Your Smartphone Could Be The Villain In Your Romance: Study Reveals

It’s widely known that addictions to smartphones have been on the rise for a while now. But a recent study, conducted by Vivo India and CMR, showed how it’s impacting married couples. An astounding 88% respondents agreed that spending their limited leisure time available on smartphones, instead of being with their spouse, is hurting their relationship.

The ‘Switch Off’ study titled ‘Smartphones and their impact on human relationships 2022’, explored the behavioural and psychological changes in relationships of married couples due to excessive use of smartphone devices. It surveyed over 1000 consumers, across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune.

Effect on Married Couples

An individual’s patterns of use of their smartphones have a direct impact on their relationships.

Of the respondents, 69% felt they were occasionally distracted by their smartphone, or not being attentive enough towards their spouse. The addiction is real enough, as 70% of them also confessed to getting irritated sometimes when their spouse asks something while they are immersed in their smartphones. On the other hand, 73% of respondents also accepted that their spouse complained about their overindulgence on the phone instead of spending time with them.

Touchless transactions, news inflow, entertainment, and also human interactions on various fronts are all primarily navigated through smartphones and these take up a significant portion of a person’s free time.

As per the study, 66% of people feel that excessive usage of smartphones has weakened their relationship with their spouse.

However, not all hope is lost, as respondents also recognised the problem and wished to do better. 84% of respondents did admit to wanting to spend more quality time with their spouse.

The silver lining includes 89% of polled saying they would want to cut down leisure time spent on smartphones to strengthen their bond with their spouse and on the other hand, 91% even felt that spending more leisure time with their spouse will improve contentment in life.

Leisure Time Indulgence

The study affirms that smartphones are not only an integral part of lives, but also the most commonly preferred way to relax. On average, each smartphone user had about one and a half hours of leisure time daily. Most of them like to spend their leisure time with family, however they carry their smartphone while spending time with family.

A whopping 90% of respondents claimed that smartphones are the most preferred way to relax with 88% respondents claiming that spending leisure time on smartphones is a part of their behaviour. 89% of people also said that they feel the urge to reach out to their smartphone as soon as they get some free time.

72% of respondents also agreed that they sometimes get so absorbed in their smartphones that they lose track of their surroundings.

The average time spent on smartphones is four and a half to five hours and is similar for both males and females. The integration into daily lives was also demonstrated through the detailed analysis of behaviour during different activities through the day.

Almost 53% used it during work calls, 58% while eating food, 60% while sitting with family and 60% used it in their living rooms. A significantly higher percentage, 86% people agreed that their phone is the last thing that users see before hitting the bed.

Respondents admitted that smartphones also do benefit their lives in multiple ways. 60% of people said that it helped them stay connected with loved ones while 59% agreed that smartphones have improved their knowledge. Ease of shopping and productivity boost were some other factors they highlighted.