Youngsters tempted to text even during sex

According to psychologists from the Pennsylvania State University, young students may realise that texting in the shower or at a funeral is inappropriate but many do it anyway.

"The buzzes and flashing lights of smartphones may signal opportunities or threats that cause people to pay less attention to their present environment and consider the future," explained Marissa Harrison, associate professor of psychology in a paper that appeared in Social Science Journal.

The researchers suggest that college students are not necessarily trying to create new norms in texting behaviours but that breaking with these norms is just too tempting for them in most cases.

The researchers asked 152 college students to fill out a 70-question survey on their attitudes toward texting in various situations and their general texting habits.

In a survey, college students admitted to texting during funerals, in the shower, during sex and while using the toilet.

While most participants said they considered texting while taking a shower to be socially unacceptable, more than 34 percent said they did it anyway.

Most agreed that texting during a religious service or while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance was wrong, but more than 22 percent texted during services and about 11 percent said they texted during the pledge.

Approximately 7.4 percent texted while having sex, even though most admitted that it was wrong.

Some behaviour - such as texting in the bathroom or while eating - are becoming more acceptable for college students.

"Whereas some people may deem this odd, most college students agree that eating and toilet texts are the new normal," the researchers said.

Trained as an evolutionary psychologist, Harrison suggests that the forces of natural selection may play a part in creating this behaviour.

"We are all programmed to notice movement and change, so maybe those buzzes and bells of texting, just like certain sounds that are used to indicate the charging of a predator, for example, reinforce the need to find out what is going on," Harrison pointed out.