A new study shows that people around others who are on their phones can experience loneliness or psychological distress. The term highlighting the experience is “phubbing,” which is short for phone snubbing. It’s when someone is physically in the presence of another person, but the person is ignoring them because they are on the phone.
The study published in BMC Psychology, reveals that being phubbed can make a person feel less satisfied with their life. Researchers asked 720 Romanian adults aged 18 to 77 to self-report how much phubbing they experienced and their life satisfaction. There ended up being no direct association between phubbing and life satisfaction, but participants who experienced more loneliness had an increased chance of both psychological distress and decreased life satisfaction.
“Findings indicate that phubbing can lead to feelings of social exclusion, reduced communication quality, and decreased relationship satisfaction,” Ryan Sultán, MD, said to Health. “The addictive nature of digital devices stems from the dopamine hits they provide.”
If you are receiving phubbing, experts recommend you call out the behavior and enforce “phone-free” zones. If you are the person who’s doing the phubbing, schedule a time in the day when you don’t look at your phone.
