Example of Careers in Media Psychology

Pursuing a degree in media psychology can be a life-changing experience.  I am not only speaking for myself.  Among my students, a common response is that studying media psychology developed their ability to assess the continually changing media environment and provided them with a solid foundation for evaluating the emerging research.  Most importantly, the uniqueness of the field opened doors to new career opportunities.  See also Careers in Media Psychology.

The following examples demonstrate some of the applications of media psychology in different domains:

• Education
• Media Literacy
• Marketing and Advertising
• Social Impact, Non-Profits & Healthcare
• Media Creation
• Entertainment Media

Education

Teaching and Researching Media Psychology

Many media psychology graduates stay in academia, teaching and performing research in media psychology and related fields.  Since there are few dedicated media psychology programs at colleges and universities, there are opportunities to introduce innovative programming and courses within other related departments and disciplines.  Teaching media psychology as a topic requires a facility with range of subfields in psychology as well as the acquisition of teaching experience, which can often be gained as a graduate student.   More advanced media psychology courses drill down within a subfield of psychology, allowing scholars to apply their specific areas of expertise to media technologies.  For example, social psychology can form the foundation for learning about online behaviors, social networks, and crowdsourcing.

Most media psychologists in academia pursue research interests and publish either independently or with student research teams. There is a wide range of journals now interested in the wide range of topics related to media psychology. Areas under examination in some of our research teams include the social impact of technology on rural communities, personal growth in fan communities, perceptual consistency in augmented reality applications, sporting events as immersive experiences, identity stigmas among gamers, empathy and emotional release in social media attacks on corporations, brand integrity and the role of archetypes, gender roles in fan blogs, and engagement factors across transmedia stories.

Integrating Online Tools in Education

While media psychology can be taught as a subject, it is also valuable to anyone who wants to create media-based content to support teachers in other disciplines.  Areas in cognitive psychology, such as learning theory, schemas and mental models, and information processing, and in social psychology, such as social validation and peer pressure (social proof), imply psychological and behavioral implications of design decisions and platform choices when integrating media and technology into a curriculum or learning experience. Media psychologists help educators determine which tools, such as blogging, wikis, Twitter, presentation tools, video, search tools, digital portfolios and online data access and survey development, can be used to supplement traditional and online education in different situations and with different populations (e.g., Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012).

Teaching Online

Media psychology also informs a range of skills that enhance online learning in any field, such as creating dynamic, interactive online learning spaces that can support synchronous and asynchronous teaching.  As with integrating technology into face-to-face curriculum, the fields of cognitive, developmental and social psychologies inform different aspects of design and organization of course content, ease of navigation and creating a structure that is conducive to creating meaningful relationships in a virtual space.

Online teaching offers tremendous flexibility to both faculty and students who are otherwise geographically constrained by family, work, and other obligations. There are advantages and disadvantages to online teaching. The online environment challenges traditional methods of establishing authentic relationships, requiring new processes and skills in order to deliver and receive feedback, and express yourself effectively without the advantage of body language and facial expressions.

The advantages, however, are plentiful.  People who have never taught or taken a course online will be surprised by how quickly they feel connected to the others in the course.   Online environments solicit participation from even the most introverted students, allow for both asynchronous and synchronous contact, and make education available to people who would not have the ability or opportunity to attend traditional educational institutions.

Media Literacy and Digital Citizenship

As technology becomes more intertwined with daily life, learning how to use it well becomes a critical issue. The digital divide is no longer about access; it is about the skills to navigate the digital world.  The need for improving media literacy is creating a variety of opportunities for media psychologists to pursue careers.

Consultants and Trainers

Media psychologists often work as consultants to train people of all ages to effectively navigate the digital world, from understanding digital etiquette and ethical behaviors to mastering tools to access information and communication.  Some media psychologists create and deliver digital citizenship programs for students and educators within school systems as well as employees and managers in organizations.  Others work with parents and community groups to educate people in how to safely and effectively use digital tools in order to participate fully in society.

The application of psychology provides a broader view of concepts such as media literacy.  While many people focus on narrow segments for specific populations and needs, such as Internet safety or cyberbullying, psychologists also have the ability to step back and see the larger picture, such as how developmental issues, social goals, personal growth, cognitive capabilities, and cultural perspectives intersect with the capabilities and use of media technologies.  This allows a media psychologist to frame technology use in terms of social and developmental norms.

Media literacy draws on areas within cognitive psychology, social psychology, and developmental psychology, informed by theories such as self-schema, self-efficacy, and agency, and developmental appropriateness—all of which influence the adoption rate and use of technology.  Equally important is the ability to use cognitive frameworks to simplify and communicate media literacy in a way that is accessible to worried parents, blasé students, and a fearful public.

