Left to Our Own Devices: Smartphone use, Mental Health, and Tech Responsibility

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Smartphones are often necessary for daily life. Yet there is growing scholarly and public awareness of negative associations between smartphone use and mental health. Over the past decade, three narratives have emerged. First, the Attention Narrative argues that smartphones undermine focused attention and that this, in effect, is by design. Second, the Poison Narrative argues that prolonged, regular smartphone use causes mental illness, particularly depression. Third, the Problematic Use Narrative argues that excessive smartphone use is a pathological behavioral addiction. Ultimately, strong evidence supports only the Attention Narrative. Research studies demonstrate that smartphones undermine focused attention, and case studies show that popular apps are specially designed to maximize engagement, leading to overuse. Given that most users cannot abstain from their smartphones, technology companies ought to make it easier for users to manage their screen-time. Technology companies are responsible for enabling users to choose more freely how they spend their attention.

Type of resource	text
Date created	2020

Author	Kornberg, Joshua
Primary advisor	Roberts, Laura
Advisor	Vasan, Nina
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Symbolic Systems Program

Subject	Smartphones
Subject	Mental Health
Subject	Phone Addiction
Subject	Ethics of Technology Companies
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/wy384qv2841

Use and reproduction: User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Kornberg, Joshua. (2020). Left to Our Own Devices: Smartphone use, Mental Health, and Tech Responsibility. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/wy384qv2841

Master's Theses, Symbolic Systems Program, Stanford University

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