Cyberpsychology and New Media

A thematic reader

Andrew Power, Grainne Kirwan, Andrew Power, Grainne Kirwan

• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781135141677
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Cyberpsychology is the study of human interactions with the internet, mobile computing and telephony, games consoles, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other contemporary electronic technologies. The field has grown substantially over the past few years and this book surveys how researchers are tackling the impact of new technology on human behaviour and how people interact with this technology.

Examining topics as diverse as online dating, social networking, online communications, artificial intelligence, health-information seeking behaviour, education online, online therapies and cybercrime, Cyberpsychology and New Media book provides an in-depth overview of this burgeoning field, and allows those with little previous knowledge to gain an appreciation of the diversity of the research being undertaken in the area.

Arranged thematically and structured for accessibility, Cyberpsychology and New Media will be essential reading for researchers and students in Social Psychology and Cyberpsychology, and in Communication and Media Studies.

Part I

Introduction

1

What is Cyberpsychology?

Gráinne Kirwan and Andrew Power

Chapter summary

Cyberpsychology is a relatively new field within applied psychology, although there are now several journals and texts examining the area. As an area of research, it assesses how we interact with others using technology, how our behaviour is influenced by technology and how our psychological states can be affected by technologies. The most commonly studied technology in cyberpsychology research is the Internet, although the area considers human interactions with many devices, including mobile phones, games consoles, virtual reality and artificial intelligence. This chapter provides a brief overview of some areas of research in cyberpsychology, including computer-mediated communication, impression management, online groups, disruptive behaviour, forensic cyberpsychology, clinical cyberpsychology and the psychology of virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Introduction

We are living in a world where technology and communications are advancing at a phenomenal rate. Within a generation we have progressed from a time when the only communications device in the home was a traditional landline telephone to an era where a small handheld device, which can be carried around the globe, can replace a person’s calendar, watch, maps, music player, camera and computer. This same device can also provide access to the Internet, and many forms of text, audio, picture and video communications. These communications can be (and are) conducted with family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and, frequently, complete strangers.

Cyberpsychology examines how we interact with others using technology, how our behaviour is influenced by such technology, and how our psychological states can be affected by such technologies. It also considers how technology can be designed so that it best complements human capabilities and weaknesses, and provides guidance on how systems can be developed that are intuitive and easy to use. While much of cyberpsychology focuses on how the Internet affects humans, there is a considerable body of research that examines how other technologies can influence us. Much of this research examines the application of virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to psychological settings, such as therapy and education. Because of this, a brief outline of the types of research conducted in these areas will be examined below, in addition to an overview of the psychology of online behaviours.

While still a relatively young field, cyberpsychology has been studied for some time. Several peer-reviewed journals focus on psychological and societal implications of new technologies. These include Cyberpsychology, Behaviour and Social Networking (formerly Cyberpsychology & Behaviour, published since 1998), Computers in Human Behaviour (published since 1985) and New Media & Society (published since 1999). There have also been several general texts and readers examining the area, including Amichai-Hamburger’s The Social Net (2013), Barak’s Psychological Aspects of Cyberspace (2008), Joinson et al.’s The Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology (2007) and Gackenbach’s Psychology and the Internet (2007).

Cyberpsychology is a diverse field, and it is impossible to describe all the relevant theories and research in a single chapter. As a result, a very brief overview of a selection of areas of research within cyberpsychology will be presented here, and the reader is encouraged to consult the books and journals listed above, the references cited in this chapter, and the relevant chapters of this book to learn about the topics in more depth. The chapter will first examine the area of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), before considering some aspects of how social psychology can be applied to Internet behaviours – specifically in relation to impression management, online groups and disruptive behaviour. The subject of forensic cyberpsychology will be examined, identifying the key types of cybercrime and some examples of how psychology can improve our understanding of such offences. A brief overview will be provided of the application of clinical psychology to online settings, with particular focus on excessive Internet use and therapeutic interventions in online environments. The final sections of the chapter will examine the psychological applications of virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Computer Mediated Communication (CMC)

Our online communications are becoming more frequent and use a variety of mechanisms. Within this volume alone, research is presented regarding the use of blogs (Chapter 2), social network sites (Chapters 3, 11, 12 and 18), mobile communications (Chapter 4), online dating websites (Chapter 5), virtual worlds (Chapter 8), informative websites (Chapter 6), online educational materials (Chapter 16), online recommendation sites (Chapter 9) and wikis (Chapter 17). Early online communication was wholly text-based, and users experienced the Internet as a ‘lean medium’, devoid of many of the additional communicative cues found in other interactions, such as tone of voice, facial expressions and body language. To compensate for this, Internet users quickly developed methods of demonstrating emotional responses online. These included emoticons (or ‘smileys’), abbreviations, acronyms, paralanguage and punctuation (such as use of upper case, excessive use of question and exclamation marks, and speech acts). Linguistics online is a fascinating area of research, and considerable work in this area has been done by David Crystal (see, for example, Crystal, 2006, 2008, 2011), Naomi Baron (see, for example, Baron, 2008, 2010; Baron and af Segerstad, 2010) and Chris Fullwood (see, for example, Fullwood et al., 2009, 2011; Orchard and Fullwood, 2010). One of the commonly cited worries of parents and teachers is that the use of abbreviations and acronyms online and in texting is having a negative impact on literacy. The evidence regarding this is mixed (see, for example, Bushnell et al., 2011; Drouin, 2011; Crystal, 2006, 2008; Plester et al., 2009), with some studies showing increased literacy and spelling ability among those children who use ‘text-speak’.

