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WE’RE ALL GUILTY of whipping our phones out and scrolling through our Twitter feed while spending time with our significant other.

And it turns out that there’s now a word for this: phubbing.

Phubbing is a term coined in 2012 as part of a campaign to promote the Macquarie Dictionary of Australia and refers to the act of snubbing the person you’re with in favour of using your phone.

Stop Phubbing Stop Phubbing

The word is in the news after a study published in Computers in Human Behaviour found that “phubbing” can kind of kill the romance.

The study quizzed more than 450 adults and found that more than 46% had been “phubbed” by their partner while more than 22% said it caused issues in their relationship.

Study co-author James A. Roberts told Yahoo Health that relationships with less phubbing make for happier relationships.

We found that the ones that reported higher partner phubbing fought more with their partner and were less satisfied with their relationship than those who reported less phubbing.

So, the question is: are you a phubber?

According to study co-author James A. Roberts, you’re a phubber if you engage in any of the following habits:

• Checking your phone while in a restaurant with other people.
• Keeping your phone in sight or holding it in your hand while spending time with other people.
• Not hesitating to check your phone if you receive a message or a notification while with other people.
• Looking at your phone while on a date or with your significant other.
• Playing with your phone if there’s a lull in conversation.

In other words, if you own a smartphone, then you’re probably guilty of phubbing.

Oops.

The lesson? Put down the phone. (Or at least have the good grace to wait until the other person goes to the bathroom to take it out.)

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