Psychological Implications of Modern Technologies: “Technofobia” versus “Technophilia”

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to present the psychological consequences, favourable or not, of the modern technologies. Modern technologies, also known as “new technology”, caused the appearance of the psychological ambivalence, because, modern technologies, generate, in the same measure, comfort and disasters. At the psycho-dynamic level, this ambivalence is expressed by technophilia (attraction to technology) and technophobia (rejection of technology). Technophilia and technophobia are the two extremes of the relationship between technology and the human being, but especially, between technology and societ

Exploring social gambling: scoping, classification and evidence review

The aim of this report is to speculate on the level of concern we might have regarding consumer risk in relation to ‘social gambling.’ In doing so, this report is intended to help form the basis to initiate debate around a new and under-researched social issue; assist in setting a scientific research agenda; and, where appropriate, highlight concerns about any potential areas that need to be considered in terms of precautionary regulation. This report does not present a set of empirical research findings regarding ‘social gambling’ but rather gathers information to improve stakeholder understanding

Addiction to New Technologies and Cyberbullying in the Costa Rican Context

Addiction to new technologies (Internet, smartphone and video games) as well as cyber-aggression presents a growing incidence at a global level. Correlational research is proposed with a sample of n = 127 Costa Rican adolescents, with a mean age of 16.32 years, comprising 67 men and 60 women. The objective was to determine the prevalence of Internet, smartphone and video game addiction and its close relationship with cyberbullying (cyber-victim role, cyberbully role and mixed role) in the Costa Rican context. The results show a high rate of abusive use (connection time) of the Internet and “smartphones”, and the correlation study, multiple regressions, backward elimination method and network analysis show how the behavior of cyberbullies is moderately mediated by “Lack of control of Smartphone” and to a large extent by “Avoidance and social problem video games”, while that of victims is moderately mediated by “Avoidance and social problem video games”, and is slightly mediated for “Lack of control of Smartphone” and for “Lack of control of Internet”. In addition, there is a strong relationship between holding both the role of cyber-victim and cyberbully, developing feelings of revenge and lack of empathy. The practical implications, and the relevance of the socio-demographic and social explanatory variables of both phenomena are discussed. It is concluded that there is evidence of an explanatory and close relationship between the phenomena of cybervictimization, cyber-aggression and addiction to the Internet, smartphone and video games

Parent-child interactions: what is the role of smartphones?

Background The importance of parent-child attachment in supporting child wellbeing and development has been well-documented in the literature. However, modern technologies may act as a barrier to parent-child interactions. Currently, literature suggests many parents identify decreased feelings of social connectedness and lower levels of attention quality when using their smartphones while caring for children. However, no research to date has explored children’s perspectives of parental smartphone use. Aims This research explored the perceived impact of parental smartphone use on children, by gathering both children’s and parents’ perspectives. Two principal research questions identified were: 1. How do children perceive parental smartphone use? 2. What are parents’ experiences of using smartphones when caring for children? Methods Children’s perspectives were elicited using a Short Story Methodology, with children asked to complete one of three story variations. Parental perspectives were gathered using an online questionnaire, consisting of both open and closed ended questions. Closed ended questions were taken from the Distraction in Social Relations and Use of Parent Technology (DISRUPT) scale (McDaniel, 2016), while open-ended questions asked parents about their experiences of their smartphone use when spending time with children. Descriptive analyses were performed on the quantitative data, while the qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results Children identified negative emotional responses in relation to the disrupted parent child interactions. Children also discussed negotiations that occur with caregivers when interactions are disrupted. Parents identified a number of ways in which smartphones intrude on family life, as well as external pressures and personal factors which cause them to engage in smartphone use. Conclusions Exploring the impact parental screen time has on children may provide valuable insights when examining the ecological factors that may be influencing child development. For educational psychologists, these factors are important to consider when supporting children and their families.N

