ArticleBMC psychology2026
When phones ring in silence: intolerance of uncertainty amplifies the association between being phubbed and online vigilance in face-to-face interaction.
Article in BMC psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSmartphones are increasingly embedded in face-to-face interaction, making being phubbed a common negative relational experience. Although prior research has documented its interpersonal and emotional costs, less is known about whether such offline relational disruption is followed by heightened attentional orientation toward digital cues. Online vigilance may be especially likely to emerge when the relational meaning of phubbing remains uncertain. Drawing on social monitoring system theory, the present research examined whether being phubbed is associated with, and experimentally increases, online vigilance, and whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU) moderates this association.
methodsThe research consisted of two studies. Study 1 used a cross-sectional survey design (N = 845). Study 2 used a between-subjects experimental design (N = 220), manipulated phubbing during face-to-face interaction, and recorded phone-checking behavior during a waiting period.
resultsIn Study 1, being phubbed was associated with online vigilance, and IU significantly strengthened this association. In Study 2, phubbing significantly increased state online vigilance, but this effect emerged primarily among individuals with moderate to high levels of IU. Analyses using online-monitoring frequency as the primary confirmatory behavioral outcome likewise showed a significant interaction, indicating that high-IU individuals were more likely to engage in more frequent digital information monitoring after being phubbed. Broader behavioral indicators, including first-check latency, phone-checking frequency, and total phone-use duration, provided directionally consistent supplementary support, whereas the evidence from dichotomous behavioral indicators was weaker.
conclusionsBeing phubbed may not only undermine the immediate interaction experience but also be followed by increased online vigilance and heightened attention to digital cues. IU may strengthen the link between relationally ambiguous cues and online vigilance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.