Understanding nomophobia: A modern age phobia among college students

Abstract

Nomophobia, or no mobile phone phobia, is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact and considered a modern age phobia particularly common among young smartphone users. This qualitative study sought to identify the dimensions of nomophobia as described by college students and adopted a phenomenological approach to qualitative exploration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university in the U.S. Based on the findings, four dimensions of nomophobia were identified: not being able to communicate, losing connectedness, not being able to access information and giving up convenience. Given the widespread adoption of smartphones and integration of smartphones into educational settings, findings of this study can help educators better understand learners’ inclination to use their smartphones at all times.