Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance
Escalating smartphone reliance is a debated issue, especially when it comes to the digital wellbeing of young people. Hence, this article addresses smartphone use as a morally contested activity among young adults. We first analyse the existence of moral dissonance pertaining to one’s own smartphone...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nordicom Review |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2025-0001 |
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| author | Jansson André Fast Karin Bengtsson Stina Lindell Johan |
| author_facet | Jansson André Fast Karin Bengtsson Stina Lindell Johan |
| author_sort | Jansson André |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Escalating smartphone reliance is a debated issue, especially when it comes to the digital wellbeing of young people. Hence, this article addresses smartphone use as a morally contested activity among young adults. We first analyse the existence of moral dissonance pertaining to one’s own smartphone use – whether one uses the device according to internalised norms or not. Second, we explore moral distancing – to what extent morally problematic smartphone use is ascribed to others rather than to oneself. Combining survey results with focus-group interviews from Sweden, the study shows that moral distancing is less pronounced among young adults than in the overall population. It also shows that young people’s capacity to domesticate digital media in a morally congruent way plays into the social reproduction of gender and class. While the smartphone is socially normalised, young adults, especially women, report a great deal of moral reflexivity and distress in relation to the device. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5544a1beb6d143beb999c9cca1bed8d6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2001-5119 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nordicom Review |
| spelling | doaj-art-5544a1beb6d143beb999c9cca1bed8d62025-02-02T15:48:51ZengSciendoNordicom Review2001-51192025-01-0146112410.2478/nor-2025-0001Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media relianceJansson André0Fast Karin1Bengtsson Stina2Lindell Johan3Department of Geography, Media and Communication, Karlstad University, SwedenDepartment of Geography, Media and Communication, Karlstad University, SwedenMedia and Communication Studies, Södertörn University, SwedenDepartment of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, SwedenEscalating smartphone reliance is a debated issue, especially when it comes to the digital wellbeing of young people. Hence, this article addresses smartphone use as a morally contested activity among young adults. We first analyse the existence of moral dissonance pertaining to one’s own smartphone use – whether one uses the device according to internalised norms or not. Second, we explore moral distancing – to what extent morally problematic smartphone use is ascribed to others rather than to oneself. Combining survey results with focus-group interviews from Sweden, the study shows that moral distancing is less pronounced among young adults than in the overall population. It also shows that young people’s capacity to domesticate digital media in a morally congruent way plays into the social reproduction of gender and class. While the smartphone is socially normalised, young adults, especially women, report a great deal of moral reflexivity and distress in relation to the device.https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2025-0001digital disconnectiondigital wellbeingmedia moralitymedia domesticationmedia reliancemediatisationsmartphone use |
| spellingShingle | Jansson André Fast Karin Bengtsson Stina Lindell Johan Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance Nordicom Review digital disconnection digital wellbeing media morality media domestication media reliance mediatisation smartphone use |
| title | Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance |
| title_full | Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance |
| title_fullStr | Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance |
| title_short | Smartphone morality: A mixed-method study of how young adults judge their own and other people’s digital media reliance |
| title_sort | smartphone morality a mixed method study of how young adults judge their own and other people s digital media reliance |
| topic | digital disconnection digital wellbeing media morality media domestication media reliance mediatisation smartphone use |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2025-0001 |
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