Metaphoric Perceptions of High School Students about Nomophobia

Abstract

The present study was conducted to reveal high school students’ feelings regarding their experiences of being deprived of their smartphones (nomophobia). The study group of the study was comprised of 158 students attending a high school in a city center in the central Anatolian region in Turkey. One of the qualitative research methods, namely the phenomenology research design, was employed. The data of the research were collected by means of a questionnaire, comprised of open ended questions, and a metaphor form. The data obtained were analyzed using the content analysis technique by the researchers simultaneously. As a result of the analyses, it is possible to say that the participants (i) generally underwent a psychological breakdown, or felt furious, or sad in some of the nomophobia scenarios they experienced, (ii) frequently experienced intense negative feelings, such as anxiety, anger, and/or boredom, and (iii) sometimes refrain from expressing their feelings by saying “it doesn’t affect me”. The present study yielded striking and equally thought-provoking findings such that the smartphone has a central place in the lives of the participants, who consider being deprived of a telephone equivalent to the loss of their most beloved ones.