Photo via Flickr/Esther Vargas
Photo via Flickr/Esther Vargas

A new study’s findings warn that smartphones are seriously messing with your quality of life, even causing addictive and narcissistic behaviors in some users. And researchers think they should come with a warning.

That’s the news from the University of Derby that was recently published in the International Journal of Cyber Behaviour, Psychology and Learning. Researchers found that 13 percent of participants were “addicted” to their smartphones, spending 3.6 hours per day on the devices.

What’s worse? The majority of users said that “their smartphone use caused distraction from many aspects of their lives, including employment, hobbies and studies,” according to the report by the Guardian.

“People need to know the potential addictive properties of new technologies,” study co-author Zaheer Hussain of the university’s psychology department told the Guardian. “It [the warning] could be before they purchase them or before they download an app. If you’re downloading a game such as Candy Crush or Flappy Bird there could be a warning saying that you could end up playing this for hours and you have other responsibilities [that could be neglected].”

The study looked at the responses of 256 self-selected smartphone users, who were asked about their device and personality traits. Social networking sites were the No. 1 time suck with 87 percent of users, while instant messaging apps at 52 percent and news apps coming in at 51 percent.

Almost 25 percent of the people admitted that their smartphones caused “communication issues” in their real lives, including less conversation and breakdowns in communication with family and friends. Severe distraction was also a problem.

“If adverse effects of smartphones are well advertised, users might realize that despite using the device for improving communications, it can easily lead to narcissistic actions which can potentially breakdown familial relationships,” the study stated.

Hussain will continue the research with a more diverse group. In the meantime, maybe start putting your phone away from time to time, yes?

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