Foreword

There is no doubt that media is a powerful force in the 2020s. On the political scene it exposes
the divide between right and left, conservative and liberal, and among various political parties. In
the financial world, it informs, persuades, and promotes. It influences religion, family,
entertainment...there is little that remains untouched by media. In the years since the Internet
began to dominate our public discourse, it would seem that society has become more polarized
along many of the lines mentioned above, in addition to social identities such as gender,
ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, and education. But maybe that is an illusion created by
media. Perhaps the polarization was always there, and media just brought it out into the light.
These are the kinds of questions one must consider when studying media psychology.
It is essential to survival in a social world that we understand these influences and learn to think
critically about them. The purpose of this book is to support that goal. Never has it been more
important to understand the differences between things like fact and opinion, compromise and
capitulation, discord and violence. Deep differences in ideology can be at the root of differing
interpretations of world events.
At the heart of critical thinking is the ability to be able to identify our own biases. Everyone has a
point of view that is guided by our various social identities. For this reason, a thorough review of
all relevant information about a situation is key in revealing what those biases might be. This is
no simple task.
Another critical skill is the ability to draw inferences from the available information about a
topic before making any critical decisions about how to act (or not act) in a given circumstance.
At the heart of critical thinking is recognizing the role that values play in coming to conclusions.
Values are most often developed at a very early age and are based on the lessons we learn from
parents, teachers, and other key adults. For example, from my parents I learned the value of
human life. From that I have developed the attitude that everyone’s life is valuable. My opinions
then are likely to be driven by that value. Had I grown up in a social climate where things like
wealth, aesthetics, power, individual achievement, or group superiority were valued more than
human life, my opinions might differ significantly from what they are now.
It is important to recognize that we choose media based on our values and the opinions that
spring from those values. In Chapter two we will discuss Reinforcing Spirals Model theory and
the concept of an echo chamber, the situation where I only consume media that agrees with me
and avoid differing opinions. This is a serious problem and is doubtless partly responsible for the
polarization perceived in society today with respect to how one views the world. Developing
good critical thinking skills means to struggle with this idea and this situation. Chapter four talks
about morality and its basic foundations: fairness, care, loyalty, authority, and purity as the basis
for morality. How these align with our values is important in considering the way to best develop
our critical thinking abilities.
This book begins by laying a foundation of theories and information about how research is
conceptualized and conducted, before launching into an extended discussion of social identities
and the subject of social justice. These topics are informed by an understanding of key principles
such as prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination, discussions that are informed by theories in
both psychology and communication.
Here is a list of the chapters and their content:
Chapter One: Media and media psychology: An introduction to the topics of the book.
Chapter Two: Key Theories and Concepts from Media Psychology: This chapter will take a
number of theories in both communication and psychology, some of which might already be
familiar to you, and show how those theories apply to media psychology.
Chapter Three: Research Methods: This chapter will summarize research methods typically used
in the study of media psychology.
Chapter Four: Positive Psychology, Moral Reasoning, and Prosocial Behavior: A growing field,
positive psychology influences media psychology, while the study of moral development helps
explain some of the effects of media in this area.
Chapter Five: Social Justice and the Media: Gender, Identity, and Disability: This chapter
explores various ways that media might both marginalize and enhance our perceptions of various
social identities. Included are discussions of gender identities (including LGBTQ), ageism,
sizeism, and media portrayal of disabilities.
Chapter Six: Social Justice and the Media: Race, Ethnicity, and Religion: This chapter explores
the ways that various groups are marginalized by media but also how positive changes in media
can enhance the perception of these same groups.
Chapter Seven: Aliens Eating Reese’s: Media Influence & Advertising: This chapter is about
how advertising persuades us to buy products and adopt attitudes and behaviors that may or may
not be in our own best interests.
Chapter Eight: Propaganda, Fake News and Deep Faking: Can we believe our own eyes? Does
media contain hidden messages in an attempt to “trick” us?
Chapter Nine: Processes of Audience Involvement: Explores the ways that audiences are studied
using models like transportation, parasocial involvement, and identification.
Chapter Ten: Dark media: Violence, Pornography, and Addiction: How do depictions of
violence in media affect and change us? What other negative effects result from media?
Chapter Eleven: Join the Adventure: The Psychology of Gaming: A huge part of media
experience, discussed are the identities and motivations of players and gamers. Gaming has
turned into a worldwide social pastime and virtual and augmented reality are magnifying the
adventure.
Chapter Twelve: Media as a Social Facilitator: How have our social lives been extended by
media and what are the social influences of media.
Chapter Thirteen: The Turbulent Twenties: Media and COVID-19: The global pandemic that
emerged early in 2020 changed both life and media in powerful fundamental ways. How did
media change COVID-19 and how did COVID-19 change media?
Chapter Fourteen: The Future of Media: What are the present and future implications of digital
media and what changes we are likely to see in media psychology in both the near and far future.