Marketing, Advertising and Branding

Psychology has always played an important role in marketing through consumer psychology and much of the research done in the marketing would qualify as media psychology.  While ‘psychologists working in marketing’ is covered elsewhere in this volume, I’d like to draw attention to some areas in marketing and engagement where media psychology is a particularly vital field.

The Social Space: Community Building and Social Media Management

With consumers becoming more empowered, companies now realize they need a new way of interacting with customers—one that develops relationships.   This shift has created a new set of careers opportunities around community and social media management and consumer engagement.  These careers combine knowledge of social media and community structures with aspects of social psychology, such as networked behaviors, social identity and social connection.  Media psychology makes it easier to recognize and adapt to behavioral trends and support the types of community behaviors that influence consumer engagement.

Brand Psychology

The importance of branding, brand strategy, brand personality, and brand storytelling has never had more attention and it has never been more social.  Brands are now in the business of forming relationships and creating emotional connections and need a strategy that integrates the consumer’s brand schema at multiple levels.  Brand psychology draws on expertise in storytelling, narrative identity, and brain science in developing brand strategies that tap into unconscious meaning, emotion, and images that frame the larger brand experience.

Audience Profiling

Marketers, companies, governments, and political campaigns have the ability to gather a dizzying range of data on human behavior, from online behavior to our physical locations via mobile devices.  These technological developments have created a new range of career opportunities for media psychologists to construct research and perform analysis on consumer behavior to identify and measure psychological drivers, extending the ‘psychographic’ models at use in marketing today.

Media psychologists in these capacities must have solid skills in research and analysis and familiarity with the methods and criteria used to calculate and predict valued interactions and track consumer engagement.  The value-added of media psychology is in understanding the influence of network structures on behavior.  Skills in this area include the ability to create research projects, construct methodologically sound surveys, conduct focus groups, and maintain a fluency in analytical tools for evaluating and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data.

Social Impact: Nonprofits and Social Entrepreneurship

Media and technology for positive social impact draw on the same psychological theories and skill sets that would be employed in other marketing, branding, and persuasive applications. However, additional attention is placed on the integration of positive psychology tenets to guide media for social change campaigns, social entrepreneurship, and corporate social responsibility programs.  These media experiences are constructed to gain not just the audience’s attention but their trust in order to further a cause, influence public policy, solicit support, or inspire behavior change.  Thus, media psychologists consciously integrate the promotion of constructs such as altruism, self-efficacy, resilience, hope, and optimism in the media they produce.   Measurement evaluation moves away from traditional return-on-investment toward estimates of increased empathy and responses to various calls to action.

Media psychologists are involved in a number of efforts to harness the power of media for social betterment.  These include: 1) creating best practices for effective collaborative philanthropy and crowdsourced funding, such as Kickstarter.org, that encourage broad-based and grass roots participation; 2) using social technologies to allow low-cost message distribution through audience participation and sharing; 3) developing mobile technologies that can deliver content such as literacy programs and health information worldwide; 4) creating information systems to support social phenomenon, such as identifying areas of conflict, providing birth registration, and developing low-literacy interfaces for mobile transfer of funds; and 5) developing entertainment media based on entertainment-education models that address social problems, such as domestic violence or family planning, in culturally digestible ways (e.g., Singhal & Obregon, 1999).

Healthcare and Behavior Change

The ability to influence behavior through media is an exploding field.  Media psychologists work a number of ways to support positive health and lifestyle behaviors and establish new social norms for improved subjective wellbeing.

Robotics

Mediated experience occurs through all kinds of technology.  A wide range of career opportunities is available for those who combine psychology with a background in robotics and engineering.  Ongoing research in applied robotics at many universities relies on the fundamentals of psychology to create successful products.  These types of robotic applications integrate knowledge across cognitive and developmental psychologies as well as robotics, where key issues in effective design are not just functionality and usability but also user perceptions of human qualities that allow for engagement and trust.

Mobile Apps and Wearables

One of the most visible emerging technologies is the use of personalized technology, such as mobile apps and wearable devices, that track wellness and medically-related behaviors, from movement to blood-sugar levels.  Wearables, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, have created a category known as the ‘quantified self,’ where self-knowledge comes from self-tracking.

