Phubbing: Social Exclusion through Smartphone Use in Face-to-Face Interactions

The research project focuses on the negative effects of phubbing (phone-snubbing), the disruptive use of smartphones in face-to-face interactions, on interpersonal processes and individual well-being. A series of experimental studies will examine whether the Temporal Need-Threat Model of Ostracism (Williams, 2007, 2009), established in social psychology, can be applied to the context of phubbing.

COVID-19, Student Well-being, and Smartphone Use

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant disruptions in social life and the academic context. Teaching at universities has been largely shifted to the digital space, resulting in challenges in self-regulated learning and the satisfaction of social needs among students. In two studies, we investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) student well-being and academic performance, and (2) student smartphone use. Both subjective and objective (collected through an app) information is collected and analyzed. The aim of the studies is to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse effects of the pandemic on student health, evaluate the need for interventions, and design such interventions accordingly.

STUDY Smart!

The research project STUDY Smart! is a nationwide intervention study on the effects of smartphone breaks in the academic context. Using a longitudinal design, the study examines the effects of planned smartphone breaks during student learning phases on outcome variables such as individual well-being, concentration, and exam performance. Potential moderating influences are also captured. The research project aims to expand the limited research literature on digital detox and smartphone breaks, providing important implications for healthy and successful studying in the smartphone era.

Winter Semester

• Psychological Diagnostics in Practice

• From October 2020 - September 2023, Research Associate at the Department of Health Psychology and Applied Diagnostics at the University of Wuppertal.
• Since October 2020: Research Assistant at the Department of Health Psychology and Applied Diagnostics at Bergische Universität Wuppertal
• Bachelor's degree (BSc) in Psychology (second degree) at Bergische Universität Wuppertal (completed in 2020)
• November 2019 to September 2020: Research Assistant (60%) at the Department of Health, Occupational, and Organizational Psychology at Private University Witten/Herdecke
• Since April 2019: Ph.D. student at the Institute of Psychology at Bergische Universität Wuppertal
• April 2019 to September 2019: Research Assistant at the Department of Social Psychology at Bergische Universität Wuppertal
• February 2017 to May 2018: Research Assistant (65%) at the Institute of Positive Computing at Hochschule Ruhr West in the NUKLEUS project on the effects of technostress
• October 2016 to March 2017: Research Assistant (50%) at the Department of Social Psychology at University of Duisburg-Essen in the MERCUR project "Psychological Effects of Computer-mediated Linguistic Alignment in Human-Computer Interactions"
• Experience in the field of film production and post-production, as well as a referee in public relations
• Master's degree in Media and Communication Studies at the University of Augsburg with a study abroad program at Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea (completed in 2013)
• Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn (completed in 2009)

Publications

• Nuñez, T. R., & Radtke, T. (2023). Is socially disruptive smartphone use detrimental to well-being? A systematic meta-analytic review on being phubbed. Behaviour & Information Technology, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2023.2209213
• Nuñez, T. R., Pallasch, N., & Radtke, T. (2022). Students' Emotional Well-being and Academic Functioning Before, During, and After Lockdown in Germany: A Cohort Study. JMIR Formative Research, 6(11). https://doi.org/10.2196/34388
• Obremski, D., Schäfer, A.L., Lange, B.P., Lugrin, B., Ganal, E., Witt, L., Nuñez, T.R., Schwarz, S., & Schwab, F. (2021). Put that Away and Talk to Me - the Effects of Smartphone-induced Ostracism while Interacting with an Intelligent Virtual Agent. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction, 428-432. https://doi.org/10.1145/3472307.3484669
• Nuñez, T. R., Radtke, T., & Eimler, S. C. (2020). A third-person perspective on phubbing: Observing smartphone-induced social exclusion generates negative affect, stress, and derogatory attitudes. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2020-3-3

Book Chapters

• Nuñez, T.R. & Rosenthal-von der Pütten, A.M. (2018). Changes in Treatment Practices through New Media: Robots and Agents in Psychological Interventions. In O. Kothgassner & A. Felnhofer (Eds.), Klinische Cyberpsychologie und Cybertherapie. München: UTB.

Conference Contributions

• Nuñez, T.R. & Radtke, T. (2022). Constantly connected, constantly ignored. Systematic review and meta-analysis examining the associations between phubbing and well-being. Paper presented at the 36th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society, August 23rd - 27th, Hildesheim, Germany.
• Klümper, L., Nuñez, T.R. & Schwarz, S. (2022). Don't phub me while I shine – Are individual differences in agentic and communal narcissism moderators of the reactions to phubbing? Paper presented at the 10th Conference of the 52nd Congress of the German Psychological Association, September 10th - 15th, Hildesheim, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R. & Radtke, T. (2021). How Phubbing Affects Observers: A Third-Person Perspective On (Smart)phone-Induced Ostracism. Poster presented at the 12th Conference of the Media Psychology Division of the German Psychological Society, September 8th - 10th, Aachen, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R., Bergmann, K., Prynda, K., & Rosenthal-von der Pütten, A.M., (2017). Lexical Alignment and Its Psychophysiological Effects in Human-Agent Interaction. Paper presented at the 10th Conference of the Media Psychology Division of the German Psychological Society, September 6th - 8th, Koblenz, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R., & Eimler, S.C. (2018). What if I Lost it? When the Mere Imagination of Smartphone Absence Causes Anxiety. Poster presented at the General Online Research Conference, Feb 28th – Mar 2nd, Cologne, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R., & Eimler, S.C. (2018). Watching Phubbers Hurts: Observing Phone-Snubbing in Others' Social Interactions Affects Observers' Well-being. Poster presented at the 51st Congress of the German Psychological Association, September 15th - 20th, Frankfurt, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R., & Eimler, S.C. (2018). Can't Relax Without My Phone! Imaginary Smartphone Loss and Its Effects on Users' Stress Levels. Poster presented at the 51st Congress of the German Psychological Association, September 15th - 20th, Frankfurt, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R., Grewe, A., Trienens, L.-M., Kowalczyk, C., Nitschke, D. Tran, B.T.F., & Eimler, S.C. (2018). Phubbing Concerns Us All. How the Mere Observation of Smartphone Use in Others' Social Interactions Generates Negative Emotions and Attitudes in Observers. Poster presented at the General Online Research Conference, Feb 28th – Mar 2nd, Cologne, Germany.
• Nuñez, T.R., Prynda, K., Bergmann, K., & Rosenthal-von der Pütten, A.M. (2017). Computers Aligning to Their Users: Lexical Alignment in Human-Agent Interaction and Its Psychological Effects. In Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on Virtual Social Interaction.