1 Introduction

Over the past 10 years, smartphones have evolved to be one of the most popular devices ubiquitous in everyday life, having overtaken in terms of distribution and frequency of usage (Kantar TNS 2017). Smartphones offer multiple applications and functions which refer to multiple motives of usage, e.g. communication, entertainment, organization of data or search for information. Accordingly, statistics reveal an intense daily usage of about 2.5 h a day, with rising tendency (comScore 2017). Users aged between 18 and 32 years even report to use their phone about four hours a day (Statista 2018) resulting in an ascription of being the generation “always on” (Knop et al. 2015). The smartphone accompanies its owner throughout the day, supporting him regarding various daily challenges. In sum, this leads us to the conceptualization of the smartphone acting more like a “digital companion” than mere technical equipment (Carolus et al. 2017). Consequently, we ask for the psychological effects of a sudden interruption of this close companionship: Will users be emotionally affected if they are separated from their “digital companion” for a short period of time?

2 Theoretical Framework

2.1 A Psychological Perspective on Smartphone Separation

In a globalized world with families and friends dispersed among different places, mobile communication technologies allow their users to overcome communication barriers and exchange messages, e.g. texts, pictures or voices messages, independent of time and place. Hence, mobile communication allows us to in touch with families, friends and acquaintances which increases social connectedness and contributes to the gratification of fundamental human needs such as the need for affiliation or the need to belong (Deci and Ryan 2012; Wei and Lo 2006). The concept of “Fear of Missing Out” (FoMO) refers to this need. FoMO is defined as “the desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing” (Przybylski et at. 2013, p. 1841). Basically, the possibility of missing out social experiences results in an emotional state of anxiety. Originally, the concept referred to the usage of social media platforms. Research revealed that FoMO is positively correlated with users’ “Social media Engagement” (Alt 2015; Blackwell et al. 2017). Further, FoMO was found to mediate the effects of users’ satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness, general mood and overall life satisfaction on Social Media Engagement (Przybylski et al. 2013). As smartphones offer continuous access to social media, FoMO should also affect general phone usage. Accordingly, research reveals FoMO to influence problematic smartphone usage, especially for social purposes, e.g. communication and social networking (Wolniewicz et al. 2017). Research also showed that intense or compulsive smartphone use (Smartphone Addiction; Kwon et al. 2013) was strongly related to both FoMO and anxiety (Elhai et al. 2016) as well as negative affects (Wolniewicz et al. 2017).

While FoMO focuses on the function of the phone in terms of access to social media or instant messengers, the concept of nomophobia focuses on the phone itself, specifically how users depend on the device and not on certain applications (King et al. 2013). Rosenberger (2015) discusses a phenomenon known as “phantom vibration”: the misperception of a silent phones to vibrate shows that the device is constantly salient to its owner. Considering the phone as the point of reference results in the “fear” of being out of touch with the phone. In this context, Cheever et al. (2014) analyzed the effect of smartphone separation on anxiety levels. In their experiment, students were told to wait in a room for 65 min. Their only task was to answer an anxiety questionnaire three times (after 10, 35 and 60 min). Half of the participants were separated from their smartphones, half of them were not. Results revealed that anxiety would increase over time (t1 to t3) if participants waited without their phones. However, effects were only significant for students with average to high smartphone usage. Similarly, Clayton et at. (2015) separated iPhone users from their phones. While engaging in the experimental task participants heard their phone ring but were not able to answer. Results showed that these participants exhibited higher levels of blood pressure, increased heart rate as well as anxiety levels. Additionally, their task performance decreased.

2.2 Hypotheses

In sum, research so far focussed either on the psychological effects of smartphone separation without considering FoMO or on correlations of FoMO and the use of certain social media applications disregarding the mobile phone itself. Consequently, our study combines the vacancies of these two approaches by focussing on both smartphone separation and anxiety on the one hand and FoMO on the other hand. Following our idea of the smartphone acting the part of a “digital companion”, we focus on the device itself. Because the phone provides access to social media and because social media has been shown to be associated with FoMO we ask for the impact of phone separation regarding bot anxiety and FoMO.

