Much of the previous research in regards to a populations attitudes toward mobile phones (ATMP) has focused on European and American mobile phone users, usually young adults. But, previous research regarding attitudes towards computers has found that Chinese participants show a attitudinal dimension that is different from Westerners. Thus, this study goes to try and examine the ATMP’s of the Chinese population.
The study hypothesizes three dimensions of ATMP, they are the sense of security, self-character extension, and dependence. The sense of security refers to a mobile phone’s ability to make someone feel less uncertainty and safe. The sense of self-character extension emphasizes that a phone is an extension of that person. The sense of dependence means that a person becomes more and more dependent on their phone because of the increased involvement and easy access that mobile phones now offer.
When all the numbers that they found were interpreted, what was discovered was that their hypothesis that the population has three dimensions of attitudes toward mobile phones is supported by the data. Another thing that was found was that the sense of dependence that mobile phone users have is more of a psychobehavioral effect, meaning that instead of a more problematic view of mobile phone use, the user just sees it as normal use. Furthermore, the study found that the significant correlation between mobile phone attitude and use fill the gap between theory and practice. For example, if you use your phone to text and send e-mails you may be more dependent on your phone (sense of dependence) whereas if you’re into taking photographs or playing games on your phone, you use your phone in a more personalized way (sense of self-character).
As with all studies, there are limitations to this study. One is that the reliability estimates for the ATMP measure is low. Also, this study did not consider psychological and social factors influencing the snse of self character extension and self dependence. Lastly, the sample was of only China, so a study on a more global scale could either confirm or disprove the results of this survey.
I believe that research into this field could be potentially very profitable for cell phone companies and carries. More research could mean a way to perhaps personalize phones or maybe make it easier for people to choose a mobile phone based on measurements in their sense of security, self-character extension, and dependence. People could get the features on their phones that pertain to what they would only want and need without any of the excess features that, for them, are unnecessary. For example, the research study gives the example that for the old and weak, a mobile phone is viewed as a necessity in case of emergency. This means that the old and weak would want a phone that is geared towards fulfilling the sense of safety, so maybe a phone that is very reliable in making calls and easy to use without any unneeded features like a camera? If things like this are put into consideration, I think people would be much more inclined to buying a mobile phone because the phone would be made for them. Plus, people with a high sense of self-character extension would love a phone personalized to them.
Very interesting because it raises two key points. One is that perhaps the perception of "dependence" is in the eyes of those who do not necessarily depend on phones. In other words, since more and more users consider phone use as the "norm" of every day life, could this be more about technology changing society than it is society responding to technology (and its effects)? In the 20s, it was perfectly "normal" to depend on trains for traffic. How would someone who must ride a train today be perceived? So perhaps all of this talk about "addictions and dependence" are really just observations by those who aren't evolving with the technology and, therefore, make judgements about it. I never thought about it this way until I read your post. The second point is the personalization of the DEVICE itself. Makes perfect sense and is probably coming since such features have not yet been "matched" to user preferences. Only a matter of time.
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