Partner phubbing: Why it is bad for your relationship to use your phone during interactions with your partner

Mobile phones influence the dynamics of intimate relationships. On the one hand mobile phones can have positive effects as they allow partners to stay in touch, and show interest when he or she is not around (Murray & Cambell, 2015). On the other hand, when a mobile phone is used in the presence of one’s partner, it can distract from the present conversation and be a source of annoyance and conflict (Miller-Ott & Kelly, 2015; Przybylski & Weinstein, 2013).
The use of a mobile phone during a conversation is called phubbing (Ugur & Koc, 2015). The term phubbing (a portmanteau of ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’) refers to the act of focusing on one’s mobile phone during a conversation instead of paying attention to one’s conversation partner (Ugur & Koc, 2015). If this occurs within relationships, it is called partner-phubbing (Roberts & David, 2016). Several studies have demonstrated that partner-phubbing is negatively related to relationship satisfaction, but it is not yet clear why this is the case (Chotpitayasunondh & Douglas, 2018; Halpern & Katz, 2017). To enrich our understanding of the link between partner phubbing and relationship satisfaction we conducted two cross-sectional surveys among more than 600 persons in total. We tested the mediating role of (a) feelings of exclusion, (b) perceived intimacy, (c) perceived understanding, (d) conflict about phone use.
In both studies we find that more partner phubbing is related to lower relationship satisfaction. This effect is mediated by perceived intimacy and perceived understanding but not by conflict about phone use. The mediating effect of exclusion was inconsistent across studies.
Together, these studies indicate that if your partner uses their phone a lot in interactions with you, you are less happy with the relationship because you perceive less intimacy and understanding.