Researchers from the University of Michigan, refuted the popular notion that people are opposed to the use of smartphones during a joint meal. Paper presented at the conference of the Association for Computer Machinery”s Human-Factors in Computing Systems, dedicated to the study of the interaction between humans and computer systems.
Scientists conducted the survey, which was attended by 1163 people aged from 8 to 88 years in English-speaking countries around the world. It turned out that the attitude to the fact that someone sits with a phone at the dinner table, depends on what purpose the person uses the device. For example, to write text messages or answer calls is more acceptable to respondents than the use of social networks or media.
The explanation lies in the fact that text messages or telephone calls, according to respondents, require less time than using the Internet. However, this attitude is typical for adults, children, however, consider the communication via SMS is less useful, because I communicate with friends far more often than older people.
The study also showed that the older a person is, the more lenient he refers to the use of smartphones for food, however, the peak is approximately at 25 years of age. In General, if the smartphone needed to perform the urgent tasks and has, thus, usefulness for his master at the moment, those around tend to consider the presence of the gadget at the table is acceptable.
However, both adults and children agree that it is more appropriate if the smartphone is an older man. Even the presence of a child at the table makes use of gadgets less acceptable in the eyes of respondents.
Scientists believe that gadget developers can give the smartphones new features that alert their owners about the appropriateness of use of the devices during lunch, or to provide for special indicators, warning others about an important matter and needed to use the phone.
