Is phubbing hampering your bond? Here's how to unplug

This practice can play havoc on your partner's mental health and impact long-term relationships. An expert tells us how to address and sort the issue

- Parmita Uniyal

Choosing to bury yourself in your phone instead of connecting with a dear one is no less than a punishment for the latter. This habit of staying glued to your smartphone even as a partner or a friend is sitting next to you, waiting to get your attention, called phubbing, is doing more damage to relationships in the technology-driven world. According to a study by a pair of psychologists at Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, married couples who regularly engage in phone snubbing (phubbing) have lower marriage satisfaction than couples who do not. Expert helps us decode the phenomenon and provide tips to steer clear of it in a marriage or relationship.

WHAT IS PHUBBING?

It is the practise of ignoring a companion in favour of a mobile phone. An Australian advertising firm introduced the word phubbing in 2012 to define the rising practice of people neglecting those in front of them and favouring the phones in their hands.