Background: Smartphone addiction can have negative consequences such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and a loss of social connectivity. Understanding smartphone addiction is still in its early stages, but self-regulation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are two established risk factors. Exploring these risk factors and their impact on individuals’ well-being may help prevent smartphone addiction. Objective: This study aims to (1) explore the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological and social well-being (e.g., friendship validation and caring, and friendship and intimate exchange) among adolescents. (2) Examine whether self-regulation mediates the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being and social well-being. (3) Examine whether attention mediates the relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being and social well-being. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in middle school in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Students (Grade 6-8) completed an online survey that measured smartphone addiction, attention, self-regulation, and psychological and social well-being. A bivariate correlational analysis was used to examine the relationship between smartphone addiction, self-regulation, attention psychological well-being, and social well-being. Multiple mediation analyses were used to perform the mediation between smartphone addiction, attention, self-regulation, and psychological and social well-being. Results: The bivariate correlation showed significant negative associations between smartphone addiction and attention, self-regulation, psychological well-being, and friendship validation and caring. Smartphone addiction did not have a significant relationship with friendship intimate exchange. The mediation analysis showed that attention was a significant mediator between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being (indirect effect= -.102; 95% CI -.142, -.066) and between smartphone addiction and friendship validation and caring (indirect effect= -.056; 95% CI -.093, -.024; direct effect= -.071; 95% CI -.155, .013). Attention did not significantly mediate the relationship between smartphone addiction and the friendship intimate exchange aspect of social well-being (indirect effect= -.005; 95% CI -.026, .016). Self-regulation showed a significant partial mediation between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being (indirect effect= -.016; 95% CI -.034, -.002). Self-regulation did not significantly mediate the relationship between smartphone addiction and friendship validation and caring (indirect effect=-.014; 95% CI -.034, .001) and friendship intimate exchange (indirect effect=-.001; 95% CI -.007, .007). Conclusion: The results indicated that the negative relationship between smartphone addiction and psychological well-being can be partially explained by adolescents’ attention and self-regulation abilities. The negative relationship between smartphone addiction and social well-being (validation and caring) can be partially explained by adolescents’ attention. However, both aspects of social well-being (validation and caring and intimate exchange) were not impacted by self-regulation. This study identified potential mediators that may be used for future interventions to prevent smartphone addiction and promote wellbeing. / Graduate

Smartphones har blivit en naturlig del av vår vardag och smarta applikationer ger oss ständigt nya möjligheter. Samtidigt som det finns många positiva sidor med tekniken är det av vikt att undersöka vilka konsekvenser den teknologiska utvecklingen kan få på människor samt vad orsakerna bakom detta är. Smartphones har ökat i tillgänglighet och vi kan bli beroende av dess funktioner, men även beroende av möjligheterna de ger oss. Denna studie undersökte samband mellan personlighetsdrag, symtom på psykisk ohälsa och smartphoneberoende bland studenter (n = 103). Smartphoneberoende mättes utifrån skalan SAS-SV. Ett webbformulär publicerades på studentplattformar med frågor om smartphoneberoende, personlighet och psykisk ohälsa. Ett positivt samband mellan depression, ångest, stress och smartphoneberoende hittades. Bland personlighetsdrag hade neuroticism ett positivt samband med smartphoneberoende samt extraversion och samvetsgrannhet hade ett negativt. Regressionanalys visade att neuroticism positivt och samvetsgrannhet negativt kunde predicera smartphonebeorende. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån tidigare litteratur och vi föreslår att mer longitudinell forskning behövs för att fastslå eventuell kausalitet. / Smartphones have become a natural part of our everyday life and smart applications constantly give us new possibilities. While there are many positive aspects of the technology, it is important to examine what the consequences could be of the technological development. Smartphones have increased in availability and we have become addicted to the opportunities everyday technologies such as smartphones offer us. This study examined the relationships between personality traits, symptoms of mental illness and smartphone addiction among students (n = 103) using web-based assessments. Smartphone addiction was assessed with SAS-SV. We found positive associations between mental symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and smartphone addiction. Neuroticism had a positive relationship with smartphone addiction but other Big Five personality traits such as extraversion and conscientiousness showed negative association with smartphone addiction. Regression analysis showed that neuroticism positively, but conscientiousness negatively predicted smartphone addiction in our sample. We discussed our results according to the previous literature and suggest that further longitudinal research is needed to determine possible causality between the measured factors.

