Are We Really Addicted?

: A Mixed Methods Investigation into Smartphone Addiction and Smartphone Use in the 21st Century

Abstract

Smartphone addiction and problematic smartphone use has been a notable concern of public health for the last few years (Billieux, Maurage, et al., 2015). Including the adverse conditions typically co-occurring or linked to smartphone addiction and nomophobia such as anxiety, depression, and other disorders (Darcin et al., 2016; Lee et al., 2014; Pierce, 2009). Expanding on work from Allen-Cousins (2020), this thesis aimed to further expand up the understanding of the relationship between anxiety, smartphone addiction, nomophobia and sensation seeking. It was found that smartphone addiction mediated the relationship between anxiety and nomophobia, screen time did not predict nomophobia, and sensation seeking negatively predicted nomophobia. To further understand these findings, qualitative methods were then utilised to understand how people think and feel about their smartphones. This revealed a much wider scope of research highlighting the social influence that can impact smartphone usage by way of neoliberalism and governmentality. As well as expanding upon the established quantitative findings. This therefore highlights the potential for research to
further explore the social construction of smartphone addiction and smartphone use.

Date of Award	2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Aberystwyth University
Supervisor	Charles Musselwhite (Supervisor) & Trefor Aspden (Supervisor)