Low Self-Control Influences Smartphone Use

The wide use of smartphones in our working and private lives has led to an unprecedented level of networking between people. Aside from the possibilities that the smartphone offers, there are also side-effects such as distraction while driving or at work. Bern researchers now show that differences in personality in our capacity for self-control can explain whether people react immediately to smartphone signals. Anyone with a smartphone knows: Dozens of times a day, we receive chat messages, push notifications from news apps or calls. The messages or calls often disrupt our concentration on our current task, whether this is in a work environment or driving, for example. It is important to understand which motivations lead to people reacting immediately to a signal and pulling out their smartphone. Distraction caused by smartphones is a question of personality.