Is Personality Related to Risks Associated with Smartphones?

4 5 This study investigates the risks associated with smartphone addiction by 6 personality and cellular company. The results relate to personal background, 7 personality, smartphone usage, smartphone satisfaction, level of exposure to 8 risks, and correlations between the variables. A significant but partial 9 correlation was found between personality and smartphone addiction, 10 satisfaction, and level of risk. Smartphone addiction is positively correlated 11 with extraversion (r = .21, p < .01). Satisfaction is correlated positively with 12 extraversion (r = .28, p < .01), agreeableness (r = .41, p < .01), and 13 conscientiousness (r = .38, p < .01), and negatively with emotional stability (r = 14 -.57, p < .01). Risk is negatively correlated with agreeableness (r = -.17, p < 15 .05). Differences between cellular companies in satisfaction, risk, and 16 smartphone addiction were examined. A significant correlation (F(4, 145) = 17 2.96, p < .05) was found in the level of smartphone addiction, but no 18 differences in smartphone satisfaction or the level of risk associated with 19 smartphones (F(4, 145) = 2.96, p > .05 and F(4, 145) = .45, p > .05, 20 respectively). The results show that personality greatly affects phone usage and 21 exposure to risks, regardless of cellular type, and that reducing smartphone 22 usage may be beneficial. 23 24


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Smartphones entered our lives more than a decade ago to improve our 31 quality of life. Few people foresaw the fast development of the cellphone and 32 its negative effects on our lives. The cellphone quickly developed into a 33 smartphone and became man's best friend. Most people today own 34 smartphones, including teenagers and children who first encounter 35 smartphones at an early and critical age. A survey conducted by the American 36 Psychological Assosiation (APA), published in 2015, found that 53% of 37 children between the ages of 8 and 12 already own a tablet computer, and 24% 38 own a smartphone. Smartphones have many useful functions, causing people to 39 be dependent on them and carry them around wherever they go (car rides, 40 classrooms, and workplaces). Moreover, smartphones are even present during 41 times spent with friends and family, as well as intimate situations (a first date, a 42 child's birthday party, the bedroom, and the bathroom). A survey that was 43 conducted on 1,649 higher-education students found that they spend 97 44 minutes a day sending and reading text messages, 118 minutes surfing the Internet, 41 minutes on Facebook, and 51 minutes talking on the phone (Junco 1 & Cotten, 2012). 2 The smartphone is a combination of a cellphone and a computer, and it 3 existed in the industrial market long before it entered the consumer market 4 (Querashi, 2012). The smartphone is equipped with the abilities needed and 5 required by the consumers. It can be used to display pictures, play games, play 6 video recordings, navigate, take photographs, play and record audio and video 7 strips, send and receive email, connect to wireless Internet, and much more. 8 The variety of smartphone functions has turned it into a status symbol in the 9 social lives of young adults and adolescents (Roberts & Pirog, 2012). A great 10 future, still unknown, lies ahead for the smartphone, which will probably 11 continue to develop and have positive as well as negative effects that will 12 change the face of society.

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Smartphones 18 19 Many studies conducted over the past decade show that, despite their 20 positive contributions to our lives, smartphones also have a negative effect on 21 us. For example, Takao et al. (2009) found that overuse of smartphones may 22 negatively affect work performance and one's relationships with family, 23 friends, classmates, and teachers. Although only a decade has passed, it seems 24 that much information is missing in the world of research because of the quick 25 development of smartphones and the big consumer demand. According to 26 analyst firm Gartner, more than 1.5 billion smartphones have been sold 27 worldwide in 2017-2.7% more than in 2016 (TheMarker, 2018).

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The need for research on smartphones exists in almost all areas: education, 29 driving, health, society, parenting, and more. Most studies show that there is a 30 need for supervision and regulations for smartphone use spanning all ages and 31 genders, because many dangerous deficiencies are already appearing in 32 consumers. For example, Vaidya and Vaidya (2016) explore the social 33 consequences of the growing widespread usage of phones, and claim that it 34 reduces face-to-face communication, causes visual impairments resulting from 35 radiation-induced impairments, increases the chances of involvemnt in car 36 accidents because of driver distraction, and causes many more problems.

