Influence of Smartphone Use on Emotional, Cognitive and Educational Dimensions in University Students

Francisco Manuel Morales Rodríguez, José Miguel Giménez Lozano, Pablo Linares Mingorance and José Manuel Pérez-Mármol
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Francisco Manuel Morales Rodríguez: Department of Educational and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Campus Universitario de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
José Miguel Giménez Lozano: Department of Educational and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Campus Universitario de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
Pablo Linares Mingorance: Faculty of Psychology, University of Granada, Campus Universitario de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
José Manuel Pérez-Mármol: Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 16, 1-20

Abstract: The use of mobile devices is one of the increasingly interactive methodologies widely promoted within the European Higher Education Area. It is, therefore, necessary to determine the potential effects of their excessive use on psychological and educational variables. The aim of the present study was to assess smartphone addiction and its relationship with emotional, cognitive, and educational dimensions in university students. Participants comprised 144 university students aged between 19 and 27 years old and studying psychology and education at the University of Granada. Various tests were administered to assess variables grouped into the following dimensions: smartphone addiction (TDM), general intelligence (Wonderlic), emotional intelligence (TMMS-24), motivation (Mape-3), creativity (CREA test), and attitudes toward competencies. An ex post facto design was employed. Direct associations were observed between addiction symptoms caused by smartphone use (withdrawal, tolerance, excessive use, and problems caused by the same) and the variables of extrinsic motivation (fear and avoidance of the task) and intrinsic motivation (motivation toward the task). The results also indicated direct relationships between the problems caused by excessive smartphone use and anxiety and extrinsic motivation toward learning. An inverse relationship was observed between smartphone addiction and the emotional intelligence dimension of clarity of feelings. The anxiety provoked by excessive smartphone use was related to the tolerance generated by such use and to cultural and artistic competencies. The data obtained thus shed light on the effect of smartphone use on emotional, cognitive, and educational dimensions in university settings.

Keywords: addiction; competencies; creativity; emotional intelligence; smartphone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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