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Cited by 61Cyberloafing and Workplace BehaviorImpact of Technology on AdolescentsTechnostress in Professional Settings

Smartphones at Work: A Qualitative Exploration of Psychological Antecedents and Impacts of Work-Related Smartphone Dependency

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Li, Li, Lin, Trisha T. C.·2019·International Journal of Qualitative Methods
DOI 10.1177/1609406918822240
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Abstract

This study explores the impacts and psychological antecedents of smartphone dependency at work. Analyzing semistructured interviews with 32 full-time employees in China, the findings show that dependence on smartphones at work seems to increase workers’ perceived job performance and workplace social capital. However, in the negative side, it seems to lead to the emergence of smartphone addiction symptoms such as anxiety and uncontrollable usage behavior. Notably, this study uncovers that, although smartphone dependency at work seems to enhance workers’ job performance, once such dependency turned to addiction, they perceived their performance to diminish. Besides, the findings show that conscientious employees and those with high smartphone self-efficacy are more likely to develop dependence on their smartphones at work. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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  • Li and Lin (2019) found that a dependence on smartphones for communication has no influence on PSU.

    “Li and Lin (2019) found that a dependence on smartphones for communication has no influence on PSU.”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Li and Lin, 2019

    The Discussion (page unavailable) says that dependence on smartphones at work seems to trigger addiction symptoms, rather than having no influence. In the findings (indexed under Method; page unavailable), a worker who relied on his phone for messages and email described checking it uncontrollably. The paper uses the term “smartphone addiction,” not PSU, and does not report a separate statistical test of communication dependency. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Individuals with the personality trait of extroversion may be susceptible to PSU given their heightened motivation to engage in frequent communication using the smartphone to form and maintain relationships.

    “individuals with the personality trait of extroversion may be susceptible to PSU given their heightened motivation to engage in frequent communication using the smartphone to form and maintain relationships (Hong et al., 2012;Li & Lin, 2019;Panda & Jain, 2018).”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Li & Lin, 2019

    The Introduction reports that extroverts spent more time calling and texting and that sociability was associated with smartphone dependency. It does not establish that extroversion increases susceptibility to problematic smartphone use (PSU), or that a desire to form and maintain relationships explains the association. The paper defines the dependency it studies as reliance on a smartphone to meet goals, rather than necessarily problematic use. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Individuals with the trait of neuroticism may develop an excessive dependence on the smartphone due to social anxiety and their need to constantly seek reassurance from peers through smartphone mediated communication.

    “Individuals with the trait of neuroticism may also develop an excessive dependence on the smartphone due to social anxiety and their need to constantly seek reassurance from peers through smartphone mediated communication (Horwood & Anglim, 2018;Li & Lin, 2019).”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Li & Lin, 2019

    The Introduction and Discussion (pages unavailable) link smartphone dependency to personality traits generally, but focus on conscientiousness among workers. Searches for neuroticism, social anxiety, and reassurance-seeking found no passage in our copy addressing the claimed mechanism. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Other studies identified that PSU strongly predicted the extent to which users experienced imagined smartphone signals.

    “Other studies identified that PSU strongly predicted the extent to which users experienced imagined smartphone signals (e.g., Kruger & Djerf, 2017;Li & Lin, 2019;Tanis et al., 2015).”

    From Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area (2021) · cites this paper as Li & Lin, 2019

    The Discussion describes work-related smartphone dependency and frequent checking, while the section on smartphone addiction describes preoccupation with possible new messages. Neither reports imagined smartphone signals or tests whether problematic smartphone use predicts them. Searches for phantom vibrations, phantom ringing, and false alerts found no passage addressing that outcome. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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Cites

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Li, L., & Lin, T. T. C.
Affiliations
  • Yunnan University (CN)
  • National Chengchi University (TW)
Corresponding author
Li, Li
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Qualitative Methods
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2019-01-01
Volume
18
ISSN
1609-4069 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1177/1609406918822240
OpenAlex
W2913194104
Cited by
61
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3
FWCI
17.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Qualitative Methods (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Nanyang Technological University (M4081477.060)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Cyberloafing and Workplace Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Technostress in Professional Settings
Keywords
smartphone addiction, employee performance, workplace social capital, anxiety, conscientiousness, psychological antecedents, employee behavior

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