"I can never be in a room alone and not be on my phone." Understanding smartphone addiction of young adults.

The literature on smartphone addiction, particularly concerning young adults, is mostly quantitative and focuses on screen time and the self-assessment of whether digital users consider themselves addicted. The result is conceptual imposition and a lack of understanding of what produces smartphone addiction. This study takes a different, qualitative, and abductive approach. Eight focus groups were conducted involving 37 students aged 18-22 to explore how smartphones support and undermine wellbeing, with addiction emerging as one of the themes. The data were matched against the established six criteria of behavioural addiction. I find that five of the six criteria are widely met, thereby justifying the term 'addiction'. The findings show that the multi-functionality of smartphones cannot account for smartphone addiction. Rather, it is a multi-layered process consisting of the psychological need to belong, platform design, and the social norms of constant availability and quick responsiveness that leads young adults into addictive behaviour, despite the feelings of guilt and stress that such behaviour creates in them.