1 in 10 People Check Their Phones During Sex

phone sex
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"Oh wow, breaking news," isn't something you hope to hear while in flagrante delicto, but if you have heard that, you're not alone.

One in 10 college students admit to having checked their phone during sex, according to a new study presented by the University of Virginia and the University of British Columbia.

"Less than 10 years ago, Steve Jobs promised that smartphones ‘will change everything,’" said Kostadin Kushlev, a psychology research scientist at the University of Virginia and leader of the study. "And with the Internet in their pockets, people today are bombarded with notifications – whether from email, text messaging, social media or news apps – anywhere they go. We are seeking to better understand how this constant inflow of notifications influences our minds."

The study's aim was to look at inattention and hyperactivity by examining smartphone usage in many scenarios. But of course, the big reveal is that our attention spans are so shot that we can't even pay attention during sex.

The two-week study of 221 students showed not only are many "moments" being ruined by baseball updates and tweet likes, but that when students had their phones on ring or vibrate, they reported increased symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity compared to when their phones were on silent.

Other stats coming out of the study said that up to 95% of smartphone users used their phones during a social gathering, 70% used their phones while working, and that smartphone users spent nearly two hours per day on their phone.

"We found the first experimental evidence that smartphone interruptions can cause greater inattention and hyperactivity – symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – even in people drawn from a nonclinical population," said Kushlev. "The findings simply suggest that our constant digital stimulation may be contributing to an increasingly problematic deficit of attention in modern society."

While the data tells a story about students, and not the broader population, none of this is surprising. OK, maybe the sex thing. You've seen your mom trying to figure out what Snapchat is in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner and you aren't sure what to do with your hands on the toilet if you aren't delivering your approval of Instagram posts. We're all a little too attached to our phones.

Just leave the phone in another room so you aren't tempted by that New York Times alert, because "Cruz just pulled out!" is never an acceptable phrase to utter during sex.