A study of young people in Israel found that individuals with lower differentiation of self tend to be more likely to engage in phubbing behaviors. Fear of missing out might serve as a catalyst for this by triggering anxiety. Anxiety might, in turn, drive them to adopt phubbing as a coping mechanism. This research was published in Scientific Reports.
Phubbing is the act of ignoring someone in favor of using a mobile phone or other electronic device. The person engaging in phubbing will pay more attention to the device than to the person they are supposed to be interacting with. Consequently, the person exposed to phubbing might feel neglected and frustrated. In this way, phubbing undermines interpersonal communication and engagement. The term “phubbing” combines the words “phone” and “snubbing”.
However, not all people engage in phubbing equally. While there are those who do not engage in phubbing others at all, there are also individuals who do this regularly. This variability has led scientists to investigate the psychological characteristics that make individuals more or less likely to engage in phubbing.
One characteristic worth exploring is the level of differentiation of self. Differentiation of self refers to the psychological capacity to balance emotional closeness and autonomy in relationships, allowing individuals to maintain a sense of self while remaining connected to others.
Study authors Ora Peleg and Meyran Boniel‑Nissim wanted to explore the links between differentiation of self, phubbing, and a host of other psychological characteristics. They wanted to know whether low differentiation of self could lead to a higher fear of missing out, erode one’s romantic relationship, amplify feelings of loneliness, and, consequently, increase phubbing behaviors. Fear of missing out is the anxiety that others are having rewarding experiences from which the person experiencing the fear is absent.
The study involved 431 Israeli adults, with two-thirds being female. Their average age was 29 years. Most were Jewish, heterosexual, secular, and employed. About a third were married, while the rest were cohabiting. Close to 25% had children.
Study participants completed assessments of differentiation of self (the Differentiation of Self-Revised Scale), phubbing (the Phubbing Questionnaire), fear of missing out (the Fear of Missing Out scale), satisfaction with their romantic relationship (the ENRICH Romantic Relationship Satisfaction Inventory), and loneliness (the Loneliness in Intimate Relationships scale).
Results showed that participants with lower levels of differentiation of self tended to experience higher fear of missing out, were more prone to phubbing others, and were also less satisfied with their romantic relationships.
The study authors tested a statistical model proposing that low differentiation of self leads to higher levels of fear of missing out, stronger feelings of loneliness in intimate relationships, and lower relationship satisfaction. This would, in turn, lead to more phubbing.
Analysis showed that while some aspects of differentiation of self lead to lower romantic relationship satisfaction and stronger feelings of loneliness, these do not necessarily translate to more phubbing. On the other hand, all aspects of differentiation of self were associated with fear of missing out (with lower differentiation leading to more fear of missing out). The model also confirmed that it is possible that this increased fear of missing out leads to more phubbing.
Interestingly, women reported higher levels of phubbing behaviors compared to men.
“Fear of missing out may serve as a catalyst, triggering anxiety in individuals, which in turn drives them to adopt phubbing as a coping mechanism. Moreover, individuals with lower levels of differentiation of self appear to be at increased risk of engaging in phubbing behaviors through the mediation of fear of missing out,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the importance of differentiation of self for understanding the psychological mechanisms leading to phubbing behaviors. However, it should be noted that the study was based solely on self-reports, leaving substantial room for reporting bias. It is possible that studies utilizing more objective measures of phubbing behaviors might not yield the same results.
The paper, “Exploring the personality and relationship factors that mediate the connection between differentiation of self and phubbing,” was authored by Ora Peleg and Meyran Boniel‑Nissim.
