Have you ever pretended to be on your phone to avoid someone?
23% said Yes. Nodding at nobody, very convincingly.
Phones make a great shield. Tilt your head down, look busy, and the person you'd rather not chat with keeps walking. It's one of those small social escapes people admit to more readily than you'd expect, usually with a little laugh.
The numbers
In a similar question from Pew Research Center, Americans' Views on Mobile Etiquette, 2015, 23% answered yes and 77% answered no. Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' Views on Mobile Etiquette.
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Related questions
More like this in Am I normal? The real numbers on twelve things people do when nobody's looking.