Smartphones, Multitasking and Empathy : a Polymedia Theory Perspective

Abstract

The current study uses survey to gain a better understanding on how college student's use their smartphones, how they multitask and what affect these actions have on grade point averages and empathy. The current results, which were based on t-tests, one-way ANOVA's and simple linear regression analyses revealed college students GPA's and empathy means are effected by smartphone usage and multitasking. Responses indicate students are interacting with smartphones during idle time, waiting in line, waking up, going to sleep and being a passenger in a bus or other vehicle. This may suggest that a need for technological distraction is filling what was once idle time. College students with a high-level of multitasking fall into a lower GPA group, while the higher the college classification the less of a negative multitasking has on GPA.In regards to empathy, while gender has no significance to empathy means, smartphone users with 10-plus hours of daily interaction significantly decrease in empathy means. These results suggest that the smartphone users mental state is occupied by their tasks, decreasing their ability to understand another's mental state. Implications of these findings in terms of the multitasking, smartphone user, indicate that as the popularity of smartphones increases, the ability to process and understand the intellectual/imaginative apprehension of another's mental state as well as excelling in the classroom is diminishing.