Cell Phones Influence On Relationships

We are in a world of technological advancement, and cell phones are a part of the evolution. The advancement of technology in cell phones has caused a shift in the way people communicate today. Cell phones can be the sole source for communicating, just with a few taps someone can send text messages, emails, buy things, make phone calls, and even have face-to-face conversations. The cell phone has become a common product for almost everyone, in fact 90% of adult Americans own a cell phone; 89% of these households have more than one cell phone, and nearly 60% of children in these homes ages 7 to 17 have their own cell phones (Kennedy, Smith, Well, & Wellman, 2008). The amount of cell phones in households had lead to many researchers question of how cell phones influences the way people communicate with one another. However, little research has been done to examine how cell phones influence romantic relationships. Cell phones may alter the way couples establish rules, roles, boundaries, and interactions in the outside world.
Positive and Negative Communication
In the article ‘‘I luv u :)!’’: A Descriptive Study of the Media Use of Individuals in Romantic Relationships, researchers studied how couples used cell phone with one another and …show more content…
The scale constituted of 14 questions, referring to the individuals and their perception of their partner’s communication within their relationship such as, ‘‘in most matters, my partner understands what I am trying to say’’ and ‘‘I sit down and talk things over with my partner’’ (Coyne 2011). The questions were answered on a 5-point Likert response scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (very often)” (Coyne 2011). About 44.3% of the participants reported using cell phones as a positive way of communicating, and about 16% using it either send photos or use video chat (Coyne