I can’t live without you: delay discounting in smartphone usage

Little is known about the behavioural tendencies at the basis of smartphone use. The present research investigates delay discounting, the phenomenon whereby a smaller, immediate reward is preferred over a larger, delayed one, in smartphone use. In line with previous work on delay discounting in other domains, Study 1 (N = 81) showed that the hyperboloid function best fits the inter-temporal choices made by participants. Study 2 (N = 123) replicated this result and revealed that individuals who prefer communicating via smartphone (vs. face-to-face) showed a higher devaluation over time, whereas those more aware of smartphone negative impact showed less discounting. The present research yielded the first evidence that delay discounting might underlie inter-temporal choices of smartphone use. Implications of these results are discussed.