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Background <p>Smartphones 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.</p> Methods <p>The research consisted of two studies. Study 1 used a cross-sectional survey design (<i>N</i> = 845). Study 2 used a between-subjects experimental design (<i>N</i> = 220), manipulated phubbing during face-to-face interaction, and recorded phone-checking behavior during a waiting period.</p> Results <p>In 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.</p> Conclusions <p>Being 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.</p>

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When phones ring in silence: intolerance of uncertainty amplifies the association between being phubbed and online vigilance in face-to-face interaction

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月3日

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  • Zhaoyan Meng,
  • Mengyu Qu,
  • Shisan Qi

摘要

Background

Smartphones 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.

Methods

The 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.

Results

In 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.

Conclusions

Being 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.