Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Relationship Between Nomophobia, Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Problem-Solving, Perceived Stress, and Self-esteem Among Undergraduate Students

  • Published:
Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nomophobia is derived from “no mobile phobia”; it is defined as the fear of being away from the possibility of communication by mobile phone. Since mobile phones are used actively in many fields, from communication to social media, from the stock market to e-commerce, users can practically follow developments in their areas of interest with their mobile phones. This situation reveals the need for users to keep their phones with them all the time and can trigger the development of nomophobia feelings. This fear can become increasingly common among mobile phone users today and may require clinical interventions due to its consequences. Researchers state that the investigation of factors that cause nomophobia can inform subsequent interventions and guidance studies to overcome this fear. Various studies have been carried out to determine the causes of nomophobia. In these studies, the importance of individual psycho-social factors is revealed. However, it is emphasized that dimensions related to psycho-social factors need to be explored. One of them is the relationship of nomophobia with emotional intelligence, interpersonal problem-solving, perceived stress, and self-esteem. This study investigated the structural relationships between university students’ nomophobia and emotional intelligence, interpersonal problem-solving, perceived stress, and self-esteem. The research was carried out on 543 university students. Fifty-seven percent of the students participating in the study were female, and 43% were male. Path analysis was performed in the analysis of the data. The results of the research reveal that as the interpersonal problem-solving skills of university students improve, nomophobia decreases. Depending on the development of emotional intelligence, students’ interpersonal problem-solving skills increase. In addition, the development of emotional intelligence reduces the level of perceived stress. In line with the findings obtained from the research, various suggestions were made for the researchers.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

The authors are willing to share their data, analytics methods, and study materials with other researchers upon request.

Code Availability

The authors used AMOS functions for their statistical analyses.

References

  • Alexander, J. A. M., Van Deursen, A. J. A. M., Bolle, C. L., Hegner, S. M., & Kommers, P. A. M. (2015). Modeling habitual and addictive smartphone behavior. The role of smartphone usage types, emotional intelligence, social stress, self-regulation, age, and gender. Computers in Human Behavior, 45, 411–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arpaci, I., & Gundogan, S. (2020). Mediating role of psychological resilience in the relationship between mindfulness and nomophobia. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 1–9.

  • Aydemir, M., & Arlı, B. N. (2020). Investigation of students’ perceptions of multidimensional perfectionism with self-esteem and stress. Pamukkale University Journal of Education, 48, 252–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beranuy, M., Oberst, U., Carbonell, X., & Chamarro, A. (2009). Problematic Internet and mobile phone use and clinical symptoms in college students: The role of emotional intelligence. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(5), 1182–1187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, S., Bashar, M. A., Srivastava, A., & Singh, A. (2019). Nomophobia: No mobile phone phobia. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(4), 1297.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cam, S., & Tumkaya, S. (2008). Development of interpersonal problem-solving inventory for high school students: The validity and reliability process. International Journal of Human Sciences, 5(2), 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Çuhadaroğlu, F. (1986). Self-esteem in adolescents. Unpublished Specialization Thesis Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Ankara.

  • Davey, S., & Davey, A. (2014). Assessment of smartphone addiction in Indian adolescents: A mixed method study by systematic review and meta-analysis approach. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 5(12), 1500–1511.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Deniz, S. (2013). The relationship between emotional intelligence and problem-solving skills in prospective teachers. Educational Research and Reviews, 8(24), 2339–2345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deniz, M. E., Özer, E., & Isik, E. (2013). Trait emotional intelligence questionnaire–short form: Validity and reliability studies. Education and Science, 38(169), 407–419.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davie, N., & Hilber, T. (2017). Nomophobia: Is smartphone addiction a genuine risk for Mobile learning?. International Association for Development of the Information Society.

