Investigating the Prevalence and Predictors of Media Multitasking across Countries

Abstract

This study provides insight into the prevalence and predictors of different forms of media multitasking across different countries. Results of a survey of 5,973 participants from six countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and France) demonstrated that media multitasking is most common in the United States and is least common in the Netherlands. The study demonstrates that the type of media multitasking differs across countries. Whereas media multitasking with combinations of new media is most prevalent in countries characterized as polychronic, media multitasking with traditional media is most prevalent in countries that can be characterized as monochronic. Demographics predict media multitasking differently across countries, with the exception of age, which is a universal predictor.