The smartphone crouches next to the sofa like a bad-tempered pet, begging for attention. Actually, the plan was to lounge on the couch and read. But after a few pages of the book, the nerve phone emits a ping, a Tüddeldü or a hum. A push message (the incidence is high), a message in one of the many messengers (invitation to the parents’ table) or a notification from a social network (someone expresses evil in the name of good) urge you to press around on the smartphone. Half an hour has passed, forgot the book and the mood was as unstable as the cell phone network during a trip on the ICE. Again idling around pointlessly instead of reading nicely. Only this damn smartphone is blocking the way to happiness!
This view is obvious, as the digital in general and the smartphone in particular tend to be soul destroyers. But it doesn’t seem that simple. Psychologists around Lisa Walsh from the University of California in Los Angeles have just finished published a studywhich suggests: digital fasting and smartphone renunciation do have positive effects, but these are minor – and the renunciation also seems to have a few, also small, negative side effects. So what now?
So far, a surprising number of questions remain unanswered about the psychological effects of smartphone and social media use. Most studies only report correlations and can say little or nothing about causalities. In this way, you can virtually pick out what fits your own existing views from the research literature. Smartphones and social media promote depression and impair well-being. Or: Smartphones and social media have no significant effect on mental health and can promote well-being. The two research groups simply interpreted the same evidence differently, according to psychologist Walsh.
So in order to clarify the question of the effects of smartphone use somewhat, the researchers organized an experiment that was obvious for their study. For just over a week, the participants either had to drastically reduce their smartphone use or largely forego visits to social networks. The psychologists then compared the effects with several control groups. Smartphone fasting increased the feeling of autonomy, increased self-confidence, focus and satisfaction, even if only to a small extent. Avoiding social media had even smaller effects. Well-being did not increase, nor did depressive tendencies improve. Instead, the subjects reported slightly increased negative sensations.
Digital fasting does not guarantee happiness either. Stay calm and carry on, is the conclusion of the psychologists. Still, it would be nice to concentrate on reading a book again. But you could just leave the smartphone in another room or at least prohibit the digital pet from making any vocalizations.