Smartphone addiction : construct development, measurement, and effects on performance

Abstract

The use of the smartphones can be rewarding when the information it communicates positively alters our expectations. Such rewards strengthen our brain’s impulsive system by reinforcing concomitant behaviors and can give rise to addiction. Such an addiction can lead to depression, work-family conflict, and poor performance. While these adverse effects have raised academic interest into the phenomenon of Smartphone Addiction, we still lack articulated theories that can help us conceptualize it and operationalize the construct. The objective of this dissertation is to elucidate what Smartphone Addiction is and how it affects performance. We start by synthesizing theories underlying addiction and self-control to define and embed the construct. We then use this conceptual foundation to develop a multi-method instrument to measure the construct and to examine its relationship with performance. We focus on a specific mechanism by which it can affect self-control performance. We hypothesize that Smartphone Addiction leads individuals to take more breaks from work, to use their smartphone during these breaks, and that such use negatively affects the replenishment of breaks, carrying adverse consequences for performance at self-control. We test our hypotheses using an experiment, a questionnaire survey, and the experience sampling method. The results of the study show that while individuals high in Smartphone Addiction are more inclined to take breaks from work, and to use smartphones during these breaks, the effect of these breaks on subsequent self-control performance is not necessarily negative. This dissertation contributes to the literature in various ways. It develops the construct of Smartphone Addiction and embeds it into theories of self-control and addiction. This fundament can be used for other IT-related addictions, given the strong parallels in the use of smartphones and the use of tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. The dissertation also provides a method of measurement to study Smartphone Addiction in a way that is less prone to the sources of measurement error that are common in the field. In this dissertation, we have used it to take a step to elucidate the adverse consequences of Smartphone Addiction on work habit and self-control performance. These substantive and methodical contributions should pave the way for further inquiry into the phenomenon of IT-related addiction to help individuals and organizations prevent its deleterious effects.