Koreans fear making phone calls following high use of text messages

By Bahk Eun-ji

Nearly half of Korean adults fear talking over the phone as they feel more comfortable communicating with text messages, a poll showed Thursday.

Passengers use cellphones on the subway in this file photo. Forty―six percent of adults said they fear making phone calls, a survey showed Thursday. Korea Times file

According to the survey by local job portals Albamon and Job Korea, 46.5 percent of 1,037 respondents said they have developed a telephone call “phobia.”

The fear was graver among university students than people with jobs, at 47.3 percent and 44.8 percent, respectively.

According to the job portals, telephone phobia, or phone anxiety, is a fear of talking on the phone ― being hesitant to receive and make calls ― due to the fear of being criticized or judged by others.

When multiple answers were allowed, 49.2 percent of respondents said they feared talking on the phone because they were more accustomed to communicating through mobile messengers or texting. Thirty-five percent said they were afraid of making mistakes while talking on the phone, 28 percent said they were not good at speaking, 18 percent cited trauma they had after talking with a boss or senior colleagues, and another 18 percent said they could not understand phone conversations perfectly.

About 45 percent of the people with the phobia said the fear affects their daily lives. More than 53 percent also said they have prepared a conversation script before making a phone call.