People use Facebook to fulfil the need to belong (e.g. connectedness) and the need for self-presentation (e.g. socially desirable profiles). Passive Facebook users experience more loneliness than active Facebook users. Facebook can contribute to feelings of loneliness but this depends on how Facebook is used. Loneliness can decrease following Facebook use if connectedness increases. It can increase following exclusion.
People tend to use Facebook to combat disconnectedness and disconnectedness predicts Facebook use. However, the actual use of Facebook is not related to disconnectedness. This makes Facebook use a cause of connectedness and a consequence of disconnectedness. Disconnectedness is not affected by Facebook use.
Exposure to information about oneself on Facebook leads to an increase in self-esteem. This effect is stronger with more selective self-presentation and compared to exposure to other’s pages. People have a fundamental need to see themselves as good and a threat to this positive self-image leads to attempts of self-confirmation (e.g. by putting self-related information more centrally). Facebook profiles could have a self-confirming influence by providing positive but accurate information about oneself.
A social comparison with idealized online self-presentations is related to decreases in self-esteem. This also depends on whether social networking sites are actively used or passively used. People who spend more time on Facebook have the idea that others are happier. Asynchronicity (1), multiple audiences (2) and audience feedback (3) could increase idealized self-presentation. Individuals with lower self-concept clarity show a larger discrepancy between online and offline self-presentation. It is believed that the digital footprint (e.g. Facebook use) can be used to assess personality.
The perception of a Facebook profile correlates with the actual self-personality traits of a person but not with the ideal-self personality traits. However, not all personality traits are accurately predicted. This might also differ per social media (e.g. Facebook vs. Instagram). The profile is seen as less socially attractive in case of incongruency between other people’s comments and the profile.
People with less self-esteem and less popularity do not succeed in editing their profile in such a way that others see the person as more socially attractive. People take their offline social network with them on online social networking sites. It is difficult to change existing expectations and behaviour patterns due to the identifiability. Outside of social networking sites, it is possible to look for compensation for offline contact.
There are several effects of personality traits on online activity:
Online use corresponds to offline gender roles. This means that women are more focused on social interaction and maintaining contacts and men are more task-oriented and performance-oriented. Women are more likely to use social networking sites to maintain existing contacts and men are more likely to use social networking sites to make new contacts. The activity on the internet differs but the total time of use does not differ.
The proteus effect refers to adjustments in online self-presentation causing changes in offline self-perception and behaviour (e.g. a taller avatar leads to more assertive behaviour in real-life). The explanation for the proteus effect could be behavioural confirmation (1), the self-perception theory (2), priming (3), social cognitive theory (4), deindividuation (5) and the SIDE theory (6).
The social cognitive theory states that vicarious reinforcement of behaviour of a relevant model (i.e. avatar) leads to changes in the actor. The behavioural confirmation states that people behave according to how they perceive you.
The self-perception theory states that people infer their attitudes from observing themselves as if from third-person perspective. The expectancy violation theory states that non-verbal behaviours that are expected are accepted at face value whereas unexpected behaviours are scrutinized. Expectancy violations may lead to a differential analysis of subsequent behaviour.
The uncertainty reduction theory states that uncertainty is unpleasant and the increase in uncertainty decreases liking. This might mean that anonymous actors might incite less liking. However, uncertainty in pleasurable contexts may prolong positive responses to stimuli. Uncertainty may amplify or prolong the perceiver’s natural response.
Identity replacement refers to the act of substituting another identity for one’s own. Identity misrepresentation refers to the creation of false and misleading impressions about one’s identity. Impostering refers to replacing physical world identities with virtual, avatar-based identities that do not look like them.
The internet allows people to experiment with their identity and it may help people reach their deepest level of individuality (i.e. true self). A very salient group identity may enhance feelings of belonging to a certain group even when the participant is anonymous. The location of the real me determines where people will have more significant social relationships (i.e. online or offline).
The perceived identity can change how a person behaves. The context of communication (1), the degree to which the source is perceived as anonymous (2), the receiver’s desire to identify the source (3) and the receiver’s ability to determine the source’s identity (4) influence a receiver’s attempts at identifying an anonymous other.
