Picking your BlackBerry over your spouse?

In our book Intimacy, Andrew and I found that advances in IT can facilitate greater intimacy of relationships among colleagues. However, this does not necessarily seem to be the case for non-colleague spouses and partners. This week I came across this recent survey from Sheraton hotels which found that 35% of respondents would pick their Blackberry over their partner.

Now, I know that sometimes a Blackberry may compete with a spouse for attention, but I think that 35% of people choosing the device over the person is endemic of the BlackBerry addiction and technology addiction more generally I’ve found in my research. If someone chooses his BlackBerry over his spouse, and brings it into the bedroom (87% of respondents), and admits he ‘loves’ it (62%) (findings that echo my own research), then clearly this person needs to reexamine his priorities.