Social Expectancy Increases Skin Conductance Response in Mobile Instant Messaging Users

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Rising global mobile phone use coincides with increased concern over problematic smartphone use.
• Social reward is a proposed driver of problematic smartphone use.
• Limited experimental data exists on social variables influencing problematic smartphone use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of social expectancy on emotional arousal.
• To measure emotional arousal using skin conductance response (SCR) during instant messaging.

Main Methods:

• 86 undergraduate students were divided into experimental and control groups.
• Experimental group sent social expectation-generating messages.
• Skin conductance response (SCR) was measured during smartphone use and withdrawal after a VR distraction.

Main Results:

• Experimental group exhibited higher SCR than the control group.
• Peak SCR amplitude was greater in the experimental group during smartphone use and withdrawal.
• Experimental participants showed prolonged SCR half-recovery time.

Conclusions:

• Social expectancy is a key factor in problematic smartphone use.
• Clinical interventions should consider social expectancy.
• Emotional arousal is linked to social expectations in smartphone use.