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Smartphones are even used in areas where it is forbidden, such as hospitals, 38 courts, and gas stations. To understand how smartphones control people's personal lives, studies 43 were conducted using personality tests. These tests show that certain 44 personality traits may be significantly related to smartphone addiction (Bianchi 45 & Phillips, 2005;Butt & Phillips, 2008;Ehrenberg et al., 2008).
One of the most common research questions is who are the most at risk for 1 smartphone addiction: what are their personality traits, is smartphone addiction 2 related to parenting styles, is it a cultural issue, a gender issue, an so on. Rees 3 and Noyes (2007) showed that men are more likely than women to become 4 addicted to online games. In research on addiction and its relation to 5 personality, various types of questionnaires were used. One of the 6 questionnaires used is the well-known NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI), 7 which examines people's personality traits according to the Five-Factor model 8 (Big Five personality traits). This is a prominent multi-system model that was 9 developed by psychologists Costa and McCrae (1992) and later refined by John 10 and Srivastava (1999). As evident from its name, the model describes five traits 11 that make up an individual's personality:    psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional 28 instability to differentiate it from the term neurotic in a career test.

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Neurotic people have feelings of inferiority and hysteria, and are full of 30 anxiety. Neuroticism is related to the area in the brain responsible for 31 negative feelings and anxiety, and is sometimes considered to consist of 32 two separate componenets: anxiety and irritability.  Studies that examine smartphone usage by personality traits show 40 inconclusive results (Davidovitch & Yavich, 2018). For example, Lane and 41 Manner (2011) found that extraversion is very important in smartphone text-42 messaging, and neuroticism is positively related to emailing. In contrast, 43 Igarashi et al. (2008) found that extraversion affects smartphone overuse, and 44 neuroticism contributes to increased interactions. Cyders and Smith (2008) 45 found that impulsive people have a higher tendency to overspend money, gamble, abuse drugs, engage in dangerous sexual activity and, in general, do 1 things they later regret.

Risks 4 5
Many risks are associated with smartphones, some of which are direct 6 risks (health problems, sleep problems) and some of which are indirect (social 7 problems, depression). The risks may relate to various areas, for example: in 8 the social realm, smartphone usage plainly reduces the ability of people to 9 communicate. It causes them to have difficulty understanding intuition, lack 10 eye contact and, in general, lose basic social skills that affect the ability to 11 create romantic relationships or friendships. In a study conducted at the 12 University of Illinois, it was found that romantic relationships are seriously 13 damaged when one of the partners allows the phone to interfere with their face-14 to-face ineraction by making phone calls and not being completely present.  These risks develop from a primary risk of smartphone use, called 25 "cellphone dependency", which is common mainly among teenagers and 26 adolescents. According to Ahmed et al. (2011), the term "addiction" is usually 27 used for alcohol and drug abuse. Addicted individuals become disconnected 28 from their surroundings, and this is also what happens to adolescents who 29 become dependent on their smartphones. Krithika and Vasantha (2013) showed 30 that smartphone use by adolescents causes them to develop symptoms of 31 behavioral addiction.

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The dependency that smartphones create opens the door to every possible 33 danger, and one of the biggest and most common dangers is the loss of ability 34 to realize the immediate or imminent danger. This situation creates a serious 35 weakness that leads people into dangers they would probably not encounter in 36 the outside world or have the ability to make better decisions about. The 37 inability to make controlled decisions when using screens exposes people to 38 great risks such as loneliness, which is is greater on phones than in the outside 39 world, and may lead to overt use of sexuality, suicide, and a search for creative  An example of the risks associated with smartphone use can be found in a 45 study by Kaiser-Heller (2018), who explains how cyberbullying, exclusion from WhatApp and Facebook groups, and postings of sexual pictures or videos 1 on social media can damage a child's feeling of wellness. This negatively 2 affects the child's ability to effectively cope with reality, which eventually 3 leads to feelings of dissatisfaction, lack of creativity, and lack of personal and 4 professional self-fulfillment. FOMO is a common risk associated with 5 smartphone addiction among youngsters. It is characterized by feelings of 6 uneasiness and anxiety, sometimes accompanied by high levels of stress, 7 caused by preooccupation with the fear that others are having satisfying 8 experiences without us, that others have something that we lack, or that we 9 may be missing out on something in life because of wrong choices that we 10 made. Those who suffer from FOMO stop paying attention to real life. They 11 turn to social media in an attemt to find balm for their pain, anxiety, and 12 loneliness (Scott, 2020).

