Novel hybrid approaches to measure smartphone addiction—Application of statistical and triangular fuzzy techniques

• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Author: Hanumantha Rao Sama,Sripathi Kalvakolanu
• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2425

ACADEMIC PAPER

Novel hybrid approaches to measure smartphone addiction—

Application of statistical and triangular fuzzy techniques

Hanumantha Rao Sama

1

| Sripathi Kalvakolanu

2

1

Department of Statistics, Vignan's Foundation

for Science Technology and Research, Guntur,

India

2

Department of Management Studies, Gates

Institute of Management & Sciences,

Vijayawada, India

Correspondence

Hanumantha Rao Sama, Department of

Statistics, Vignan's Foundation for Science

Technology and Research, Vadlamudi, Guntur,

Andhra Pradesh 522213, India.

Email: sama.hanumantharao@gmail.com

The paper evaluates the levels of smartphone addiction among students using statis-

tical and fuzzy analysis approaches. By using Smartphone Addiction Test (SAT)

scores, the data were treated using fuzzy operators, and the relationships were ana-

lyzed by applying the statistical techniques. The respondent's addiction level scores

were converted into a fuzzy environment through the triangular approach, and

demographic characteristics of the respondents were compared to levels of

smartphone addiction. The percentage of respondents with mild and moderate levels

of addiction to smartphones was found to be high in the study. Gender, age groups,

and years of usage were also associated with addiction to smartphones. However,

the level of smartphone addiction was not much different based on whether the stu-

dents are staying with parents or away from their parents. Among the dimensions

measuring smartphone addiction, “lack of control”was ranked first. The dimension,

“excessive use,”was found to be the second-highest influencer of smartphone addic-

tion level. Respondents, to no small extent, were students pursuing undergraduate

and graduate programs. Adolescents and other demographic groups can be consid-

ered for future studies. Future studies can also focus on using other fuzzy

approaches to evaluate the data on smartphone addiction. The study offers priori-

tized dimensions to be focused on containing the levels of addiction among individ-

uals. Moreover, the ranking of items helps in guiding individuals to look into the

problem areas and take the appropriate actions. Measurement of levels of

smartphone addiction using a novel hybrid combination of statistical approach and

triangular fuzzy approach was carried out in the study. The critical dimensions and

items showing the influence on smartphone addiction were ranked.

1|INTRODUCTION

The rise of new technologies and the associated effects witnessed in

recent times brought up both personal and social issues to the fore

(Barrault, Durousseau, Ballon, Réveillère, & Brunault, 2019). Although

emerging technologies offer an exceptional level of benefits, they also

come bundled with several harmful effects to the work–life balance,

including a decline in productivity (Duke & Montag, 2017). Internet

and smartphone are two inseparable and interacting technologies,

whereas the availability of smartphones amplified the consequences

of internet usage (Aljomaa, Al Qudah, Albursan, Bakhiet, &

Abduljabbar, 2016). Addiction is commonly understood as a wicked

phenomenon that teenagers are incompetent to respond due to the

influential enticements enveloped around them (Boyd, 2014). The

problem of technology addiction increased significantly in the digital

era. Smartphone addiction is among such technology addictions

(Chiu, 2014; Lin et al., 2014) linked to the emergence of internet

addiction, which was traced earlier by Young (1998). Beranuy, Oberst,

Carbonell, and Charmarro (2009) reported that smartphone addiction

and internet addiction correlate. Of late, with new applications being

added every day, internet addiction has rapidly evolved into

smartphone addiction (Barnes, Pressey, & Scornavacca, 2019;

Received: 20 July 2020 Revised: 15 August 2020 Accepted: 19 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2425

J Public Affairs. 2022;22:e2425. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1of14

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2425