A study of Nomophobia and its effects on employee productivity; Case of selected manufacturing firms in Nizwa

Abstract

This study explores how Nomophobia—the fear or discomfort of not having access to a mobile phone—affects productivity among employees in the manufacturing sector. As smartphones become an essential part of everyday life, even workplaces that restrict phone use can contribute to stress, anxiety, and distractions among staff. The research aims to measure how common Nomophobia is among manufacturing workers, and understand how it impacts job performance. The study is based on a structured survey built around the well-established Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q), which is distributed among employees at various manufacturing firms in Oman. The results of the study show that there is a moderate level of Nomophobia and its dimensions, including losing connection, losing communication, losing access to information, and sacrificing convenience. Furthermore, regression result shows that out of these dimensions, losing communication and sacrificing convenience has significant negative effects on employee job performance. It is recommended that organizations should develop suitable policies to enable smartphone access at workplace.

Keywords: Mobile Phone Dependency, Employee Productivity, Manufacturing Sector, Workplace Stress, Job Performance, Nomophobia Questionnaire, Technology in the Workplace.