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In this study, we use the NEO PI to examine the risks associated with 14 addiction to various types of smartphones. Studies show that addiction is 15 related to personality type. Here, we examine whether personality type can 16 predict more than just the probability of smartphone addiction, but also what 17 risks we may be exposed to as a result of smartphone addiction: the risk for 18 feelings of depression and loneliness, the risk for overexposure and social 19 compliance, and more. In addition, we examine whether the type of phone can 20 predict the type of risk, for example, whether Apple smartphones cause lower 21 self esteem than Samsung smartphones, or whether old-fashioned phones hold 22 the same risks as smartphones.       We examine the differences between the various cellular companies. The The sample was heterogenous and each subject was chosen randomly. We 20 examined subjects from all areas of Israel owning cellphones between 1 and 21 more than 10 years. The largest population was of subjects owning phones for 22 at least 10 years (51.7%), and the smallest population was of those owning 23 phones between 3 and 5 years (6.7%). We believe that the research conclusions 24 apply to the general population as well.

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We used four questionnaires:    We used descriptive statistics to describe the variable characteristics.

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Pearson-correlation tests were used to examine the array of correlations 4 between personality traits and phone usage, satisfaction, and risk. Also, one-5 factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to examine the 6 differences between the various cellular companies in satisfaction, risk, and 7 cellphone usage. The internal reliability of all the items in each factor was 8 assessed by Cronbach's alpha. 9 10 11

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The current study examines personality traits, smartphone addiction, 14 satisfaction, and risks associated with smartphones. Table 1 shows that all the Cronbach's alpha reliability was tested. For the "risk" variable, the reliability 21 was found to be particularly high (0.94), and for all other variables, the 22 reliability was found to be medium-high. In addition to the dispersion and reliability measures, Table 2 shows the 4 Pearson correlations between the study variables.

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• In testing the first hypothesis that personality traits are related to 7 smartphone addiction, a positive correlation was found between 8 extravesion and smartphone addiction (p < .01, r = .21). However, no 9 correlation was found between the other personality traits and smartphone 10 addiction.

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However, no correlation was found between openness to experience and 17 satisfaction. 18 • In testing the third hypothesis, a negative correlation was found between 19 risk and agreeableness (p < .05, r = -.17). However, no correlation was 20 found between the other personality traits and risk. 21 22 To test the research hypotheses concerning the differences in satisfaction, risk, 23 and smartphone addiction between the various cellphone types (iPhone, 24 Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi), we conducted one-way ANOVA. In testing 25 the fourth hypothesis that there are differences between the various cellphone 26 types in the degree of smartphone addiction, a significant correlation was found 27 (F(4, 145) = 2.96, p < .05) (Table 3), confirming the hypothesis. However, to 28 examine the source of the differences, a subsequent Scheffe analysis was 29 conducted post hoc, and it was found that the degree of iPhone addiction 30 (Mean = 3.77, SD = 73) was indeed significantly higher than that of Xiaomi 31 (Mean = 3.21, SD = 67) (p < .05).   In testing the fifth hypothesis that there are differences between the 10 cellular types in the level of smartphone satisfaction, no differences were found 11 between the groups (F(4, 145) = 2.96, p > .05) (Table 4).
Also, in testing the sixth hypothesis that there are differences between the 1 cellular types in the level of risk associated with smartphones, no differences 2 were found between the groups (F(4, 145) = .45, p > .05) ( In conclusion, the hypothesis that personality traits are related to 9 smartphone addiction was partially confirmed-a positive correlation was 10 found between extraversion and smartphone addiction, but no correlation was 11 found between the other personality traits and smartphone addiction. The 12 hypothesis that personality triats are related to smartphone satisfaction was also 13 partially confirmed: except for openness to experience, correlations were found 14 between the personality traits and satisfaction. The hypothesis that personality 15 traits are related to the degree of risk associated with smartphones was partially 16 confirmed as well: a negative correlation was found between agreeableness and 17 risks, but no correlation was found between the other personality traits and 18 smartphone addiction.

