U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015

Joel's Comments:

64% of adults in the U.S. own a smart phone and 46% of smart phone owners say “they couldn’t live without" their smart phone. Thus, almost 30% of adults in the U.S. are dependent on a smart phone. How many of these adults are addicted to their smart phones?

Young adults may be particularly at risk for addiction. "Fully 73% of 18-29 year old smartphone owners indicated that their phone made them feel “distracted” during the study period, 11 percentage points higher than among those ages 30-49 and 41 percentage points higher than among those 50 and older. Younger users were also around three times as likely as those 50 and older to say that their phone made them angry at one point or another during this study (22% vs. 7%). At the same time, younger users are significantly more likely than those in other age groups to indicate that they experienced being happy or grateful as a result of their phone."

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U.S. Smartphone Use in 2015

Aaron Smith, Pew Research Center, Apr 1, 2015

Excerpts

"64% of American adults now own a smartphone of some kind, up from 35% in the spring of 2011. Smartphone ownership is especially high among younger Americans, as well as those with relatively high income and education levels."

"Nearly half (48%) of smartphone-dependent Americans have had to cancel or shut off their cell phone service for a period of time because the cost of maintaining that service was a financial hardship."

"When asked to choose from a series of statements representing how they feel about their phone, a substantial majority of smartphone owners feel that these devices are “helpful” rather than “annoying,” “connecting” rather than “distracting,” and that they represent “freedom” rather than a “leash.”

At the same time, smartphone owners are relatively divided on the essential necessity of mobile connectivity: 54% say that their phone is “not always needed,” while 46% say that it is something they “couldn’t live without.” And while a substantial 80% majority of smartphone owners describe their phone as “worth the cost,” 19% — and 29% of those who pay more than $200 per month for service — describe it as a “financial burden.”

"Text messaging is the most widely-used smartphone feature but voice/video calling remains popular, even among young smartphone owners; email continues to retain a place of prominence in the smartphone era."

"Some 85% of Americans ages 18-29 are smartphone owners, as are 78% of college graduates and 84% of those living in households with an annual income of $75,000 or more per year.

Ownership levels remain particularly low among seniors, as just 27% of Americans 65 and older now own a smartphone. However, this does represent an 8-point increase in ownership among seniors compared with early 2014."

"23% of smartphone owners have had to cancel or suspend their service in the past due to financial constraints"

"Fully 53% of smartphone owners indicate that they have been in an emergency situation where having their phone available helped resolve the situation."

"When asked how they feel about their phones, smartphone owners paint a generally positive picture — connecting rather than distracting, helpful rather than frustrating, and ultimately worth the cost of ownership. But despite these benefits, users are fairly evenly divided on whether or not their phone is an essential component of their lives that they could not possibly live without."

"54% say that their phone is “not always needed,” while 46% say that it is something they “couldn’t live without.” Women and African Americans have higher than average levels of attachment: half of female smartphone owners (52%) say that their phone is something that they couldn’t live without (compared with 39% of men), as do 57% of African American smartphone owners (compared with 46% of whites).

Interestingly, responses to this question are not correlated with whether or not someone has plentiful access options beyond their cell phone. Some 49% of smartphone-dependent Americans say that their phone is “something they couldn’t live without,” nearly identical to the 46% of users with more plentiful access options who say the same. Indeed, there are a notable lack of differences between smartphone-dependent users and other smartphone owners across all of these choice pairs."

"As with the “freedom” vs. “leash” choice pair, a substantial majority of smartphone owners (by a 72% to 28% margin) feel that their phone is “connecting” rather than “distracting.” This question also exhibits a relatively pronounced age split, with younger adults being more likely to describe their phone as “distracting.” Some 37% of 18-29 year olds selected the “distracting” option, compared with 29% of 30-49 year olds and 18% of those 50 and older."

"A substantial majority of smartphone owners (80%) describe their phone as “worth the cost,” although one-in-five (19%) describe it as a “financial burden.”"

"... younger adults are substantially more likely to use their smartphone while walking from place to place. Almost two-thirds of 18-29 year olds (64%) did this at least once during the week-long study period, compared with 48% of smartphone owners ages 30-49 and 37% of those 65 and older. Smartphone owners ages 18-29 are also a bit more likely than those 50 and older to use their phone while waiting in line (55% vs. 43%) and while exercising (21% vs. 11%)."

"Avoiding boredom – 77% of smartphone owners reported that they turned to their phone to avoid being bored, reporting that they did so in an average of 3.5 surveys."

"Feelings of smartphone-induced distraction are especially common among younger adults. Fully 73% of 18-29 year old smartphone owners indicated that their phone made them feel “distracted” during the study period, 11 percentage points higher than among those ages 30-49 and 41 percentage points higher than among those 50 and older. Younger users were also around three times as likely as those 50 and older to say that their phone made them angry at one point or another during this study (22% vs. 7%). At the same time, younger users are significantly more likely than those in other age groups to indicate that they experienced being happy or grateful as a result of their phone."

"Basic findings on smartphone ownership and demographics within the U.S. adult population (the first section of Chapter One) are based on telephone surveys conducted December 4-7 and 18-21, 2014 among 2,002 adults. These figures for overall smartphone ownership/usage were collected via telephone survey to make them consistent with past Pew Research Center measurements of smartphone adoption. The margin of error for the total sample of 2,002 adults is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points."

http://pewrsr.ch/1CQRebY


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Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director
Center for Family and Community Health
School of Public Health
University of California, Berkeley

Electromagnetic Radiation Safety

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