The development of smartphones packed with applications has brought great convenience to, and improved the quality of, people’s daily lives, but it has also changed people’s behavior. People spend more and more time on mobile phones every day, leaving them distracted, affecting their sleep quality, and thereby giving rise to the concept of smartphone addiction. As a major group of smartphone users, college students have also experienced situations in which the use of mobile phones has decreased their learning efficiency as they try to escape from academic pressure. This article presents quantitative research on college students in Halmstad and aims to explore the connection between smartphone addiction and interaction anxiousness. Data was collected from a sample of 123 smartphone-using college students using an incidental sampling method; questionnaires provided a scale to rate smartphone addiction and interaction anxiousness. Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 23 was used to analyse descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent-sample t-test, and regression and so on.  According to the results, smartphone addiction is not common among college students. The overall status of college students’ interaction anxiousness is close to a moderate level. Levels of interaction anxiousness varied significantly depending upon gender, subject and grade. There is a significant positive correlation between smartphone addiction and interaction anxiousness. Interaction anxiousness has a certain predictive effect on smartphone addiction.

Many of us have grown up or have been acquainted with individuals who have grown up with smartphones in educational settings. We are well aware of how disruptive they can be, and I myself am not an exception. There have been instances when I have become distracted by my smartphone while studying, whether it was due to a notification popping up or feeling overwhelmed by a challenging assignment or a lack of understanding. My classmates have faced similar challenges. This served as the motivation behind my thesis: Can I, through the application of design, mitigate students' smartphone usage while studying? I set a personal goal to design a physical concept rather than a digital one, as I believed that there are already numerous digital alternatives available in the form of mobile applications and existing functions within smartphone operating systems. The design process employed in this thesis follows the Double Diamond approach, which encompasses both divergent and convergent thinking. Initially, extensive exploration of the subject was conducted through a literature review and benchmarking. Subsequently, the problem was defined through methods such as interviews and surveys to determine the validity of the project's objectives. During the development phase, co-design played a pivotal role, incorporating techniques such as brainstorming and dot-voting to ensure the solution was designed by students, for students. Finally, the delivery phase focused on presenting a finalized concept, employing sketches, prototypes, and digital models. Ultimately, the final concept takes the form of an accessory for existing smartphones that simplifies their functionality. This accessory conceals all notifications on the screen, leaving only incoming calls visible and actionable. Functionally, the concept serves as a reminder to students to refrain from checking their phones while studying, effectively reducing their inclination to do so. It introduces a deliberate obstacle to unlocking the device using fingerprint or facial recognition. The intention is for students to experience a sense of calmness during their study sessions, enhanced by the Zen-inspired design, while also providing the reassurance that they can be reached in case of urgent matters simply by calling instead of messaging them. / Många av oss har vuxit upp eller kommit i kontakt med personer som har vuxit upp med telefoner i utbildningssammanhang. Vi är alla väl medvetna om hur störande de kan vara, och jag själv är inget undantag. Det har funnits tillfällen då jag har blivit distraherad av min telefon under studier, antingen på grund av att en notifikation dyker upp eller för att jag känner mig överväldigad av en utmanande uppgift eller brist på förståelse. Mina klasskamrater har stött på liknande utmaningar under sina studier. Detta var bakgrunden till min avhandling: Kan jag, genom tillämpning av design, minska studenters användning av telefoner under studier? Jag satte upp ett personligt mål att utforma ett fysisk koncept istället för en digital lösning, eftersom jag ansåg att det redan fanns talrika digitala alternativ i form av mobilapplikationer och befintliga funktioner i telefoners operativsystem. Designprocessen som användes i denna avhandling följer Double Diamond-processen, vilket innefattar både divergent och konvergent tänkande. Inledningsvis genomfördes en omfattande utforskning av ämnet genom en litteraturstudie och benchmarking. Därefter definierades problemet genom metoder som intervjuer och enkäter för att fastställa projektets mål och dess validitet. Under utvecklingsfasen spelade co-design en avgörande roll, genom att använda metoder som brainstorming och dot-voting för att säkerställa att lösningen utformades av studenter, för studenter. Slutligen fokuserade den sista fasen på att presentera ett slutgiltigt koncept, med hjälp av skisser, prototyper och digitala modeller. Det slutgiltiga konceptet tar formen av ett tillbehör till befintliga telefoner som förenklar deras funktion. Detta tillbehör döljer alla notifikationer på skärmen och visar endast inkommande samtal som kan besvaras. Funktionellt fungerar konceptet som en påminnelse till studenter att avstå från att kolla sina telefoner under studier och minskar effektivt deras benägenhet att göra det. Det introducerar ett medvetet hinder för att låsa upp enheten med fingeravtryck- eller ansiktsigenkänning. Avsikten är att studenter ska uppleva en känsla av lugn under sina studiepass, förstärkt av den zen-inspirerade designen, samtidigt som de kan vara trygga i vetskapen om att de fortfarande kan nås vid akuta ärenden genom att bli ringd, istället för att bli kontaktad via sms.

