• About the Authors
  • Blogs and Shows
  • Journals
  • Open Invitation
  • References
  • Resources
  • Taxonomy
  • Who’s Who?

Media Psychology

~ Informing, Educating and Influencing

Media Psychology

Monthly Archives: November 2018

Control of Screen Time Should Begin by Age 2

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Donna L. Roberts, PhD in Psychology

≈ Comments Off on Control of Screen Time Should Begin by Age 2

 

Source: Control of Screen Time Should Begin by Age 2

By Rick Nauert PhD

A Canadian study suggests that watching too much television can contribute to poor eating habits in adolescence and suboptimal school performance. While the concept is not new, the study suggests that screen time must be controlled by the early age of two, confirming new recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Researchers at Université de Montréal’s School of Psychoeducation, performed a longitudinal study looking at a birth cohort of nearly 2,000 Quebec boys and girls born between spring 1997 and 1998. The children were followed since they were five months old as part of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.

When they reached two years of age, their parents reported on their daily television habits. Then, at age 13, the youths themselves reported on their dietary habits and behavior in school.

The research appears in the journal Preventive Medicine.

“Not much is known about how excessive screen exposure in early childhood relates to lifestyle choices in adolescence,” explains Professor Linda Pagani. Pagnai supervised the research of graduate student Isabelle Simonato.

“This birth cohort is ideal, because the children were born before smartphones and tablets, and before any pediatric viewing guidelines were publicized for parents to follow. They were raising their children with TV and seeing it as harmless. This makes our study very naturalistic, with no outside guidelines or interference — a huge advantage.”

Simonato added, “Watching TV is mentally and physically sedentary behavior because it does not require sustained effort. We hypothesized that when toddlers watch too much TV it encourages them to be sedentary, and if they learn to prefer effortless leisure activities at a very young age, they likely won’t think much of non-leisure ones, like school, when they’re older.”

In their study, the researchers found that every hourly increase in toddlers’ TV viewing forecasted bad eating habits down the road — an increase of eight percent at age 13 for every hourly increase at age two.

In questionnaires, those early-TV adolescents reported consuming more French fries, prepared meats and cold cuts, white bread, regular and diet soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, salty or sweet snacks, and desserts.

Early TV viewing also translated into less eating of breakfast on school days (by 10 percent) and led to more overall screen time at age 13.

Every additional hour of watching TV also predicted a higher body mass index (a 10 percent increase) and less effortful behavior at school in the first year of secondary school, ultimately affecting performance and ambition.

“This study tells us that overindulgent lifestyle habits begin in early childhood and seem to persist throughout the life course,” Pagani noted. “An effortless existence creates health risks. For our society that means a bigger health care burden associated with obesity and lack of cardiovascular fitness.”

The researchers also measured their results against revised screen time guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which reduced the amount of daily viewing from two hours a day to one a day for children between ages two and five.

Compared to children who viewed less than one hour a day at age two, those who viewed between one and four a day later reported (at age 13) having less healthy dietary habits, skipping breakfast on weekdays, having a higher BMI, engaging in more intense screen time, and being less engaged as students.

“Because we had a lot of information on each child and family we were able to eliminate other psychological and socio-demographic factors that could have explained the results, which is a really ideal situation,” said Simonato.

“We even removed any influence of screen time habits at age 13 to really isolate long-term associations with toddler viewing.”

Source: University of Montreal/EurekAlert

Dr. Rick Nauert has over 25 years experience in clinical, administrative and academic healthcare. He is currently an associate professor for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professionals doctoral program in health promotion and wellness. Dr. Nauert began his career as a clinical physical therapist and served as a regional manager for a publicly traded multidisciplinary rehabilitation agency for 12 years. He has masters degrees in health-fitness management and healthcare administration and a doctoral degree from The University of Texas at Austin focused on health care informatics, health administration, health education and health policy. His research efforts included the area of telehealth with a specialty in disease management.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Don’t Become an Information Junkie: A Balance Between Learning And Taking Action

19 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Donna L. Roberts, PhD in Psychology

≈ Comments Off on Don’t Become an Information Junkie: A Balance Between Learning And Taking Action

One big trap in self improvement is becoming an “information junkie.” This is when we spend more time learning new information than putting it into action.

