Media Psychology is a new and emerging field, so the early entrants have the excitement and burden of defining the path. What is media psychology? It’s a field with no consensus definition, no clearly-defined career paths, and no easy answers. In spite of that, it can add value anywhere human behavior intersects media technologies. Here’s why: Media technologies are everywhere People of all ages use media technologies a lot Young people use them most Older people worry about younger people Technology is not going away We all worry if this is good or bad or somewhere in-between Psychology is the study of people of all ages Media psychology is using #7 to answer #6 because of #1 through #5 Psychology is key to understanding the implications of technology. Consequently, it seems like it should be pretty straightforward to define media psychology. For some reason, though, it’s not. I have had discussions with colleagues for hours (or at least it seems like … [Read more...]
Pursuing a Career in Psychology, Education, and Interactive Media
I always enjoy getting questions from people interested in integrating media applications into their field of study or in pursuing a career in media psychology. The questions come from around the world and are always full of enthusiasm for learning, the potential of media technologies, and making a positive contribution to society. It is always a chance for me to remember not only how much I love the field of media psychology, but why I think it is so very important. Media psychology is a broad field. Recently I received a question from a new graduate in the Middle East about how to follow a path that integrates psychology and education using interactive technologies, particularly for special needs populations. I am posting my response since many people may have similar questions and this is a good way to get a conversation going. -- You can learn how to actually build the interactive programs by studying gaming and software development or how to implement them by studying … [Read more...]
The Positive Psychology Of Entrepreneurship
A version of this post appeared in my blog Positively Media on Psychology Today. There's a lot of buzz about entrepreneurship right now. This is especially obvious if you hang out on LinkedIn, Twitter, or cruise the Ning social networks. It is not surprising, given the amount of people looking for jobs due to cutbacks and restructuring and a few bankruptcies thrown in for good measure. So far, the government plans to promote economic growth have tried to stimulate a lot of things, but stimulating entrepreneurs doesn't seem to be one of them. It's important to encourage entrepreneurship and not just for economic reasons. Entrepreneurship is the ultimate exercise in developing the attributes that we know from positive psychology to be essential to having a good life: self-competence, optimism, engagement, and resilience. I'm against government stimulus the way it's usually done for the same reasons that I'm for entrepreneurship. Sending people checks in the mail may give them … [Read more...]
What Does a Media Psychologist Do?
I get a lot of questions about career paths in media psychology, particularly among those thinking of pursuing a degree in the field. I certainly empathize with that confusion--and the desire to make sure someone will give you a job if you do all that work. Media psychology, as a new field, doesn’t offer up any quick and easy answers. It's helpful to think about how to define media psychology broadly and then make it relevant to individual interests and goals. It the largest sense, media psychology is using psychological theory to understand how people use, consume, and produce media. It has applications to groups and individuals as well as nations. The word media is often assumed to be mass media, but media psychology looks at communication that is mediated by technology. Needless to say, the field paints with a pretty broad brush. Some people start with their current or hoped-for career and then target their approach to the degree in a way that supports their needs. … [Read more...]
