Ringxiety: Phantom Ringing Plagues 67% of Cell Phone Users

Ever reach for your phone convinced it was ringing or vibrating, only to realize you didn’t have an incoming call after all?

You are not alone, says a study conducted by David Laramie and presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention. And the more you use your phone, the more often it happens.

There have been a few theories for this “phantom ringing”, ranging from the scientific to the nefarious. Is it a conspiracy by the advertising industry? Or do you subconsciously believe you’re so popular that surely someone is calling you right now?

Putting aside for now the question of what triggers the phantom ring, the recent study of adults aged 18 to 86 reports that fully two-thirds of participants reported hearing their cell phone ring or vibrate when there was no incoming call or text message – a phenomenon called “ringxiety.�

Laramie links ringxiety to an emotional dependence on cell phones, and that dependence appears to be on the rise. The 67% who experienced phantom ringing, on average, talked more and sent a greater number of text messages per month than those who did not. Not surprisingly, therefore, the group most affected by ringxiety was the younger cell phone users.

Also interesting is that the study reports that people are increasingly dependent on their cell phones to maintain social connections and to regulate their mood. The study also found a correlation between people who spent more time text messaging than actually talking and the likelihood of feeling loneliness and anxiety.

I could go into how silly this whole thing is, but I’ve got to go take a call.