The Moderating Role of Life Satisfaction in the Relationship Between Being Phubbed and Phubbing Behaviors Among Older Adults

With the widespread use of smartphones, phubbing behaviours have become increasingly common in everyday social interactions and may have significant implications for interpersonal relationships, particularly among older adults. Being phubbed may shape individuals’ own phubbing behaviors, while psychological resources such as life satisfaction may serve a protective function in this process. The present study aimed to examine the moderating role of life satisfaction in the relationship between being phubbed and general phubbing behavior among older adults. This study included 470 older adults aged 60-85 years (M = 66.47, SD = 5.42). Data were collected via an online survey. Participants completed the Generic Scale of Phubbing, the Generic Scale of Being Phubbed, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Data analyses were performed using SPSS Statistics, and the moderating role of life satisfaction was tested with Hayes’ PROCESS macro. As a result, controlling for daily smartphone use duration, being phubbed was positively associated with phubbing at all levels of life satisfaction. However, this relationship was strongest among individuals with low life satisfaction and weakest among those with high life satisfaction. These findings indicate that the association between being phubbed and phubbing behavior varies depending on the level of life satisfaction among older adults.