Most prior research on the effects of mobile and social media on well-being has worked from either the “technology addiction” or “screen time” approach. Yet these frameworks struggle with considerable conceptual and methodological limitations. The present study discusses and tests an established but understudied alternative, the technology habit approach. Instead of conflating mobile usage with problems (i.e., addictive/problematic usage) or ignoring users’ psychological engagement with mobiles (i.e., screen time), this approach investigates how person-level (habit strength) and day-level aspects of mobile habits (perceived interruptions and the urge to check) contribute to a key problem outcome, procrastination, as well as affective well-being and meaningfulness. In a five-day diary study with N = 532 student smartphone users providing N = 2,331 diary entries, mobile checking habit strength, perceived interruptions, and the urge to check together explained small to moderate amounts of procrastination. Procrastination, in turn, was linked to lower affective well-being and meaningfulness. Yet mobile habits showed only very small or no direct associations with affective well-being and meaningfulness. By separating habitual mobile connectivity from problem outcomes and well-being measures, this research demonstrates a promising alternative to the study of digital well-being.

大多数关于移动和社交媒体对幸福感影响的先前研究都是从“技术成瘾”或“屏幕时间”方法开始的。然而，这些框架与相当大的概念和方法限制作斗争。本研究讨论并测试了一种已建立但尚未得到充分研究的替代方法，即技术习惯方法。这种方法不是将移动使用与问题（即上瘾/有问题的使用）混为一谈，也不是忽略用户对移动设备的心理参与（即屏幕时间），而是调查个人层面（习惯强度）和日常层面的移动习惯（感知到的干扰和检查的冲动）导致关键问题结果、拖延以及情感幸福和意义。在与N 进行的为期五天的日记研究中= 532 名学生智能手机用户提供N = 2,331 条日记条目、移动检查习惯强度、感知到的干扰以及一起检查的冲动解释了轻微到中等程度的拖延。反过来，拖延与较低的情感幸福感和意义有关。然而，移动习惯与情感幸福感和意义只有很小或没有直接关联。通过将习惯性移动连接与问题结果和福祉措施分开，这项研究展示了数字福祉研究的有前途的替代方案。