Men may hide their phones for a number of reasons. Men may wish to maintain a certain level of privacy and therefore will not appreciate anyone going through their phone and checking their messages. Innocent reasons for hiding their phones may include trying to arrange a surprise for someone. Information which may give the surprise away may be included in messages and as such men would not want their phone to be available for someone to read their messages. They may also be receiving unsolicited messages and might have been harassed by text message. However, they may want to keep these messages private as if their spouse was to discover them, they may get the wrong idea. They may also be embarrassed to admit they are being harassed. It is however instinctive of a spouse to be suspicious of their partner’s behaviour should they hide their phone, and it is possible that men could be hiding their phones to cover up an affair. Incriminating text and picture messages may reveal an affair to their spouse. Men in this position are also likely to hide their phone when they are unable to attend to the phone or keep an eye on it, so they can ensure their spouse will not read any suspect messages whilst the man is away from his phone. An example of this may be when the man is in the shower. Although many wives or partners would expect their partner to delete any suspect material, some men will keep the messages on their phone as they simply can’t bare to erase them. It is also possible that deleted messages can be retrieved. The recent boom in smartphones means men may be even more keen to hide their phones as smartphones allow greater access to any sensitive material, such as emails.
