Love for mobile devices may trigger personality disorders
LONDON;
Our obsession with
latest technologies like smartphone, tablet or laptop may cause not only
distraction, but it may also change our personalities, says an expert.
An estimated 65 per cent of people in the developed world have a smartphone, tablet or laptop. And it is predicted that by 2015, eight in 10 of all people would be connected this way –all the time.
Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University, calls these gadgets wireless mobile devices, or WMDs, and explores their potentially explosive effects in his new book, iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us.
“We’re in the middle of a grand experiment here. We’re at the early stages of understanding a society that carries the world in its pocket. It’s good – you can always connect with someone – but it also means you’re there, 24 hours a day... Our brains have not developed to be constantly engaged like this,” the Independent quoted Rosen as saying.
In his book, he uses his own and other academics’ research to show how the users of WMDs appear to display the symptoms of an array of personality disorders.
A study of 3,000 Twitter users by Rutgers University in the US identified two types of tweeters: Meformers and Informers. They were representative but 80 per cent of all of their tweets were about “me”.
“Even people who wouldn’t behave like this in the reality feel comfortable presenting themselves that way online. Because they’re able to do it behind a screen, it changes the way they relate to the world,” she said.
Rosen says the mobility of new devices that bring us within ever closer reach to networks of friends has added to a “digital cocooning” effect, causing many people to become socially withdrawn. The researcher surveyed more than 1,300 people of different ages and found the younger participants were much more willing and able multitaskers.
But, he writes, “the more tasks we take on... overloaded, and the worse we do at all of the tasks.” There is no multi-tasking, Rosen says, only “taskswitching”, and it isn’t productive. Rosen admits he shows signs of obsessive behaviour around Words with Friends, the Scrabble-inspired smartphone game. Whether it’s repeatedly checking your inbox or Facebook, Rosen blames this sort of behaviour on the “undercurrent of anxiety that if we don’t check in we may be missing out”. “Disconnectivity anxiety” leads to worry and even physical distress. To combat anxiety, Rosen suggests using your WMDs less.
An estimated 65 per cent of people in the developed world have a smartphone, tablet or laptop. And it is predicted that by 2015, eight in 10 of all people would be connected this way –all the time.
Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University, calls these gadgets wireless mobile devices, or WMDs, and explores their potentially explosive effects in his new book, iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us.
“We’re in the middle of a grand experiment here. We’re at the early stages of understanding a society that carries the world in its pocket. It’s good – you can always connect with someone – but it also means you’re there, 24 hours a day... Our brains have not developed to be constantly engaged like this,” the Independent quoted Rosen as saying.
In his book, he uses his own and other academics’ research to show how the users of WMDs appear to display the symptoms of an array of personality disorders.
A study of 3,000 Twitter users by Rutgers University in the US identified two types of tweeters: Meformers and Informers. They were representative but 80 per cent of all of their tweets were about “me”.
“Even people who wouldn’t behave like this in the reality feel comfortable presenting themselves that way online. Because they’re able to do it behind a screen, it changes the way they relate to the world,” she said.
Rosen says the mobility of new devices that bring us within ever closer reach to networks of friends has added to a “digital cocooning” effect, causing many people to become socially withdrawn. The researcher surveyed more than 1,300 people of different ages and found the younger participants were much more willing and able multitaskers.
But, he writes, “the more tasks we take on... overloaded, and the worse we do at all of the tasks.” There is no multi-tasking, Rosen says, only “taskswitching”, and it isn’t productive. Rosen admits he shows signs of obsessive behaviour around Words with Friends, the Scrabble-inspired smartphone game. Whether it’s repeatedly checking your inbox or Facebook, Rosen blames this sort of behaviour on the “undercurrent of anxiety that if we don’t check in we may be missing out”. “Disconnectivity anxiety” leads to worry and even physical distress. To combat anxiety, Rosen suggests using your WMDs less.
ANI MM120620
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