The Relation Between Smartphone Use and Everyday Inattention

In 2 studies, we explored the relation between subjective reports of smartphone use and everyday inattention. We created 2 questionnaires that measured general smartphone use (e.g., how frequently people send and receive text messages, use social media, etc.), and absent-minded smartphone use (e.g., how frequently people use their phone without a purpose in mind). To measure everyday inattention, participants completed 4 scales that assessed everyday attention lapses, attention-related errors, spontaneous mind-wandering, and deliberate mind-wandering, respectively. The results of both studies revealed a strong positive relation between general and absent-minded smartphone use. Furthermore, we observed significant positive correlations between each of the smartphone use questionnaires and each of the 4 measures of inattention. However, a series of regression analyses demonstrated that when both types of smartphone use were considered simultaneously, the relation between inattention and smartphone use was driven entirely by absent-minded use. Specifically, absent-minded smartphone use consistently had a unique positive relation with the inattention measures, while general smartphone use either had no relation (Study 1) or a unique negative relation (Study 2) with inattention.