Hypothesis 1 refers to research which showed that users who were separated from their smartphone reported higher levels of anxiety than users who were not separated from their smartphone (Cheever et al. 2014; Clayton et al. 2015). In contrast to FoMO which is conceptualized as a trait, the emotional state of anxiety seems to be affected by phone deprivation. Thus, we hypothesize:

  • H1: Users who are separated from their smartphones experience significantly higher levels of anxiety than users who are not separated from their phones.

Further, FoMO has been shown to be a significant predictor of social media usage and smartphone usage (Wolniewicz et al. 2017). Accordingly, hypothesis 2 integrates FoMO which is postulated to mediate the effect of phone separation on anxiety:

  • H2: The effect of smartphone separation on users’ anxiety levels is significantly mediated by FoMO.

3 Method

3.1 Participants

A total of 85 students (60 females, 25 males) voluntarily participated in a laboratory study at the university of Wuerzburg, Germany. Ranging in age from 19 to 35 with (M = 22.26 years; SD = 2.56), participants represented the so-called generation “always-on” which is referred to as being especially vulnerable to phone separation. On average, participants reported to use their smartphones 4.45 h per day (SD = 2.39), 1.15 h for work (SD = 1.06) and 3.30 h (SD = 1.84) during spare time.

3.2 Procedure

A single factor experimental design was conducted with participants randomly assigned to either the experimental (phone separation) or the control condition (no phone separation).

After being welcomed and introduced into the experimental setting by the researcher, participants agreed to the ethical guidelines of the German Psychological Association (DGPs). Afterwards, they were instructed to activate silent or vibration mode to avoid disturbances during the study. To allegedly further minimize disruptive factors, half of the participants (experimental group) were instructed to hand over their phone to the experimenter. The other half kept their phones (control group). Then, they were told to wait in the room until the researcher would have prepared the next part of the study. During a seven-minute waiting session a sound of a vibrating phone was played twice, after three and after 6 min causing salience of the phone. In contrast to Clayton et al. (2015) we implemented vibration instead of ringtones because vibration sounds are more universal than individualized ringtones resulting in a consistent manipulation. Afterwards, participants turned to a computer to answer a questionnaire.

3.3 Measures

Anxiety and FoMO were assessed using self-report measures with items to be answered on likert scales.

Anxiety

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) measures anxiety on both, state and trait level (Laux et al. 1981). Our study focussed on the portion referring to state level only. Hence, participants answered 10 positive items (e.g. “I’m satisfied.”) and 10 negative items (e.g. “I feel very tense.”) using 4-point Likert scale (1 = not all to 4 = very much so). Item scores are added to obtain total scores (range: 20 to 80) with higher scores indicating greater anxiety.

Fear of Missing Out

FoMO was measured using the scale developed by Przybylski et al. (2013) consisting of 10 items (e.g. “I fear others have more rewarding experiences than me.”) which were answered on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not true at all; 5 = extremely true).

Smartphone Usage and Demography

Participants reported daily smartphone usage (hours a day), distinguishing between work-related and spare-time-related use. Further, sex and age were reported.

4 Results

The descriptive statistics are displayed in Table 1. The internal validity of the anxiety and the FoMO scale was good to excellent with Cronbach’s Alpha of .92 and .80.

Table 1. Anxiety ranged from 20 to 80, FoMO ranged from 1 to 5.
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To test hypothesis 1, an independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare experimental group and control group regarding anxiety levels. Results revealed a significant difference (t (83) = −2.88, p = .01), with the experimental group reporting higher levels of anxiety (M = 2.01, SD = .59) than the control group (M = 1.73, SD = .26). Thus, hypothesis 1 was confirmed.

To test hypothesis 2, a mediation analyses was conducted, with phone separation as the independent, anxiety as the dependent and FoMO as the mediator variable (see Fig. 1). To calculate, PROCESS version 3.0 was used (Hayes 2017). In step 1 of the mediation model, the regression of phone separation on anxiety scores, ignoring the mediator, was significant, b = −5.68, t (83) = −2.88, p = .01. Step 2 showed that the regression of phone separation on the mediator, FoMO, was also significant, b = −.35, t (83) = −2.39, p = .02. Step 3 revealed the mediator, FoMO to significantly predict anxiety while controlling for phone separation, b = 5.21, t (83) = 3.79, p < .001. Controlling for the mediator FoMO, step 4 indicates a decrease of the regression coefficient between phone separation and anxiety. However, the coefficient was still significant, b = −3.86, t (83) = −2.04, p = .04. The partially indirect effect of the mediation was tested using a bootstrap estimation approach with results indicating the indirect coefficient to be significant, b = −.19, 95% BCa CI [−.40, −.03].

