How bad is the mere presence of a phone? A replication of Przybylski and Weinstein (2013) and an extension to creativity

Abstract

A 2013 article reported two experiments suggesting that the mere presence of a cellphone (vs. a notebook) can impair the relationship quality between strangers. The purpose of the present research is twofold: (1) closely replicate this article’s findings, and (2) examine whether there may be an impact of the mere presence of a phone on creativity, whether at a group- or an individual- level. In two experiments (N = 356 participants, 136 groups), we followed the original procedure in the 2013 article. In particular, groups of participants who had never seen each other before the study had a conversation in the mere presence of either a smartphone or a notebook. The participants then carried out creative tasks, in groups (Studies 1 and 2) or alone (Study 1). In both studies, we failed to replicate the original results on relationship quality. We also failed to find any effect of the mere presence of a phone on creativity. We discuss possible reasons which may have caused differences between our results and the original ones. Our main conclusion is an effect of the mere presence of a phone on relationship quality and creativity is at minimum harder to find than what was previously assumed in the literature. More generally, this research contributes to qualify the view that smartphones are harmful.

Creativity and Smartphone Use: Three Correlational Studies

“…Studies 2 and 3, with larger and more diverse samples, found at most tiny correlations. These results are generally consistent with other studies finding no relationship between smartphone use and performance on other divergent thinking tasks (Linares & Sellier, 2021;Rodríguez et al, 2020) or creative achievement (Upshaw et al, 2021). The findings echo a pattern found across other relationships with smartphone use, such as depression, sleep quality, and school performance.…”

“…Although our automated task correlates with standard creativity measures and enabled high statistical power, it only measures one facet of divergent thinking (Olson et al, 2021). Future studies could use broader measures of creativity, such as those capturing convergent thinking (Linares & Sellier, 2021), insight problem solving (Webb, Little, & Cropper, 2016), or creative exploration (Hart et al, 2017). They could also test potential mediators and moderators such as different types of mind wandering (Seli et al, 2014) or mindfulness (Pirson et al, 2018).…”

“…The same study, however, reported no correlation between smartphone addiction and real-world creative achievement. Other studies have also found no relationships between smartphone use and various divergent and convergent thinking tasks, including designing toys for children (Linares & Sellier, 2021), generating novel responses to picture stimuli (Rodríguez et al, 2020), and completing relevant word associations (Linares & Sellier, 2021).…”

“…Depending on how they are used, smartphones may even increase creativity (Rodríguez, Lozano, Mingorance, & Pérez-Mármol, 2020) by promoting activities such as photography (Yeh, Chang, Ting, & Chen, 2020). With global increases in problematic smartphone use and phone ownership (Newzoo, 2021;O'Dea, 2021), any effect on creativity could have widespread consequences (Linares & Sellier, 2021).…”

The relationship between mobile phone use and creative ideation among college students: The roles of critical thinking and creative self-efficacy.

“…Whereas some researches have shown no correlation between smartphone addiction and creative achievement (Upshaw et al, 2022) or divergent and convergent thinking (Linares & Sellier, 2021; Olson et al, 2023; Rodríguez et al, 2020), other studies have demonstrated that the use of smartphones correlates positively with mind-wandering (Marty-Dugas et al, 2018; Müller et al, 2021), which is considered a correlate of creativity (Agnoli et al, 2018). These findings suggest that the relationship between mobile phone use and creative ideation remains to be fully elucidated.…”