Exploring the Role of Gender Differences in the Development of Nomophobia among College Students

Abstract

This particular investigation was conducted to identify the impact of gender on the level of concern and anxiety associated with using mobile technology (the fear being disconnected from a mobile device). This research was a cross-section of a population of 500 (265 males and 235 females) public college students in Gujrat City, Pakistan, and was conducted using a non-probability convenient sample method in which all students were enrolled and possessed at least one mobile device (smartphone) for data collection purposes. Participants were asked to respond to the Urdu version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q), which had a total of 14 items and was based on the definition of specific phobias in the DSM-V. Data collection and analysis were performed using descriptive statistics and Independent Samples t-tests to evaluate the statistical significance of the differences between the means of the two groups. The average age of the sample was 20.93 years. Female participants were found to have an overall higher average score (M = 43.70, SD = 8.98) than male participants (M = 42.01, SD = 9.81) who scored lower. An Independent Samples t-test confirmed that there was a statistically significant difference between males and females (t (498) = -2.00, p = .046), with a difference of 1.69 points between the means, and with a 95% Confidence Interval for the mean difference (-3.35, -0.03), leading to the conclusion that female participants were more likely than male participants to experience higher levels of nomophobia.