Avatars for Clinical Assessment

Avatars are an important feature of digital environments. Existing both in social networks and webchats (usually as static images) and in single-player and online video games (as dynamic characters, often humanoid), avatars are meant to represent users' action and communication within digital environments. Research has shown that, when they are customized by users, avatars are not created “randomly,” rather they maintain some kind of relationship with users' actual self-representation and identity. However, more recent studies showed that users may have multiple digital representations: the same person could create multiple avatars depending on which facet of the self is primed by an experimental manipulation, or on which aims they have to pursue in the given virtual environments (e.g., to seduce, to play, to work). With this background, this contribution explores the possibility to use customized avatars within psychological assessment, as adjunctive assessment tools useful to get information on patients' self-representation(s) and communicative intentions.

Factors Related to Phone Snubbing Behavior in Emerging Adults

Smartphones are a fundamental part of emerging adults' life. The aim of this chapter is to determine which factors play a role in “phubbing” during emerging adulthood as well as to propose and test a model of this phenomenon. We tested a model of relations between phubbing, self-esteem, self-control, well-being, and internet addiction. The following measures were used: the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS), the Flourishing Scale, the Internet Addiction Scale, and the Phubbing Scale. The participants in the online study were 640 Italian emerging adults (526 females and 114 males), ranging in age from 18 to 29 (M = 21.7, SD = 2.18). The results showed that the model was well fitted, particularly in postulating that a decrease in the level of self-control is related to an increase in Internet addiction, that an increase in Internet addiction increases the probability of phubbing behavior, and that the level of self-esteem and well-being do not affect Internet addiction. Gender differences, in favor of males, occurred only in self-esteem.

Digital Social Media in Adolescents' Negotiating Real Virtual Romantic Relationships

Previous grounded theoretical analyses of rural adolescents' romantic relationship discussions identified media as critical conditions in negotiating gender expectations in intimate relations. More recent emergent fit analyses of urban teenagers' discussions of virtual romantic relationships extended original theories to consider a lack of confidence in communicating adequately in the context of using digital social media. The current research specifically investigated emergent fit analyses of digital media influences on relationships. Urban participants identified online platforms' playing significant roles in 1) signaling interest, 2) initiating, 3) maintaining exchanges, and 4) dissolving romantic relationships. Participants both complained and commended asynchronous digital media in exacerbating discomfort/comfort in communicating intimately. Participants sought guidance in transforming contextually complex intimate relational communications into a healthy reciprocity.

Stress, Coping, and Social Media Use

Social media has become a part of people's lives and many psychological processes are suggested to be related with social media use. This chapter examines social media use from a stress and coping perspective. Social media can be a stressor for users with the content of posts they see, with a fear of negative evaluation, as an unhealthy attachment to social media accounts, and as a result of cyberbullying. Social media use can also be a problem-focused coping as a source of information, an emotion-focused coping as a distraction, and a source of social support. Lastly, it can be a predictor or a part of well-being as well as a moderator or mediator between coping and well-being. After elaborating on social media use as a part of the coping process, implications for research and practice are discussed. The key points from a coping viewpoint are specified for users, parents, teachers, and professionals. While problematic use of social media can be part of dysfunctional coping and a worse well-being, healthy use can help individuals deal with stresses and lead to a better well-being.

Addicting Content, Blue Light, and Curtailed Sleep

Sleep is essential for physical and mental wellbeing, but many adults and adolescents do not get the recommended amount of sleep. Recently, studies have identified technology use as having negative impacts on sleep. This is concerning given that mobile technologies have permeated the lives of today's young adults and adolescents. First, the effects of social media use, both throughout the day and before bedtime, on sleep quantity and quality are synthesized. Second, the mechanisms through which social media use disrupts sleep, namely that 1) social media use displaces time spent sleeping, 2) that the content on social media is stimulating, and 3) that the blue light emitted by digital devices suppresses the production of melatonin, decreasing sleepiness are discussed. Third, the research designs and methods that were employed are explored. Fourth, future research directions are proposed. Finally, tips to improve sleep in the digital age are provided.

