On the Phubbing Phenomenon from the Perspective of Communicative Action Theory

余莎

Abstract：The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death，but，when I am in front of you，you are playing mobile phone.It humorously reveals a pervasive phenomenon of the current society—phubbing phenomenon.This paper tried to analyze this phenomenon from the perspective of communicative action theory and offered some advice，hoping to facilitate normal communication among people and reduce the accidents caused by phubbing.

Key words：Phubbing；Communicative Action Theory

1.Introduction

Lately，its reported that a 28-year young woman from Wenzhou fell into river and drowned to death because she was playing phone while she was walking！ Nowadays，Phubbing is seen easily almost everywhere.They seem reluctant to talk with people around and just lay down heads and play phones.It really needs serious attention！

Phubbing phenomenon is actually over-dependence on tool rationality.Therefore，I decided to analyze it from the perspective of Habermass communicative action theory.

2.Communicative Action Theory

With the overexpansion of tool rationality and loss of value in western society，Habermas put forward the communicative action theory.It proposes that people communicate with each other freely and equally with language to achieve mutual understanding and reach an agreement.

He classified social behavior into four categories： goal behavior；regulating behavior；dramatic behavior；communicative action.Communicative action takes language as medium.Only communicative action requires people keep the truth，justice，and sincerity of their statements at the same time.Habermas thought that communicative action was more rational than other social behaviors.

Habermas put forward the social structure model—life world and system.Life world mainly consists of culture，individuality and social order.System refers to the material level such as the politic and economic system.In a society，life world and system should go hand in hand.A disorder of them will lead to the loss of value and distortion of communicative action.

3.The Communicative Action Theory and Phubbing Phenomenon

Mobile phones are the language or non-language medium used by people to communicate with each other.They bring us great convenience.Its the tool rationality belonging to the system area.But some people are so dependent on phones that they ignore communication with people around and just play phones.Its the distortion of communicative action which belongs to life world.Its the colonization of life world.

In addition，some people overuse dramatic behavior and ignore regulating behavior in communication by phones.They express feelings，attitude，and values by phones.But its not face-to-face communication so people can only guess others real feelings and attitude.Gradually，people prefer their roles in the virtual world.

4.Solutions to Phubbing

According to the above analysis，tips are as follows：

Firstly，hold a critical attitude toward tool rationality.There is no denying of the advantages of mobile phones.But people shouldnt be over-dependent on it.Otherwise，they will be so addicted to it that they ignore study，work，families and friends.Communication on mobile phone cant replace face-to-face communication.

Secondly，create an ideal communicating environment.People can communicate with each other freely，equally，democratically，and openly.Sometimes playing phones offers a channel to avoid embarrassment of speechlessness，because they are afraid to be laughed at for their opinions in communication.

Last but not least，attend outdoor activities and focus on something meaningful.Attending activities can reduce the time spent on phones and people will gradually find it more interesting.People can also read books，travel many places，learn to cook and do many other things.

5.Conclusion

The phubbing phenomenon is due to over-dependence on tool rationality and a lack of communicative rationality.Apart from the tips above，sincerity and friendliness may make people more willing to have face-to-face communication.After all，Human beings like interaction with others by nature.

References

[1]Habermas J.& Carty，T.M.The Theory of Communicative Action[M].Alphascript Publishing，2010：108.

[2]71.8%受訪者認為過度依賴手機[N].中國青年報.2013-2-21（07）.

[3]唐曉群.哈貝馬斯的交往行為理論[J].中國社會科學院研究生院學報，1997（6）.