A recent study led by researchers at the University of Michigan
reveals that cellphone use has a contagious character. People
have a strong impulse to use their phone when they see a nearby
individual doing so. In an attempt to determine the influence of
the cellphone among young people, scientists have led an
observation on students in coffee shops and dining rooms around
the campus. The experiment lasted from January until April 2011
and while sitting at tables students were analyzed for about 20
minutes, according to Live Science It was noted that, in up to
24% of the given time, students used their phones and that they
were more susceptible of doing this as a consequence of the mate
having done the same. “Some of this could be people being primed
to check their e-mail or phone messages, but this contagious use
was happening several times in a 15-minute interaction,” said
researcher Daniel Kruger. It is suspected that the phenomenon is
a matter of social belonging. A quite scary idea, I would say.
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