The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology

The 21st century has seen the use of media technologies become thoroughly integrated with our daily lives: most of us feel lost without our mobile device in hand, check social media multiple times a day, and turn to digital entertainment in our free time. This shift has spurred the emergence of media psychology: a multidisciplinary approach to studying how people use, process, and are affected by the media and technology they engage every day. This second edition of The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology brings together leading experts in the field to update what is a rapidly evolving area of study. Returning contributors expand chapters on the history and progress of media literacy, research methods, parasocial experiences, and race and the media, among others. New chapters tackle cutting-edge issues like artificial intelligence, research in media and social justice, the impact of deep-fakes and social media on conspiracy theories, the psychology of fandom, the self as reflected in avatars, the evolution of video games and virtual reality, and the psychological experience of the pandemic related to media use. Together, this volume retains and broadens our understanding of the foundational aspects of media psychology, from research methods and theory to fields like cognitive and developmental psychology. It presents novel approaches to how we conceptualize, operationalize, and analyze media psychological phenomena. Building on the field-defining research of the first edition, this update collects scholarship covering the most essential developments in media psychology in the last decade.

Karen E. Shackleford is Professor of Psychology in Fielding Graduate University's Media Psychology doctoral program. She is a social psychologist who studies how people understand the social world and experience meaning through connecting with fictional characters and stories. She is the author of How Fantasy Becomes Reality, co-author of Finding Truth in Fiction, Editor of The Oxford Handbook of Media Psychology and Editor of Psychology of Popular Media, a journal of the American Psychological Association. Her TEDx talk is called "Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter are Real" (tinyurl.com/SherlockHarryPotter). Nicholas D. Bowman is Associate Professor of Communications in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He is a communication scientist and media psychologist who studies the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social dimensions of interactive media, from social media to video games and immersive digital worlds. He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts and presented more than 200 original studies at regional, national, and international conferences (with more than 30 earning high distinction). He holds affiliate faculty positions focused on games and play in Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.