Fig. 1.
figure 1

Mediation analysis of smartphone separation, FoMO and anxiety. Effects are reported as standardized coefficients; *p < .05; **p < .01. The partially indirect effect between smartphone separation and anxiety is put in parentheses.

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This study focuses on psychological aspects of smartphone usage, thus focusing on anxiety and FoMO as a mediator. However, research revealed duration of usage to be relevant, too. Regarding users who had been separated from their phones, Cheever et al. (2014) showed that smartphone usage frequency significantly predicted anxiety and Elhai et al. (2016) reported significant correlation of usage and FoMO. To account for these results, we exploratively analyzed the impact of smartphone usage resulting in positive correlations between usage and FoMO (r = .41, n = 85, p < .01) as well as usage and anxiety (r = .31, n = 85, p < .01). However, regression analysis did not reveal phone usage to significantly mediate anxiety.

5 Discussion and Conclusion

Smartphones are ubiquitous in our digitalized world. Today’s smartphone owners - and especially younger users representing the so-called generation “always on” - seem to be permanently in touch with their phones. Intensive usage can be explained by the multiple functionalities of modern phones which contribute to the gratifications of fundamental psychological needs such as the need to belong. By allowing communication and interaction with family, friends and acquaintances the use of the phone results in social connectedness and prevents FoMO. Consequently, we argue that the phone itself constitutes a relevant entity (“digital companion”). The present study confirms this idea by revealing that the deprivation of the phone emotionally affects the owner. Confirming hypothesis 1, participants waiting without their phone reported to be significantly more anxious than those who kept their phones. In line with Cheever et al. (2014), this result supports the psychological relevance of the smartphone as the seven-minute waiting session without the phone constitutes a rather minimal intervention. Confirming hypothesis 2, FoMO significantly mediated the effect of phone separation on anxiety with higher levels of FoMO resulting in higher levels of anxiety. This result indicates the importance of considering the individual’s psychological characteristics when analyzing human-computer-interaction. The deprivation of the phone does have an effect. However, this effect is mediated: As higher FoMO indicates higher social media usage (Przybylski et al. 2013), the deprivation of the phone which offers just the access to social media seems to be especially problematic for users who fear to be cut off from their social network. Explorative analysis has shown phone usage to relate to users’ anxiety and FoMO, however, the mere focus on duration of usage rather simplifies the underlying effects. The integration of psychological aspects, e.g. regarding the motivation to use the phone, increases explanatory value.

The current findings need to be considered in the light of possible limitations. First, our study concentrates solely on a student sample. To gain first insights, we focused on representatives of the so-called generation “always on” who appears to be especially susceptible to effects of phone separation. To generalize the results, future research needs to widen the perspective considering further user groups. Second, anxiety was measured using self-reports which are prone to (unconscious) manipulation. Physiological measures (e.g. heart rate, skin conductance) offer further development (Clayton et al. 2015). Third, during the waiting session, the same vibration sound was played for every participant to ensure comparability of the sessions. However, participants owned different phones and were used to different notification settings. The sound played during the experiment might therefore trigger different associations we did not controlled for. Future research should adapt to interindividual differences. Fourth, the control group needs to be analyzed more in-depth: Did they use their phone during waiting? Did usage type (e.g. application, duration) has an effect? Finally, regarding psychological variables the current study only considered anxiety and FoMO. The variety of gratifications smartphones offer (e.g. distraction, entertainment, self-presentation, self-assurance) refer to multiple psychological variables (personality, needs, motivation of usage) which refer to research questions of further research.

The spite these limitations, the present study contributes to the growing body of research focusing on the psychological effects of technological devices. In contrast to common approaches focusing on certain ways of usage (e.g. certain social media applications) our study suggests the entity of the device itself to be psychologically relevant. Understanding the psychological relevance of the device itself offers a novel avenue for psychological insights into the individual smartphone owner and the relationship to his device.