Who “phubs”? A systematic meta-analytic review of phubbing predictors

Abstract

Phubbing (i.e., snubbing someone in face-to-face interactions by focusing on one's phone instead of those present) has increased enormously in recent years and has become a widespread usage phenomenon that is associated with negative consequences, for instance for relationships and friendships. To better understand the predictors of phubbing behavior, the present paper provides a systematic overview of the growing research field. Based on a meta-analytic review of 79 studies and 526 effect sizes, we identified 10 higher-level predictor categories of phubbing behavior: sociodemographics, personality, technology-related norms & experiences, technical equipment, (smart)phone & Internet use, problematic use, well-being, psychopathology, and resilience as well as risk factors. The results of the three-level meta-analysis models indicated that the strongest predictors were problematic use patterns.