Cyberpsychology

Cyberpsychology studies how digital technologies and online environments affect human behavior, cognition, emotions, and social relationships.

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Social media and mental health: Research examines associations between social media use and psychological well-being, including benefits, risks, and differences among users. It applies cyberpsychological methods to a major setting for online interaction.
Online disinhibition effect: The tendency for people to express themselves more freely or aggressively online than they do in person. Anonymity and reduced social cues help explain distinctive online behavior.
Computer-mediated communication: Communication between people conducted through networked computers and related digital devices. This research tradition supplied core questions and methods for cyberpsychology.
Media effects: The study of how media exposure influences individuals, groups, and society. It overlaps with cyberpsychology but includes non-digital media and broader social outcomes.
Internet addiction: A proposed pattern of poorly controlled internet use associated with distress or impairment in daily life. It tests when digital engagement becomes difficult to regulate or harmful.
Social presence: The felt sense that other people are present and accessible during mediated communication. It helps explain why some digital interactions feel socially vivid while others feel impersonal.
Sherry Turkle: An American sociologist and psychologist known for studying how people relate to computers and digital technologies. Her studies of identity and relationships helped establish psychological questions about digital life.
Technological determinism: The view that technology drives social change in a largely independent or inevitable way. Cyberpsychology examines interactions between technology and people rather than assuming technology alone determines behavior.
Cyberbullying: Bullying carried out through digital communication, often involving repeated aggression and a power imbalance. Online platforms can extend harassment beyond face-to-face settings.
Selective self-presentation: The deliberate shaping of information about oneself to influence how others perceive the self. Profiles and asynchronous communication give users unusual control over self-presentation.