The cellphone is already a must-have in daily life — 99 percent of students have cellphones, and  75 percent of parents pay for students’ cellphones.

The statistics above come from a study conducted by Professor Mikiyasu Hakoyama and Shotaro Hakoyama at Central Michigan University about cellphone use on social networking and development among college students.

The study found that there are gender differences in ways cellphones are used. They reported that college women perceive cellphones as more important than men, spend significantly more time on cellphones than men do, and depend more on the cellphone for maintaining their social relationships than men.

“Cellphone use may have a more complex influence on [female students’] social relationships,” Hakoyama said. “Those who will not respond soon enough to their phone calls or those who do not put an effort to regularly call their friends may eventually be left out of the loop.”

There are also gender differences with which college students are interacting through cellphones. Graduate student Stephanie L. Blackman at the University of Tennessee conducted a study about cellphone usage in college freshmen. The study shows that voice calls are used more when students communicate with their parents. Freshman students spend more time calling their mother than father.

“I never go outside of my house without my cellphone. It’s like a habit,” said Tuan Nguyen, senior in finance. “I feel like I miss something if I don’t have my phone with me. Even if I go out for five minutes, I have my phone.”

Not having a cellphone or limited use of one could have a direct impact on  social relationships. Cellphones make us feel that people can be contacted anytime, and more and more people seem to be irritated when others cannot be reached promptly, Hakayama said.

In a society that values gender equality, people tend to assume that they are similar in every way when they have equal access to something, especially among younger generations in term of social network use. However, through the scientific studies, it’s clear female and male are different in using cellphones. A small size sample study at Iowa State confirms this point.

Women:

Michelle Horstmeier, graduate student in sociology:

“I use a cellphone about one to two hours daily to contact friends and family. It’s pretty important to me; it’s the only way for me to contact my family. I would say I couldn’t live without it. I won’t be able to communicate.”

Mari Valderrama-Figueroa, senior in biology:

“Almost 18 out of the 24 hours I don’t make or receive lots of calls, but I certainly text frequently. A cellphone is extremely important in my life. I probably couldn’t live without one because I’d have a hard time communicating with people outside my reach in Ames.”

Amber Knutson, graduate student in journalism and mass communication:

“Two hours probably. It’s pretty important; I’ve gone some locations without a cellphone. It’s convenient mainly because of the clock function.”

Men:

Jeffrey Kollasch, senior in aerospace engineering:

“On average, I use my cellphone less than one minute a day. It is pretty important when I am traveling, but I can live without it.”

Byung Wook Kim, graduate student in journalism and mass communication:

“I use my cellphone around 20 minutes per day. I just chat with my wife, and talk about a homework, make a schedule with friends. I don’t think a cellphone is that important to me if I had an alternative way to reach my wife.”

Diego Thompson Bello, graduate student in sociology:

“Five minutes on average. Mostly, I just listen to the voicemail. I am willing to answer phones, but nobody calls me. My cellphone is important because I use it as an alarm to wake me up in the morning. It is important that I know I can be [connected] to people.”

Saul Abarca-Orozco, graduate in sociology:

“Two to three hours a day for Internet and checking emails. I can definitely live without it. I didn’t have one the first year here. I got a cellphone because my professor wants to contact me this way.”

Tuan Nguyen, senior in finance:

“I can’t go out of my house without my cellphone. It’s an iPhone, like a mini computer. Every time I wake up, I check my phone every five minutes. Even in class when it’s boring, you have to have something to distract you.”