Abstract
Although the smartphone zombie (SZ) has become a social problem, the cognitive processes that underlie it have not been sufficiently examined and the effective intervention methods to suppress it have remained unverified. This study tested the validity of our psychological model in terms of predicting the Smartphone zombie incidence rate and effectively intervening to curtail it. We first developed the interventional materials and initially tested their effectiveness through a questionnaire survey. We then conducted a field experiment in which a smartphone app collected phone usage logs of 194 Japanese participants who were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group was presented with the interventional materials once a week during a one-month period, while the control group did not see any interventional materials. Our experimental results showed that our psychological model can predict the Smartphone zombie incidence rate that we proved positively correlated with the cognitive processes of SZ, specifically, in terms of smartphone addiction and habit, as well as behavioral intention and willingness. Moreover, we found the interventional materials had the possibility of reducing SZ’s behavioral willingness.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Sato, H.: Psychological process of walking while using a smartphone (in Japanese). Japanese J. Shinshu Stud. Human. 7(2), 87–98 (2020)
Masuda, K., Haga, S.: Effects of cell phone texting on attention, walking, and mental workload: Comparison between the smartphone and the feature phone. Japanese J. Ergon. 51(1), 52–61 (2015). https://doi.org/10.5100/jje.51.52
Haga, S., Sano, A., Sekine, Y., Sato, H., Yamaguchi, S., Masuda, K.: Effects of using a smart phone on pedestrians’ attention and walking. Proc. Manuf. 3, 2574–2580 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.564
Mourra, G.N., et al.: Using a smartphone while walking: The cost of smartphone-addiction proneness. Addict. Behav. 106, 106346 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106346
Gerrard, M., Gibbons, F.X., Houlihan, A.E., Stock, M.L., Pomery, E.A.: A dual-process approach to health risk decision making: the prototype willingness model. Dev. Rev. 28(1), 29–61 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2007.10.001
Gibbons, F.X., Houlihan, A.E., Gerrard, M.: Reason and reaction: the utility of a dual-focus, dual-processing perspective on promotion and prevention of adolescent health risk behaviour. Br. J. Health. Psychol. 14(2), 231–248 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1348/135910708X376640
Gibbons, F.X., Gerrard, M., Blanton, H., Russell, D.W.: Reasoned action and social reaction: willingness and intention as independent predictors of health risk. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 74(5), 1164–1180 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1164
Fishbein, M., Ajzen, I.: Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An introduction to Theory and Research. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1975)
Ajzen, I.: The theory of planned behavior. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 50(2), 179–211 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Bentler, P.M., Speckart, G.: Attitudes “cause” behaviors: a structural equation analysis. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 40(2), 226–238 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.40.2.226
Gerrard, M., Gibbons, E.X., Benthin, A., Hessling, R.: The reciprocal nature of risk behaviors and cognitions: what you think shapes what you do and vice versa. Health Psychol. 15(5), 344–354 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.15.5.344
Bagozzi, R.P.: Attitudes, intentions, and behavior: a test of some key hypotheses. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 41(4), 607–627 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.41.4.607
Gibbons, F.X., Helweg-Larsen, M., Gerrard, M.: Prevalence estimates and adolescent risk behavior: cross-cultural differences in social influence. J. Appl. Psychol. 80(1), 107–121 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.80.1.107
Sato, H., Haga, S.: Factors affecting pedestrians’ risk behavior (in Japanese). Japanese J. Rikkyo Psychol, Res. 57, 37–50 (2015)
Mori, K., Hirota, S., Ohyama, K., Onodera, J., Koshikawa, M., Shirai, I.: Fear appeals in no-texting-while-walking posters: evaluation of the fear levels using the implicit positive and negative affect test (in Japanese). In: 82nd, Proceedings on The Japanese Psychological Association, p. 79. The Japanese Psychological Association, Japan (2018)
Kurokawa, M., Honjo, M., Mishima, K.: Development of the smartphone-based internet addiction tendency Scale for high school students and technical college students (in Japanese). Japanese J. Exp. Soc. Psychology 60(1), 37–49 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2130/jjesp.1907
Higuchi, S.: Smartphone game addiction (in Japanese). Naigai Publishing, Japan (2018)
Kwon, M., Kim, D.J., Cho, H., Yang, S.: The smartphone addiction scale: development and validation of a short version for adolescents. PLoS ONE 8(12), e83558 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083558
Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J., Anderson, R.E.: Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th edn. Prentice Hall, London (2010)
Cohen, J.: A power primer. Psychol. Bull. 112(1), 155–159 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Higbee, K.L.: What is the “Fear” in a Fear-Arousing Appeal ? Psychol. Rep. 35(3), 1161–1162 (1974). https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1974.35.3.1161
French, J.R., Raven, B.H.: The bases of social power. In: D. Cartwright (Ed.) Studies in Social Power. Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor (1959)
Brehm, J.W.: A Theory of Psychological Reactance. Academic Press, New York (1966)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Sakai, T., Kuriki, Y., Xu, W., Taya, M., Minamikawa, A. (2022). A Psychological Model for Predicting the Smartphone Zombie Phenomenon and Intervention. In: Baghaei, N., Vassileva, J., Ali, R., Oyibo, K. (eds) Persuasive Technology. PERSUASIVE 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13213. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98438-0_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98438-0_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-98437-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-98438-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)