(PS7-A12) Psychosocial and Personality Trait Correlates of Phubbing and Being Phubbed in a Latinx College Student Sample

Phubbing is a combination of the words ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’ and is when one uses their smartphone in a social setting instead of interacting with the other individual(s) in their presence. Consequently, the victim of phubbing is the one who is being phubbed by their conversation partner(s). Past research has revealed a positive correlation between phubbing and depression and anxiety (Ergün et al., 2020) and a positive association between narcissism and phubbing (Grieve & March, 2021). However, research is limited in how phubbing and being phubbed are associated with negative affect and adverse personality traits. The aim of the present study was to assess how phubbing and being phubbed may relate to theoretically driven psychosocial constructs and adverse personality traits in Latinx college students.

Self-identified Latinx college students (n=502) from a Hispanic Serving Institution (M_age= 20.65 years, SD = 3.35; 75.9% female) were recruited via SONA, a web-based recruitment system. After signing an electronic consent form, participants completed the following measures: sociodemographics; Generic Scale of Phubbing (GSP); Generic Scale of Being Phubbed (GSBP); Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS); Short Dark Triad Scale (SD3); and the Need for Drama Scale (NFD). Seven linear regressions assessed the relationships between the GSP and GSBP subscales with age, sex, and the DASS, SD3, and NFD subscales.

Regarding GSP findings, nomophobia was positively associated with stress (p=.029) and persistent perceived victimhood (PPV; p=.011). Interpersonal conflict was positively associated with anxiety (p< .001), psychopathy (p< .001), and interpersonal manipulation (p=.013). Self-isolation was positively associated with psychopathy (p< .001) and interpersonal manipulation (p< .001) and negatively associated with narcissism (p=.042). Problem acknowledgement was positively associatied with stress (p=.010) and interpersonal manipulation (p< .001) and negatively associated with sex (p=.005). Regarding GSBP findings, perceived norms was positively associated with sex (p=.028), age (p=.008), stress (p=.044) and PPV (p< .001) and negatively associated with psychopathy (p=.029). Feeling ignored was positively associated with age (p=.05) and PPV (p< .001). Interpersonal conflict was positively associated with age (p=.004), stress (p=.035) and PPV (p< .001).

Findings suggest that anxiety and stress were positively related to phubbing indicating that participants’ smartphone use may lead to greater negative affect or that negative affect may lead to phubbing. Psychopathy was most prominently related to phubbing indicating that participants may disregard others by resorting to their smartphone. Moreover, that stress was related to being phubbed indicates that being socially excluded may lead to greater stress levels. Interestingly, that need for drama was most prominently related to being phubbed indicates that a smartphone may be necessary to continue garnering attention and portraying oneself as the victim. Due to the cross-sectional design of the present study, future prospective studies that determine the temporality of these observed relationships are warranted.