Relationship of Phubbing, a Behavioral Problem, with Assertiveness and Passiveness: A Study on Adolescents

Available online 30.06.2019 In this study, it was aimed to examine whether or not adolescents' assertiveness and passiveness characteristics predicted their phubbing behavior. This study was carried out with 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grade students in three different high schools in a city in Central Anatolia during the first semester of 2018-2019 academic year. A total of 634 students,430 females and 204 males, participated in the study. The data were collected by the Phubbing Scale, the Assertiveness Scale and Personal Information Form, developed by the researcher. For the data analysis, t-test was used for binary variables and one-way analysis of variance for multiple variables were used. In the study, hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine whether students' assertiveness predicted phubbing or not. According to the study findings, sex and type of school did not have an effect on phubbing, whereas the fact that the cell phone used was a smart phone or not was effective on phubbing. While phubbing had a significant negative relationship with assertiveness, it had a significant positive relationship with passiveness. The study determined that both assertiveness and passiveness were significant predictors of phubbing. Assertiveness, passiveness and the cell phone used are effective in explaining the phubbing behavior. © 2019 IOJES. All rights reserved