Identifying the antecedents and consequences of phubbing

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The influence of smartphones in face-to-face interactions has presently affected the methods of human interaction in various social environments and has led to the emerging phenomenon of phubbing. Phubbing has been the focus of researchers as the employee’s perception that his/her supervisor is distracted by their smartphone while talking or being in close proximity to each other in the work environment. Therefore, it can be stated that phubbing is negatively related to subordinates’ trust in their supervisor. So the present study aimed to identify the antecedents and consequences of phubbing in Yazd municipality. METHODS: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of research methodology and based on the grounded theory approach. We decided to apply this method because the core objective is to choose the individuals who are acquainted with such phenomena. Consequently, it will be easier to comprehend the topic so that the samples can provide appropriate answers accordingly. In the present study, for performing data collection, semi-structured indepth interviews with the 5w1h technique were conducted with 12 people, including managers and employees who respond to citizens’ requests in the central building of Yazd Municipality. The researched community consists of The Experts selected were those who had relevant articles, at least three years of beneficial work experience in Yazd Municipality, and relevant knowledge of phubbing. Targeted sampling has been done based on the researcher’s considerations. The present study was performed March 2023. FINDINGS: The findings show that there are many empirical factors influencing phubbing in organizations, so that the role of employees and their functional duties are considered a very influential factor for phubbing in organizations. Employees should be able to have a detailed understanding of their needs and their behavior in the organization in interactions so that they can convey the best experience to them in order to influence their behavior. If the set of municipality facilities can perform their duties well, a positive experience can be created in the employee’s mind. Therefore, human resources, physical space and functional aspect will provide a very effective role in creating a positive experience and provide a suitable mental background for employee preferences. In the present study, data analysis was performed using Maxqda software version 20 in three stages of primary, central, and selective coding, which resulted in the identification of 6 categories, 21 central concepts, and 123 final codes. Therefore, technological factors, social factors, personal/ individual factors, cultural factors, and psychological factors were identified in this research. CONCLUSION: The results of the data analysis indicated that there were many experimental factors influencing phubbing in organizations so the role of employees and their functional responsibility were considered to be a highly influential factor for phubbing in the municipality. The interviewees believed that employees must quickly feel secure and comfortable after becoming a member of the organization and they must adapt themselves to the norms of the environment. Therefore, considering that fobbing has attracted the attention of many researchers, as far as the authors are aware, its antecedents and consequences have not been identified, from this point of view, the research has innovation.