Relationship Advice: Curb Your Enthusiasm for Phubbing

"Picture this: You're out on a romantic date, and instead of taking a lot of photos of your food, catching up on random posts on platforms, and commenting on the restaurant décor in an online review no one asked for, you leave the phone in your pocket, bag, or man purse. Why might this be a good idea? Devoting all your attention to your dinner partner increases the sense of connection,"

"Phubbing is ignoring or snubbing people with your phone or other digital device. Ni and colleagues (2025) determined that phubbing is now a widespread behavior that can have detrimental effects on relationships of all kinds. They found that attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and loneliness are significantly correlated with phubbing, and this behavior negatively affects romantic relationship quality, intimacy, responsiveness, and overall sense of emotional closeness."

"A study by Sun and Samp (2022) looked at mental health factors and personality traits associated with this behavior and how staring at your phone instead of your partner impacts satisfaction with love relationships as well as friendships. The study found that people with anxiety (e.g., social anxiety, fear of missing out, etc.) or depression were more likely to be on their phones during social interactions. People who scored high on neuroticism were also more likely to phub."

Phubbing is the practice of snubbing a conversation partner by looking at a phone or other digital device. Phubbing reduces emotional closeness, intimacy, responsiveness, romantic relationship quality, and overall relationship satisfaction. Attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and loneliness correlate with greater phubbing behavior. Anxiety, depression, fear of missing out, and high neuroticism increase the likelihood of using a phone during social interactions. Devoting undivided attention, maintaining eye contact, and responding verbally and nonverbally strengthen connection and intimacy and can enhance relationship satisfaction and public foreplay between partners.

Read at Psychology Today