Comparing the Self-Report and Measured Smartphone Usage of College Students: A Pilot Study

Abstract

ObjectiveNowadays smartphone overuse has become a social and medical concern. For the diagnosis and treatment, clinicians use the self-report information, but the report data often does not match actual usage pattern. The paper examines the similarity and variance in smartphone usage patterns between the measured data and self-reported data.MethodsTogether with the self-reported data, the real usage log data is collected from 35 college students in a metropolitan region of Northeast Asia, using Android smartphone monitoring application developed by the authors.ResultsThe unconscious users underestimate their usage time by 40%, in spite of 15% more use in the actual usage. Messengers are most-used application regardless of their self-report, and significant preference to SNS applications was observed in addict group. The actual hourly pattern is consistent with the reported one. College students use more in the afternoon, when they have more free time and cannot use PCs. No significant difference in hourly pattern is observed between the measured and self-report.ConclusionThe result shows there are significant cognitive bias in actual usage patterns exists in self report of smartphone addictions. Clinicians are recommended to utilize measurement tools in diagnosis and treatment of smartphone overusing subjects.

Smartphone addiction risk and daytime sleepiness in Korean adolescents

“…A previous Korean study showed a significant preference for SNS applications in those addicted to smartphones . In this study, SNS application use was greater in the addicted group, whereas use of entertainment applications was preferred in the non‐addicted group . Some studies on gender differences in problematic mobile phone usage patterns showed that females are more likely to be addicted to smartphones, but the results have not been consistent .…”

“…29 In this study, SNS application use was greater in the addicted group, whereas use of entertainment applications was preferred in the non-addicted group. 30 Some studies on gender differences in problematic mobile phone usage patterns showed that females are more likely to be addicted to smartphones, but the results have not been consistent. [29][30][31][32] This inconsistency is probably due to diverse reasons, including nationality, included variables and measurement of variables used across the studies.…”

Factor structure and measurement invariance of the problematic mobile phone use questionnaire-short version across gender in Chinese adolescents and young adults

“…The participants may thus have overestimated or underestimated their actual and problematic use of the mobile phone. Further research capitalizing on both self-report and mobile phone tracking should be undertaken, as the two types of measurement are not necessarily correlated [68].…”

Antecedents of Social Media Usage Status: Examination of Predictiveness of Digital Literacy, Academic Performance, and Fear of Missing Out Variables

“…Use of social media environments, depending on the benefits individuals get from their social relations and interactions, may increase academic performance. However, in the studies in which academic performance and use of smart phone and social media was reviewed, tendency to further focus on addiction was observed (Lee et al., 2017). Further studies are thought to be needed in order to understand the relation between the use of social media environments and academic performance.…”