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The Phubbing Scale

Find out if your phone habits are causing those around you to feel ignored or neglected.

Mark Travers, Ph.D.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D.

September 6, 2023

Mark Travers, Ph.D., is the lead psychologist at Awake Therapy, responsible for new client intake and placement. Mark received his B.A. in psychology, magna cum laude, from Cornell University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder. His academic research has been published in leading psychology journals and has been featured in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among other popular publications. He is a regular contributor for Forbes and Psychology Today, where he writes about psycho-educational topics such as happiness, relationships, personality, and life meaning. Click here to schedule an initial consultation with Mark or another member of the Awake Therapy team. Or, you can drop him a note here.

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"Phubbing," which is a portmanteau of "phone" and "snubbing," refers to the act of ignoring someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention to the person.

This 10-item self-report scale was developed to measure the degree to which individuals engage in phubbing behavior. Given the increasing prevalence of smartphone usage, it is clear that phubbing is not just a quirky modern behavior. Rather, it's indicative of broader trends and shifts in social behavior brought about by the pervasive use of technology.

Like many psychological scales, the Phubbing Scale underwent a process of validation to ensure its reliability and validity in measuring the construct of interest.

You can take this test here. Please follow all of the steps to receive your results.

References: Karadağ E, Tosuntaş ŞB, Erzen E, Duru P, Bostan N, Şahin BM, Çulha İ, Babadağ B. Determinants of phubbing, which is the sum of many virtual addictions: a structural equation model.

Step 1: Rate the following statements based on how much you agree with them on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.

1. My eyes start wandering on my phone when I’m together with others.

2. I am always busy with my mobile phone when I’m with my friends.

3. People complain about me dealing with my mobile phone.

4. I’m busy with my mobile phone when I’m with friends.

5. I don’t think that I annoy my partner when I’m busy with my mobile phone.

6. My phone is always within my reach.

7. When I wake up in the morning, I first check the messages on my phone.

8. I feel incomplete without my mobile phone.

9. My mobile phone use increases day by day.

10. The time allocated to social, personal or professional activities decreases because of my mobile phone.

0 of 0 questions answered

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores with people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.