Internet Use and Abuse: Connection with Internet Addiction

Modern information and communication technologies have progressed quickly. Mobile technology, personal computers and the Internet have become closely linked to human life. However, all these devices and their use bring various pitfalls. Cheating of pupils and students in the school environment has been an interdisciplinary issue linked not only to pedagogy, but also to the whole range of sub-disciplines, like for example social pedagogy or etopedy. The latter disciplines have been significantly interfered by information and communication technologies that bring new forms of illegal school activities. Due to modern technologies we can also trace an increase of inattention of pupils and students and their tendency to distraction during lessons. Signs of Internet addiction among pupils and students can be observed more often. The paper deals with a research focusing on Internet use by secondary school youth and possible risks of using the Internet for them. Three aspects entering the educational process of adolescents are discussed there; Internet use, school cheating and Internet addictive behavior. In addition, a relation between possible risks of Internet use and educational strategies according the Learning Combination Inventory originated by Christine A. Johnston was examined within the research

Internet and Smartphone Use-Related Addiction Health Problems: Treatment, Education and Research

This Special Issue presents some of the main emerging research on technological topics of health and education approaches to Internet use-related problems, before and during the beginning of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective is to provide an overview to facilitate a comprehensive and practical approach to these new trends to promote research, interventions, education, and prevention. It contains 40 papers, four reviews and thirty-five empirical papers and an editorial introducing everything in a rapid review format. Overall, the empirical ones are of a relational type, associating specific behavioral addictive problems with individual factors, and a few with contextual factors, generally in adult populations. Many have adapted scales to measure these problems, and a few cover experiments and mixed methods studies. The reviews tend to be about the concepts and measures of these problems, intervention options, and prevention. In summary, it seems that these are a global culture trend impacting health and educational domains. Internet use-related addiction problems have emerged in almost all societies, and strategies to cope with them are under development to offer solutions to these contemporary challenges, especially during the pandemic situation that has highlighted the global health problems that we have, and how to holistically tackle them

College Students, Experiences on Smart Phone Technology Usage: A Qualitative Content Analysis Study

Besides many benefits of the cell phone technology, numerous arguments are raised on the different and important negative effects of such a technology. This qualitative content analysis study explored the common usages of smart phone technology, its challenges, and benefits among Iranian college students. Participants were 32 bachelor degree students who were recruited using purposive sampling method with maximum variation. Data were collected through 11 individual semi-structured interviews and 3 focus group discussions (5-8 students in each group). Data analysis was done based on a conventional content analysis approach. Data analysis resulted in 3 main themes and 12 sub-themes. The main themes included “Easy life” (achieving information, handling school affairs, easy communication, and cheap communication); “Spending time” (virtual friendship, participation in various social networks, computer games, watching movies and cartoons, and reading stories and novels); and “The experience of challenges” (physical problems, psychosocial stress, and mood and behavioral problems). Based on the students\u27 experiences about the smart phones technology usage, authorities, cultural institutions, and educational policy makers should encourage culture development using education through media and education during the early childhood and before using any software

Operator-based approaches to harm minimisation in gambling: summary, review and future directions

In this report we give critical consideration to the nature and effectiveness of harm minimisation in gambling. We identify gambling-related harm as both personal (e.g., health, wellbeing, relationships) and economic (e.g., financial) harm that occurs from exceeding one’s disposable income or disposable leisure time. We have elected to use the term ‘harm minimisation’ as the most appropriate term for reducing the impact of problem gambling, given its breadth in regard to the range of goals it seeks to achieve, and the range of means by which they may be achieved. The extent to which an employee can proactively identify a problem gambler in a gambling venue is uncertain. Research suggests that indicators do exist, such as sessional information (e.g., duration or frequency of play) and negative emotional responses to gambling losses. However, the practical implications of requiring employees to identify and interact with customers suspected of experiencing harm are questionable, particularly as the employees may not possess the clinical intervention skills which may be necessary. Based on emerging evidence, behavioural indicators identifiable in industryheld data, could be used to identify customers experiencing harm. A programme of research is underway in Great Britain and in other jurisdiction