Do you compulsively check your smartphone even in situations where your attention should be elsewhere, eg during meetings or (illegally) while driving?
New research from the University of Bonn suggests it is all a matter of personality: people with low self-control tend to jump on their phones as soon as they hear that little notification sound or buzz.
Personality tests
The study was originally designed to see how long it takes the average user to respond to an alert on their phone. When this response time was measured in conjunction with personality tests, the link between impulse control and response time emerged.
"Self-control measures the capacity to maintain control over an impulse. This is necessary to defer the need to react to the message to a time when, for example, you have completed your work or the car has been safely driven to its destination," explained research team leader Dr Daria Knoch.
