ESSENTIALS TO MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY
SUMMARY 2022-2023
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WEEK 1 3
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY 3
ARTICLES LECTURE 1 4
PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE – OKDIE, ET AL. (2014) 4
LECTURE 2: PROCESSING AND LEARNING FROM MEDIA 6
ARTICLES LECTURE 2 10
THE EFFECT OF CLOSE-UP FREQUENCY ON MENTAL STATE ATTRIBUTION IN FILM VIEWERS – BÁLINT, ET AL. (2020) 10
THE LIMITED CAPACITY MODEL OF MOTIVATED MEDIATED MESSAGE PROCESSING – LANG (2011) 12
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY AND SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY – NABI & PRESTIN (2017) 14
WEEK 2 16
LECTURE 3: SELECTIVE EXPOSURE TO MEDIA: CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES 16
ARTICLES LECTURE 3 20
SELECTIVE EXPOSURE IN THE COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY CONTEXT – KNOBLOCH-WESTERWICK, WETERWICK & JOHNSON (2015) 20
SELECTIVE USE OF NEWS CUES: A MULTIPLE-MOTIVE PERSPECTIVE ON INFORMATION SELECTION IN SOCIAL MEDIA ENVIRONMENTS –
WINTER, METZGER & FLANAGIN (2016) 22
LECTURE 4: SELECTIVE EXPOSURE: FAST AND SLOW CHOICES 24
ARTICLES LECTURE 4 26
FAST AND FRUGAL MEDIA CHOICES – MAREWSKI, GALESIC, GIIGERENZER (2010) 26
THE PROBLEM OF MEDIA HABITS – LAROSE (2010) 28
WEEK 3 29
LECTURE 5: EMOTIONS AND MEDIA 29
ARTICLES LECTURE 5 33
THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN MEDIA USE AND EFFECTS – KONIJN (2013) 33
MEDIA-BASED EMOTIONAL COPING: EXAMINING THE EMOTIONAL BENEFITS AND PITFALLS OF MEDIA CONSUMPTION – NABI, SO, & PRESTIN
(2010) 36
THE INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MEDIA PSYCHOLOGY – KONIJN & ACHTERBERG (2020) 38
LECTURE 6: FACT, FICTION, PERCEIVED REALISM: WHAT IS REALITY ANYWAY? 40
ARTICLES LECTURE 6 43
FICTIONALITY AND PERCEIVED REALISM IN EXPERIENCING STORIES: A MODEL OF NARRATIVE COMPREHENSION AND ENGAGEMENT – BUSSELLE
& BILANDZIC (2008) 43
PERCEPTIONS OF MEDIA REALISM AND REALITY TV – HALL (2009) 46
WEEK 4 48
LECTURE 7: MEDIA, MIND, AND BRAIN 48
ARTICLES LECTURE 7 51
THE EMERGING NEUROSCIENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA – MESHI, TAMIR, & HEEKEREN (2015) 51
NEURAL PREDICTION OF COMMUNICATION-RELEVANT OUTCOMES – FALK, CASCIO, & CORONEL (2015) 53
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,LECTURE 8: MEDIA VIOLENCE EFFECTS 54
ARTICLES LECTURE 8 56
NEURAL DESENSITIZATION TO VIOLENCE PREDICTS INCREASED AGGRESSION FOLLOWING VIOLENT VIDEO GAME EXPOSURE – ENGELHARDT,
BARTHOLOW, KERR, & BUSHMAN (2011) 56
THREE STUDIES EXAMINING THE INFLUENCE OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ON YOUTH – FERGUSON ET AL. (2015) 57
THE ROLE OF WISHFUL IDENTIFICATION IN THE EFFECTS OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ON AGGRESSION IN ADOLESCENT BOYS – KONIJN, BIJVANK,
& BUSHMAN (2007) 58
WEEK 5 59
LECTURE 9: MEDIA ADDICTION 59
ARTICLES LECTURE 9 63
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADDICTIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND VIDEO GAMES AND SYMPTOMS OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS: A LARGE-
SCALE CROSS-SECTONAL STUDY – ANDREASSEN ET AL. (2016) 63
GAMING ADDICTION, DEFINITION, AND MEASUREMENT: A LARGE-SCALE EMPIRICAL STUDY – SPEKMAN, KONIJN, ROELOFSMA, & GRIFFITHS
(2013) 64
LECTURE 10: MORALITY AND MEDIA 65
ARTICLES LECTURE 10 69
MORAL MONITORING AND EMOTIONALITY IN RESPONDING TO FICTION, SPORTS, AND THE NEWS – ZILLMANN (2012) 69
MORALITY AND MEDIA EFFECTS – TAMBORINI ET AL. (2017) 69
WEEK 6 70
LECTURE 11: MEDIA AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING 70
ARTICLES LECTURE 11 73
MEDIA USE AND RECREATION: MEDIA-INDUCED RECOVERY AS A LINK BETWEEN MEDIA EXPOSURE AND WELL-BEING – REINECKE & EDEN,
2016 73
APPRECIATION OF MEANINGFUL ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCES AND EUDAIMONIC WELL-BEING – BARTSCH & OLIVER (2017) 75
LECTURE 12: FLOW, PRESENCE, INTERACTIVITY 76
ARTICLES LECTURE 12 79
THEORETICAL IMPORTANCE OF CONTINGENCY IN HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION: EFFECTS OF MESSAGE INTERACTIVITY ON USER
ENGAGEMENT – SUNDAR ET AL. (2014) 79
PRACTISE EXAM QUESTIONS 81
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,WEEK 1
Lecture 1: Introduction to Media Psychology
What is Media Psychology?
