Frameworks · Social · 374

Using the phone, not the phone

Not the phone on the table. The phone in your hand.

PCWe reviewed the research: 356 people were tested on it.Friendship and the people around you

Hand-drawn diagram of framework 374, Using the phone, not the phone: Not the phone on the table. The phone in your hand.
Framework 374 · in one look
How to use it

The famous finding that a phone just lying on the table makes conversations worse didn't hold up when it was repeated. What clearly costs connection is using it: checking, answering, half-listening. Put it away when someone talks to you, and look up.

How sure we are

P Evidence: promising. Good studies, but small or few. Use it and keep checking.

C Evidence: contested. The research disagrees. Named, so you can stop worrying about it.

Sources

Two close repeats of the 2013 "mere presence" study (356 people) found no effect on relationship quality (Linares & Sellier 2021, 🟡) · so the "mere presence" claim Sinek repeats is graded 🔴; using the phone mid-conversation is the part to cut.

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