Problems from smartphone usage: relationships with emotional intelligence, self-confidence and conflict behavior in Belarus and Russia

Smartphones have become one of the most significant digital devices in the life of a modern person, since they can perform many functions, providing constant access to the Internet, maintaining social connections, and quickly receiving information. Smartphones are used in education and professional activities, provide a variety of entertainment, help with navigation, etc. Due to its capabilities, a smartphone acts not just as a tool, but as a part of the "I" personality. Problematization. As studies show, excessive use of smartphones can be associated with negative emotional states and other psychological problems. The concepts of "problematic use of a smartphone", "dependence on a smartphone", "smartphone addiction" are included in scientific circulation, the preferability of which is debated. To identify possible connections between problematic use of a smartphone and emotional intelligence, low self-confidence, types of behavior in conflicts and dependence on social networks in Belarusian and Russian respondents; as well as to discover the common and differences in these connections in the two specified samples. Methods. The online survey was attended by 1,448 respondents, 66.3% of whom were women. The sample of Belarusian respondents consisted of 726 people, 59.6% of whom were women, and 722 Russian respondents, 72.9% of whom were women. The following methods were used: a short version of the smartphone addiction questionnaire (author V.P. Sheynov); N. Hall's emotional intelligence test; V.G. Romek's self-confidence test; K. Thomas - R. Kilmann's "Conflict Behavior Strategies" test (adapted by N.V. Grishina); "Social Network Addiction Questionnaire" ZSS-15 (authors V.P. Sheynov, A.S. Devitsyn). Research results. It has been shown: 1) problematic smartphone use is negatively associated with emotional intelligence and self-confidence in samples of both Belarusian and Russian respondents; 2) conflict behavior strategies are weakly associated with problematic smartphone use (only the negative relationship between problematic smartphone use and cooperation among Russian women and the positive relationship with the avoidance strategy in the Belarusian sample as a whole and among Belarusian men are statistically significant); 3) Belarusians and Russians showed statistically significant correlations between all factors of problematic smartphone use (“loss of control over oneself”, “fear of refusal to use a smartphone”, “euphoria from using a smartphone”) and all factors of social media addiction (“psychological state of the user”, “communication of the network user”, “receiving information”). General conclusion: all factors of problematic smartphone use are significant in themselves, causing problems created by excessive smartphone use. The obtained data can be used in preventive and correctional-developmental work to prevent problematic smartphone use among young people.