant findings.
Those students that had their cell phone taken away did in fact have a higher level of anxiety,
(M=8.556) than those students who did not have their cell phones taken away (M=5.4211),
t(35)= -2.120, p= .041. We also conducted an independent t-test to see if students’ memory was
significantly affected by our study. We found no relationship between memory and keeping the
cell phone (M=3.8421) nor having the cell phone taken away (M=4.2222), t(35)= -1.212, p=
.232.
Discussion
This research project was conducted in order to see how people’s attachment to their cell
phones can in turn negatively affect their anxiety levels when provoked. In order to assess this
relationship we led a research study where we told our participants we were studying memory. In
our experimental group we took their cell phones away from them, and in the control group we
mentioned no cell phones at all. We then looked at the relationship between whether or not we
took the cell phone away and how high the anxiety levels were in each group. We hypothesized
that the experimental group would have higher levels of anxiety after having their cell phones
taken away from them compared to the control group. Our hypothesis was supported in our
research experiment. The experimental group had significantly higher levels of anxiety, which
supports our hypothesis that when people are removed from having access to their cell phones,
they will feel more anxious compared to peers who are able to keep access to their phones. We
also gave our participants a memory test, and thought it would be interesting to look at the
memory scores to see if we found any significant findings. We looked to see whether or not
having their cell phone taken away would impact their ability to perform on the memory test. We

found no evidence of this and there was no relationship between memory and cell phone
possession.
The anxiety results make perfect sense when we think about how technology has taken
over our lives. A large number of the people in the United States today own at least one
technological device; whether it is a cell phone, a tablet, or a laptop computer, and they often
carry this device with them wherever they go throughout their daily lives. Because technology
has grown into such a large part of people’s lives, and it is used to help in so many different
ways, it only makes sense that people feel such a strong level of attachment to their phones that it
can potentially lead to feelings of anxiety. In an article by Weller et al. (2013), the researchers
suggest that one’s personal level of attachment to a cell phone could predict how often a person
would engage in risky driving behaviors involving a cell phone, for example, talking or texting
while driving. This research implies that even though people know that using their phone while
driving is dangerous and could potentially lead to an accident, they still engage in these
behaviors because of the level of attachment they have to their cell phones. People engage in
known risky behaviors because they essentially ‘can’t help themselves’ and need to be on their
phones. Our study contributes to this understanding because it further supports the idea that
people are intensely attached to their cell phones, so much so that even being separated from
their phones for less than 40 minutes was enough to cause significant anxiety, even when their
cell phone was in plain sight. Another study by Karla Murdock (2013) suggested that as the
number of text messages sent daily increased, this would in turn have a negative impact on
students’ sleeping patterns. This research proposes that people are using their cell phones so
excessively that it is having an effect on the amount of satisfactory sleep they had every night.
Our current research also contributes support to the past research in that people may be engaging

in cell phone usage so much that it is having an overall negative affect on their well-being and
safety.
Some limitations of our study begin with our sample. We had a sample of 38, a relatively
small sample and one that was made up entirely of Mt. San Antonio College psychology students
wanting extra credit. If the study had been made up of a larger number and more diverse people,
then our results would have been more robust and more easily generalized. Secondly, in order to
get a better idea about how strong the level of attachment actually was for each participant, we
could have borrowed an idea previously used by Weller et al. (2013), and asked participants
questions such as “if you left your cell phone at home for the day, how anxious would you feel?”
or “on a scale from 1-10, how important is your cell phone to you?” Asking questions like these
would provide more insight into how attached people truly are to their phones by means of
personal reporting. By having people self-report attachment levels and then conducting a
research study, like our current research, it would provide stronger evidence that it indeed was
the removal of the cell phones that caused the spike in anxiety levels in our participants. Finally,
in our current research, we saw a lot of within group variance in our experimental group. A small
number of participants had extremely low anxiety level scores (0 and 1), which could have
potentially pulled down the experimental group anxiety level average, implying that the true
anxiety level difference should have been even more pronounced and our results even more
significant. With these results and findings in mind, society as a whole should look at how we
use technology and cell phones and whether the ever-growing trend is healthy for us in the long
run.
We believe research in the field of technology attachment is one worth much interest and
study. As technology becomes more and more relevant and prominent in our daily lives we need

to understand both the benefits and the repercussions of such a rapidly changing world. In
Subrahmanyam and Greenfield’s (2008) research, they began to ask the question whether the
exponential growth in technology is at the expense of true face-to-face communication. Although
technology has been an incredible gift and has helped many people in an immensely wide variety
of ways, some believe that society is losing touch with what it means to communicate and
engage with others. Our research also suggests that we need to look into the complications with
basic safety when it comes to handling technology behind the wheel. It has become an epidemic
that many people are causing fatal car accidents because they refuse to put their cell phones
down while they are behind the wheel. Further research into how we can reverse this trend, and
make driving safe again definitely needs to be conducted. Many other questions come up, such
as ‘how did we become so attached to our technological possessions?’ and ‘are there concerns
for crossing the line into addiction when it comes to our cell phones?’ Answering these and other
related questions may push our current research further and may also offer more insight into why
it is that people show such strong anxiety when their cell phones are taken away from them. In
short, technology is not going away, and if anything is only becoming a stronger force in our
lives. It is for the betterment of society as a whole for researchers to look deeper into this
technological obsession, and potentially uncover renowned ways to maximize the benefits of cell
phone use and minimize the risks and dangers that often come with it.

References
Murdock, K. K. (2013). Texting while stressed: Implications for students’ burnout, sleep, and
well-being. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 2(4), 207-221.
Reid, D.J., & Reid, F.J.M. (2007). Text or talk? Social anxiety, loneliness, and divergent
preferences for cell phone use. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, 10(3), 424-435.
Subrahmanyam, K., & Greenfield, P. (2008). Online communication and adolescent
relationships. The Future of Children, 18(1), 119-146.
Weller, J. A., Shackleford, C., Dieckmann, N., & Slovic, P. (2013). Possession
attachment predicts cell phone use while driving. Health Psychology, 32(4), 379-387.

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