PSYC 3343: Research Methods, Theories, and Psychology of Social Media

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering research methodology, psychological models of social media usage, interpersonal connection theories, and digital behavioural dynamics.

Cross-Sectional Survey

A research design that assesses variables at a single point in time across individuals; efficient for identifying associations but incapable of establishing temporal ordering or proving causality.

Longitudinal Study

A research design that assesses the same participants over extended periods across multiple waves, establishing temporal precedence ($X$ measured before $Y$) without fully eliminating background confounds.

Experience Sampling Method (ESM) / Daily Diary

An intensive longitudinal research design collecting repeated short assessments multiple times per day in real time, capturing within-person fluctuations with high ecological validity and reduced recall bias.

Experimental Design

A research design that manipulates an independent variable with random assignment; considered the gold standard for causal inference despite potential artificiality and ethical constraints.

Mediation

A statistical relationship that explains the mechanism or process linking a predictor variable ($A$) to an outcome ($Y$) through an intervening mediator ($M$), answering 'why' or 'how' an effect occurs.

Moderation

A statistical relationship specifying the conditions under which the strength or direction of an association between a predictor ($A$) and an outcome ($Y$) changes depending on a third variable ($Z$), answering 'when' or 'for whom'.

Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT)

A framework proposed by Katz et al. (1974) positing that active, goal-directed users deliberately choose media to satisfy specific psychological or social needs, reinforcing behaviours when those gratifications are obtained.

Extended Active-Passive Model (EAP)

A theoretical model proposing that the well-being impacts of social media depend on behavioural subtypes: active use (varying by target and valence) versus passive use (varying by self-relevance and outcome valence), mediated by social comparison and social capital.

Passive Use

The consumption of content on social media without direct behavioural action or interaction, such as browsing newsfeeds or viewing stories.

Active Use

Direct behavioural participation and content exchange on social media, including posting, commenting, liking, and direct messaging.

Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model (DSMM)

A framework by Valkenburg and Peter stating that media effects depend on individual susceptibility factors, are mediated by cognitive, emotional, and excitative response states, and operate through transactional feedback loops.

Susceptibility Factors (DSMM)

Individual vulnerability dimensions in the DSMM categorized into dispositional (personality, self-esteem), developmental (age, cognitive maturity), and social context (peer norms, culture).

Response States (DSMM)

The three immediate psychological mediators connecting media use to outcomes: cognitive (attention, inspection), emotional (envy, mood shifts), and excitative/physiological (physiological arousal, dopamine response).

Transactional Effects (DSMM)

The reciprocal feedback loop in the DSMM wherein the outcomes of media use feed back to modify a user's dispositional traits, media choices, and future response states over time.

Attachment Theory (Bowlby)

An evolutionary theory stating that infants possess an innate drive to form bonds with primary caregivers, establishing internal working models and expectations that shape adult relationship patterns.

Belongingness Theory (Baumeister & Leary)

A fundamental psychological theory proposing that humans have an evolutionarily hardwired need to belong, which requires frequent, affectively positive interactions embedded within a temporally stable, caring relationship framework.

Sense of Belonging

The subjective feeling of being accepted, included, and valued as a member of a group or within an ongoing relationship.

Social Connection

The subjective psychological experience of interpersonal closeness, warmth, emotional support, and meaningful relational ties.

Social Contact

The behavioural occurrence of an interpersonal interaction, occurring regardless of relational depth, emotional quality, or reciprocity.

Self-Disclosure

The communication process of revealing personal and private information about oneself—ranging from factual details to deep vulnerabilities—which fosters mutual trust and relational closeness.

Perceived Social Support

The subjective conviction that assistance, caring, and resources are available from one's social network if needed; often more critical for well-being than actual received support.

Shared Reality

The establishment of common ground and mutual cognitive-emotional alignment experienced when two people share synchronized affect or reactions toward a common stimulus.

Deliberate Self-Presentation

Consciously calculated and strategic behaviours designed to project a specific outward image, typically aimed at appearing likable and confident.

Automatic Self-Presentation

Habituated, routinized self-presentational behaviours that occur without conscious deliberation across familiar social environments.

Discrepancy Principle

The psychological rule stating that a larger gap between an individual's actual self (realistic perception) and ideal self (aspirational standard) corresponds with lower self-esteem.

Platform Affordances

The functional design properties and structural capabilities of digital platforms (e.g., asynchronicity, persistence, visibility) that shape how users interact and communicate.

Context Collapse

The blending of separate, distinct offline social audiences (such as family members, close friends, coworkers, and acquaintances) into a single, unified digital audience space.

