The common phone habit that could cost you your MARRIAGE

"And if you're guilty of the behaviour it could make your loved one feel less valued over time. 'We know that everyone finds phubbing frustrating and annoying,' co-author Dr Claire Hart, from the University of Southampton, said. 'It might seem trivial, but in relationships these small moments can mount up, creating a sense that your partner's attention is elsewhere and that you're less valued.'"

"For the study, the team recruited 196 adults in relationships and asked them to complete a 10-day diary, detailing how often their partner had phubbed them, how they felt, how they responded and - if they retaliated - their reasons for doing so. The diaries showed that people with high attachment anxiety reacted more strongly to being phubbed than people who are more secure. They reported higher depressed mood, lower self-esteem and greater resentment on the days they had been phubbed."

Phubbing is the act of shunning a conversational partner to look at a phone, and it reduces partners' sense of being valued. Frequent phubbing produces frustration and annoyance and can accumulate into a perception that attention lies elsewhere. Individuals with high attachment anxiety are particularly vulnerable, reporting increased depressed mood, lower self-esteem, and greater resentment on days they experience phubbing. Such individuals also tend to retaliate by using their phones or by seeking support from friends and family. Simple behavioral changes and awareness can interrupt phubbing cycles, even when the behavior is partly subconscious.

Read at Mail Online