My introduction to cyberpsychology
Lucy Hitcham, Research Assistant at University of Nottingham, talks about how she became interested in people’s experiences with technology and the different ways in which it can affect them.
01 December 2022
Technology has increasingly become part of our daily lives and routines over the last few decades. For many, this has been of benefit, while others worry about how these developments may impact our behaviour, health, wellbeing and relationships. This is what the field of cyberpsychology tries to understand. As one of the most recently established BPS groups, the Cyberpsychology Section investigates questions about our motivations and experiences with technology and the effects it may have on people.
I became interested in the field while at a BPS careers conference where I was asked to think about what the future holds for the field of psychology. For me, the answer to this was understanding how technology can be utilised to advance our methods and knowledge in research and in practice. I carried this idea with me when starting my Master's thesis at the University of Nottingham, and now in my role as a research assistant.
As part of my thesis research, I wanted to understand the claims that smartphones are ruining our wellbeing, specifically our mental health, and whether we can be 'addicted' to them. One of the key methodological issues in this research area is that people are often asked to estimate their 'screen time' rather than providing real-time data from their phone settings, and these studies often only capture this at one point in time (Parry, 2021).
By using online questionnaires, I was able to collect data from more than 500 people over a two-week period to address these issues and look at connections with mental health and smartphone addiction. The results showed a mismatch between what people thought their average screen time was and what their actual screen time was. It also showed that the perceived use was more predictive of smartphone addiction and poorer mental health than actual use, meaning our perceptions of our smartphone use may be causing more problems than the time we actually spend on our phones.
As a research assistant, I have been able to carry on this research and ask the same people again eight months later. This time we found that the links between actual screen time and mental health were weaker still, even though participants' average screen time increased. This paints a complex picture of the effect smartphones can have on our wellbeing and mental health, rather than it simply being more screen time equals worse mental health.
Recently I was fortunate enough to present my research at the first in-person Cyberpsychology Section annual conference in Brighton. This was a fantastic opportunity for researchers in the field to present their work. There were talks covering video games, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, along with how technology can be used in education, forensic and inclusion settings.
This BPS section has begun to create a wonderful community who are producing fascinating research and resources for those at any stage of their career. For anyone interested in understanding the interaction between technology and psychology, this might be the field for you.
You can find more information on cyberpsychology on the Cyberpsychology Section microsite.
Article from the East Midlands Branch newsletter, December 2022