The Smartphone as a Pacifier and its Consequences: Young adults' smartphone usage in moments of solitude and correlations to self-reflection

The smartphone plays a dominant role in everyday life. Among young adults, the average daily usage time is almost four hours. The present study [N=399] examines the specific psychological role of smartphone usage during alone time (e.g. in the subway, waiting, in bed). Particularly, we explore its role in coping with negative emotions in the sense of an "attachment object", providing comfort like a pacifier for infants. Results underlined the pacifying role of smartphone usage to cope with negative emotions in moments of alone time. Moreover, particular personality dispositions (e.g., high need to belong, high proneness to boredom) were associated with more extensive self-reported smartphone usage and mediated by the perception of the smartphone as an attachment object. Finally, smartphone usage was negatively correlated to self-insight, possibly substituting intense inner debates or self-realizations during alone time. Implications for HCI research and practice are discussed.