Given its role as a constant companion, the mobile phone has long been thought of as an extension of the self. However, the psychology of smartphone self-extension has received relatively little attention through empirical research. By explicating theorized facets of self-extension, we explore the dimensionality of smartphone self-extension and examine how established psychological orientations map onto these dimensions. Results provide support for a two-dimensional structure of self-extension. Specifically, we found that self-extension can be delineated on the extent to which the smartphone is viewed as (a) functional for personal goals and (b) integral to personal identity. Across two studies, habitual usage predicted the functionality dimension and problematic usage predicted the identity dimension. In addition, Study 2 revealed that the two dimensions of self-extension corresponded to different dimensions of smartphone vigilance. We discuss the importance of conceptualizing smartphone self-extension as a perceptual construct, as well as the challenges of measuring the psychological connection that exists – or is thought to exist – between self and phone.

鉴于其作为不变伴侣的作用，移动电话早已被认为是自我的延伸。然而，通过实证研究，智能手机自我扩展的心理学很少受到关注。通过阐述自我扩展的理论化方面，我们探索了智能手机自我扩展的维​​度，并研究了已建立的心理取向如何映射到这些维度上。结果为自扩展的二维结构提供了支持。具体而言，我们发现自我扩展可以在以下程度上描述：智能手机被视为（a）实现个人目标和（b）实现个人身份不可或缺。在两项研究中，习惯用法预测了功能维度，而问题用法预测了身份维度。此外，研究2显示，自我延伸的两个维度对应于智能手机警惕性的不同维度。我们讨论了将智能手机自我扩展概念化为感知结构的重要性，以及衡量自我和电话之间存在的或被认为存在的心理联系所面临的挑战。