Source: Don’t Become an Information Junkie: A Balance Between Learning And Taking Action

by Steven Handel

An “information junkie” is someone who spends a lot of time reading books, watching videos, and listening to podcasts about self improvement, but they spend very little time actually putting what they learn into practice.

This is a very common problem for many people. We stuff our brains with loads of information, but then we find ourselves not knowing what to do with all of it. This is especially true in our current “information age,” where we are constantly consuming stuff on the internet and social media.

Of course, it’s a very positive thing to want to learn as much as possible and to do your own research into various topics. Overall — reading books, watching videos, and listening to podcasts is a very healthy and beneficial thing to do. Even the occasional surfing on Google and Wikipedia can be fun and informative.

But there comes a point when if you’re NOT able to apply this information to your everyday life, how useful is it really?

Endlessly seeking new information can ultimately become a distraction. We feel we’re not ready to make a change yet, so we think “Well, I should really read more articles or books before I decide what the best course of action is!”

But this can often become an impossible and never-ending task.

You’ll never know everything about a topic. Often times, being successful with your goals means learning how to “take action” even when you realize you don’t have perfect knowledge and perfect information.

And even more importantly, much of what we learn throughout our lives comes not just from books and videos, but through personal experience.

By focusing on information and not action, you’re actually limiting your education and self-growth by ignoring the importance of getting hands-on experience and real world knowledge.

It’s like reading books about how to play baseball without ever picking up a baseball and throwing it, or watching videos of people riding a bike without ever getting on a bike yourself. How good can you really get without any experience?

Have you fallen into the trap of becoming an “information junkie?” Do you spend too much time “learning” and not enough time “doing?”

Here’s advice on how to break out of this habit.

The “Consumer” vs. “Producer” Mindset

One important shift in your attitude is to go from a “consumer mindset” to a “producer mindset.”

The “information junkie” typically views themselves as a consumer. They feel they need to find the right book, the right video, or the right podcast that finally reveals to them some important piece of information that they’ve been waiting for.

Ultimately, they are searching for something outside of themselves before they can move forward, and not simply looking inside and doing the best with what they have.

Unlike the “consumer,” the “producer” is someone that is taking action with the knowledge they have and creating something of value that they can share with the world.

One important question to ask yourself is: “What am I creating on a daily basis? How am I adding value to the world and not just subtracting from it?”

This is a great question for everyone – not just people who are actively seeking self improvement.

In many ways, our culture has turned us all into crazed consumers. We’re constantly searching for the next movie to watch, the next video game to buy, the next fashion trend to jump on, etc. And this is where we draw a lot of our “happiness” from.

But we must also learn how to think of ourselves as “producers,” and not just “consumers.” And often this shift in your mindset can be far more fulfilling.

One important shift for me was making it a personal mission to create something new everyday. Even if it was just working on a new article or new video, I wanted to at least have something that I could show people and say, “I created this!”

The best part is: When you shift into a “producer mindset,” it does wonders for your confidence and self-esteem.

You stop seeing yourself as just a mindless consumer that depends on others. Instead, you become someone who is actually adding to the world and creating stuff – and that gives you an important sense of accomplishment that every human being craves.

There’s no better feeling than being able to point at something in the real world and say “I did this.” It shows you are participating in life and making a difference, however small it may seem to others.

To avoid becoming an “information junkie,” ask yourself, “What am I doing on a daily basis that brings me closer to my goals?” Take a second and write down the small steps you can begin taking within the next 24-48 hours.

Another important rule-of-thumb to follow is for every book, article, video, or podcast you consume, try to identify at least one action you can take based on the information you’ve learned.

Always remember: learning isn’t enough, we must put our knowledge into action, or whatever we learn will be meaningless.

 

Steven Handel is a self improvement author, blogger, speaker, and coach. He first started The Emotion Machine in June 2009 and has since published over 800 articles covering a wide-range of topics including Positive Psychology, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Social Psychology, Mindfulness Meditation, Emotional Intelligence, and much more!

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

The More Miserable You Are, the Happier Your Social Media Posts, and This Twitter Thread Proves It

12 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Donna L. Roberts, PhD in Psychology

≈ Comments Off on The More Miserable You Are, the Happier Your Social Media Posts, and This Twitter Thread Proves It

A huge online discussion shows why you should never be envious of other people’s glamorous online lives.