Virtual avatars that are more realistic are seen as more trustworthy and credible and this creates expectations that can be violated. Identity misrepresentation is often strongly punished when detected and identity replacement is often punished when it accompanies negative effects. The internet is often used to connect to core group members; people with whom one relates based on their main identity categorization (e.g. nationality).
People who do not suffer from social inhibitions may integrate offline and online worlds and move between them smoothly. The transfer from online to offline may be challenging for socially inhibited people. People who find it easier to build online relationships will strive to move those significant relationships outside of the net to make them a social reality.
There is a lot of uncertainty about privacy in most people. There is uncertainty about which information can be used how and uncertainty about the exact risk of the availability of that information. There is a privacy-service trade-off; a smoother online experience requires giving up some privacy. The privacy-security trade-off states that protection against crimes (e.g. terrorism) requires giving up some privacy.
There is also a lot of uncertainty about the privacy preferences. Confidentiality concerns when asking personal questions can be counter-productive. The privacy paradox states that privacy preferences are a bad predictor of privacy behaviour. People are concerned about privacy but do not do anything to protect it because a discrepancy between attitudes and behaviours (1) and correspondence behavioural attitude depends on contextual factors (e.g. base-line privacy preference).
Privacy preferences are context-dependent. It depends on the default settings (1), the site layout (2), social norms (3) and reciprocity (4). Users can be influenced in their privacy preferences through misleading sites and misleading privacy statements. Context dependence is amplified by uncertainty.
The theory of context integrity states that social expectations affect one’s beliefs regarding what is private and what is public. These expectations vary in different contexts. More control over privacy preferences alleviates privacy concern. Monitoring can induce people to engage in prosocial behaviour or adhere to social norms.
There are different cognitive biases that can explain how privacy preferences are influenced by the design of online technology:
Hyperbolic discounting refers to preferring an immediate reward over long-term privacy risks (e.g. preferring a discount over privacy).
The ability to control risks influences perception of other risks (e.g. more fear of flying than driving). The control paradox refers to the fact that emphasis on control over who information is available to can be at the expense of considerations of what people who receive it can do with it.
Psychology and the New Media - Week 1 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]Media refers to any method of communication, other than one to one interactions, which is facilitated by some type of technology. There is a distinction between the content of the message and the means by which it is communicated although it is both important. According to McLuhan, the medium is an extension of the body. The medium has as much influence as the message itself. It influences how intensively someone processes a message.
A cold medium is a medium which requires a lot of imagination to simulate one-to-one interaction. A hot medium is a medium which is very rich in information and does not require that a lot is added. Media literacy refers to sorting out reliable, useful information from junk, marketing and lies. Media blindness refers to being unable to locate the source of the information we acquire and confuse our actual experiences with mediated experiences.
The media effects approach in research focuses on the effects media imposes on the individual. However, there is not a fully developed theoretical rationale and low ecological validity. The excitation transfer theory states that media raises adrenaline in people without people recognizing the source of heightened excitement. This leads people to overreact in certain situations.
The hypodermic needle theory states that the media injects itself into the brain to influence an individual. This theory is based on the effects propaganda can have on a society which mainly uses one form of mass media. However, people become increasingly media literate.
The uses and gratification theory (U&G) states that the individual is a media user rather than a passive observer. The media user is an active agent which seeks out certain media for gratification and rejects other media. Media dependency can be the result of seeking out gratification using media although group demands are often given priority in media use.
The cultivation theory states that media gradually cultivate certain views and values in their audiences over time (i.e. cumulative effect of media). The active audience theory states that media users read media in different ways and not always in the way intended or expected by media producers.
The social presence theory states that interpersonal attitudes are mainly communicated non-verbally (e.g. phone is not good for communication of social information but it is good for task-related information).
Mainstreaming refers to the gradual convergence of world views among different cultures. Resonance refers to media messages resonating with an individual which strengthens the effect on their personal beliefs. Active externalism states that the boundary between the brain and the environment is arbitrary and the brain and environment are dynamic cognitive systems.
