Mobile phones are widely adopted around the world. In contemporary society, mobile phone use is acutely integrated into core social and psychological aspects of everyday life, such as verbal and nonverbal interpersonal communication. Though mobile phones offer users many affordances for social connection that can facilitate interpersonal communication and affiliation formation, previous research on phubbing [phone-snubbing] suggests that mobile phone use during face to face (FtF) interactions can breach interpersonal expectations, be perceived as ostracizing, hinder judgements of intimacy and communication quality, lead to unfavorable interpersonal evaluations, cause conflict within relationships, and impede affiliation formation. I aimed to advance expectancy violation theory (EVT) by using the axioms of the theory to make predictions involving nonverbal behaviors (e.g., phubbing expectancy violations and mobile phone mimicry), interpersonal judgements, and self-disclosure. Much like self-disclosure, humans evolved to automatically engage in nonverbal mimicry, or synchronous behavioral matching (i.e., automatically or unintentionally touching one's face after their interaction partner engaged in the same behavior), as a means of building affiliation and promoting positive interpersonal judgements. Following this premise, I examined whether mobile phone checking mimicry, or behavioral matching between FtF interaction partners involving how they use their mobile phones, may promote positive interpersonal judgements (e.g., increased perceived liking, trust, and empathy) that subsequently may be associated with higher levels of self-disclosure. Phubbing effects research currently maintains that mobile phone use, during FtF interactions, tends to lead to adverse interpersonal outcomes among mobile phone users of all ages. However, I used a 2x1 between subject laboratory experiment with college students (N = 77) to assess whether phubbing, expectancy violations, and mobile phone checking mimicry influenced interpersonal judgements and self-disclosure within the context of a face-to-face get-to-know-you activity. The results suggest that mobile phone checking, perceptions of negative phubbing expectancy violations, and mobile phone checking mimicry, may have limited effects on self-disclosure and interpersonal judgements in a get-to-know-you activity. Specifically, phubbing was inversely associated with self-disclosure; however, mobile phone checking mimicry was positively associated with self-disclosure. Though the external validity of the findings may be limited due to the student sample, this study advances expectancy violation theory by demonstrating the potential prosocial and antisocial effects of mobile phone use during FtF interactions. Additional study limitations, theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.
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