Nomophobia: the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. The term is an abbreviation for “no-mobile-phone phobia”.

How long has it been since you last checked your phone for a message, notification, or simply to see what time it is?  Where were you when you did it?  Driving? Eating dinner?  Lookout Mobile Security recently polled 2,000 American mobile users to find out how often we check our phones, where we take them, and how we’d feel if we lost them.  What did they find?  Apparently we don’t know how to put smartphones down for a while and would absolutely panic if we left them somewhere or lost them.

Here’s a few statistics that stand out:

• 58% of smartphone owners said they don’t go an hour without checking their phone
• 30% check their phones during a meal
• 94% of people are concerned about losing their phone
• When asked to select which feeling they best identified with when they lost their phone, 73% reported feeling “panicked” and 14% reported feeling “desperate”

Lookout blog

Mobile Mindset Study Reveals Americans’ Smartphone Attachment is Altering Our Behaviors and Emotions

Lookout’s nationwide data shows 24% check smartphones while driving and 73% feel panicked about phone loss, among other stats

San Francisco – June 21, 2012 – Lookout, makers of an app to protect your smartphone, today released the Mobile Mindset Study, analyzing and exploring data-based trends in the emotions and behavior driven by our smartphones. As people rely more on their smartphones, they are increasingly checking their phones in bed, in the bathroom, at the dinner table, and while driving.

Lookout found the frequency that people check their smartphones is increasing:

• 58% of smartphone owners said they don’t go an hour without checking their phone
• 54% of smartphone owners said they check their phones while lying in bed: before they go to sleep, after they wake up
• Nearly 4 out of 10 people (39%) check their phones while using the bathroom

The smartphone attachment is also enabling a whole new genre of mobile etiquette:

• 30% check their phones during a meal
• 24% check their phones while driving
• Nearly 1 in 10 (9%) check their phones during religious services at a house of worship

The findings are further evidence of a social phenomenon called nomophobia: the extreme fear of being without a mobile phone:

• Lookout’s survey found that 94% of people are concerned about losing their phone
• When asked to select which feeling they best identified with when they lost their phone, 73% reported feeling “panicked” and 14% reported feeling “desperate”

“Our phones are our lifeline, from sharing photos with social networks to shopping and managing bank accounts,” said Alicia diVittorio, mobile safety advocate at Lookout.

“The findings establish that our attachment to smartphones is driving a new mobile mindset. Our behaviors, emotions and social interactions are impacted by smartphones, to the extent that they now play an important role in our value systems.”

With smartphones being critical to everyday life, there are a few basic steps Lookout recommends to protect your mobile:

• Don’t lose it: Keep your smartphone in a zipped pocket or bag when you’re on the move and scan your area when leaving public places to make sure you don’t leave it behind
• Keep your power: Make sure you charge your battery before you leave the house or keep a charger in the car – not only will it keep your phone alive, but it will help to track it down if you misplace it
• Keep it safe: Download an app like Lookout so you can find your phone if you lose it, lock & wipe your data if it cannot be recovered and backup your personal information

Lookout commissioned Harris to survey more than 2,000 American smartphone owners on how much they use, where they use and how they feel about their phones.

For the complete Mobile Mindset Study, please click here. For more information on Lookout, please visit www.mylookout.com. To download Lookout for free, visit the Google Play or App Store.

Lookout finds a nomophobia epidemic in Mobile Mindset study originally appeared on AndroidGuys.

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