Laptop use during lectures can be detrimental due to limited capacity (1), the fact that multi-tasking is involved (2) and differences in encoding between writing and laptop use (3). Taking notes with a pen is more effective as long as it is not taken down verbatim.
The web
.....read more Psychology and the New Media - Week 2 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]People react in a similar way to the social and mediated environment. The media can provide models like the real world can (i.e. theory of social learning). There are four general principles through which the mediated environment functions in the social learning theory:
Immersion into a story leads to less awareness of the body and immediate surroundings (1) and leads to less inclination to critically think about what we see (2).
Parasocial interaction refers to interaction with media figures (e.g. Donald Duck) as if they were real people. A parasocial relationship can be established with repeated interaction. It provides the same psychological benefits as a real relationship but is different from a normal relationship (e.g. no mutual exclusivity). The presence of a parasocial relationship contributes to social facilitation (1), increase in self-disclosure (2), increase in empathy (3) and matching in language (4).
There are several differences between the genders in television representation:
The impact of reality as depicted in the media differs from the actual relationships in the immediate social environment. This influences and distorts social and self-perception. Women (on television) are portrayed in a rather stereotyped role. A-stereotypical characteristics of women in one dimension (e.g. occupation) are congruent with stereotype in another dimension (e.g. relationship).
Media exposure can distort the image people have of reality in terms of gender differences in occupational roles, domestic roles, physical appearance and duties.
There is
.....read more Psychology and the New Media - Week 3 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) states that there is a central and peripheral route to persuasion. Thoughtless processing refers to using associative processes. Thoughtful processing refers to using systematic and analytical processing. In the middle of this, there is peripheral processing, which makes use of heuristics. Attitude change based on central processing is more stable, enduring and predictive of behaviour. It focuses on the motivation that people have to process. This motivation can be due to personality factors (1), personal preference (2) or recognizing unreliable sources (3). Furthermore, it focuses on whether people have the cognitive capacity to process the message.
One criterion for systematic and analytic processing is the availability of cognitive capacity. This is influenced by the cognitive load of the message. The cognitive capacity is influenced by distraction (1), fatigue (2), need for cognition (3) and prior knowledge (4). Another criterion is motivation. This depends on self-relevance (e.g. preferences).
Chaiken’s heuristic-systematic model (HSM) states that accuracy motivated people may assess message validity through heuristics and systematic processing. Individuals base decisions on heuristics if they can be sufficiently confident in the accuracy of those decisions.
The expectancy-value theory states that an attitude is influenced by our expectations about the characteristics of an attitude object and the value we attach to those characteristics. A change of attitude is the result of a change in the expectation of the value or by making specific beliefs more salient.
The theory of reasoned action regards deliberate decisions and stable attitudes. It states that behavioural intentions predict volitional behaviour. The way messages are framed has an impact on the way it influences people. People are loss aversive, meaning that loss frames are generally more effective. The fit between the message frame and the type of behaviour is important.
The extended elaboration likelihood-model (E-ELM) states that narrative messages foster greater absorption and identification with characters which suppresses counter-arguing. The entertainment overcoming resistance model (EORM) states that different features of media narrative (e.g. identification) can overcome a range of sources of persuasive resistance.
Self-related information can affect persuasion in a positive way when there is low motivation. Self-related information influences the degree of elaboration under medium motivation. Self-related information leads to biased information processing under high motivation. Self-related information can affect persuasion in several ways:
These motivations influence the way in which attitudes are influenced.
When there is high involvement, the quality of the message is the strongest influence. When there is low involvement, the endorser is the strongest influence. When there is little motivation, the quality of arguments is important from unreliable sources but not important with reliable sources.
The cue can influence in several ways. Under low motivation, a positive cue, under medium motivation, influence on the
.....read more Psychology and the New Media - Week 4 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]As long as virtual reality resembles grounded reality, there is no reason to expect other forms of social interaction. The extent to which virtual social influence is comparable to grounded social influence depends on several factors:
The more realism in online interaction, the more social influence. Realistic movement is more important than how human or photorealistic an avatar looks. Automatic processes will differ less than reasoned processes in grounded or virtual reality. In a virtual environment, social support under stress (1), mimicry (2) and social facilitation (3) occur.
