Survey: Third of Americans Rather Have Phones Than Sex

14 Aug 2011 - If given a choice between sex and their mobile phones for a week, many Americans would rather keep the phone.

That is among findings of a survey commissioned by mobile GPS company TeleNav Inc. The survey finds smartphone users, especially iPhone users, are the most attached to their phones.

The Huffington Post reported that TeleNav surveyed more than 500 American adults to track how attached they are to their phones. They were asked if they would rather give up their phones versus a number of other things for a week.

About 33 percent would rather give up sex, compared to 22 percent who would rather not use a toothbrush, 55 percent who would give up caffeine, and 74 percent who would give up alcohol.

A TeleNav press release stated that 70 percent of those willing to forgo sex were women.

Partners of BlackBerry users may want to be the most concerned. The survey stated that 23 percent of BlackBerry users responding stated they would rather go a week without seeing their significant other than go without their phone. Android users followed close behind with 21 percent compared to 18 percent for iPhone users.

That bodes well for the 83 percent of iPhone users who thought other iPhone users would make the best romantic partners. Taking a bite out of that is the finding that 40 percent of iPhone users would rather give up a toothbrush than their phone for a week.

Another "love story" shared by TeleNav is that 66 percent of smartphone users said they sleep with their phone next to them.

For those looking for a partner with manners they may want to steer towards a feature phone users. About 31 percent of smartphone users said they check their phone for messages or email while at the movies compared to 7 percent of feature phone users.

Also 18 percent of smartphone users had ended a relationship using technology such as voice mail, text messages, email, Facebook update or Twitter post compared to 7 percent of feature phone users.

Another finding, shared by Mashable , shows that 26 percent of smartphone users frequently check their phone at the dinner table compared to 6 percent of feature phone users.

When broken down by smartphone type that number jumps to more than a third for iPhone users compared to 21 percent of Android users and 15 percent of BlackBerry users.