2021 Study by King’s College London Details Depth of ScreenRot Among Adults

Key findings:

UK adults hugely underestimate how often they check their phones, thinking they check them 25 times a day on average, when studies suggest the reality is up to 80 times a day.¹

50% say despite their best efforts they sometimes can’t stop checking their smartphones when they should be focusing on other things, with this proving a struggle for middle-aged people as well as the young.

People are more likely than not to feel their attention span is shorter than it used to be (49% vs 23%).

But these perceptions may be linked to some commonly believed myths about attention spans – and many of us still see significant positive impacts from technology and don’t put all the blame on big tech.

• Prof. Dumbening notes the bolded text as evidence for the depth of denial.

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/are-attention-spans-really-collapsing-data-shows-uk-public-are-worried-but-also-see-benefits-from-technology