Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people

Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people. Kostadin Kushlev, Jason D.E. Proulx and Elizabeth W. Dunn. Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 76, November 2017, Pages 68-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.001

Highlights
•    We assessed the costs and benefits of relying on smartphones for information.
•    People were randomly assigned to look for a building with or without their phones.
•    People relying on their phones found the building faster and felt happier.
•    Participants using phones talked to fewer people and felt less socially connected.
•    On-the-go information is useful but has a hidden cost: missed social opportunities.

Abstract: In less than a decade, smartphones have transformed how, when, and where people access information. We propose that turning to technology for information may lead individuals to miss out on opportunities to cultivate feelings of social connection. Testing this hypothesis, we asked participants to find an unfamiliar building and randomly assigned them to solve this everyday problem either with or without their smartphones. Compared to those who could not rely on technology, participants who used their smartphones found the building more easily but ended up feeling less socially connected. Although having access to smartphones improved participants’ mood by making their task easier, this beneficial effect was diminished by the costs to social connection. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that the benefits of pervasive connectivity may be undercut when technology supplants social interactions.