Hyperpersonal interaction theory states that anonymity ensures that people are less afraid to self-disclose. It also allows for more strategic self-presentation. A consequence of this is that there is more self-report in online environments than in face-to-face environments. There is also more idealisation of the interaction partner.
The reduced social cues approach states that the absence of important social signals leads to less satisfactory interactions. This makes both extreme negative and extreme positive forms of interaction possible. It is possible that there is an absence of important social signals in online environments.
The social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) states that behaviour of others is seen as indicative of group norm due to less observed differences between others. More salient in-group norms lead to more collective self-awareness.
The social information processing theory (SIP) states that cues are conduits for communication, not representatives of social norms. Online, there is increased self-disclosure because there are fewer means of communicating. The media richness theory (MRT) states that the richer the medium is, the more information can and will be transmitted.
The social penetration theory states that changes in self-disclosure between partners are integral to relationship growth and decline. There is more breadth and depth of disclosures as the relationship progresses. The network theory of emotions states that emotions, cognitions and action tendencies are connected in memory through association. The association of one element can spread to other nodes in the associative network.
There is more self-awareness in interaction with visibility for in-group and with salient norms, there is more social identification. Anonymity leads to less informative interaction and more extreme positive and negative interactions. (A)synchronicity leads to more control over self-presentation and more idealization of the conversation partner.
Self-disclosure is a prerequisite for satisfactory social interactions and intimacy. There appears to be more self-disclosure in computer-mediated-communication (CMC) but the conversations are experienced as more superficial.
The further away someone is, the less frequent and more extensive communication is. This means that frequent contact will lead to less context in case of proximity. People tend to share emotions with strangers online when the goal is clear
.....read more Psychology and the New Media - Week 5 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]People use Facebook to fulfil the need to belong (e.g. connectedness) and the need for self-presentation (e.g. socially desirable profiles). Passive Facebook users experience more loneliness than active Facebook users. Facebook can contribute to feelings of loneliness but this depends on how Facebook is used. Loneliness can decrease following Facebook use if connectedness increases. It can increase following exclusion.
People tend to use Facebook to combat disconnectedness and disconnectedness predicts Facebook use. However, the actual use of Facebook is not related to disconnectedness. This makes Facebook use a cause of connectedness and a consequence of disconnectedness. Disconnectedness is not affected by Facebook use.
Exposure to information about oneself on Facebook leads to an increase in self-esteem. This effect is stronger with more selective self-presentation and compared to exposure to other’s pages. People have a fundamental need to see themselves as good and a threat to this positive self-image leads to attempts of self-confirmation (e.g. by putting self-related information more centrally). Facebook profiles could have a self-confirming influence by providing positive but accurate information about oneself.
A social comparison with idealized online self-presentations is related to decreases in self-esteem. This also depends on whether social networking sites are actively used or passively used. People who spend more time on Facebook have the idea that others are happier. Asynchronicity (1), multiple audiences (2) and audience feedback (3) could increase idealized self-presentation. Individuals with lower self-concept clarity show a larger discrepancy between online and offline self-presentation. It is believed that the digital footprint (e.g. Facebook use) can be used to assess personality.
The perception of a Facebook profile correlates with the actual self-personality traits of a person but not with the ideal-self personality traits. However, not all personality traits are accurately predicted. This might also differ per social media (e.g. Facebook vs. Instagram). The profile is seen as less socially attractive in case of incongruency between other people’s comments and the profile.
People with less self-esteem and less popularity do not succeed in editing their profile in such a way that others see the person as more socially attractive. People take their offline social network with them on online social networking sites. It is difficult to change existing expectations and behaviour patterns due to the identifiability. Outside of social networking sites, it is possible to look for compensation for offline contact.
There are several effects of personality traits on online activity:
Psychology and the New Media - Week 6 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]It is possible that television viewing is helpful in the development of basic vocabulary but less helpful in the development of abstract vocabulary. Traditional reading appears to be related to the capacity for reflection. Online reading appears to require a different skillset.
