A massive 73% of people aged 25-30 confess they can’t do without their mobile in the bathroom, with men being the worst culprits.
Half (48%) of British people spend more time on their phones than they do playing sports or exercising in a typical week, and 42% say they spend more times on their phones than they do having sex.
A fifth of relationships are marred by bickering over smart phone use, and a quarter of men have delayed sex in order to use their phones, according to research by specialist mobile phone and tablet insurance company loveit coverit.
23% of respondents are on their phones more than reading books and 16% of those in relationships say that their phone usage exceeds the amount of time they spend talking to their partner!
Corinne Sweet, Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Writer and Broadcaster, comments: "It's clear that many of us are glued to our gadgets in an almost addictive way these days. Whilst our phones are an essential part of life, our unthinking dependency on them is actually getting in the way of being intimate, including even having sex.
The problem is that incessant phone use, and abuse, interferes with the communication flow. It can also erode trust, honesty and closeness between partners, friends and family.
Taking a phone-break, especially in the bedroom (alone or with someone special) is definitely important for both our mental health and well-being."
A quarter (23%) of those surveyed admitted to delaying or refusing sex because they were using their phones. The biggest cause of this was checking work emails or replying to messages. en were more likely to have done this than women- a quarter (25%) of men and a fifth (20%) of women admitted to delaying sex because they were preoccupied with an activity on their phones.
The culprits of this behaviour were almost exclusively between the ages of 25 and 34, where two-thirds (66%) of respondents had delayed or refused sex for this reason.
A quarter (24%) had done so because they were checking their emails; 21% were Googling something; 20% were playing a game or using an app; another 20% were scrolling through their social media feeds, and a further 20% were simply reading the news, a magazine or an article online.
When asked about distractions from sexual activity, 8% of respondents said that they had experienced a partner falling asleep while they were having sex, and 6% admitted that they themselves had done this during sex at one time or another. 4% of respondents have either said, or been called, the wrong name during sex.
A quarter (23%) of British people would class their phone usage as ‘high’, meaning it is always with them and they spend several hours a day using it. A further 38% describe themselves as having ‘medium’ usage, and 39% have ‘low’ usage.
The average British person spends 45 minutes a day watching TV in bed and half an hour using their phones in bed. Respondents aged 25-34 are most guilty of using technology in bed; on average those in this age bracket spend 70 minutes watching TV in bed a day and an hour and a half on their phones or tablet.
Respondents most dependent on their phones, and particularly respondents in their late twenties and thirties, were likely to have had experiences where their mobile phones had distracted them from sexual activities.
Amongst 25-34 year-olds, 16% said that they had checked their social media during sex; 16% had checked their emails; and 14% had even made a phone call. 15% admitted to checking a dating app whilst having sex with somebody, and 16% said they had surreptitiously looked at their partner’s phone notifications whilst in the act. 13% of respondents in this age bracket said a sexual partner had done this to them.
14% of respondents admitted to arranging for a friend to call them, in order to get out of a date or spending time with a partner. Those aged 25-34 are most guilty of this, and over half (56%) of respondents in this age bracket said that they’ve organised for a friend to do this.
14% of British people in relationships would describe that relationship as ‘unhappy’.
One factor causing such ‘trouble in paradise’ is phone use and screen time which a fifth (19%) of British people describe as being an issue in their relationship. Men are more likely to have annoyed their
partner with their phone usage; 21% of men say that their partner often complains about their phone use, compared to 15% of women.
Almost a fifth (18%) of respondents say they often text or call somebody in the same room as them, rather than going to speak to them. 15% of those surveyed say that they often text someone in the same room as them, for example to talk about someone else present.
This is a common behaviour amongst 25-34 year-olds.
For more information on loveit coverit, visit https://www.loveitcoverit.com/