In today’s technological era, most people use computers or smartphones to keep up with friends on Facebook, play games, etc.
Psychological researchers have now discovered in two recent studies that social media and technology reveal a lot about someone’s personality and the way they think. The studies, featured in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, describe how media and technology reveal and also change a person’s mental state, and also how technological trends change the questions that psychological scientists are asking and how they formulate the questions.
Apart from attracting people from all walks of life that have joined Facebook since its launch, as well as Wall Street investors, the 800-plus-million strong social media giant has also gained the recognition of social scientists, who have taken the opportunity to incorporate the site into their programs, as they realize its value to broaden their research.
A team of psychological scientists has collated all social-science studies involving Facebook and examined the types of questions researchers are asking.
They found that overall, most people are attracted to Facebook because of its ability to informally maintain connections with close and distant friends.
Research has also revealed that because Facebook users paint a fairly accurate picture of themselves, it means they provide companies with a superb source for assessing prospective job candidates, as well as allowing marketing businesses to find new target groups for their products.
However, studies have shown that as time has passed, Facebook users have become increasingly more wary about their privacy. This is something that has to be taken into consideration when researchers design Facebook studies. Yet according to Wilson and his team it is still worth the effort as the value of collected Facebook data still outweighs the challenges that scientists need to tackle in order to obtain the data.
Although the prices of smartphones may be falling, their worth to psychological scientists is simply invaluable. The biggest hurdles for researchers is collecting real-time data in people’s everyday environments, and although it is possible to re-create certain scenarios in a laboratory environment, why should scientists rely on simulations when the obvious solution are smartphones, according to psychological scientist Geoffrey Miller.
Smartphones have the advantage of being carried around by people to almost everywhere they go, and their inbuilt sensors are capable of providing information of users locations, whether a person is moving, how they are moving, and whether a person is in close proximity to other smartphone users. Miller suggests that downloadable ‘psych apps’ would allow scientists to obtain a more accurate representation of how people’s behavior is influenced by environments. One such app already in use is ‘Mappiness’. The app is able to combine a person’s location, the ambient noise level, and the person’s mood to find out how it is impacted by the current environment. According to Miller, smartphones could also in future include other features, such as detecting levels of temperature, radiation and pollution.
The drawbacks of using smartphones for research are their limited battery life, accounting for different types of models, as well as a limited study population considering that it is mostly young and well-to-do people who can afford these phones. However, Miller remains optimistic in believing that it is only a matter of time before the ‘smartphone revolution’ in psychological science research will take place.
Written By Petra Rattue