  • Eskin, M., Akyol, A., Çelik, E. Y., & Gültekin, B. K. (2013). Social problem‐solving, perceived stress, depression and life‐satisfaction in patients suffering from tension type and migraine headaches. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 54(4), 337–343.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eskin, M., Harlak, H., Demirkiran, F., & Dereboy, C. (2009). The adaptation of the perceived stress scale into Turkish: A reliability and validity analysis. New Symposium Journal, 51(3), 132–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, H. (1993). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences (10 anniversary ed.). New York, NY: Basic Books

  • Gentina, E., Tang, T. L. P., & Dancoine, P. F. (2018). Does Gen Z’s emotional intelligence promote iCheating (cheating with iPhone) yet curb iCheating through reduced nomophobia? Computers & Education, 126, 231–247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gezgin, D. M., Hamutoglu, N. B., Sezen-Gultekin, G., & Ayas, T. (2018). The relationship between nomophobia and loneliness among Turkish adolescents. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 4(2), 358–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2014). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, P. J., & Troth, A. C. (2004). Managing emotions during team problem-solving: Emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Human Performance, 17(2), 195–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, C. M., & Lee, J. Y. (2020). Effects of South Korea’s educational welfare priority project on elementary-and middle-school students’ changes in self-esteem and adaptation to school life. Children and Youth Services Review, 109, 104618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2005). Principle and practice of structural equation modelling. New York, NY: Guilford.

  • Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. J. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp. 3–34). Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, C. K., Do, T. T., Nguyen, M. L. T., Tran, H. T., & Nguyen, Q. V. (2021). Development and psychometric evaluation of the interpersonal problem-solving inventory for Vietnamese elementary school students. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, 1–12.

  • Olivencia-Carrión, M. A., Ferri-García, R., del Mar Rueda, M., Jiménez-Torres, M. G., & López-Torrecillas, F. (2018). Temperament and characteristics related to nomophobia. Psychiatry Research, 266, 5–10.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pallant, J. (2001). SPSS: Survival manual. McPherson.

  • Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2000). On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences, 29, 313–320.

  • Phillips A. C. (2013). Perceived stress. In: Gellman M.D., Turner J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of behavioral medicine. Springer, New York, NY.

  • Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2001). Trait emotional intelligence: Psychometric investigation with reference to established trait taxonomies. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 425–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramos-Soler, I., López-Sánchez, C., & Quiles-Soler, C. (2021). Nomophobia in teenagers: Digital lifestyle, social networking and smartphone abuse. Communication & Society, 34(4), 17–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Collection and Personality, 9, 185–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samaha, M., & Hawi, N. S. (2016). Relationships among smartphone addiction, stress, academic performance, and satisfaction with life. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 321–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (2004). A beginner’s guide to structural equation modeling. Erlbaum.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Statista. (2021). Global digital population as of April 2022. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/

  • Tams, S., Legoux, R., & Léger, P. M. (2018). Smartphone withdrawal creates stress: A moderated mediation model of nomophobia, social threat, and phone withdrawal context. Computers in Human Behavior, 81, 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terzioglu, M. A., & Ugurlu, T. T. (2021). Perceived stress and nomophobia in medical faculty students during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Dependence, 22(4), 474–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wågan, F. A., Darvik, M. D., & Pedersen, A. V. (2021). Associations between self-esteem, psychological stress, and the risk of exercise dependence. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(11), 5577.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, P. W., Liu, T. L., Ko, C. H., Lin, H. C., Huang, M. F., Yeh, Y. C., & Yen, C. F. (2014). Association between problematic cellular phone use and suicide: The moderating effect of family function and depression. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 55(2), 342–348.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yildirim, C., & Correia, A. P. (2015). Exploring the dimensions of nomophobia: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 130–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yildirim, C., Sumuer, E., Adnan, M., & Yildirim, S. (2016). A growing fear: Prevalence of nomophobia among Turkish college students. Information Development, 32(5), 1322–1331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Technology & Information Systems, Bartin University, Bartin, Turkey

    Fatma Gizem Karaoglan Yilmaz & Ramazan Yilmaz

  2. Department of Computer Technologies, Ereğli Vocational School, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey

    Fatih Erdogdu

Authors
  1. Fatma Gizem Karaoglan Yilmaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ramazan Yilmaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fatih Erdogdu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fatma Gizem Karaoglan Yilmaz.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in these studies were in accordance with the APA ethical guidelines, the ethical standards of the institutional research committee, and the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments.

Consent to Participate

All participants gave full informed consent to participate.

Consent for Publication

All participants gave consent for their data to be used in publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Karaoglan Yilmaz, F., Yilmaz, R. & Erdogdu, F. The Relationship Between Nomophobia, Emotional Intelligence, Interpersonal Problem-Solving, Perceived Stress, and Self-esteem Among Undergraduate Students. J. technol. behav. sci. 8, 27–35 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-022-00282-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41347-022-00282-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation