Thursday, November 16, 2017

Study: More Smartphone, Social Media Use Correlated With Relationship Issues

A new study from the Deseret News and Brigham Young University, says that the more users use smartphones and social media, the higher likelihood that users have reported relationship troubles in the past two years. According to the Desert News/Brigham Young University, they ran a study through YouGov to get insights into smartphone and cellphone usage, finding that people using their phone multiple times a day are more likely to report relationship trouble than people who use their phones less frequently--especially compared with people who use their phones less frequently. On the other hand, the study also found that half of the Americans in the study reported that mobile phones have a positive effect on their relationships with family members. It's unclear whether the smartphone and social media use are causing those relationship issues, or if those relationship issues are driving people to use their smartphone and social media more. Allison Pond, editor of the Deseret News team that conducted the study said in a statement, "It's impossible to say whether high levels of phone use have a negative impact on relationships or whether people turn to technology as an escape from unhappy relationships — or both". The study was conducted by YouGov between August 1st and August 7th, with interviews with 3,264 respondents.