By Jessica Stillman

Of all the ways social media can be bad for you, one of the worst, according to science, is the ability of Facebook and the like to induce envy. You see your friends posting smiling selfies at exotic destinations and humblebragging about their professional and personal accomplishments, and you end up thinking your own life doesn’t measure up.

Of course, intellectually we all know that our real life selves and our highly curated online selves differ hugely, but it’s still easy to fall into the trap of letting other people’s perfect social-media profiles convince you that you’re somehow falling short. An emotional and revealing new Twitter thread should explode that worry for good.

The grass really, really isn’t greener.

The deeply revealing discussion was kicked off by this tweet from Tracy Clayton, host of the BuzzFeed podcast Another Round. (Hat tip Quartz.)

im curious. if youre comfortable doing so, post a picture of you that you shared on social media where you were actually having a really tough time in life even tho you look perfectly fine in the picture.

— Tracy Boomeisha-Ann Clayton (@brokeymcpoverty) July 11, 2018

Apparently, she hit a nerve, as responses poured in. People shared a torrent of posts about the reality behind seemingly cheerful vacation snaps, glamorous selfies, smiling family portraits, and sports triumphs. Happy-looking couples confessed to fighting moments before the photo, while others bravely told of the mental health issues they were hiding in their smiling posts. Here’s a sampling:

Me on the right, a little over four years ago. I was mega suicidal. pic.twitter.com/SKWsBuV7kY

— miller time (@itsallboring2me) July 11, 2018

this was circa the height of Michael Brown's murder. I was extremely lonely in a pred. white city miles away from my fam and the only POC in my grad school cohort. everyone was oblivious to the current events. and I had like $2 in my account and had been regularly skipping meals. pic.twitter.com/egtkw6e2uN

— thong sandal shawty (@tdouble_u) July 12, 2018

This is a fabulous prompt.

This photo is of me and my daughter (now almost 9) as a baby. I hadn’t slept in months and had RAGING postpartum anxiety. I loved her but mostly wanted to run away. I was tired and angry and scared all the time.

Life’s amazing now tho. As is she. pic.twitter.com/HDOAbvXoOY

— Jessica Langer, PhD (@DrJessicaLanger) July 11, 2018

Friend’s wedding. Both those smiles are fake because we’d been fighting. I still cringe seeing my body language in the photo. I remember feeling guilty that our other friends would know and that we’d be a distraction from a happy and important day. pic.twitter.com/mFsni7ZZAI

— Whitney Adkins (@littlewhits) July 11, 2018

Took this on a solo road trip, during one of the more major depressive episodes of my adult life. It was a relatively good trip, during which I spent a lot of time crying alone in my car/motel room. pic.twitter.com/BqyxKdo2Mb

— Jennifer Marmor (@jmarms) July 11, 2018

These posts obviously testify to the courage of those who shared them. They also speak volumes about our yearning for genuine human connection and authenticity, even at the cost of potential embarrassment. But on a less personal level, the sheer scale of the response to Clayton’s tweet is a useful reminder that what you see on social media bears basically no resemblance to people’s actual lives.

Remember that next time you’re feeling bad after comparing yourself to something you’ve seen online. Or even let this torrent of truth motivate you to consider scaling back your social media for good. Science suggests you’ll be happier for ditching a habit proven to induce envy, disconnection, and loneliness.

Have you ever posted a happy pic online to mask your real-life suffering?

 

Jessica Stillman is a freelance writer based in Cyprus with interests in unconventional career paths, generational differences, and the future of work. She has blogged for CBS MoneyWatch, GigaOM, and Brazen Careerist.

 

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

A New Study Has Found a Way to Stop People From Believing in Conspiracy Theories

05 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by Donna L. Roberts, PhD in Psychology

≈ Comments Off on A New Study Has Found a Way to Stop People From Believing in Conspiracy Theories

Mockery feels good but it just makes conspiracy theorists dig in their heels. Try this research-backed idea instead.

Source: A New Study Has Found a Way to Stop People From Believing in Conspiracy Theories

By Jessica Stillman

Apple, YouTube and Facebook have pulled the plug on Infowars’ Alex Jones for peddling loathsome lies such as the idea that the Sandy Hook massacre was an elaborate hoax. Twitter has failed to follow suit, stirring up heated debate about the proper role of media and tech platforms to rein in hateful speech and disinformation.

