Researchers disagreed about whether phones help or hurt well-being. Kostadin Kushlev and I argued that the disagreement comes from method, and that one framework can explain the findings.
Kushlev, K., & Leitao, M. R. (2020). The effects of smartphones on well-being: Theoretical integration and research agenda. Current Opinion in Psychology. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.05.001
We proposed that three ideas can explain the mixed findings on smartphones and well-being. Phones can replace other activities, interfere with what we are doing, or give us things we could not get otherwise.
The first two usually lower well-being. The third can raise it.
3 ideas
displacement, interference and complementarity
The D.I.C. framework, in the table below.
Across screen time, frequency of use and the mere presence of a phone, we found small but consistently negative net effects.
The effects become substantial with heavy, problematic use, which is the use most likely to displace or interfere with other activities.
Small
typical net effect of phones on well-being
From the studies we reviewed, published mostly since 2018.
What to look for. Each card gives one idea, what to measure for it, how it works, and when it changes the result. The table is Table 1 of the paper, redrawn.
Phones change well-being by replacing other activities.
Phones change well-being by interfering with what people are doing.
Phones change well-being by offering information and activities not otherwise available.
Measure the use, not only the time. Screen time, frequency of checking, notifications and mere presence are different things and can have different effects.
Test it with experiments and sensors. Much of the evidence is correlational and relies on self-report. We called for experiments and objective measures from mobile sensing across several days.
Limits. This is a review with no new data. The conclusions are preliminary, as we said in the paper.
This page redraws the paper's Table 1 and restates its three conclusions. It contains no data.