Idag är smartphonen ett redskap och verktyg som vi använder oss av varje dag. Smartphones används till allt möjligt, allt ifrån att ringa samtal till att dela med oss av våra liv via sociala medier till att spela spel. Smartphonen är utan tvekan en viktig del av våra liv och kommer förmodligen inte bli mindre viktig med tiden.   Nu har en skola gått ut och öppet sagt att de förbjuder smartphones under lektionstid. Med motiveringen att eleverna blir för stressade av sin smartphone. Detta är ett stort steg att ta och frågan är om det är rätt beslut. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska och beskriva vilka argument som ligger bakom att skolor väljer att förbjuda smartphones på lektionstid.     För att göra det möjligt för oss att besvara syftet har vi använt oss av en deduktiv ansats och en kvalitativ datainsamling som består av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys på svensk dagspress och personintervjuer.   Resultatet av denna studie visar att åsikterna kring mobilförbud skiljer sig både bland respondenterna men även i den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen. Lärare hanterar mobilförbud olika och åsikterna kring detta är delade. En slutsats som tas upp är att idag är det upp till lärarna själva att bestämma hur de vill göra i sitt klassrum, men att centrala riktlinjer behöver bestämmas.   Nyckelord: Mobilförbud, Smartphone beroende, Skola, Smartphones i vardagen, Smartphones i skolan. / Smartphones is a tool that we use everyday. Smartphones is being used for all kinds of different things, from making calls, to sharing our lives thru social media, to playing games. Smartphones is a without a doubt an important part of our lives and it´s not likely to become any less important.   Now a school has openly released a statement that says they are prohibiting smartphones during classes. With the argument that the students becomes to stressed by their smartphone. This is a big step to take and the question is if it´s the right decision. The purpose of this study is to examine and describe what the underlying arguments are for the school to forbid smartphones during classes.   To make it possible for us to achive the purpose of this study we have choosen to use an deductive approach and a qualitative method for gathering our data. An qualitaitve content analysis on swedish daily press and personal interviews are the methods that have been conducted.   The result of this study shows that the views regarding smartphone ban is different both among the respondants, but also in the qualitative content analysis. Teachers handle smartphone ban different and the views regarding this are different. One conclusion which is brought up is that it´s up to the teachers themselfs to decide how they want to handle their classroom, but central guidelines will need to be decided.   Keywords: Mobile phone prohibition, Smartphone addiction, School, Smartphones in everyday life, Smarthpones in school.

The increasingly ubiquitous role of smartphones in our everyday lives causes concerns regarding our relationship with the devices. While some raise the question whether smartphones are addictive (Alter 2017; Lopez-Fernandez 2019), others regard this concern as the most recent manifestation of moral panics (Cashmore, Cleland & Dixon 2018; Leick 2019). Meanwhile advocates of the attention economy argument claim that the problem is the design of technology occupying users’ attention (CHT 2019a-d). Somewhere in between, media and communication studies search for empirical evidence. From this vantage point of ideas this study explores the role of Screen Time, shaping and being shaped by this discourse. As a feature of Apple’s iOS software it is supposed to support users in regulating their smartphone use. Applying the walkthrough method as proposed by Light, Burgess & Duguay (2018) combined with an analysis of user experiences, shows how the technology company shapes a concept of self-regulation for users to adopt to. A concept, which first and foremost follows corporate and not the users’ best interest. This thesis poses the the question whether we are slaves to our screens, but arrives at the conclusion that we carry chains of self-regulation. The question remains, how we can create more sustainable and meaningful environments for protecting our attention.

