Media psychology

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Media psychology is a branch of psychology that deals in research with the description, explanation and prognosis of the experience and behavior that is connected to the media or that takes place due to or during media use .

Media psychology is a psychological sub-discipline with the task of providing a description and explanation of the behavior of individuals that is influenced by the media. The focus here is on media impact as a task, but media selection and reception are not addressed in this definition. In addition, behavior is mentioned as a primary psychological dimension. Later, "acting, thinking and feeling in connection with the use of media in the focus of media psychological research" (Vorderer & Trepte 2000: 707) and "the cognitions, emotions and actions preceding and accompanying media use" ( ibid.).

object

Media psychological research can be divided on the basis of two approaches: firstly, on the basis of the psychological triad of emotion , cognition and behavior and, secondly, on the basis of the forms of media use: selection, reception, effect and media-mediated communication.

Emotions describe feeling and affect , cognition, thinking and behavior describes any observable reaction. The media selection refers to everything that takes place before the actual media reception. Media reception encompasses the process of media use in the narrower sense. Initially, this only concerns the passive aspects of media use. The media effect includes the influence of media use on the thoughts, feelings and behaviors that follow reception. Media-mediated communication includes active communication and therefore complements the term reception with regard to many media offers. If, for example, a message text is received on the Internet, this is primarily a passive form of use. If, however, it is communicated with others face-to-face or through a computer, active and passive forms of use go hand in hand.

history

At the beginning of the 20th century people began to deal with media psychological problems and theoretical approaches. However, at that time the term media psychology was not yet coined, which is why publications were not created under the term media psychology. The aim of most of this early research was to understand the content of media and how to use it. For this purpose, the relationship between the use of media and various individual variables related to sociodemography , personality or the learning behavior of users was examined. The history of the media itself can also be found in the history of media psychology. The first silent film was shown in 1912 and in 1913 research into the subject of film began in Germany and Anglo-America . The first psychological study on the film by Hugo Münsterberg was carried out in 1916 : The photoplay - A psychological study. This was intended to illuminate the importance of the then new medium for society and the individual. During this time there was a particular interest in the educational uses of the film and its effect on young people. In 1950 film research was replaced by television research. Their first studies (1950–1970) dealt on the one hand with the individual characteristics of the users. It also looked at adolescents' TV usage habits and examined how the TV could be used for teaching and learning. However, the initial results contradicted the researchers' assumptions: the use of television did not reduce social activities and no links were found between television use and formal education . Negative effects on young people could not be proven either. However, it wasn't until the 1970s that the topic began to be dealt with intensively, which contributed significantly to the contouring of the subject of media psychology in Germany.

Another major field of research is radio research, which produced part of the theoretical foundations of today's media psychology. Gordon W. Allport, Hadley Cantril, Hazel Gaudet, Herta Herzog and Paul F. Lazarsfeld are considered the most important representatives of early radio research . As in television research, there were three main topics: the socio-demographic characteristics of the recipients and their reception experience were examined, and the associated question of the gratuities of radio programs and their assessment by the listeners was examined. There was also great interest in method research. Furthermore, one dealt with the importance of radio in times of war, especially with radio in Germany and with German radio broadcasts.

Developing media research has paid less attention to the print media, which is related to the fact that newspaper research institutes were already established at this time. Media psychology, however, dealt with reading books and examined above all the motivation to read and the effect of reading. From the end of the 1970s to the 1990s , media psychological research experienced a real boom, the peak of which was in the late 1980s . Media psychological research of this time can be determined on the basis of two dimensions: The classic questions of media psychology deal with the research work of the 1970s, expanded it and systematized it, television in particular was examined .

Current questions in media psychology mainly focus on new media such as interactive television, the Internet or other computer-aided media. Media psychology topics in Germany are funded primarily by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the state media authorities . The fact that media psychology is now established as an institution is mainly due to media psychology periodicals. In Germany this is the Journal of Media Psychology, the US counterpart is the specialist journal Media Psychology. The establishment of the media psychology department was a further formal consequence of the increasing establishment of the subject on the content level. Today, in the 21st century , media psychology research from the 1990s continues. One focus today is on dealing with reception experience and behavior. A second focus is on computer-mediated communication (cvK) and human- computer interaction. The third focus also relates to computer-aided media, which is about learning and socialization with new media.

