Who Multitasks on Smartphones? Smartphone Multitaskers' Motivations and Personality Traits

Abstract This study aimed to explore the psychological determinants of smartphone multitasking. Smartphone multitasking comprises the following three different subtypes: multitasking with nonmedia activities, cross-media multitasking with nonsmartphone media, and single-device multitasking within the smartphone. The primary motivations for smartphone multitasking were first identified—efficiency, utility, and positive affect—and the ways in which they are associated with the three subtypes were examined; among the primary motivations, efficiency and positive affect predicted the degree of total smartphone-multitasking behavior. The personality traits that are pertinent to all of the primary motivations—need for cognition (NFC) and sensation seeking (SS)—were also investigated. Further analyses revealed that the motivations for and the extent of smartphone multitasking can vary as functions of a user's NFC and SS. In this study, NFC was not only a meaningful predictor of the cognitive needs that drive smar...