The digital age has brought many good things to society, however, there is also a seemingly inevitable negative side. One of the consequences of the omnipresence of mobile devices in people's daily lives takes the form of so-called phubbing. This term, coming from the English words “phone” and “snubbing,” refers to when the people with whom you are sharing a physical space pay more attention to your smartphone than to those next to you in that space. moment.
This causes people to isolate themselves from their surroundings while they immerse themselves in their mobile device, whether at a party, a meeting with friends or family, or a social event of any kind. And, of course, this also happens in couples. These situations often lead to problems and arguments, as it affects personal relationships, which suffer a negative impact due to phubbing.
Phubbing is the result of a reward mechanism in the brain, as explained by psychologist Francisco Hidalgo Díaz, where dopamine is released when experiencing a pleasant sensation. And this is something that ends up becoming addictive, with all the consequences that it brings, especially in relationships. Couple phubbing refers to all those frequent interruptions that occur in communication with a partner when one of the two parties is constantly answering the cell phone.
A stable and healthy relationship is not enough with the presence of the couple alone, but it is necessary for a reciprocal emotional exchange to occur. Phubbing as a couple causes an imbalance that generates dissatisfaction, a reduction in intimacy and an increase in arguments and conflicts. In fact, it is a frequent cause of clashes between couples.
Phubbing is still a practice associated with mobile phone addiction, so it is important to take control once the problem has been identified. Something that may not be simple, since this happens because the person doing the phubbing truly realizes it and accepts it to find a solution. Once this step has been taken, psychologist Francisco Hidalgo Díaz recommends a series of methods to end phubbing.
