Nomophobia: I Can Not Live without My Smartphone!

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine high school students' use of smartphones and their nomophobia levels. This research was designed using one of the mixed research methods, the Explanatory Mixed Method, with the combined use of both quantitative and qualitative paradigms. Nomophobia Scale was used to collect the quantitative data of the research study. 767 students from two different high schools in Nigde in Turkey participated in the research. The qualitative data were obtained from the semi-structured interviews held with 19 high school students selected from the above mentioned participants. Descriptive and explanatory statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data whereas the qualitative data were processed with the use of content analysis. The results of the study showed that high school students were nomophobic at a moderate level, and anxious about not being able to access information, losing connectedness, not being able to communicate, and giving up convenience. Moreover, it was found in the study that the participants' nomophobia levels varied significantly with regards to gender, self-reported time spent on the phone per day, grade level and duration of smartphone ownership. The participants' motivations for using smartphones were listed as communication, keeping in touch, social media and hobby. In this regard, we can recommend further investigation into psychological reasons underlying nomophobia, restrictions of students' daily use of smartphones and undertaking some measures such as implementation of awareness raising activities regarding nomophobia in schools and social life.

Key words: addiction; high school; nomophobia; smartphone; smartphone addiction