The multitasking parent: Time penalties, dimensions, and gender differences

Abstract

The main benefit of multitasking is that it allows people to do more than one activity at the same time. However, people usually cannot give their full attention to two activities when they multitask (Just et al. 2001). Thus, multitasking may come at a cost. One part of this multitasking cost is that people may enjoy an activity less if they cannot give it their full attention. Talking to a friend while doing homework may not be as enjoyable as talking to a friend without anything else on the mind. Another important part of the multitasking cost is related to task completion time. When people divide their attention between two tasks, they tend to take longer time to complete each of the tasks, especially if a task is cognitively challenging (Rubinstein, Meyer, and Evans 2001). For example, two experimental studies find that students take a longer time to read a passage of text if they are sending and receiving instant messages while reading (Fox, Rosen, and Crawford 2009; Bowman et al. 2010).