Changing one thing in your iPhone settings could eliminate the stress, experts have found.
Many people have their phones on silent or “Do Not Disturb” mode in an effort to shut out any distractions.
But it can actually be counterproductive and cause more stress, a study published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior showed.
Instead, people should put their phone on loud mode and use their phone as it alerts them, it’s suggested.
For the research, experts collected data from 138 iPhone users.
About 42% of them had their phones on vibrate mode, 8% had their phones on silent mode, while the rest had their phones on loud mode, HealthDay reported.
Participants completed a survey to see if they had “fear of missing out” (FOMO).
FOMO is the worried feeling people have of missing out on things other people are doing, and can be exacerbated by social media scrolling.
The Screen Time tool on participants’ phones was used to assess the time spent on their phones.
Participants who had their phones on silent tended to pick up their phones to check for messages more often than those who did not.
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They also spent the most time on social media.
People who scored high on FOMO and NtB (need to belong) on the quiz were the worst for constantly picking up and scrolling their phones when it was on silent, the researchers said.
Silencing notifications appears to be more “psychologically distressing” for these participants, the results suggest.
The researchers wrote: “Our results offer new insights into understanding the relationship between notifications and mobile phone use.
« [It shows] in particular how the sound and vibration signals of the notifications alleviate the uncertainty of the users and fulfill their gratifications of informational, social and environmental monitoring.
The researchers recommend that those with high FOMO not have their phones on Do Not Disturb.
This goes against previous advice – that to stop using your phone so much, you need to turn off notifications.
But if you’re in dozens of Whatsapp groups and the idea of constantly pinging is too much, try customizing the notifications so you only get them from the closest friends and family.
It can also be helpful to set aside time to spend on your phone to catch up on what you missed.
This way you can keep a cool head while offline and focus on the “here and now” – something often advised to those struggling with FOMO.
Thea Gallagher, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU Langone Health in New York, who was not involved in the study, said, “The data shows something different if you have FOMO.
“In fact, you’ll compulsively check your phone even more because you think you’re missing notifications. »
This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission.
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