Social Phenomena of Mobile Phone Use: An Exploratory Study in Taiwanese College Students

Abstract

手機使用在世界大學校園裡有逐年增加的趨勢，大學生手機上癮的報告也出現在一般非學術性的報導中。相較於一些學術研究專注於其他媒體上癮的研究，研究手機上癮的報告比較少見。 近幾年來，台灣的手機持有率在世界的排行中高居不下，對大部份的年輕人來說，利用手機來跟家人或朋友溝通成為日常生活的一部份。有些學者研究過度使用各種媒體和學生的課業上表現的關係，但是這些被研究過的媒體中，並不包括手機。這個研究的目的是找出學生手機使用、手機上癮、人際關係以及學業表現等等的社會現象關連性。 166學生完成網路問卷調查。調查結果顯示台灣大學生沒有手機上癮的問題。學生自認是手機高度使用者同時也顯示出和家人朋友關係比較好。手機高度使用者報告他們的手機影響到課業表現。

With the dramatic increase in mobile phone usage in recent years, reports of mobile phone addiction have come in public use. While researches on other media addictions have been published, mobile phone addiction is rarely understood. Although scholars have examined in detail how heavy uses of certain media adversely affect students' academic performances, little is known about how mobile phones usage relates to academic performance. For most young people in Taiwan, a country with a high density of mobile phone users, using a mobile phone to network with family and friends has become a daily routine. This exploratory study examines the relationship between mobile phones use, mobile phone addiction, social capital, and academic performance in Taiwanese college students. This study seeks to determine the relationship between mobile phone addiction and depression among college students in Taiwan, the relationships among mobile phones usage, mobile phone addiction, and social capital, and finally, the relationships among mobile phone addiction, mobile phone usage, and students' academic performance. An online survey was designed and administered to 166 Taiwanese college students. The results showed there were no significant relationships between mobile phone addiction and depression in the sample. Heavy mobile phone users reported better relationships with their friends and family. Heavy mobile phone users also reported that frequent use of their mobile phones adversely affected their academic performance and learning, whereas light mobile phone users reported that their academic performance and learning were less negatively impacted by their mobile phones usage. However, respondents who were extremely heavy mobile phone users reported that their mobile phones positively affected their academic performance.