Smartphone Placebo for Nomophobia: A Quasi-Experimental Study on Smartphone Dependency and Toxicity.
Nomophobia, or the fear of being away from a smartphone, has evolved as a growing concern among university students, often linked to smartphone dependency and toxicity. These conditions are associated with anxiety and declined academic performance. This study introduces a novel intervention, the sma...
| Publicado en: | Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 1535 - 1551 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Jun2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195090696&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195090696 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01287702 TKQ jtl: Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities issn: 01287702 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 34 iid: 3 pid: 20751 pub: Universiti Putra Malaysia artinfo: ui: 195090696 10.47836/pjssh.34.3.19 ppf: 1535 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 2.8MB tig: atl: Smartphone Placebo for Nomophobia: A Quasi-Experimental Study on Smartphone Dependency and Toxicity. aug: au: Ali, Anuar Najmi Nuji, Mohd Nur Omar, Nurul Hanani Azman Ong, Mohd Hanafi affil: Department of Communication and Media Studies, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Johor Kampus Segamat, 85000 Segamat, Johor, Malaysia su: Cell phone addiction Behavior modification Screen time Phobias Pre-tests & post-tests Higher education sug: subj: Cell phone addiction Behavior modification Screen time Phobias Pre-tests & post-tests Higher education keyword: Nomophobia quasi-experimental smartphone dependency smartphone placebo toxicity ab: Nomophobia, or the fear of being away from a smartphone, has evolved as a growing concern among university students, often linked to smartphone dependency and toxicity. These conditions are associated with anxiety and declined academic performance. This study introduces a novel intervention, the smartphone placebo, as a naturalistic intervention to manage smartphone dependency without requiring complete digital detoxification. Using a quasi-experimental mixed design, 200 undergraduate students were assigned to experimental (n=100) and control (n=100) groups. The intervention involved the use of a smartphone placebo resembling a smartphone in size and function as a smartphone placebo. Data were collected in three phases: baseline time, follow-up time and evaluation time using a structured questionnaire measuring two dimensions: smartphone dependency and smartphone toxicity. Findings from a mixed-design ANOVA revealed a significant reduction in smartphone dependency and digital toxicity over time in the experimental group compared to the control group. The results indicate that a non-digital-based intervention like a smartphone placebo may help regulate digital attachment behaviours and mitigate toxic usage patterns. This study offers practical implications for digital well-being programs in higher education, suggesting the use of symbolic substitutes to manage nomophobia and improve smartphone dependency. The findings contribute to the growing field of digital behaviour intervention by providing evidence for low-cost, non-technological alternatives to digital detox strategies. The study implies that higher education institutions may adopt this intervention of using smartphones to promote digital literacy. Future research should consider exploring the importance of smartphone placebo in different demographic and educational contexts. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities is the property of Universiti Putra Malaysia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities holder: Universiti Putra Malaysia dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|