Momentary motivations for digital disconnection: an
experience sampling study

Momentary motivations for digital disconnection: an
experience sampling study

digital disconnection, motivation, digital well-being, non-use, experience sampling.

A much-discussed solution for undesirable (over-)use of mobile technologies lies in digital disconnection. Reasons for why individuals reduce

their digital media use have been assessed mostly cross-sectionally without accounting for various disconnection practices across everyday sit-
uations. This study focuses on three motivations to disconnect that can vary between situations: to (a) avoid distractions, (b) improve well-
being, and (c) be more present. A 14-day experience sampling study with 230 young adults (Mage 1⁄4 25.31, SD 1⁄4 4.50) yielded 7,360 situations

of disconnective behavior. Multilevel regression analyses show that motivations to avoid distractions and to be more present were relevant for

disconnection on the situational level. However, a person’s average level of these motivations did not predict disconnective behavior. The well-
being motivation was not associated with disconnection either between or within participants. Additional analyses explore variations across

time and different levels of digital disconnection.

Julius Klingelhoefer 1,�, Alicia Gilbert 2

, Adrian Meier

https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmae013

Oxford University Press on behalf of International Communication Association.

July 1, 2024

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