International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 8 (August 2025), Pages: 42-52

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 Original Research Paper

Smartphone distraction and its behavioral outcomes: Phubbing and nomophobia among Malaysian youths

 Author(s): 

 Farah Fazlinda Mohamad 1, *, Siti Nor Amalina Ahmad Tajuddin 1, Ramlee Mustapha 2, Sara Shakilla Mohd Salim 3, Melati Sumari 4, Masliya Yahya 1

 Affiliation(s):

 1Department of Communication and Media, Faculty of Languages and Communication, Sultan Idris Education University, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia
 2Faculty of Technical and Vocational Education, Sultan Idris Education University, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia
 3Department of Moral Studies, Civics and Character Building, Faculty of Human Sciences, Sultan Idris Education University, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia
 4Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, Faculty of Education, University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 Full text

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7268-7073

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.08.004

 Abstract

Technological advancements have significantly increased the efficiency of daily tasks, with smartphones emerging as the most commonly used devices among Malaysian youths. However, this widespread usage has led to behavioral concerns such as phubbing and nomophobia. Phubbing refers to the tendency to ignore others in favor of smartphone use, while nomophobia describes the anxiety experienced when individuals are disconnected from their smartphones or mobile networks. Nomophobia manifests through various social, psychological, and physical symptoms, reflecting a growing dependence on mobile devices. Smartphones now serve multiple functions, including internet browsing, social media access, entertainment, online shopping, photography, and navigation, making their use a defining trait of modern youth. Despite this, research on phubbing and nomophobia in Malaysia remains limited. This study aims to examine the influence of social media addiction, smartphone addiction, nomophobia, internet addiction, and other digital-based behavioral addictions on phubbing behavior among Malaysian youths. Data were collected through a questionnaire-based survey and analyzed using SPSS. The findings reveal that social media addiction, smartphone use, and nomophobia are strong predictors of phubbing behavior, while internet addiction and other digital distractions show moderate associations. Additionally, a moderate positive relationship was found between smartphone distraction and nomophobia in relation to phubbing behavior.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Social media addiction, Smartphone use, Nomophobia, Phubbing behavior, Youth digital habits

 Article history

 Received 14 January 2025, Received in revised form 10 June 2025, Accepted 4 July 2025

 Acknowledgment

This research was carried out under the Fundamental Research Grants Scheme (FRGS/1/2022/SS05/UPSI/02/9) provided by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). The authors thank the University of Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), which helped manage the grants. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

All the participants provided informed consent, and their responses were anonymized to ensure confidentiality. This research received ethical clearance from the Human Research Ethics Committee, Sultan Idris Education University (Reference number: 2024-0403-01).

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Mohamad FF, Tajuddin SNAA, Mustapha R, Salim SSM, Sumari M, and Yahya M (2025). Smartphone distraction and its behavioral outcomes: Phubbing and nomophobia among Malaysian youths. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(8): 42-52

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 Figures

  Fig. 1  Fig. 2  

 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4  Table 5  Table 6  Table 7  Table 8  Table 9  Table 10

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