According to new psychological research from the University of Virginia, smartphones may be so distracting that they are affecting our real-life relationships and, consequently, our overall well-being.

While socializing with others face-to-face generally tends to make people happy, it seems that smartphones may be getting in the way of that. New research finds that our phones may affect our happiness.

In partnership with researchers from the University of British Columbia, the team conducted tests on a number of diners in a British Columbia café. The 304 diners were presented with a choice between two situations: they could either keep their phones visible while at a table or put their phones away out of sight.

Researchers withheld the purpose of the study from participants, instead telling them that they were taking part in a study about dining out with friends.

“To manipulate the phone use, we told one, randomly assigned group to keep their phones out on the table, under the pretext that halfway through them having food, we would be sending them one question over text message,” said psychology post-doctoral student Kostadin Kushlev.

In the second situation, participants were told that their smartphones weren’t necessary as they would be given a paper survey halfway through the meal.

At the end of the meal, all of the participants were given an additional survey with questions concerning how they enjoyed the experience and — in those instances where the participant's phone was visible — how often they used their phones while at the table.

According to how the participants responded to the questionnaires, those who had their phones out of sight reported a happier experience than those who left their phones on the table, suggesting that being distracted by the smartphone undermined the participant's enjoyment of the experience.

“We found a pretty substantial effect on how distracted people felt, with people in the phone condition feeling substantially more distracted,” Kushlev said. “Statistically speaking, the effect was pretty significant.”

Though Kushlev understands the value in smartphones, he is concerned about their effect on human well-being.

“Maybe you are texting somebody and you feel connected to them, but at the same time you feel distracted and you feel less connected to the people around you,” he said.

“What is interesting to me, and I think to a lot of people, is, ‘How is this changing fundamental human behaviors that have been central to human society and human well-being throughout history?’”

As a solution, Kushlev suggests: “I don’t think we should accept that phones should be as distracting as they are today,” he said. Going forward, designers should be thinking about how the devices can be less distracting and allow human well-being to flourish.

The research is published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.