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Are you a smart phone addict? If you think that you might be then you are in luck as Iowa State University has come out with a new test to help you find out.
We love them and we hate them. We need them and hate needing them. What did we ever do before they were invented?
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There was a time when losing a cell phone was just a nuisance and a loss of money. Now if you lose your smart phone you lose all sorts of personal and business related information that you simply cannot live without. Even if it all can e replaced you feel disconnected from the world until you do.
Caglar Yildirim, a doctoral student in Iowa State’s Human Computer Interaction program and one of the study’s authors said, “People are becoming more and more dependent on and involved with their smartphones. I wanted to dig more into it, in order to better understand why and how it affects people.”
“Although there has been increasing academic interest in investigating the problems emanating from smartphone use, research into nomophobia has been scarce, ” he added.
Yildirim and Ana-Paula Correia, an associate professor at Iowa State University School of Education, created a two-part quiz, which will be published in Computers in Human Behavior in August.
Here is the full test as published in the Huffington Post:
Are you a smartphone junkie? Rate each item on a scale of 1 (“completely disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”) and tally up your total score to find out. Be honest!
1. I would feel uncomfortable without constant access to information through my smartphone.
2. I would be annoyed if I could not look information up on my smartphone when I wanted to do so.
3. Being unable to get the news (e.g., happenings, weather, etc.) on my smartphone would make me nervous.
4. I would be annoyed if I could not use my smartphone and/or its capabilities when I wanted to do so.
5. Running out of battery in my smartphone would scare me.
6. If I were to run out of credits or hit my monthly data limit, I would panic.
7. If I did not have a data signal or could not connect to Wi-Fi, then I would constantly check to see if I had a signal or could find a Wi-Fi network.
8. If I could not use my smartphone, I would be afraid of getting stranded somewhere.
9. If I could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to check it.
If I did not have my smartphone with me …
10. I would feel anxious because I could not instantly communicate with my family and/or friends.
11. I would be worried because my family and/or friends could not reach me.
12. I would feel nervous because I would not be able to receive text messages and calls.
13. I would be anxious because I could not keep in touch with my family and/or friends.
14. I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a hold of me.
15. I would feel anxious because my constant connection to my family and friends would be broken.
16. I would be nervous because I would be disconnected from my online identity.
17. I would be uncomfortable because I could not stay up-to-date with social media and online networks.
18. I would feel awkward because I could not check my notifications for updates from my connections and online networks.
19. I would feel anxious because I could not check my email messages.
20. I would feel weird because I would not know what to do.
How You Score:
20: Not at all nomophobic. You have a very healthy relationship with your device and have no problem being separated from it.
21-60: Mild nomophobia. You get a little antsy when you forget your phone at home for a day or get stuck somewhere without WiFi, but the anxiety isn’t too overwhelming.
61-100: Moderate nomophobia. You’re pretty attached to your device. You often check for updates while you’re walking down the street or talking to a friend, and you often feel anxious when you’re disconnected. Time for a digital detox?
101-120: Severe nomophobia. You can barely go for 60 seconds without checking your phone. It’s the first thing you check in the morning and the last at night, and dominates most of your activities in-between. It might be time for a serious intervention.
