WHAT IS CYBERPSYCHOLOGY AND WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES?

Dr Linda K. KayeEdge Hill UniversityLinda.kaye@edgehill.ac.uk@LindaKKaye

WHAT IS CYBERPSYCHOLOGY?

TECHNOLOGY, EVERYWHERE!

Cyberpsychology is a scientific inter-disciplinary domainthat focuses on the psychological phenomena whichemerge as a result of the human interaction with digitaltechnology, particularly the Internet (BPS, 2019)

WHAT IS CYBERPSYCHOLOGY?

https://www.bps.org.uk/member-microsites/cyberpsychology-section @BPSCyberpsychology

BPS Cyberpsychology

WHAT IS CYBERPSYCHOLOGY?

Cyberpsychology issues

Social media and social networking Digital gaming experiences/outcomes

E-Health and well-being

E-learningDoing research onlineand using online data

Cybersecurity

Online harms and risks

Problematic usage

Smartphone use

COURSESUndergraduate Courses

BSc (Hons) Cyberpsychology- Bournemouth University, UK

BSc (Hons) Cyberpsychology- University of Central Lancashire, UK

Bachelors in Cyberpsychology and e-Health - University of Sydney, Australia

Bachelors in Cyberpsychology- New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA

BA Psychology and Computing- University College Cork, Ireland

Postgraduate Courses

MSc Cyberpsychology-Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland

MSc Cyberpsychology- University of Wolverhampton, UK

MSc Cyberpsychology- Nottingham Trent University, UK

RESEARCH GROUPSCyberpsychology and Addictions Research Lab (CARL) (University of Tasmania)

International Association of CyberPsychology, Training, and Rehabilitation (iACToR)

Internet, health and clinical psychology research group (Linköping University, Sweden)

University of Bolton Computer and CyberPsychology Research Unit (UBCCRU) (University of Bolton, UK)

Cyberpsychology Research at the University of Wolverhampton (CRUW) (University of Wolverhampton, UK)

Cyberpsychology Research Group (University of Sydney, Australia)

Cyberpsychology Research Group (Nottingham Trent University, UK)

Cyberpsychology Research Group (University of South Wales, UK)

Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

Cyberpsychology Lab of the University of Quebec (University of Quebec, Canada)

Specialist Interest Group for Media, Art and Cyberpsychology (SIGMAC)

Psychology and Technology Research Group (DeMonfort University, UK)

Cyber and Interpersonal Behaviour Research (University of Buckingham)

SOME CONSIDERATIONS

PERSPECTIVESDisplacement hypothesisImpersonal, substitutes meaningful relationships, reduces social capital

Stimulation hypothesisAdditional context for interactions, support, enhances connections

PERSPECTIVES

Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2007). Online communication and adolescent well-being. Testing the stimulation versus displacement hypothesis. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12, 1169-1182

Internet engagement Well-beingTime with friends Quality of relationships

+ + +

- - -

Stimulation hypothesis

Displacement hypothesis

Internet engagement Time with friends Quality of relationships

Well-being

Communication/Socialisation

Entertainment Informational

Recreation/leisure Work/study

Functional

DEFINING THE INTERNETMore recent research has focused on ways to more specifically define how the “Internet” displaces versus stimulates relationships:

­ The social internet (Nowland et al., 2018)

­ Understanding network types and sizes (Brown et al. 2018)

­ Active versus passive use (Ma, 2018)

Brown, R. M., Roberts, S. G. B., & Pollet, T. V. (2018). Loneliness is negatively related to Facebook network size, but not related to Facebook network structure. PsyArXiv. doi: 10.31234/osf.io/s2kya

Nowland, R., Necka, E. A., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2018). Loneliness and social internet use: pathways to reconnection in a digital world. Perspectives on psychological science, 13 (1), 70-87

DEFINING THE INTERNETLatent Profile Analysis established four categories/profiles of internet behaviour:

Ma, C. M. S. (2018). A latent profile analysis of internet use and its association with psychological well-being outcomes among Hong Kong Chinese early adolescents. Applied research in quality of life, 13, 727-743

DEFINING THE INTERNET

Ma, C. M. S. (2018). A latent profile analysis of internet use and its association with psychological well-being outcomes among Hong Kong Chinese early adolescents. Applied research in quality of life, 13, 727-743

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Happiness Life Satisfaction Depression Sensation-seeking Hopelessness Loneliness

Non-active Internet users Active social media usersAll-round active Internet users Moderately active Internet users

OPPORTUNITIES FOR “THE INTERNET” TO SUPPORT WELL-BEING

Social networking or social media

Forums and discussion boards

Messaging systems Community sites and pages

Health and well-being apps

Social forms of gaming

FORMS OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

Social networking or social media

Forums and discussion boards

Messaging systems Community sites and pages

Health and well-being apps

Social forms of gaming

Mins/day

Support motivations

Emotional

Informational

Instrumental

Appraisal

Online bonding capital

Group identity

Self-esteem

Loneliness

Social Competence

Psychological Well-being

Quality of relationships

Support

Depth

Conflict

Kaye, L. K., & Quinn, S. (in press). Psychosocial outcomes associated with engagement with online chat systems. International Journal of Human Computer Interaction.

Mins/day

Support motivations

Emotional

Informational

Instrumental

Appraisal

Online bonding capital

Group identity

Self-esteem

Loneliness

Social Competence

Psychological Well-being

Quality of relationships

Support

Depth

Conflict

Significant positive correlationSignificant negative correlation

Online bonding capital

Group identity

Self-esteem

Loneliness

Social Competence

Psychological Well-being

.25**

-.28***.15*

.25***

.26***

.20**

*** p < .001; ** p < .01; * p < .05

WhatsApp Use(Mins/day)

.17*

.21**

Support Motivations

Quality of relationships

Model fit: ᵪ2 (8) = 9.14, p = .331, ᵪ2/df = 1.14, RMSEA = .027, CFI = .997

SO WHAT?Understanding mediators of online chat engagement is important to explore the psychological outcomes

Online bonding capital appears to be particularly important

WhatsApp stimulates existing relationships, via bonding capital which has a knock-on positive impact on well-being

Differential impacts of support motivations- requires careful interrogation in moving forward

Social networking or social media

Forums and discussion boards

Messaging systems Community sites and pages

Health and well-being apps

Social forms of gaming

Social Identity

Social competence

Loneliness

Self-esteem

Social capital

MMO engagement

MMO involvement

Online bridging

Online bonding

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Hours per week

+

+

+

+

-

-

+

Kaye, L. K., Kowert, R., & Quinn, S. (2017). The role of social identity and online social capital on psychosocial outcomes in MMO players. Computers in Human Behavior, 74 , 215-223. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.04.030

CONSOLIDATION “The internet” is a multidimensional and complex thing

Different internet-related activities are more “social” than others so are more likely to “stimulate” rather than “displace” social interactions

Some social internet activities seem to promote (or, at least be related to) aspects of positive well-being

Let’s be open-minded to “tech for good” when trying to understand how we use and are impacted by new technology and aspects of the internet!

WANT TO KNOW MORE?Linda.kaye@edgehill.ac.uk

http://lindakkaye.wix.com/dr-linda-kaye

@LindaKKaye

https://osf.io/e8vjk/ (Open Science Framework)