Exploring the psychological dynamics of intensive smartphone use among university students: a phenomenological study

Intensive smartphone use is common among university students, yet existing research has predominantly focused on usage duration, behavioral indicators, and quantitative correlates. Less is known about how students subjectively experience intensive smartphone use and the emotional, cognitive, social, and contextual meanings they associate with aspects of use that they perceive as difficult to regulate or problematic.

This qualitative study employed a phenomenological design. Twenty-eight university students reporting at least 4 h of daily smartphone use were recruited using purposive and convenience sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews complemented by 14-day micro-journals and analyzed using thematic analysis.

Five themes were identified: (1) relationship with the smartphone and perceived control, (2) coping functions of smartphone use, (3) content and social feedback, (4) self-evaluation, and (5) daily use patterns and effects. Participants described smartphone use as closely intertwined with emotional regulation, cognitive escape, social interaction, social-media-based feedback and comparison, self-evaluation, and routinized patterns of everyday use. Their accounts also indicated that some experiences perceived as difficult to regulate occurred within broader patterns of intensive smartphone use, while social-media-specific processes were particularly salient for many participants.

The findings highlight interrelated emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral dimensions of intensive smartphone use and suggest a potentially cyclical pattern that should be understood as a theoretical interpretation of participants' lived experiences rather than as an established causal mechanism. The study underscores the importance of examining the meanings and functions of smartphone use beyond screen time alone.