"Media psychology is the branch and specialty field in psychology that focuses on the interaction of human behavior with media and technology."
A study of the psychological, social, and cultural effects of mass media on individuals and society.
Media literacy: Understanding how to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages.
Media ownership: The concentration of media ownership, and how it affects media content, coverage, and diversity.
Media bias: The direct or indirect partiality or prejudice of media outlets and their journalists or presenters biased toward ideology, individual perspectives, and party lines.
Audience theories: The various frameworks of how individuals use or interact with media, including uses and gratifications, selective exposure, cultivation, and framing.
Agenda setting: The process by which media outlets prioritize issues and topics for public discussion and debate.
Persuasion: How media messages can influence individuals' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
Socialization: How media messages can shape an individual's values, norms, and ideologies.
Stereotyping: The portrayal of a group or individual based on oversimplified or exaggerated characteristics.
Representation and diversity: How media messages represent different groups and individuals, and how those representations can impact social and cultural attitudes and perceptions.
Violence in media: The effects of violent media content on children, adolescents, and adults, including aggression and desensitization.
Political communication: The role of media in shaping public opinion, political campaigns, and interest group activities.
Media and globalization: The ways in which media shapes and are shaped by cultural, economic, and political globalization.
Media and technology: The rapid advancements in media technology and how they affect our consumption, creation, and distribution of media messages.
Media ethics and regulation: The ethical and legal considerations surrounding media content, including issues of privacy, free speech, and censorship.
Agenda Setting: This theory suggests that the media plays an important role in determining what people consider important and what is not. Through selective reporting, the media sets the agenda for public discussion.
Framing: Similar to agenda setting, framing suggests that the media influences how people think about a specific issue by presenting it in a certain way.
Cultivation Theory: This theory suggests that media exposure can shape an individual's perception of the world. The more people are exposed to a certain aspect of media, the more likely they are to believe that it reflects reality.
Uses and Gratifications: This theory suggests that people use media for a variety of personal reasons, such as social interaction, diversion, or information seeking.
Social Learning Theory: This theory suggests that people learn new behaviors by observing others. Media can influence people's behaviors by providing them with models that they can emulate.
Cognitive Dissonance: This theory suggests that people experience discomfort when they encounter information that is inconsistent with their beliefs or values. Media can contribute to cognitive dissonance when it presents information that conflicts with an individual's existing beliefs.
Third-Person Effect: This theory suggests that people believe that the media has a more significant impact on others than it does on themselves.
Spiral of Silence: This theory suggests that people are more likely to remain silent on controversial subjects if they believe that their opinion is in the minority. The mass media can contribute to this effect by reinforcing these perceptions.
Selective Exposure: This theory suggests that people actively seek out media messages that reinforce their existing beliefs and values.
Priming: This theory suggests that the media can influence people's evaluations of a situation by activating certain cognitive processes, such as memory and attention.
Catharsis: This theory suggests that media can provide an outlet for people to release their frustrations and emotions.
Social Comparison: This theory suggests that people use media to compare themselves to others and evaluate their own opinions, values, and behaviors.
"Media psychology is not limited to mass media or media content; it includes all forms of mediated communication and media technology-related behaviors."
"...such as the use, design, impact, and sharing behaviors."
"This branch is a relatively new field of study because of advancement in technology."
"It uses various methods of critical analysis and investigation to develop a working model of a user's perception of media experience."
"These methods are used for society as a whole and on an individual basis."
"Media psychologists are able to perform activities that include consulting, design, and production in various media like television, video games, films, and news broadcasting."
"Media psychologists are not considered to be those who are featured in media (such as counselors-psychotherapists, clinicians, etc.), rather than those who research, work or contribute to the field."
"It focuses on the interaction of human behavior with media and technology."
"It includes all forms of mediated communication and media technology-related behaviors."
"...such as television, video games, films, and news broadcasting."
"These methods are used for society as a whole and on an individual basis."
"Media psychologists are able to perform activities that include consulting, design, and production in various media."
"Media psychology is not limited to mass media or media content."
"A relatively new field of study because of advancement in technology."
"It uses various methods of critical analysis and investigation to develop a working model of a user's perception of media experience."
"It includes all forms of mediated communication and media technology-related behaviors."
"Media psychologists are not considered to be those who are featured in media (such as counselors-psychotherapists, clinicians, etc.), rather than those who research, work or contribute to the field."
"Media technology-related behaviors, such as the use, design, impact, and sharing behaviors."
"Media psychologists are able to perform activities that include consulting, design, and production in various media like television, video games, films, and news broadcasting."