The internet is easily accessible (1), has large amounts of information (2) and has interactive information (3). Experienced internet users show more activity in the prefrontal cortex during online activity (i.e. executive functioning and decision making).
The increased possibility for interaction can lead to more involvement and systematic processing but in the case of overload, there is less attentive processing. Superficial interactivity is related to the perception of interactivity and this is related to the appreciation of the website. It leads to heuristic processing. Real interactivity leads to deeper processing but also creates a cognitive load.
Hypertext documents are not linear as they make use of jumps in the material. Each jump creates extra cognitive load. This is because it requires a choice and can lead to disorientation. The cognitive load in relation to hypertexts depends on the structure of links (1), the reader characteristics (2) and the text properties (3).
A greater working memory capacity makes a jump less disorienting and proficiency in self-structuring the reading experience makes reading hypertexts easier. Proximity of related matters (1), topical phrases (2), prior knowledge of the subject (3) and link previews (4) help form a situation model and this reduces cognitive load while reading hypertexts. Situation models refer to complex mental representations formed when readers integrate the statements in a text with their knowledge.
The flexibility of hypertexts may be beneficial for readers who are positioned to structure their learning activities (e.g. readers with prior knowledge). Low-knowledge readers may benefit from hypertext that transparently conveys the structure of the text.
Choice stress leads to spending less time per option (1), overlooking important features (2) and less of a test of its criteria (3). There is less satisfaction and less willingness to choose with choice stress due to post-choice dissonance and heavier weighing negative characteristics. A person with a maximizing strategy, a lot of choices and less selectivity lead to a worse choice than with fewer choices.
More information in the system does not increase the likelihood that people will encounter more diverse information. The choice strategy someone chooses influences choice stress (e.g. maximizing). A lot of texting during lectures is distracting but no texting during lectures is also distracting for the more recent generations. Directly reacting to text messages results in poorer memory performance during a lecture. A potential solution would be technology breaks.
Using Google has several effects:
Psychology and the New Media - Week 7 summary [UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM]It is possible that people are not addicted to the internet but to any of the following elements of the internet; availability (1), efficiency (2), reinforcement (3) and anonymity (4). Reinforcement is especially notable in gaming. Vertical gameplay includes continuous reinforcement and a game that continues without the presence of the gamer can lead to FOMO (i.e. fear of missing out).
The online environment enhances or facilitates activities to such an extent that it becomes addictive. Internet addiction can only really exist if specific characteristics of the internet make a real contribution or if the activity is impossible online.
People are almost always on the internet (i.e. permanently connected) which makes it difficult to say whether there is an internet addiction. It might be more relevant to call it pathological technology use (PTU). The focus of any internet addiction is always on general addiction characteristics that are also central to criteria for gambling addiction and substance abuse.
Internet addiction shares symptoms with substance abuse and pathological gambling in which repeated behaviour plays a role. Addicted online gamers find it difficult to weight long-term benefits and short-term benefits and long-term costs and losses. Excessive gamers prefer a more risky but more attractive option in the short-term. There is high comorbidity with internet addiction. High comorbidity between ADHD and gaming could be due to the fact that both are related to attention issues.
The permanence of being online (i.e. POPC) and the perception of continued closeness with the object of addiction is likely to overwhelm users with problems with self-regulation and self-directedness. POPC is likely to be less relevant for subtypes of internet addiction that require long, continuous sessions (e.g. gaming). The social function of mobile devices urges people to stay online.
General internet addiction consists of loss of control (1), time management issues (2) and craving (3). There are different factors that are involved in general internet addiction:
There might be a link between internet addiction and slightly reduced social functioning. They score lower on agreeableness (1), have low self-directedness (2) and more social anxiety (3). The increased use of the internet is related to depression and loneliness. Lonely people are more inclined to go online as a means of counteracting negative feelings.
Individual differences in social functioning are related to problematic use of technology. There are several elements that contribute to vulnerability for internet addiction:
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