*Wong Fei Mun, Lean Mei Li & Prasana Rosaline Fernandez
Abstract:
In the urban areas of Malaysia, it is common to see people holding mobile phones regardless of time and location. There is a high prevalence of mobile phones usage among Malaysians, particularly youths even with most primary school students owning these socially interactive technology gadgets. This study seeks to examine pervasiveness of mobile phones and dependency on the gadgets among male and female users, explore whether the high dependency on mobile phones contributes to any positive or negative effects on human relationships, and to propose solutions if there are any negative effects on aspects of human relationships due to high mobile phone usage in their daily lives. The researchers employed triangulation analysis, which combined both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The instruments of analysis for the research were surveys and personal interviews.
Keywords: Communication, human relationships, Malaysia, mobile phone