I can't live without you: delay discounting in smartphone usage

Little is known about the behavioural tendencies at the basis of smartphone use. The present research investigates delay discounting, the phenomenon whereby a smaller, immediate reward is preferred over a larger, delayed one, in smartphone use. In line with previous work on delay discounting in othe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of cognitive psychology (Hove, England) Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 441 - 455
Main Authors Pancani, Luca, Petilli, Marco Alessandro, Riva, Paolo, Rusconi, Patrice
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hove Routledge 19.05.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
delay discounting
problematic smartphone use
reward
smartphone
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Summary:Little is known about the behavioural tendencies at the basis of smartphone use. The present research investigates delay discounting, the phenomenon whereby a smaller, immediate reward is preferred over a larger, delayed one, in smartphone use. In line with previous work on delay discounting in other domains, Study 1 (N = 81) showed that the hyperboloid function best fits the inter-temporal choices made by participants. Study 2 (N = 123) replicated this result and revealed that individuals who prefer communicating via smartphone (vs. face-to-face) showed a higher devaluation over time, whereas those more aware of smartphone negative impact showed less discounting. The present research yielded the first evidence that delay discounting might underlie inter-temporal choices of smartphone use. Implications of these results are discussed.
ISSN:2044-5911
2044-592X
DOI:10.1080/20445911.2023.2195031