But while that’s certainly a debate worth having, it’s also worth asking: Does banning those who peddle lies actually reduce the number of people who believe them? Are there other ways to fight back against conspiracy theories and baseless rumors?

Who believes in Pizzagate anyway?

To start answering that question it’s important to understand exactly what sort of person believes the moon landing was faked.

Belief in conspiracy theories is more common than you might think. One study found roughly half of Americans believe at least one (and hey, a few past “conspiracy theories” actually proved true). This popularity is supported by biases hard-wired into us all, psychologists say, such as our tendency to look for information that confirms our beliefs and disregard information that challenges them, or the desire to find big causes for big events.

That means conspiracy theories will probably always be this us to some extent, but there are also demographic and psychological factors that make it more likely people will believe in them, including:

  • Being less educated. This one hardly needs much explaining.

  • A desire to feel special. Those who want to stand out from the crowd (aka those with narcissistic tendencies) can adopt extreme beliefs in order to do so.

  • Feelings of powerlessness. An explanation for events beyond a person’s control — no matter how ludicrous those explanations sound to others — can still be psychologically preferable to being the victim of blind chance or happenstance.

  • A need for certainty. “Seeking explanations for events is a natural human desire,””explains psychology professor David Ludden. “And we don’t just ask questions. We also quickly find answers to those questions–not necessarily the true answers, but rather answers that comfort us or that fit into our worldview.”

Management professors vs. tinfoil hat peddlers

Knowing this, what sort of interventions actually seems to persuade people to see the light and give up on conspiracy theories? As tempting as it can feel to non-believers, mocking conspiracy theorists usually just makes them dig in their heels. And it’s an open question whether taking away the microphones of their leaders will make any real dent.

But when Kellogg School management professor Cynthia Wang and colleagues recently went searching for a way to reduce belief in conspiracy theories they found one promising technique. You can’t quickly make someone more educated or less narcissistic to inoculate them against lies, but you can encourage them to take concrete action in pursuit of their goals. That simple step, which reduces feelings of powerlessness and reinforces the link between cause and effect, seems to move the needle.

Simply by prompting study participants to write about their aspirations the researchers were able to nudge people away from coming to wild-eyed conclusions when asked to evaluate fictional scenarios that might be viewed as conspiracies (for instance, a bank filing for bankruptcy). Subjects were also less likely to endorse existing conspiracy theories after focusing on how to improve their futures.

“You can actually shift someone’s mindset so they see fewer conspiracies,” Wang concluded from the findings.

More control equals fewer conspiracy theories (at work too)

The key to doing that is giving people a sense of control over their lives, even in small ways. “Wang and her co-authors suggest that government organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control can increase public trust by promoting messages that emphasize the ways individuals have control over their health outcomes,” notes the Kellogg Insight write-up of the research.

Whether any intervention along these lines is enough to stop a truly malignant character like Alex Jones is doubtful, though it is handy to know that in order to stop lies like his from spreading you need to build people up rather than tear them down. Broad public applications of this truth remain an open (but interesting) question. Managers can put them to use today, however.

Want less speculating around the office about backroom deals or arbitrary promotions? Science suggests that your best bet is to talk to your people often about their goals and help them understand the steps to take to get there. If people see real, controllable paths to power and self-betterment, they’re far less likely to think a tinfoil hat or a snake oil merchant is the answer.

Jessica Stillman is a freelance writer based in Cyprus with interests in unconventional career paths, generational differences, and the future of work. She has blogged for CBS MoneyWatch, GigaOM, and Brazen Careerist.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...
Ken Heller on

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,693 other subscribers

Media Psychology

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Blog Stats

  • 91,024 hits

Archives

  • December 2020 (3)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (3)
  • January 2020 (4)
  • December 2019 (8)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (5)
  • September 2019 (11)
  • August 2019 (7)
  • July 2019 (4)
  • June 2019 (3)
  • May 2019 (5)
  • April 2019 (8)
  • March 2019 (7)
  • February 2019 (4)
  • January 2019 (5)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • November 2018 (4)
  • October 2018 (5)
  • September 2018 (8)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (4)
  • June 2018 (3)
  • May 2018 (6)
  • April 2018 (4)
  • March 2018 (6)
  • February 2018 (6)
  • January 2018 (6)
  • December 2017 (4)
  • November 2017 (5)
  • October 2017 (5)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (5)
  • July 2017 (5)
  • June 2017 (5)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (5)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (7)
  • December 2016 (3)
  • November 2016 (2)
  • October 2016 (4)
  • September 2016 (2)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (3)
  • June 2016 (5)
  • May 2016 (6)
  • April 2016 (4)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (1)
  • January 2016 (1)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • January 2015 (1)
  • November 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (1)
  • August 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (4)
  • May 2014 (1)
  • April 2014 (1)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (2)
  • December 2013 (4)
  • November 2013 (2)
  • October 2013 (1)
  • September 2013 (1)
  • August 2013 (4)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • June 2013 (1)
  • April 2013 (1)
  • March 2013 (4)
  • February 2013 (3)
  • January 2013 (5)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (6)

