{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T05:19:46Z","timestamp":1788326386301,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788134400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Phubbing, the act of snubbing a conversational partner in favor of a mobile phone, has become a routine feature of face-to-face interaction. This study tested seven directional hypotheses regarding general phubbing, being phubbed, and interpersonal communication quality across Generations X, Y, and Z, drawing on cohort theory and the digital-native framework. Data were collected via face-to-face questionnaires from 916 students and academic and administrative staff at a large Turkish public university using convenience sampling, and were analyzed with ANOVA, regression, and confirmatory factor analysis. General phubbing and being phubbed were measured with the Turkish-adapted Generic Scale of Phubbing and Generic Scale of Being Phubbed; communication quality was measured with the Interpersonal Communication Scale. General phubbing increased stepwise from Generation X to Z and was significantly and negatively associated with communication quality, as hypothesized. Being phubbed did not differ by generation, consistent with a normalization account, and showed a small, unhypothesized positive association with communication quality. Neither relationship was moderated by generational membership. Generation Z reported the lowest communication quality of the three cohorts, a result robust to sensitivity checks. Measurement limitations and implications for generational research on digital communication are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091536","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T01:05:26Z","timestamp":1788224726000},"page":"1536","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Phubbing, Being Phubbed, and Interpersonal Communication Quality Across Generations X, Y, and Z: Evidence of a Generational Asymmetry"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0763-1940","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samet","family":"Candar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Relations and Publicity, Faculty of Communication, Atat\u00fcrk University, Erzurum 25240, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7708-7752","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fatma","family":"Ge\u00e7ikli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Relations and Publicity, Faculty of Communication, Atat\u00fcrk University, Erzurum 25240, T\u00fcrkiye"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1007\/s00146-019-00876-0","article-title":"Digital akrasia: A qualitative study of phubbing","volume":"35","author":"Aagaard","year":"2020","journal-title":"AI & Society"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Abramova, O., Baumann, A., Krasnova, H., and Lessmann, S. 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