Even though you know better, you’ll probably choose your phone over another human…
Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
Humans can reliably predict the most enjoyable way to pass to pass the time — but don’t take their own advice.
Although humans enjoy voluntary social engagement with other humans, they still end up using their phones to relieve their boredom.
Conversations between caring humans provide a wellspring for positive emotions, but humans seem to prefer to text, or watch videos on their phones to kill time, although they are less decidedly less fun.
Here’s what kills me. They’ll do this, despite the fact that they often predict that interacting with other humans will be more enjoyable than staring into a screen.
These are the results of a study comparing the common ways humans might pass a few idle moments:
sitting quietly doing nothing.
or using a smartphone.
or talking to a complete stranger.
Ms. Christina Leckfor, the study’s first author, said:
“When people are out in the real world, they have these options.
We were interested in getting a sense of how people compare their options, both in terms of how they expect to feel and then how they actually feel after doing these things.”
The results showed that humans were surprisingly accurate in their predictions, said Ms Leckfor:
“We thought people might underestimate how much they would enjoy talking to a stranger and overestimate how much they would enjoy using their smartphones.
But that’s not what we found.
Across our studies, people were actually more accurate in predicting how they would feel than we thought they’d be.”
Should I text? Or talk to a complete stranger?
Nevertheless, people did prefer texting, despite the fact that it dulled their mood in contrast to conversation, which perked them up.
Ms. Leckfor explained:
“It surprised us that even though participants reported an improved mood after talking to a stranger, they still ranked texting above talking to a stranger.
This could mean that people don’t always recognize the potential benefits of a conversation, or they’re not prioritizing that information.
It also shows that just experiencing something as enjoyable isn’t always enough to get us to want to do it.”
Forced to do nothing… the human languishes…
Sitting quietly alone doing nothing was always the last preference for most people and they duly enjoyed it the least.
However, this may be because they were forced to sit alone in this study.
Leckfor explained:
“Each study participant was instructed to spend that time alone.
They didn’t have a choice.
Some previous research shows that when people have a choice, and freely choose to spend time in solitude, they enjoy it more than when it’s forced upon them.”‘
What’s interesting about this study is how it focuses on enjoyment versus reward. I suspect that while we remember human interaction as satisfying, It may be the intensity of engagement, and FOMO, that drives our ultimate choice.
Be well, stay kind, get off your damn phone, and Godspeed.
RESEARCH:
Christina M. Leckfor, Natasha R. Wood, Sarah M. Kwiatek & Edward Orehek (2023) Expectations and experiences of screen time, social interaction, and solitude, The Journal of Social Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2023.2231617