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In testing the differences between the various cellular types, the hypothesis 20 that there are differences between them in the degree of smartphone addiction 21 was confirmed, but no differences were found in satisfaction and in the degree 22 of risk associated with smartphones.

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In this study, we examined the personality traits of smartphone users with 28 the aim of examining the level of smartphone addiction, satisfaction, and risk 29 associated with smartphones, focusing on the effect of the various cellular 30 types (iPhone, Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi) on these variables. 31 In the theoretical section, we mentioned that many studies used personality 32 traits to study smartphone addiction and found a strong relationship between 33 smartphone addiction and extraversion. The results of our study also show that 34 extraversion is positively correlated with smartphone addiciton. We also 35 examined the relationship between smartphone satisfaction and personality 36 traits, which was not examined in previous studies, and found that extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are related to increased smartphone 1 satisfaction, while emotional stability is negatively correlated with smartphone 2 satisfaction, meaning that emotionally stable people will not be satisfied with 3 their smartphones. According to previous studies and the results of the current 4 study, it seems that extraverts, who are more socially invovled, impulsive and, 5 in general, have a greater desire than others to experience life, tend to use their 6 smartphones as a quick and easy way to achieve their needs, which puts them 7 at risk. Regarding smartphone satisfaction, it is not surprising that extraverts 8 are very satisfied with their smartphones, but it seems that agreeableness and 9 conscientiousness are also related to satisfactin. This may be because it is easy 10 for people with these personality types to achieve their goals and needs through 11 smarphones (for example, smartphones help conscientious people be more 12 organized through the calendar and task board). Surprisingly, emotionally 13 stable people are not satisfied with their smartphones. This may be because 14 smartphones make it difficult to emotionally detach, and using them often 15 arouses a wide variety of emotions.

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Regarding the various cellular types, no past research on smartphone 17 addiction, satisfaction, and risk associated with smartphone addiction was 18 conducted. The results of the current study show that there is no difference 19 between the various cellular companies in smartphone satisfaction or risk 20 associated with smartphone addiction, but iPhone users are more addicted than 21 Xiaomi users. It can be concluded that most of the cellular companies use the 22 same methods to keep users connected to their smartphones, and continuously 23 update the devices so that they are easy to use or, in other words, easily 24 addictive.

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The current study shows that smartphone addiction is related to personality 26 type and risk. In addition, it can be concluded that smartphones encourage 27 users to be dependent on them and stop using their cognitive and emotional 28 abilities, thereby making the users disabled or sick. It seems that people like to 29 choose the easy path that requires less of an effort and less energy. It is easier 30 for people to send someone their photo than to describe themselves to the other 31 person and let the person get to know them though words, and it seems that 32 people enjoy sending photos of their vacations more than actually enjoying the 33 vacations. It seems that people are so afraid of missing out on life that they 34 simply do miss out. So, until further research discovers ways to live with our 35 technological friend, we recommend starting to train our anxiety as if it were a 36 muscle and, like in the plank challenge, try to turn off the smartphone every 37 day during an activity when it is difficult for us: on the first day for a minute, 38 the next day for two minutes, and so on, until we strengthen our anxiety muscle 39 and start enjoying our surroundings for a longer period and without suffering.

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In the current study, it was found that risks associated with smartphones 41 are related to the various cellular companies. Personality type serves as a key to 42 dealing with the phenomonon of addiction. Specifically in the technological 43 age, there is a need to examine how technology affects personality type so that 44 we can teach people the proper way to use smartphones. The way to educate 45 people on the proper use of technology is through the individual's personality.