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With the development of computer hardware, computers with persuasion have become more powerful and influential than ever. The latest trends show that Persuasive Technology integrates with cutting-edge technologies, such as Natural Language Processing, Big Data, and Machine Learning algorithms. As persuasion is becoming increasingly intelligent and subtle, it is urgent to reflect on the dark sides of Persuasive Technology. The study aims to investigate one of Persuasive Technology's accusations, making smartphones more addictive to its users. The study uses questionnaires and in-depth interviews to examine the impact of persuasive technologies on young smartphone users. Questionnaires were distributed through a university forum, student group chats, and Tencent Survey Service. Ten interviewees were sampled randomly from the survey results. Eight interviewees shared their smartphone screen time for three consecutive weeks after the interview. Among the 183 participants, 84.70% (n=155) spend over (or equal to) four hours per day on their smartphone, 44.26% (n=81) indicate that smartphones negatively affect their studies or professional life. Ten interviewees evaluated that they could reduce screen time by 37% if they could avoid all persuasive functions. Five out of eight interviewees reduced their screen time by 16.72% three weeks after the interviews by voluntarily turning off some persuasive functions on their smartphones. This study provides empirical evidence to argue that persuasive technologies increase users' screen time and contribute to the addictive behaviours of young smartphone users. Some commonly used persuasive design principles could have negative long-term impacts on users. To sum up, the ethical problems that Human- computer interaction (HCI) designers face and users' neglected rights of acknowledgement were discussed. / Med utvecklingen av datorhårdvara har datorer med övertalning blivit mer kraftfulla och inflytelserika än någonsin. De senaste trenderna visar att Persuasive Technology integreras med banbrytande teknik, såsom Natural Language Processing, Big Data och Machine Learning-algoritmer. Eftersom övertalning blir alltmer intelligent och subtil, är det angeläget att reflektera över de mörka sidorna av övertygande teknik. Studien syftar till att undersöka en av övertygande teknologins anklagelser, vilket gör smartphones mer beroendeframkallande för sina användare. Studien använder frågeformulär och djupintervjuer för att undersöka effekterna av övertygande teknik på unga smartphone-användare. Frågeformulär distribuerades via ett universitetsforum, studentgruppchattar och Tencent Survey Service. Tio intervjuade slumpmässigt urval från undersökningsresultaten. Åtta intervjuade delade sin skärmtid för smarttelefonen i tre veckor i rad efter intervjun. Bland de 183 deltagarna spenderade 84,70% (n = 155) mer än (eller lika med) fyra timmar per dag på sin smartphone, 44,26% (n = 81) indikerar att smartphones påverkar deras studier eller yrkesliv negativt. Tio intervjuade utvärderade att de kunde minska skärmtiden med 37% om de kunde undvika alla övertygande funktioner. Fem av åtta intervjuade minskade skärmtiden med 16,72% tre veckor efter intervjuerna genom att frivilligt stänga av några övertygande funktioner på sina smartphones. Denna studie ger empiriska bevis för att hävda att övertygande teknik ökar användarnas skärmtid och bidrar till beroendeframkallande beteende hos unga smartphone-användare. Några vanliga övertygande designprinciper kan ha negativa långsiktiga effekter på användarna. Sammanfattningsvis diskuterades de etiska problemen som HCI-designare (Human-computer-interaktion) möter och användarnas försummade bekräftelserätt.

Productivity loss occurs in organizations that experience high levels of personal Internet use by employees on company time, which includes employees using smartphones to surf without needing the firm's Internet connection. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore reliable ways for organizational leaders to monitor or limit their employees' use of smartphone technology for personal use (cyberloafing) while on the job to minimize wasted work time. Social cognitive theory, which includes an emphasis on human behavioral changes based upon the environment, people, and behavior, served as the conceptual framework. The general research question was as follows: How can managers minimize wasted work time by limiting the personal Internet activity of employees who use personal mobile devices while on the job. Data collection involved gathering information from interviews with 20 frontline supervisors, human resource managers, and information technology managers and specialists in 2 U.S. industries: education and telecommunications. Data analysis included examining word frequencies, keyword coding, and identifying themes. Four management themes emerged: create mobile device usage policy, enforce monitoring technology, create a deterrence strategy, and customize monitoring and tracking technology. This study may be important because the analysis revealed effective ways to prevent or minimize employees from Internet surfing and wasting time at work. The findings could lead to positive social change through increased employee productivity and responsibility by providing managers with information to control or limit cyberloafing activities and by fostering an increased commitment to comply with an organization's Internet use policy.

Gamification is a modern concept that makes physical and digital activities engaging and enjoyable just like games. Game elements are added to mobile applications for user retention and engagement. One of the dark sides of gamification i.e., addiction is explored in this novel study in the context of mobile application design. It uses a mixed-method approach to lay the foundation of the relation between gamification and Smartphone Addiction, which is critically explained in a limited literature review using existing theories and studies on gamification. Interviews with behavioral experts confirm the psychological aspects of the research. The study also identifies game elements that contribute to smartphone addiction by a survey analysis of 269 participants. Results reveal Scrolling and Tapping as most addictive game elements. Some elements also show a statistically significant relationship with daily smartphone usage in hours. There are many effective applications of gamification, and in the context of mobile application design, it indeed helps to increase user engagement, however, there is an ethical need to reflect on what the exaggerated form of this engagement can lead to. As future research, a longitudinal study and experiments are suggested to find out this relationship with the use of empirical data.