🔋The Secret to Having Deeper, More Satisfying Social Interactions (ATP#30)

We live in an age where we can connect with almost anyone, anywhere, in seconds. It still amazes me how fast this shift happened. When I was born, the internet didn’t even exist.

This global connectivity has many advantages, and it’s what makes my online business possible. As an introvert, I’m deeply grateful for the chance to work from the calm and comfort of my home.

But there’s a downside. It’s getting harder to connect deeply in real life because our phones are always there.

How phones disrupt face-to-face conversations

Phones can disrupt human interactions.

You’ve probably experienced this: you’re talking to someone, and suddenly they pick up their phone mid-conversation and are busy swiping and typing. It’s happened to me many times.

There’s even a term for this behavior: phubbing - a combination of the words ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’.

In a study, researchers exposed participants to a 3-minute interaction with another person that included either intensive phubbing, partial phubbing, or no phubbing. Participants who experienced intensive phubbing showed the lowest relationship satisfaction and indicated the lowest perceived communication quality. The best results were achieved in the no phubbing condition, and the partial phubbing group fell in between.

More phubbing also increased negative and reduced positive affect.

So, even though it’s common for people to check their phones while interacting face-to-face, it lowers the quality of an interaction.

The mere presence of a phone affects interactions

Even in the absence of phubbing, just having a phone in sight makes interactions less satisfying.

In one study, dyads of strangers were asked to discuss a topic for 10 minutes and then complete a few questionnaires.

• For half of the dyads, a phone (which didn’t belong to any of them) was present in the room and clearly visible, with sounds and notifications turned off.

• For the other half, a closed laptop was placed in the same spot, and no phone was present.

Participants with a phone nearby reported feeling less connected and less close to their partner.

In a follow-up experiment, the authors found that these results held when the conversation topic was meaningful, but not in casual conversation. They also found lower trust and empathy, but only when people discussed something meaningful.

Another study was conducted in a real-world setting, where a researcher observed dyad interactions in a coffee shop for 10 minutes and then asked the dyads questions about how much connection and empathy they felt for their conversation partners.

Both connectedness and empathy were lower when someone had taken out their phone during the conversation.

In other words, phones make us feel more distant, even from people we care about.

The bottom line

The science is clear: If you want deep, meaningful interactions with other people, keep your phone out of sight and encourage others to do the same.

Technology has made connecting with others easier than ever. But when we’re face-to-face, it can do more harm than good.

What else I’ve been up to:

Ever wondered if the day of the week someone is born affects who they become?

New research explores this question, and I just published an article on Medium about it! (Contains a friend link at the top so you can read it for free if you’re not a Medium member)

That’s it for today!

And now?

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Until next time!

Best wishes,

Patricia (Dr. Schmidt) from creatorschmidt.com.