• Mostly a subfield of Communication Science, as the Psychology domain does not incorporate media much
• Okdie, et al., 2014 – Media Psychology involves the scientific examination of the cognitive processes and behavior involved in
the selection, use, interpretation, and effects of communication across a variety of media
• Dill, et al., 2013 – Media Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior, thoughts and feelings experienced in the context
of media use and creation
• No consensus definition because of the following reason:
o ‘Media’ and ‘Psychology’ are already very general terms
o Communication, cognition, and emotions are fundamental to human experience and, therefore, have, by definition,
foundation in psychological thought
o It’s a field that constantly changes, as media also constantly changes
o The field must represent of not only what is currently done, but what should be done in future
• McLuhan (1969): we live invested in an electric information environment that is quite as imperceptible to us as water is to fish
• Older types of media had uniform media messages, nowadays there are no uniform media effects
• No hypodermic needle: no uniform effects!
What can Media Psychology tell us?
• How kids today grow up with screens, and what the consequences of that are
• VR, and using it in different fields such as the healthcare industry, as a dating tool, or social robotics
à Assisting healthcare workers when there is a staff shortage
• Political communication in terms of truth judgement
o Why do we believe some media messages and why not?
o Some attributes that can influence believability is the type of message, and who brings the message
Why psychologists should study media (Okdie, et al., 2014)
• High prevalence of media, but hardly reflected in psychological research study
• Examines the unique attributes of media and how those attributes influence human cognition, affect, and behavior
• Little emphasis is placed on the psychological processes occurring while using media or the impact of unique characteristics of
media
Framework of Okdie, et al. (2014) attributes of media
1. Fidelity
o The degree that a medium is detailed, complete, and accurate in its reproduction of information that is transmitted
o The more photorealistic the portrayal of the media is, the higher is its fidelity
à E-mail vs. VR
2. Privacy
o The capability of a person to hide personal information regarding of their character from others
o The higher the options are to hide yourself, the higher the privacy
o Deindividuation – an individual is treated as a group/person
o Selective self-presentation
3. Channel
o Differences in channels between media may affect psychological processes of social influence, motivation, and self-
awareness
o Through which the media interaction occurs (tv, social media, etc.)
o The more information we get, the more information our brain have to process
4. Interactivity
o How much we can interact with the media
o More interaction with SNSs compared to TV
5. Content
o The effect the content are dependent on each of the first four attributes
o It’s about the interactions between the content and the specific attributes, to understand differences in effect
o Dynamic theoretical models about overcoming unidirectional and static theories
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, Articles Lecture 1
Perspectives on Psychological Science – Okdie, et al. (2014)
Abstract
• Argues that there is a high prevalence of media use; however, it is rarely considered in any psychological studies
• Despite using a very inclusive definition of Media Psychology, only 1.6% of articles found between 2003-2012 focused on media
• The majority of psychological research focuses on the popular media topics, such as educational television or videogame
violence and aggression. Its applied focus does not examine unique attributes and how these influence human cognition and
behavior
• This article examines the unique attributes of media and how those influence human cognition and affect behavior
• Some attributes may seem as the most logical cause of behavior; however, this might not be the case
• When there is no uniform message, there is no uniform response. Every person responds differently, which also results in
different effects
• By considering more dynamic models and by differentiating media along the proposed attribute dimensional, psychology is
presented with new research opportunities that can aid in the development of more comprehensive understandings of human
behavior and of the validity of research practices themselves
Popular media topics in which Media Psychology has been studied
1. Television
• Early studies support the argument that there is a relationship between viewing violent media and later aggressive
thoughts and behavior in children and adults
• However, it focuses less on attributes of media and more on the psychological outcome of media use
2. Videogames
• Again, the primary focus has been outcome based, and investigators have attended little focus on attributes of the
videogames or how the game is played by the user
3. Computer mediated communication (CMC)
• CMC is any communication between individuals that occurs via computer
• Contemporary research has focused on using CMC as a means to study other phenomena rather than examining the
psychological and behavioral effects of CMC
Five main attributes of media
1. Fidelity
• The degree to which a medium is detailed, complete, and accurate in its reproduction of the information being transmitted
• Poe (2011) argued that fidelity is an important dimension on which media can vary, particularly when dealing with different
types of sensory information
• Should affect the psychological experience of individuals engaged with the media by influencing feelings of social presence
within a media environment and transportation into a media world
• May also influence persuasiveness of a medium, this can be done through several mechanisms:
o Increased message fidelity > increase in involvement with the message > increases persuasion
o Increasing vividness of a persuasive message
• High fidelity messages may be more persuasive as they provide a greater sense of actual engagement with the behaviors
portrayed in the message, increasing attitude accessibility
2. Privacy
• The ability of individuals to hide personal information, regarding identity and characteristics, from others
• To the extent that a specific type of media affords users the ability to control information, it can be thought of as being
high in the attribute of privacy
• The opportunity for privacy is largely a function of the type of media individuals choose to use
• Maintaining high levels of privacy when using social media is nonnormative comparted with sending an email to one
recipient
• Two psychological factors that may be affected by varying the privacy of media
1. Deindividuation – a psychological state characterized by low self-awareness, leading to increased focus on a group
rather than personal norms and standards of behavior (Festinger, et al., 1952)
2. Self-presentation – to the extent that media vary in privacy, users may have greater opportunities to selectively, and
deceptively, self-represent
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