Exploring relationships between cell phone use behaviors, peer relational expectations, entrapment, and personality
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Jennifer Willard
Department
RCHSS - Psychological Science
Abstract
The current study investigates the potential relationships of cell phone use behaviors, mobile relational expectations of peers, feelings of entrapment (a term in the literature referring to guilt and/or stress one experiences due to mobile relational expectations from peers), and personality through an exploratory analysis. Results from previous studies indicate that individuals who report higher amounts of relational expectations from friends also report higher feelings of entrapment (Hall & Baym, 2011). Additionally, texting, but not voice calling, was associated with the experience of entrapment (Thomee, Harenstam, & Hagberg, 2011). Using survey responses from a larger ongoing study, correlational data analyses were run in SPSS for a small sample (N = 27). Results expanded on and replicated previous findings in the literature concerning relationships between cell phone behaviors, the experience of peer expectations, and entrapment. Findings from this study also uniquely add to the literature by suggesting that some individual differences may moderate feelings of entrapment. In our data set, conscientiousness significantly predicted lower feelings of entrapment. In the future, a larger sample size might extrapolate other trends observed in the data.
Disciplines
Personality and Social Contexts
Exploring relationships between cell phone use behaviors, peer relational expectations, entrapment, and personality
The current study investigates the potential relationships of cell phone use behaviors, mobile relational expectations of peers, feelings of entrapment (a term in the literature referring to guilt and/or stress one experiences due to mobile relational expectations from peers), and personality through an exploratory analysis. Results from previous studies indicate that individuals who report higher amounts of relational expectations from friends also report higher feelings of entrapment (Hall & Baym, 2011). Additionally, texting, but not voice calling, was associated with the experience of entrapment (Thomee, Harenstam, & Hagberg, 2011). Using survey responses from a larger ongoing study, correlational data analyses were run in SPSS for a small sample (N = 27). Results expanded on and replicated previous findings in the literature concerning relationships between cell phone behaviors, the experience of peer expectations, and entrapment. Findings from this study also uniquely add to the literature by suggesting that some individual differences may moderate feelings of entrapment. In our data set, conscientiousness significantly predicted lower feelings of entrapment. In the future, a larger sample size might extrapolate other trends observed in the data.