Addiction Advertising Agenda Setting Al-Jazeera Associated Press Behavioralism Bernays Cartoons Causality Cognitive Correlation Cultivation Theory Digital Immigrants Digital Natives Ellul Facebook Fallacious Arguments Film Framing Gaming Gerbner Giles Google Greenwald ICT Identity Imagery Impact of ICT Influence Ingress Internet Internet.org Journalism Marketing McCombs McLuhan Mean World Sydrome Media Media Effects Media Literacy Media Psychology Mobile Computing Mobile Phones Moscow Olympics Neural Pathways news coverage Operant Conditioning Persuasive Technology Physiological Psychology Pinterest Potter Prensky Privacy Propaganda Psychological Effects Psychological Operations Psychology Public Diplomacy Public Relations Quotes Sexism Skinner Smartphone Social Change Social Identity Social Media Social Networks Social Psychology Sports Taylor Technology The Engineering of Consent Transmedia Twitter Walking Dead

RSS The Amplifier – APA Div. 46 Newsletter

  • 2022 APA Division 46 Society for Media Psychology & Technology Convention/Social Hour Photos
  • APA Council Representative Report: August 2022 Council Meeting Highlights
  • President-Elect’s Column: Literally Sick and Tired of Political Advertising
  • Past President Column: Program, Awards, Social Hour
  • Student Committee Column: The Importance of the Pipeline

RSS APA Div. 46 Media Psychology and Technology Facebook Feed – Come check it out!

  • Kids Are Using Minecraft To Design A More Sustainable World 06/07/2015
  • Home – UsMeU 05/07/2015
  • Huggable Robot Befriends Girl in Hospital 03/07/2015
  • Lifelong learning is made possible by recycling of histones, study says 03/07/2015
  • Synthetic Love: Can a Human Fall in Love With a Robot? – 24/06/2015

RSS Changing Minds

  • An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.

RSS Media Smarts

  • Focus Group 06/02/2023
    Focus GroupThank you for your interest in participating in this qualitative research study called Reporting Platforms: Young Canadians Evaluate Efforts to Counter Disinformation.  To participate in this study, you must:Read More

RSS Adam Curtis

  • HYPERNORMALISATION 11/10/2016
    Adam Curtis introduces his new epic film

RSS Media Psychology Blog

  • does resurge work : Resurge weight reduction supplement is a... 10/04/2020
    does resurge work : Resurge weight reduction supplement is a distinct advantage program that would bolster your ascent to control. It will change you and make you more grounded than at any other time with improved wellbeing that can assist you with getting away from heftiness. This Resurge audit tells how the Supplement will help your lack of sleep and weigh […]

RSS The Psych Files

  • When Good People Do Bad Things 20/05/2020
    For years, the Stanford Prison Study has been used to tout the idea that putting any individual in a position of absolute control brings out the worst in them (and in a more general sense, that people conform to the roles they’re placed in). An article appearing in Scientific American (Rethinking the Infamous Stanford Prison Experiment) includes new informat […]

RSS The Media Zone

  • And He Knew All the Words 24/11/2014
    Stuart Fischoff pioneered Media Psychology. He was a TV talk-show shrink—until it got too rowdy even for him. He knew all the words to Sondheim. And now he's gone.

RSS The Media Psychology Effect

  • The Nature and Benefits of Earning an Ed.D. Degree 21/12/2022
    The Doctor of Education (Ed.D) degree is ideal for working professionals and leaders planning to advance their careers in education, business, politics, media, and communications.

RSS On The Media

  • An error has occurred; the feed is probably down. Try again later.

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Media Psychology
    • Join 558 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Media Psychology
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: