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A study in which the
Polytechnic University of Madrid
(
UPM
) participates has linked digital social pressure and the number of followers or friends that a person has on the networks with their possibilities of developing an addiction to new technologies.
As part of their work, the researchers analyzed the social media behavior of 2,820 Spanish
smartphone
users
. "Based on the recent scientific literature on the social ecology of smartphone addiction, we have examined the empirical relationship between
digital social pressure
(
SDP
) and
smartphone addiction
, also observing the influence of variables such as the personalities of users, psychological anguish, social support and residential social living conditions in this addiction ", explains
Alberto Urueña
, from the Organization, Business Administration and Statistics Group of the
ETSI Industriales
from the UPM and one of the authors of this study.
Contrary to what many might think, the mere fact of having many friends on social networks can in itself become a risk factor for developing a 'smartphone' addiction.
"The results of the analyzes indicate that
Digital Social Pressure
(SDP) is positively related to addiction to smartphones and that this influence is independent of the effects that other variables such as personality traits may have. depression or low social support ", details Urueña.
As a consequence of the data obtained, for researchers, digital social pressure (pressure from friends on
,
,
, etc.) may be a relevant variable to understand the potential risk of addiction to smartphones in cases where that the user has a great need for digital social connection.
The environment does influence
However, despite the fact that digital social pressure is constituted as a risk factor independent of other elements analyzed, the same does not happen with a factor that has been shown to exert an important influence on the risk of developing a smartphone addiction: the level of disorder or social disruption of the neighborhood where you live.
"Our results indicate that when living in a neighborhood with high levels of social disorder there are also higher levels of
Digital Social Pressure
. It is something that we had already verified in previous studies on residential social conditions and addiction to smartphones in which We anticipate that there could be a positive empirical potential between
social disorder
and
SDP
: the community context increases the potential for stressful situations for residents, "says the
UPM
researcher
.
Due to the social disorder in their places of residence, these people can take refuge in their "virtual friends" as a measure to avoid face-to-face community life and reduce their participation in activities in their neighborhood.
"The use of smartphones would help these users to fill this void (which previously filled television and now fills mobile phones), which would lead some of them to interact in contexts of high digital social pressure and would put them in a position much more vulnerable to addictions, "adds Urueña.
The work, in which researchers
Juan Herrero
(
Universidad Oviedo
),
Andrea Torres
(
Universidad de Oviedo
),
Pep Vivas
(
UOC
) and
Alvaro E. Arenas
(
IE Business School
) have also participated, has recently been published in the international journal
Social Science Computer Review
and was the subject of one of the grants from the
BBVA Foundation BBVA Foundation Grants for Scientific Research Teams 2019
.
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