There has also been considerable research focus on emotional expression online (see, for example, Derks et al., 2007a, 2007b, 2008). Both Derks et al. (2008) and Kato et al. (2009) found that emoticons are more widely used to depict positive rather than negative emotions. It has also been noted that computer mediated communication can result in heightened levels of affection and emotion between individuals – a phenomenon known as ‘hyperpersonal communication’ (Walther, 1996, 2007). This can result in increased personal disclosures and perceived intimacy when communication occurs online (see, for example, Jiang et al., 2011), which may pose particular advantages and disadvantages for different types of communication. Chapters 13 and 15 in this volume both consider the potential of computer mediated communication in therapeutic settings, which might possibly be enhanced by these disclosures. Hyperpersonal communication arises because of several factors, including the ability of the communicator to edit their messages to create specific impressions through engaging in selective self-presentation. Such impression management is considered in more detail below.

Impression management

In many social activities, we adjust our behaviour in order to modify or create a certain impression of ourselves in the eyes of our companions. In classes, we might attempt to appear as attentive as possible, perhaps even asking what we hope are intelligent-sounding questions, to impress our classmates or lecturer. In a job interview, we dress well, act in a polite manner, and attempt to make ourselves appear to be the ideal employee. On a first date, we choose a nice outfit, emphasise our positive qualities, and try not to talk too much about our former relationships or embarrassing habits. Online, we engage in similar impression management techniques. In some online contexts, such as gaming or some online bulletin boards, we may not know the other users who we interact with. In these cases we can choose to present any impression we wish – we can portray ourselves as more attractive, or taller, or even of the opposite gender (see, for example, Chapter 8 in this volume) with little risk of being found out. Aspects of impression management that are normally far beyond our control in face-to-face interactions can be managed online (Chester and Bretherton, 2007).

There may be other occasions when we have the option of using such extreme impression management but we choose not to. For example, if we use an online dating service, we are often interacting with strangers, so we could portray ourselves in whatever manner we like. However, we are less likely to do so because we may be hoping to meet a long-term partner on such a website, and if we engage in such deception, we are likely to be discovered as soon as we meet our potential partner offline. Nevertheless, there is still some evidence for some impression management in online dating – for example, Hancock and Toma (2009) found that about one-third of online dating photographs were judged as inaccurate representations of the person, with female photographs generally being less accurate than those of males, and common tactics being the use of older or retouched photographs. Chapter 5 in this volume considers our self-portrayal in online dating services in more detail.

A third type of online interaction may result in minimal impression management. The rise in the popularity of social networking sites (SNS) has meant that users are increasingly communicating online with people that they already know in offline contexts. In these cases, there is little advantage to engaging in extensive impression management – our online contacts already know us. However, we may still engage in some impression management, particularly in relation to managing others’ impressions of our sociability. Underwood et al. (2011) found that some SNS users did engage in deceptive behaviour designed to self-promote the individual. It should also be remembered that it is not just our own actions online that affect others’ impressions of us – Walther et al. (2008) found that the postings of online associates, and even their physical attractiveness, can affect how third parties view a profile owner. Nevertheless, our online groups can have many positive influences on our lives.

Online groups

We are all part of many different groups, such as our classmates, colleagues, family and several groups of friends, perhaps. We may also be part of other groups, such as voluntary organisations or sports groups. The chances are that we are also part of groups online – perhaps we are members of groups on social networking sites or an online community of enthusiasts for a certain hobby or collectable. We have many motivations for joining groups: sometimes it is for social support; sometimes it is to alleviate loneliness; sometimes it is to provide a social outlet; and sometimes it might be to reinforce our specific beliefs or attitudes.

Online groups may be particularly important for those who have rare or unusual interests or those who are facing a predicament that they wish to receive guidance on. They may also be particularly important for those who feel extreme levels of social anxiety or loneliness. Groups online can also be different to offline groups – it may be more difficult to clearly identify a leadership structure, and the communication mechanisms outlined above might result in unusual interpersonal relationships.

A positive aspect of online groups involves the greater social capital available to members. Social capital refers to the resources available to a person due to their network of relationships. For example, you may know several individuals who could be of assistance to you in different ways – such as a plumber, a doctor, an electrician or an accountant. Authors such as Putnam (1995) had noted a decline in social capital, describing the declining vibrancy of American civil society as evidenced by the reduced participation in community based groups. It is possible that our online interactions, particularly on social networking sites, allow us to maintain contact with a larger group of people than we would otherwise be able to (Donath and boyd, 2004), thus increasing social capital again. Our ties with this group might be looser than those we have with our smaller number of close friends, but we may still be able to draw on their resources when we need to (Ellison et al., 2007). Nevertheless, time spent using social media does not necessarily correspond to having a larger offline network, or to feeling emotionally closer to offline network members (Pollet et al., 2011).

A particular type of online group involves social activities in online games. Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) can attract millions of players. In some of these games, players must cooperate in order to achieve certain tasks, so it had been thought that online groups in such games might be very important. However, Ducheneaut et al. (2006) found that the prevalence and extent of social activities in MMORPGs might be overestimated, particularly in the early stages of the game. Chapter 8 in this volume considers one aspect of MMORPGs – specifically ‘gender-bending’.

Disruptive behaviour

Not all online behaviour is positive – there are several types of disruptive online behaviours, including spamming, hate speech, trolling, flaming and disruptive behaviour in online virtual worlds. Psychology can provide insights into some of these behaviours.

Flaming (‘hostile and aggressive interactions via text-based computer-mediated-communication’ – O’Sullivan and ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Notes on contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I: Introduction
• Part II: Communication
• Part III: Personality and Internet use
• Part IV: Internet interventions and therapies
• Part V: Internet and education
• Conclusion
• Index