SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Modern technology such as smart phones and other electronic devices is making people better connected, but it is also making users more distracted, conference-goers at the American Psychological Association (APA) said Friday.
At a symposium of the 126th annual APA Convention being held in San Francisco from Aug. 9 to Aug. 12, Elizabeth Dunn, from the Canadian University of British Columbia and co-author of a study on the subject, said her team surveyed more than 120 participants from the U.S. University of Virginia and found the subjects felt more distracted during face-to-face interactions when they were using their smart phones compared with face-to-face interactions where they did not use a phone.
The participants were surveyed five times a day for one week and were asked to report on how they were feeling and what they had been doing in the 15 minutes before the survey was started.
Dunn said the students complained of having less enjoyment and interest in their interactions with others if they had been on their phones.
"The survey findings were especially notable because of the negative effects of phone use among university students, who are commonly known as digital natives," she said.
"This generation would be more adept at multi-tasking between using their phones and interacting with others, but we found out even moderate levels of phone use undermined the benefits of engaging with others," she added.
In a field experiment in a restaurant conducted by a team led by Ryan Dwyer, also from the University of British Columbia who is the lead author of the study, the researchers found that even minor phone use during a meal with friends would spoil the time spent together, making the diners feel distracted and diminishing their sense of enjoyment.
The experiment showed that people who had their phones easily accessible during a meal not only used them more than those with their phones put away, but also reported feeling less able to concentrate and less satisfied with face-to-face interactions.
"Decades of research on happiness tell us that engaging positively with others is critical for our well-being," he said.
"Modern technology may be wonderful, but it can easily sidetrack us and take away from the special moments we have with friends and family in person," said Dwyer.
The APA, based in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization focusing on psychology in the United States.
APA President Jessica Henderson Daniel said in a message to the APA 2018 that the San Francisco gathering brings together psychologists from the United States, Canada, and other countries and put APA's Citizen Psychologists in the spotlight as well as individuals who, through prolonged engagement in significant community activities, have contributed to improving others' lives.
