The key facts

  • RuStore and Nauka Mail: 46% of Russians can go without a smartphone for several days, 31% for a day, 4% would not give it up even for a couple of hours.
  • Expert Alexander Konfisakhor considers these data incorrect: only 3% could last an hour without a phone, 5% — 15 minutes.
  • In his view, 95% of Russians without a smartphone for a day would 'go crazy', and the habit forms from early childhood.

Survey on willingness to give up a smartphone

RuStore and the Nauka Mail portal conducted a study, according to which 46% of Russians are able to go without a smartphone for only a few days, another 31% would last a day, and 4% admitted they would not give up the device even for a couple of hours. 63% of respondents are willing to deliberately take breaks from their smartphone; 34% see no point in it, and 3% are not ready to voluntarily stay without a phone.

Expert's criticism

Alexander Konfisakhor, Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology of Professional Activity at Herzen State Pedagogical University, Doctor of Political Sciences, in a comment to NSN called these data incorrect. In his belief, at best 3% of people could spend an hour without a phone, and 5% — 15 minutes. 'If, God forbid, a smartphone were simply physically taken away from a person for a day, then 95% of the population would go crazy,' he said, noting that the smartphone has replaced news, watches, and communication for people.

A habit that is hard to change

Konfisakhor noted that many Russians know about the problem and would like to reduce the time spent on their smartphone, but do not do so. He drew an analogy with smoking and alcohol consumption: the desire to give up a habit does not mean real steps. According to him, talking about readiness to reduce screen time and actually doing it are different things. He sees the difficulty in upbringing: children look at phones from the earliest years, and for them the device becomes 'part of life' that cannot be given up.