Media psychology

Media psychology emerged due to a social and commercial demand for the application of psychological theory and research into media impact in both academic and non-academic settings. This field encompasses the full range of human experience of media--including affect, cognition, and behavior--in activities, events, theories, and practices. Media include all forms of mediated communication, such as pictures, sound, graphics, content and emerging technologies. Media Psychology seeks an understanding of how people understand, use, and respond to our media-rich world to identify potential benefits and problems.

Division 46 of the American Psychological Association defines its purpose as focusing on the roles psychologists play in various aspects of the media, including traditional and new technologies. It seeks to promote research into the impact of media on human behavior and understanding media use; to facilitate interaction between psychology and media representatives; to enrich the teaching, training, and practice of media psychology; to encourage the use of psychological theory and expertise to the development of media across a wide array of applications such as education and healthcare; and to prepare psychologists to interpret psychological research to the lay public and to other professionals.