Mobile phone distractions can strain relationships and creativity.
- Phubbing, or favouring phones over partners, harms female creativity.
- Study highlights women’s workplace creativity is uniquely affected.
- Support dynamics at home influence women’s professional innovations.
- Emphasis on balancing technology use and work-family boundaries.
The increasing habit of focusing on mobile phones over actual human interaction, known as phubbing, has been found to negatively impact women’s creativity at work. Researchers from the Universities of Bath, Aston, and IESE Business School indicate this behaviour not only strains personal relationships but also crosses over into the professional lives of women, affecting their creative output.
In an analysis involving diary entries from 65 dual-income couples in the United States, it became apparent that phone use is a significant disruptor of social interactions and the support systems couples offer each other. These disruptions particularly affect women, who seem to better translate familial support into workplace creativity than their male counterparts.
The concept of phubbing undermines supportive home interactions, which are crucial for fostering creativity. As Professor Yasin Rofcanin explains, the absence of meaningful conversations due to smartphone distractions prevents women from engaging in ‘job-crafting’, a proactive approach that boosts creativity through new challenges and improved workplace relationships.
The study’s findings suggest that certain expectations placed on women to balance family and work make them more adept at leveraging support into creative innovations at work. This support spiral, when broken, hampers their ability to craft their job roles proactively and creatively.
In light of increased hybrid working arrangements, these revelations emphasize the need for organisational policies that support work-life balance. Dr Siqi Wang of Aston Business School stresses the necessity of collaboration between HR managers and first-line supervisors to promote communication and regulate technology use in work-family environments.
Balancing technology and relationships is crucial for sustaining creativity in women’s professional environments.