Examining the Psychosocial Dimensions of Young People's Emergent Social Media Behavior

Social media usage among young people has grown astronomically, generating interest among a number of interest groups. This chapter fills a gap on social media psychosocial antecedents propelling high-usage behavior and the subsequent psychosocial outcomes showing in attachment to the social media. The chapter explored the emergent psychosocial needs driving young people's level of usage in social media and the consequences, among a population in Ghana. The findings revealed that young consumers' social media behavior could be greatly influenced by their social psychological needs, but individual psychological variables did not significantly predict usage behavior in social media. The findings also suggest that young people are more emotionally attached to social media, slightly attached cognitively and not attached behaviorally. This implies young people have developed some level of emotional involvement for the use of social media which could affect their well-being positively or negatively.

Online Social Networking and Romantic Relationships

With the increased popularity of social media, social networking sites (SNSs) have received the attention of many scholars. In particular, researchers have focused on the impact of SNSs on interpersonal relationships. Accordingly, this chapter provides an overview of the extant literature concerning associations between the use of SNSs and romantic relationships. It provides empirical evidence on how social networking behaviors are influenced by adult attachment styles, and how social networking influences relationship constructs such as satisfaction, commitment, jealousy, and relationship dissolution. Furthermore, it presents previous research that emphasizes gender as a moderator in these relations. This chapter overall contributes to researchers and professionals in providing information on online social networking and emphasizing key romantic relationship constructs related to the use of SNSs. It also provides suggestions for future research.

Education via Social Net Sites

Incorporation of blended learning into educational process is complex and challenging. The chapter aims to elucidate educators' and students' engagement and attitude towards the use of computer-mediated communication and social net sites in general, and for educational purposes in particular, in order to single out the issues that are controversial and slow down the use of ICT in teaching practice. It presents university teachers' and students' opinions collected by observation and interviewing. The results of the study, based on the fourth-generation method of assessment, reveal that both students and educators are active users of SNS and are optimistic about their integration into educational process. However, despite all the advantages of SNS disclosed in the study, still there are some issues to overcome before SNS can become an integral part of educational process. At present, its use should be supported by other means like LMS or MOOCs as well as traditional on-campus activities.

Facebook, Social Comparison, and Subjective Well-Being

Facebook use has implications for subjective well-being. Previous research has revealed that passive Facebook use is typically related to deficits in subjective well-being, which is thought to be linked through upward social comparison. In contrast, active Facebook use is typically related to enhancements in subjective well-being. The main objective of the present study was to synthesize findings related to Facebook use and subjective well-being and to expand by proposing and testing whether the benefits associated with active Facebook use compensate for the negative effects associated with passive use. The second objective was to discuss policy and research directions. A total of 310 undergraduate students completed an online survey with questions regarding Facebook use, social comparison, and subjective well-being. Bootstrapping analyses revealed that active Facebook use did not buffer the negative effects for subjective well-being that occur during passive Facebook use. Recommendations for future research and education programs are discussed.

Associations Between Dependency on LINE Text Messaging and Occurrence of Negative Emotions in LINE Group Chats

This study examined associations between dependency on LINE text messaging and the times at which negative emotions occurred in survey participants in LINE group chats in two situations—when waiting for a response and when making others wait for a response. The main results of correlation analyses of dependency scores and times are as follows. While effects were not observed for dependency as a whole, strong effects of partial subscales were observed. That is, the higher the score of relationship maintenance, which is a subscale of dependency, the shorter the time it takes for negative emotions to occur. On the other hand, it was partially suggested that the higher the score of excessive use, which is another subscale of dependency, the longer the time for negative emotions to occur. This study proposes that it is necessary to break down each aspect of LINE text-messaging dependency when examining the impact of the dependency on the timing of users generating negative emotions in LINE group chats.