According to Pew Research 69% of U.S. adults track at least one health indicator, particularly those with chronic health concerns, and more and more of them are moving to technology, (Fox & Duggan, 2013).  Psychologists have long known that manual tools like mood journals and weight logs contributed to significant improvement in reaching health goals.  The availability of well-designed technology increases adoption—and accuracy.  Even the regular use of something as simple as a pedometer increases physical activity and improves health (Bravata, Smith-Spangler, Sundaram, & et al., 2007), but this emerging field is ripe for new research. The psychological factors are critical, however, because they only work if you use them.   Thus media psychologists are looking at the full range of psychological drivers beyond usability, compliance, sustainability, comprehension, user perceptions of value, cognitive constraints of different screen sizes, literacy levels and technology adoption across different populations.

Healthy Environments

Moving from the small to the large, media psychologists study the impact of holistic media environments, from closed-channel media with soothing music and imagery for hospitals to virtual worlds and augmented realities applications created for therapeutic interventions.  Psychologists at the University of Southern California, for example, have been developing virtual reality applications for the U.S. Army that build resiliency and overcome Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Rizzo, Difede, Rothbaum, Daughtry, & Reger, 2013).

Media Creation

Media creation is not just about the arts, like film and music.  It applies to a vast array of activities centered around the ease of creating, using, and sharing things like medical records, business documents, transportation logs, training protocols, video games, and software programs.

Media creators include course designers, filmmakers, game developers, app and web developers, journalists, photographer and systems and product designers of all kinds. Their products include everything from traditional media to emerging technologies, such as virtual reality and augmented reality.   Each of these occupations demands specialized technological skills and all of them are enhanced by the application of psychology.

Interactive Media and Games

Many students are fascinated by the use and popularity of interactive media and, particularly, video games.  Media psychologists working with these industries following two paths: 1) working within companies that design and development different types of interactive media and games and 2) researching interactive media and gaming experience and impact.

Some media psychology graduates have taken their interest in cognitive and positive psychologies and brain science and gone to work for companies designing and marketing interactive children’s media, such as digital books.  Others have gone to work for companies that create software programs for applying gamification principles to online training and gaming platforms. Media psychologists focusing on making and playing games generally supplement their foundation with game dynamics and game design, such as feedback loops, logic, and problem solving, which provide context for applying psychology (e.g., Salen & Zimmerman, 2004).

Children’s Media

Interactive children’s media marries good storytelling, and intuitive and developmentally appropriate interface design with learning and literacy.  Media psychologists can work for children’s media developers and producers or they can work as consultants, advising on the myriad of issues surrounding the interactive experience, from the quality of the interface to how the parent and child interact with each other while using the media.

Educational Technology

In a fundamental way, all technology supports learning, whether it’s mastery, socialization, or problem solving (Gee, 2007).  However, educational technology refers to technology design with specific content to target educational goals.   In some cases, media psychologists have adapted existing technology to meet learning and developmental needs, such as “off-the-shelf” games that can be used to teach social skills and attention development, such as for autism spectrum and attention-deficit disorders (e.g. LearningWorks.com).  In other cases, media psychologists have created new technology applications that supplement educational curriculum, such as the many games and apps available that teach reading, math and fine motor skills.

Several of our media psychology graduates have gone to work for companies in the educational technology field, producing interactive books and games to promote literacy, creating technology-based lessons that follow current content requirements or creating materials that demonstrate how to easily integrate existing video, presentation, collage, and writing tools in their current lesson plans.

Web-Based Design, User Experience and Experience Design

Many media psychologists enter one of the fields related to web-based design and user experience.  User experience (UX) focuses on the quality of user experience in the creation of design solutions.  It involves user’s behaviors, attitudes, motivations, emotions, and integrated meaning-making or holistic interpretation of the experience.  It draws across the full range of psychological science, from neuroscience to narrative.  The focus is on creating a valuable experience for the user.  Where usability focuses on the ease of use of technology, such as navigating a website or easily working the controls on a car, user experience is a larger concept.

Experience design extends the concept of user experience to designing processes.  Experience design considers all aspects of the user or consumer’s journey and looks for ways to enhance experience, provide value and increase engagement.  Media psychologists contribute to this field by understanding the psychology behind the experience of attention, engagement, motivation and needs.

Designing for Technology Constraints

Media design varies not just by the consumer but also by the distribution channel.  Cognition, perception and meaning are key features in designing content for different screen sizes and other technology attributes.  The prevalence of smartphones means that apps, games and web content must be accessible and impactful from the small screen.  Media psychologists work with designers to test the use and comprehension of content and the likelihood of interaction and sustained engagement.

