Masters Thesis

Problematic Phone Use and Phantom Notifications: An Examination of Normative Hallucinations

Historically, hallucinations have been labeled only as symptoms of clinical disorders; however, research over the past few decades has suggested hallucinations can occur in individuals without a clinical diagnosis. Previous studies have shown that as many as 40% of the general population has reported experiencing hallucinations. Theories suggest that normative hallucinations arise due to issues with internal-external source monitoring and the experience of high stress. One way these hallucinations may manifest is through phantom vibration syndrome, or imagined cell phone notifications. It is possible that problematic phone use increases an individual’s susceptibility to phantom notifications. The present study investigated predictive factors of phantom notifications, hypothesizing that source monitoring ability would be related to the experience of phantom notifications, and that problematic phone use and perceived stress will moderate this relationship. In addition, it was hypothesized that an individual’s predisposition to hallucinate would be related to phantom notifications and that perceived stress would moderate this relationship. Two hundred and one undergraduate students participated in both a source monitoring task and a self-report survey, in which predispositions to hallucinate, perceived stress, problematic phone habits, and the frequency of phantom notifications were measured. Results of the study indicated that source monitoring ability was not related to the frequency of phantom notifications, but that problematic phone use, perceived stress, and hallucination proneness were all related to phantom notifications. Additionally, problematic phone use emerged as the strongest predictor of phantom notifications. These results suggest that phantom notifications are normative hallucinations and that problematic phone use is instrumental in these experiences. These results also provide support for the continuum view of hallucinations and suggest that further research is needed to explore the influences of phone use on mental health.

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