Comparison of intensification of mobile phone addiction in Polish, Taiwanese and American students

Authors

  • Jolanta Masiak Katedra i Klinika Psychiatrii, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie Author
  • Beata Pawłowska Katedra i Klinika Psychiatrii, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie Translator

Keywords:

mobile phone, addiction, adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the research was the verification of the hypothesis assuming the occurrence of statistically significant differences between the students from Poland, Taiwan and the USA as regards the intensification of mobile phone addiction.

Material and Methods. The total group of examined students, studying in Poland, numbered 147 and it consisted of 83 Poles, 31 Taiwanese and 33 Americans, their average age being 21. The following research methods were used in the research: the Survey Form and the Mobile Phone Assessment Addiction developed by Potembska and Pawłowska.

Results and conclusions.

  1. Taiwanese and American students show significantly more intensified mobile phone addiction symptoms as compared to their Polish peers.
  2. More students from Taiwan (55%) fulfil the criteria of being at risk of developing the mobile phone addiction as compared to the American students (39%) and Polish students (22%).
  3. As compared to the American and Polish students, the students from Taiwan prefer using mobile phones to talk to other people and text them instead of “face to face” encounters.
  4. As compared to the Polish students, the students from Taiwan and the USA significantly more often buy the latest models of mobile phones. Their use of the mobile phone includes listening to music, taking pictures, making films and sending them to their friends as well as playing games and going online.
  5. The Taiwanese students, as compared to their Polish peers, show intensified symptoms of addiction to talking on the mobile phone and texting, moreover, they use a mobile phone to satisfy the need for acceptance, affiliation and self-disclosure.

References

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Published

2014-02-03