New scale sheds light on our desire to disconnect
How we feel about taking a break from our screens could tell us something important about the way we behave online, according to new research from the University of Bath and Goethe University Frankfurt.
Researchers have developed the first validated scale specifically designed to measure people’s attitudes towards temporarily reducing their digital consumption, finding considerable differences in how positively people view the prospect of switching off.
The researchers say measuring these attitudes provides a new way to investigate our increasingly complex relationship with digital technology, including what makes people want to disconnect, why some are more receptive to the idea than others, and whether that willingness ultimately translates into changes in behaviour.
More than eight in ten participants were positive about the idea of a digital detox, suggesting a widespread appetite for switching off, although the study did not test whether they subsequently did so.
Published in Psychology & Marketing, the research found that attitudes towards digital detox were associated with characteristics including mindfulness and self-control. They could also help predict how much time people subsequently spent watching online videos.
From work emails and instant messaging to social media, push notifications and AI-driven recommendations, digital technology increasingly competes for our attention. Digital detox, deliberately reducing our use of digital devices for a period of time, has emerged as one response to this constant connectivity.
Dr Lisa Eckmann, from the University’s School of Management, said: “Digital detox has become a familiar idea, but scientifically we still have a lot to learn about why some people welcome the prospect of disconnecting while others don’t.
“Being able to reliably measure that attitude opens the door to understanding what makes people more receptive to stepping back from technology, how those attitudes develop and whether they ultimately translate into changes in digital behaviour.”
The team developed the Attitude toward Digital Detox (ADD) scale, a seven-item measure of how positively people feel about temporarily reducing their digital consumption.
Across seven studies, the researchers tested the scale with a mix of participants, including adult US residents recruited through online research platforms, university students in Central Europe, members of Reddit communities focused on online and offline activities, and consumer-behaviour experts from European universities.
The researchers say the scale could now be used to explore when and why people want to reduce their digital consumption and whether changing attitudes towards switching off might ultimately help people take greater control of their relationship with technology.
The paper, In Favor of Digital Detox: Developing the Attitude Toward Digital Detox Scale, is by Svenja Winkler, Lisa Eckmann, Torsten Bornemann and Jan R. Landwehr and is published in Psychology & Marketing.