Your dinging, buzzing, vibrating phone is stressing you out – but so is its silence
Tingling skin and a higher heart rate are just two of the reactions that can be produced when people hear a mobile device make a noise, but even when it’s quiet, phantom phone calls and ‘ringxiety’ continue to play on our obsession
Many of us find the constant dings, rings, buzzes and beeps that come from our computers and mobile phones impossible to ignore. Experts say it’s a sign of our dependency on technology, which validates and entertains us while also cutting into our productivity and altering our attention span for the worse.
When a mobile digital device makes a noise, it produces mental and physical reactions in people, says Larry Rosen, a psychology professor emeritus at California State University and author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. Their heart rates increase. Their skin tingles. They grow increasingly antsy with every minute they don’t look at the screen.