Cyberpsychology's Influence on Modern Computing

Summary

Research and applied scholarship that have a positive societal impact require interdisciplinary collaborations. One such area is cyberpsychology, a field that emerged from the growth of new technologies, an increasingly interconnected world, and the recognition that human behavior and social interaction are at the heart of all enterprises. Cyberpsychology has profound implications for advances in computing.Cyberpsychology investigates the psychological processes related to technologically interconnected human behavior, informing disciplines such as human-computer interaction (HCI), computer science, engineering, psychology, and media and communications studies.5 The field explores how digital technologies influence and transform human cognition, emotion, and social interaction, as well as the reciprocal impact these human elements have on technologies. At its core, cyberpsychology seeks to understand the dynamic interplay between humans and technology.Key InsightsCyberpsychology is an interdisciplinary field bridging multiple disciplines, with implications for addressing critical challenges in areas such as cybersecurity, cyberprivacy, misinformation and disinformation, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the future of work.Relevant insights gleaned from cyberpsychology are critical to the advancement of modern computing, including creating meaningful sociotechnological configurations.A paradigm shift toward a recognition of the profound reciprocal relationship between psychological processes and technology requires new methods and approaches to foster innovation as well as human flourishing. Such a shift would result in impactful translational research to address global grand challenges.In an article on the age of cyberpsychology, Ancis3 reviewed five major areas relevant to cyberpsychology: online behavior and personality, social media use and psychological functioning, games and gaming, telepsychology, and virtual reality (VR) artificial intelligence (A...