You probably already know that if you want to get a good night’s sleep, you shouldn’t take your smart phone into bed with you. But, a new study shows that excessive use of a smart phone may cause people to feel stressed out. The study, published in the Behavior & Information Technology journal, noted that people who use their smart phones on a regular basis have demonstrated signs of what is now being termed technostress. The researchers found that technostress is linked to smart phone usage in four ways.
The first has to do with a person’s reason for purchasing a smart phone. Many people buy smart phones because they believe being able to access their email and other work-related applications will reduce their overall stress level, but more commonly it has the opposite effect. Secondly, people who feel apprehensive about social interaction tend to have their anxiety levels go up when using a device that’s always connected to their various social networks. Third, consistently interacting with the cell phones touchscreen can fill the innate human need for touch, but without the stress-relieving benefits that come with physically interacting with another human being. And the fourth is that constantly feeling the social pressure to own the latest and greatest smart phone can increase a person’s overall stress level. Check out this fascinating article to learn more about technostress.
Read the full article here: The bane of your existence: Smartphones and ‘technostress’