Abstract
Smartphone has become a core part of how people live their lives. Pathological Smartphone Use (PSU) or addiction to a smartphone is an emerging phenomenon that needs to be implicitly understood and addressed effectively. There are extensive studies on Pathological Internet Use (PIU) but empirical research on PSU is still lacking. In terms of identifying PSU effects, several studies have emphasized on the negative outcomes of PSU that make it impossible to see the positive side of this technological innovation. In response to this issue, the primary goal of this paper is to identify the attributes of PSU. Focus groups are used to collect a broad qualitative understanding of perceptions and to gain richer insights pertaining to core issues of PSU. Panels involved are among smartphone users’ age: 20s, 30s and 40s. The focus groups are conducted in three different sessions and thematic analysis has been carried out. By identifying the factors that contribute to PSU, government and relevant agencies could formulate guidelines and policies to curb the negative outcomes of PSU and capitalize on the benefits gained. This initiative is in tandem with the nation’s NKEA of developing innovative human capital in accelerating the innovative economy, enhancing the quality of life and wellness of the citizen. The findings showed that time spent could be the factors in rating a person as addictive to smartphone and the small screen size is found to be the main drawback towards mobile shopping adoption which link directly to the future direction of the research.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Malaysia (MOHE) for providing the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS), Universiti Teknologi MARA for assisting and facilitating this research and smartphone users for participating in the focus group session.
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Saidon, J., Musa, R., Harun, M.H.M., Adam, A.A. (2016). Exploring the Attributes of Pathological Smartphone Use (PSU). In: Abdullah, M., Yahya, W., Ramli, N., Mohamed, S., Ahmad, B. (eds) Regional Conference on Science, Technology and Social Sciences (RCSTSS 2014). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1458-1_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1458-1_20
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