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- Title
Mobile Phones and Physical Pain.
- Authors
Van Wilpe, Monica N.; Sestir, Marc A.; Kennedy, Lindsay A.
- Abstract
Mobile phones and their psychological effects have been a point of interest for researchers in recent years. Although research has assessed the effects of active mobile phone use on pain management (e.g., Wiederhold, Gao, Kong, & Wiederhold, 2014), most mobile phone interaction is passive. If personal phones are associated with social support, the mere presence/absence of a mobile phone may influence pain responses. Our study aimed to test this effect. A sample of 100 were randomly assigned to hold a mobile phone or television remote control while a cold pressor task was used to ethically induce acute pain. During the task, pain threshold and tolerance were recorded. Afterward, subjective pain, social support, current emotions, perceived mobile phone attachment, and mobile phone usage were also measured. The mobile phone group reported marginally higher pain thresholds, F(4, 95) = 0.47, p = .76, R² = .02, and showed marginally greater pain tolerance, F(4, 95) = 1.98, p = .10, R² = .08, than the remote control group. The effects did not rise to the level of statistical significance. Interestingly, the remote control group scored marginally higher in some negative emotions compared to the mobile phone group. This research lays the groundwork for future research on the effects that increasingly routine interactions with mobile phones have on people, often without their knowledge.
- Subjects
CELL phones; PAIN management; SOCIAL support; REMOTE control; SOCIAL psychology
- Publication
Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 2018, Vol 23, Issue 5, p390
- ISSN
2164-8204
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.24839/2325-7342.JN23.5.390