Smartphones reduce smiles between strangers

Smartphone Use and Psychological Well-being: the Moderating Role of Emotion Regulation

“…Studies suggest that the use of smartphones for entertainment can lead to low levels of psychological well-being (Hoffner and Lee 2015), which can be associated with less interaction with other people (Powers et al 2004). Kushlev et al (2019) recently demonstrated that when people can use their smartphones, they tend to exhibit fewer smiles to other people around them, compared to a situation where they have no access to the device. The authors refer to the "absent presence," suggesting that the absent of smiles indicates a diminished need to engage with others, linked to the possibility of using the smartphone to escape the limits of the immediate social environment (Kushlev et al 2019).…”

“…Kushlev et al (2019) recently demonstrated that when people can use their smartphones, they tend to exhibit fewer smiles to other people around them, compared to a situation where they have no access to the device. The authors refer to the "absent presence," suggesting that the absent of smiles indicates a diminished need to engage with others, linked to the possibility of using the smartphone to escape the limits of the immediate social environment (Kushlev et al 2019). Similarly, emotion suppression tends to be associated with less interaction with other people.…”

The Multipurpose Application WeChat: A Review on Recent Research

“…Moreover, important psychological questions to be answered in the context of WeChat usage will also touch the area of a digital etiquette (Montag and Diefenbach, 2018), and more detailed, if WeChat usage leads to lower social connection/taking less care of one’s own children (Kushlev and Dunn, 2018), possibly also resulting in lower empathy (Melchers et al, 2015; Lachmann et al, 2018). A new study by Kushlev et al (2019) also demonstrated that smartphone usage reduces smiles between strangers. It also needs to be better understood at what levels WeChat may benefit users in everyday life and may even enhance resilience due to its potential stress-relieving effects or increased social support.…”

Two social lives: How differences between online and offline interaction influence social outcomes

“…[40]) and can reduce the effectiveness of offline connection. Phone use during social interaction can reduce feelings of social connection [41,42 ,43,44], the perceived quality of the interaction [45,46], enjoyment gained from the interaction [47 ], and even frequency of smiling at others [48].…”