Warranting Theory

A communication principle stating that observers place greater trust in information about a person when it originates from sources that the person cannot easily alter or control (e.g., third-party tags or comments).

Audience Segmentation

A coping mechanism for context collapse wherein users divide their audiences by maintaining separate accounts (e.g., finstas) or utilizing private sub-lists (e.g., close friends) to control impressions.

Lowest Common Denominator Strategy

A self-censorship tactic used during context collapse where an individual only posts neutral, broad content that satisfies the lowest common standard of all merged social circles.

Capitalization

The psychological process of sharing positive personal events or achievements with others, which magnifies and prolongs the discloser's positive emotional experience.

Social Comparison Theory (Festinger)

A psychological theory proposed by Leon Festinger (1954) stating that individuals evaluate their own abilities and beliefs by comparing themselves to others, particularly in personally relevant domains lacking objective benchmarks.

Upward Social Comparison

The process of comparing oneself to an individual perceived as superior, higher-performing, or more fortunate on a personally meaningful dimension.

Downward Social Comparison

The process of comparing oneself to an individual perceived as inferior, less fortunate, or performing worse on a personally meaningful dimension.

Assimilative Comparison

A comparison outcome occurring when the perceived psychological distance between the self and target is small, generating inspiration/optimism in upward comparisons or anxiety/fear in downward comparisons.

Contrastive Comparison

A comparison outcome occurring when the perceived psychological distance between the self and target is large, generating envy/inferiority in upward comparisons or relief/pride in downward comparisons.

Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts)

A sociocultural framework positing that Western cultural socialization leads individuals (predominantly women and girls) to internalize an external observer's gaze upon their physical bodies.

Self-Objectification

The psychological tendency to treat and evaluate oneself primarily as an aesthetic object based on outward physical appearance and sexual appeal rather than internal capabilities, health, or character.

Body Surveillance

The habitual, ongoing self-monitoring of one's physical appearance, often leading to body shame, social anxiety, and diminished awareness of internal bodily states.

Observational Peer Influence

The process whereby individuals deduce social norms and acceptable conduct simply by watching peers' behaviours and public feedback online without direct interpersonal pressure.

Online Disinhibition Effect (Suler)

The psychological phenomenon described by John Suler where people experience reduced social restraint, lowered psychological barriers, and altered moral regulation when communicating online compared to offline environments.

Benign Disinhibition

A positive manifestation of online disinhibition where reduced inhibitions foster vulnerable emotional disclosure, prosocial acts of kindness, and authentic self-expression.

Toxic Disinhibition

A harmful manifestation of online disinhibition where lowered behavioural restraint prompts aggressive hostility, online harassment, cyberbullying, and unprovoked threats.

Dissociative Anonymity

A contributing factor to online disinhibition where using pseudonyms or avatars separates digital conduct from offline identity, creating a subjective perception of 'this isn't really me.'

Invisibility (Online Disinhibition)

A factor in online disinhibition where the absence of physical presence and non-verbal distress cues (e.g., eye contact, facial expressions, tears) shields individuals from observing the direct impact of their words.

Solipsistic Introjection

A psychological mechanism where reading digital text in one's own internal voice causes users to project their own traits, imagined tones, and motivations onto other communicators.

Dissociative Imagination

A psychological perception where users view online environments as a fictional, make-believe space disconnected from real-world consequences and responsibilities.

Minimization of Authority

A factor in online disinhibition where traditional offline power structures, institutional authority figures, and status differentials are flattened or rendered invisible in digital spaces.

Moral Disengagement

A set of socio-cognitive mechanisms that permit individuals to bypass internal moral standards and engage in harmful actions without experiencing personal guilt or self-censure.

Moral Justification

A moral disengagement mechanism wherein harmful conduct is cognitively reconstructed as serving a noble, educational, or moral purpose (e.g., 'teaching someone a lesson').

Euphemistic Labeling

A moral disengagement strategy that uses sanitized, humorous, or playful vocabulary (e.g., 'just a joke', 'just trolling') to minimize the apparent severity of harmful behaviour.

Advantageous Comparison

A moral disengagement strategy that compares one's own detrimental behaviour to far more extreme or heinous offenses to make one's conduct appear harmless or mild.

Displacement of Responsibility

A moral disengagement mechanism wherein individuals view their actions as the result of external pressures, original creators, or outside catalysts rather than their own agency.

Diffusion of Responsibility

A moral disengagement mechanism that disperses personal culpability across a wide collective or bystander audience (e.g., 'everyone was sharing it').

Dehumanization

A moral disengagement mechanism that strips targets of their human emotional qualities and individuality, reducing them to digital avatars, objects, or caricatures.