Money for the poor? I'd love to, but I'm mid-text.
While mobile phones are designed to enable communications between people via calls, texts, emails, social networks and apps, University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business says the devices make users selfish.
It studied groups of phone-using 20-somethings to produce "The Effect of Mobile Phone Use on Prosocial Behaviour" report.
The 'effect', it turns out, made users less likely to volunteer for a community service activity when asked, compared to the control-group counterparts.
They were also uninterested in taking part in a problem solving activity, which would provide charitable donations.
The study explored both sexes, aged in their early 20s, but professor Rosellina Ferraro, says: "We would expect a similar pattern of effects with people from other age groups. Given the increasing pervasiveness of cellphones, it does have the potential to have broad social implications."
Additionally, the report separated the difference between social networks and mobile phones, as respondents agreed they felt more connected to others because of their mobiles and not their Facebook accounts.
A recent university report showed that smartphone users become angry and upset when their devices lay dormant, so much so, they feel phantom vibrations.
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