Media Psychology

Meeus, Anneleen; Beullens, Kathleen; Eggermont, Steven

doi: 10.1080/15213269.2022.2147084pmid: N/A

The goal of the present study was to examine the social repercussions of preadolescents’ SNS use by testing two differential pathways regarding the role of technology in interpersonal relationships. Specifically, we expected preadolescents’ social media use to be associated with heightened self-disclosure, which we then predicted to relate to increased feelings of belonging to their friends. At the same time, we investigated whether such use would also hinder real-life peer interactions, thus constituting a negative indirect association with preadolescents’ belonging. We examined both pathways for overall usage of SNS platforms as well as use specifically directed at communication-oriented activities, and SNS use that was nonsocial in nature. Results from a cross-sectional survey (n = 367/489, Mage = 10.94, SDage = 0.85, 52.4% girls) showed that social media played a predominantly beneficial role in the social lives of preadolescents: both overall and socially-oriented SNS use were positively and indirectly related to belonging through shared time with friends. Gender moderated the association between specific SNS activities and self-disclosure, however, such that social activities were positively related to self-disclosure for boys, but not for girls. Conversely, nonsocial activities were negatively related to girls’ self-disclosure.

Lutz, Sarah; Schneider, Frank M.; Reich, Sabine

doi: 10.1080/15213269.2022.2147085pmid: N/A

Socially excluded individuals often use media to cope with their feelings of loneliness, restore threatened needs, and regulate their emotions. However, social exclusion experiences have often been studied from a social-psychological perspective, with little consideration of media-specific characteristics. Thus, this paper aims to identify which different media applications individuals use to overcome social exclusion experiences and how effective this is in terms of need restoration and emotion regulation. A systematic review yielded 119 studies investigating 274 coping tools and 134 underlying strategies. Results indicated that media represent multifunctional tools that enable behavioral approach, behavioral avoidance, cognitive approach, and cognitive avoidance coping. Overall, using these tools was effective in 59% of all cases, with different strategies being linked to more or less effectiveness. By highlighting the theoretical implications of these findings, this paper provides six suggestions that can guide future research within this field.

Tammy Lin, Jih-Hsuan; Wu, Dai-Yun; Bowman, Nicholas

doi: 10.1080/15213269.2022.2154806pmid: N/A

Physical inactivity is a global problem, and active video games (AVGs) have been demonstrated as effective at motivating players to be more physically active. Virtual-reality AVGs (VRAVGs) further encourage engagement with exerting gameplay by challenging players to move in a full 360-degree range of motion. As a unique feature of VRAVGs, we examined the influence of using multiple playable angles in Beat Saber on players’ physical activity and psychological outcomes. A between-subjects experiment randomly assigned participants (N = 240) to one of the three playable angles (single fixed angle, 90-degree, and 360-degree modes). Informed by the interactivity-as-demand model, a moderated mediation model of playable angles on enjoyment was supported. Players perceive higher cognitive and exertional demands in both multi-angle modes than those in single-angle mode, which leads to greater perceived difficulty and further enhances the enjoyment for players with a higher need for cognition, but negatively affects the enjoyment for players with a lower need for cognition. Multi-angle modes also led to greater motivation for future play and subjective vitality through greater cognitive demands, and more physical activity via higher exertional demands. We conclude that, in VR exercise, multiple playable angles are a unique feature that positively influences physical activity outcomes.

Shen, Lijiang; Li, Shu Scott

doi: 10.1080/15213269.2022.2156886pmid: N/A

This paper presents a longitudinal, latent growth curve (LGC) modeling approach to refine the emotional flow measure and hypothesis testing. Emotional flow is operationalized as the marked within-individuals variations in one or more discrete emotions over time, which can be modeled as the amount and shape of change in emotions during message exposure. Emotional flow effects are tested in the LGC framework using data collected from a web-based experimental study where individuals (US Qualtrics Panel, N = 620) read an anti-sugary sweetened beverage message in the standard threat appeal format. Simultaneous fear and hope flows were established with unconditional LGC modeling. The two flows and their interaction were then used to predict message effects outcomes. Results showed that flow effects were nonsignificant when either the fear flow or the hope flow was relatively flat in form, but robust when both emotional flows were with marked variations over the course of message exposure.

Shabahang, Reza; Kim, Sohee; Hosseinkhanzadeh, Abbas Ali; Aruguete, Mara S.; Kakabaraee, Keivan

doi: 10.1080/15213269.2022.2157287pmid: N/A

Negativity bias predicts that individuals will attend to, learn from, and prioritize negative news more than positive news. Drawing from the addiction components model, this cross-sectional study conceptualized and measured “doomscrolling” as excessive thoughts, urges, or behaviors related to the consumption of negative news on social media platforms. Participants were a convenience sample (N = 747) of Iranian social media users. The 8-item, unidimensional Social Media Doomscrolling Scale showed excellent psychometric properties. Men were more likely than women to report doomscrolling. Most respondents reported arousal following doomscrolling. Doomscrolling was negatively associated with psychological wellbeing, satisfaction with life, and motivation to avoid unhealthy behaviors. Doomscrolling was positively associated to impulsivity, engagement in risky behaviors, depression, and future anxiety. Results suggest that doomscrolling is an arousing activity that has the potential to exacerbate worrisome thoughts about future, breed feelings of hopelessness, cultivate appetite for risk, and stifle health consciousness.