Smartphones may make people feel more connected, but they probably don't belong at the dinner table, according to new research. Researchers examining the effect of smartphones on face-to-face social interactions found that people who used their devices while dining out with friends and family had less fun than those who didn't.
For the study, the researchers asked more than 300 people to dine with friends and family at a restaurant. Participants were randomly assigned to either keep their phones on the table or put their phones away during the meal. After the meal, they were asked several questions, including how much they enjoyed the experience. The researchers made sure that the participants were not aware that they were being monitored for their smartphone use.
When phones were present, the participants felt more distracted, causing them to enjoy spending time with their friends and family less (about half a point less on a seven-point scale), the researchers found. Participants also reported feeling slightly more bored at mealtime when their smartphones were present, which the researchers described as surprising.
The findings weren't just limited to restaurants. In a second study of more than 100 people, participants were given a survey on their smartphones five times a day for a week asking how they'd been feeling and what they'd been doing in the past 15 minutes. The researchers saw the same pattern. Participants reported that they enjoyed their face-to-face social interactions less if they had used their phones.