Research fields

  1. Influence of personality , social identity and emotions on media choice
  2. Cognitive processing in media reception
  3. Emotions in media reception
  4. parasocial relationships
  5. emotional media effects
  6. Entertainment experience with media use
  7. Identification with media characters
  8. Media effects on aggressive and prosocial behavior
  9. Knowledge transfer through television ( school television , tele-college )
  10. Network-based knowledge communication
  11. Analysis of the use of computer games
  12. computer mediated communication
  13. Analysis of human-computer interaction
  14. Virtual reality and environments
  15. Media literacy

Institute for Media Psychology

literature

  • B. Batinic, M. Appel: Media Psychology . Springer, Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-540-46894-3 .
  • G. Bente, R. Mangold, P. Vorderer: Textbook of media psychology . Hogrefe, Göttingen / Bern / Toronto / Seattle 2004, ISBN 3-8017-1489-6 .
  • T. Blumer: Personality research and internet use . Universitätsverlag, Ilmenau 2013, ISBN 978-3-86360-066-2 .
  • H. Bommert, C. Dirksmeier, R. Kleyböcker: Differential media reception . Lit, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-8258-4897-3 .
  • H. Bommert, KW Weich, C. Dirksmeier: Recipient personality and media effect . Lit, Münster 2000, ISBN 3-8258-2109-9 .
  • H. Bommert, R. Kleyböcker, A. Voss-Frick: TV interviews in the judgment of the audience . Lit, Münster 2002, ISBN 3-8258-6073-6 .
  • H. Bommert, A. Voß-Frick: Facts and Images - Interviews in the dual system of German television . Lit, Münster 2005, ISBN 3-8258-8366-3 .
  • H. Cantril, GW Allport: The psychology of radio. Harper & Brother Publishers, New York / London 1935. (Reprint: Arno Press, New York 1971)
  • W. Frindte: Introduction to communication psychology . Beltz, Weinheim / Basel 2002, ISBN 3-407-25254-4 .
  • NC Krämer, S. Schwan, D. Unz, M. Suckfüll (Eds.): Media Psychology: Key Terms and Concepts . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-020112-5 .
  • H. Münsterberg: The photoplay. A psychological study. D. Appleton and Company, New York / London 1916.
  • F. Schwab: Evolution and Emotion. Evolutionary Perspectives in Emotion Research and Applied Psychology . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-17-017188-6 .
  • C. Schwender: Media and Emotions. Evolutionary psychological building blocks for a media theory . DUV, Wiesbaden, 2006, ISBN 3-8350-6045-7 .
  • U. Six, U. Gleich, R. Gimmler: Communication Psychology and Media Psychology . Beltz, Weinheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-621-27591-0 .
  • S. Trepte: Research status of media psychology. In: Media Psychology. 11 (3), 1999, pp. 200-218.
  • S. Trepte: On the history of media psychology. In: P. Vorderer, R. Mangold, G. Bente (Ed.): Textbook of media psychology. Hogrefe, Göttingen 2004.
  • S. Trepte: Psychology as a basic subject in media effects research. In: W. Schweiger, A. Fahr (Ed.): Handbook Media Effects Research. Springer, Heidelberg 2013, pp. 89–111.
  • S. Trepte, L. Reinecke: Media Psychology. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-17-021438-5 .
  • L. Tsvasman: The great lexicon of media and communication. Compendium of interdisciplinary concepts . Ergon Verlag, Würzburg 2006, ISBN 3-89913-515-6 .
  • P. Vorderer, S. Trepte: Media Psychology. In: J. Straub, A. Koschinka, H. Werbik (eds.): Psychology in practice. Application and professional fields of a modern science. dtv, Munich 2000, pp. 705-736.

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