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Article
Perceptions and misperceptions of smartphone use: Applying the social norms approach
Information (Switzerland)
  • John McAlaney, Bournemouth University
  • Mohamed Basel Almourad, Zayed University
  • Georgina Powell, Phone Life Balance Ltd
  • Raian Ali, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, College of Science and Engineering
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2020
Abstract

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The social norms approach is an established technique to bring about behaviour change through challenging misperceptions of peer behaviour. This approach is limited by a reliance on self-report and a lack of interactivity with the target population. At the same time, excessive use of digital devices, known as digital addiction, has been recognized as an emergent issue. There is potential to apply the social norms approach to digital addiction and, in doing so, address some of the limitations of the social norms field. In this study, we trialled a social norms intervention with a sample of smartphone users (n = 94) recruited from the users of a commercial app designed to empower individuals to reduce their device usage. Our results indicate that most of the sample overestimated peer use of smartphone apps, demonstrating the existence of misperceptions relating to smartphone use. Such misperceptions are the basis for the social norms approach. We also document the discrepancy between self-report and smartphone usage data as recorded through data collected directly from the device. The potential for the application of the social norms approach and directions for future research are discussed.

Publisher
MDPI AG
Keywords
  • Behaviour change,
  • Digital addiction,
  • Intervention,
  • Personality,
  • Smartphones,
  • Social norms
Scopus ID
85095815282
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
Yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series
Citation Information
John McAlaney, Mohamed Basel Almourad, Georgina Powell and Raian Ali. "Perceptions and misperceptions of smartphone use: Applying the social norms approach" Information (Switzerland) Vol. 11 Iss. 11 (2020) p. 1 - 10 ISSN: <a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/2078-2489" target="_blank">2078-2489</a>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mohamedbasel-almourad/1/