Entertainment Media

The entertainment industry is often alluring to new media psychology students.  As entertainment media becomes more fluid, moving across multiple platforms, there are many more opportunities to get involved in careers that are part of, or support, the creation, production and promotion efforts of entertainment properties. Many students to come to media psychology from the media, music and film industries with a desire to learn how to better engage their audiences, create media with more social value or to encourage positive change in some aspect of the entertainment industry.  A number have returned to those industries, working in screenwriting, production, and promotion, integrating positive psychology, transmedia strategies and creating innovative approaches to evaluating media impact as vehicles of social change.

Psychologists in the Media

Appearing in the media is not, in and of itself, a part of media psychology.  For ethical reasons, it is very important to make that distinction.  While some clinicians are media psychologists, being a media psychologist does not qualify someone to do clinical work.

Media psychology is an applied field, but it is not a clinical field.  Media psychology curricula do not include clinical training, as you would receive in a clinical psychology program.  If your interest is in applying clinical psychology in the media, you are ethically bound to acquire the appropriate expertise in addition to studying media psychology, whether giving advice on YouTube or designing mental health intervention apps.  Media psychology curricula also do not include performance training.  If you want to be a media personality, media psychology is not the field for you.

There are four main ways that the field of media psychology is relevant to the psychological information distributed in the media.

• Media psychologists routinely deal with moral issues surrounding human welfare and the media and this includes the ethical presentation of psychology and psychological advice.
• Media psychologists study how different media channels influence message perceptions and consumption patterns and how distribution choices influence content.
• Psychology is a complex field. Research can seem impenetrable to the general public. Media psychologists can provide valuable guidance in ‘translating’ information in ways that are readily accessible but accurately represent research results.
• Media psychologists educate journalists about the impact of their coverage, particularly during crisis situations, to maximize information without heightening public fear, anxiety and uncertainty. This role marries an understanding of the journalistic demands placed on media outlets as well as some clinical training in order to anticipate where information can exacerbate fear and anxiety and how to best provide guidelines for information delivery.
• Telepsychology is a rising issue in clinical psychology. The ethical and therapeutic issues in mental health care are challenged by the many ways people communicate on a regular basis.  Telepsychology is an area where the line between clinical and media psychologist cross.  Any application, however, that includes the delivery of mental health services or interventions must be ethically considered to be clinical in terms of training and licensure requirements.

What is the Pay Range of a Media Psychologist?

Estimating the income of a media psychologist is nearly impossible, given the breadth of the field and all the other factors that weigh in, such as location and level of experience.  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics[i] (BLS) lists psychologists as having an annual mean wage of $75,790 with a range of $42,000 to $114,000.  Media psychology will be equally if not more variable, given the range of industries where media psychology can be applied.  For example, the BLS estimates that market research analysts and marketing specialists average approximately $68,700, but media and marketing communications careers run the gamut, averaging from $40,000 to $127,000 per year.  There is a similar variability for research scientists, which the BLS estimates range from $53,000 to $120,000 per year.  Technology fields also offer many career options, too numerous to mention.

Teaching in higher education has a similar range to that of psychologists.  Online teaching, however, can be much more variable.  People who are interested in teaching online should be prepared to begin as adjunct faculty.  These positions tend to be contracted by the class or by the number of students enrolled in the class and the pay rates vary by institution.  Some institutions offer short six or eight week courses, while others will contract for a 12 or 15-week term.  A common salary range for online post-secondary instructors is $1,500 to $3,500 per semester-long course.

While some online adjuncts work for one institution on a part-time basis, it is common for people to work as adjunct faculty teaching multiple courses at several schools, creating the equivalent of a full-time teaching job. According to GetEducated.com, some online adjuncts working at multiple institutions report earnings in $100,000-plus range. Online teachers can also supplement their incomes with course development, earning $1,000 to $3,000 per course.

What Does the Future Hold for Media Psychology?

The increasing integration of new technologies into every aspect of daily live argues that media psychology will become more, rather than less, valuable and opportunities will grow.  Given the breadth of applications, media psychology is not dependent on government funding or insurance reimbursements for a healthy future, like some psychology careers.  Media psychology relies on the continued value placed by media producers, businesses, institutions, and healthcare on how people use, create and experience media and technologies.

Few would have predicted the technology-enabled behaviors that have quickly become social norms, such as online shopping and dating, selfies, on-demand programming, crowd-sourced philanthropy or cars that park themselves.  These only scratch the surface of the ways in which media technologies will continue to impact our daily lives. This also suggests that while the field of media psychology may struggle with a specific definition of what a media psychologist does, there will be plenty of work to do.

References

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Rizzo, A., Difede, J., Rothbaum, B., Daughtry, J. M., & Reger, G. (2013). Virtual Reality as a Tool for Delivering PTSD Exposure Therapy. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Future Directions in Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment, Springer.

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[i] http://www.bls.gov