Perceptions and misperceptions of smartphone use: Applying the social norms approach

John McAlaney*, Mohamed Basel Almourad, Georgina Powell, Raian Ali

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The social norms approach is an established technique to bring about behaviour change through challenging misperceptions of peer behaviour. This approach is limited by a reliance on self-report and a lack of interactivity with the target population. At the same time, excessive use of digital devices, known as digital addiction, has been recognized as an emergent issue. There is potential to apply the social norms approach to digital addiction and, in doing so, address some of the limitations of the social norms field. In this study, we trialled a social norms intervention with a sample of smartphone users (n = 94) recruited from the users of a commercial app designed to empower individuals to reduce their device usage. Our results indicate that most of the sample overestimated peer use of smartphone apps, demonstrating the existence of misperceptions relating to smartphone use. Such misperceptions are the basis for the social norms approach. We also document the discrepancy between self-report and smartphone usage data as recorded through data collected directly from the device. The potential for the application of the social norms approach and directions for future research are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number513
Pages (from-to)1-10
Number of pages10
JournalInformation (Switzerland)
Volume11
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Behaviour change
  • Digital addiction
  • Intervention
  • Personality
  • Smartphones
  • Social norms

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Perceptions and misperceptions of smartphone use: Applying the social norms approach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this