A multi-national study of attitudes about mobile phone use in social settings

Mobile phones have taken on the role of providing truly portable and individual communications and computing. Unlike many devices, however, mobile phones can be used anywhere and anytime. Consequently, they are used in social situations such as restaurants and theatres where co-located people can be bothered by their use. How people perceive the impact of mobile phones in these situations may vary by user factors such as age, gender and work status, and by the country in which the user is located. This paper presents the results of a multi-national study of attitudes about mobile phone use in social situations.