Women hooked to texting, men can't live without Facebook

New York: Contrary to the traditional view that men are more invested in technology, a new study found that more young women are addicted to cell phones and even get agitated when it is not in sight.

Women may be more inclined to use cell phones for social reasons such as texting or emails to build relationships and have deeper conversations. Nearly 60 percent of college students are hooked to cell phones, the study found.

"Women college students spend an average of 10 hours a day on their cellphones and men college students spend nearly eight, with excessive use posing potential risks for academic performance," informed James Roberts from Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business.

Respondents overall reported spending the most time texting (94.6 minutes a day), followed by sending emails (48.5 minutes), checking Facebook (38.6 minutes), surfing the Internet (34.4 minutes) and listening to their iPods (26.9 minutes). Men send about the same number of emails but spend less time on each.

"That may suggest that they are sending shorter, more utilitarian messages than their female counterparts," Roberts said. They, however, are not immune to the allure of social media.

"They spent time visiting such social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Among the reasons they used Twitter were to follow sports figures, catch up on news or even 'waste time'," researchers found.

The study was based on an online survey of 164 college students. It examined 24 cellphone activities and found that time spent on 11 of those activities differed significantly across the sexes.

The study appeared in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.