Understanding Media Psychology

Understanding Media Psychology is an authoritative introductory textbook on the growing field of media psychology. Providing an overview of topics in the field, it summarizes key concepts and theories and considers the importance of media psychology in today’s society.

The second edition of this bestselling textbook has been fully updated to reflect the changing landscape of media psychology. The new edition features a brand-new chapter on news and political media, as well as increased focus on AI and new forms of social media. It covers core areas such as positive media psychology, audience research, and the effect of gaming, violence, advertising and pornography, critically engaging with contemporary discussions around propaganda, fake news, deepfakes, and how media and health psychology interacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Written by a team of expert authors, this book will help readers understand the structures, influences, and theories around media psychology. Particular care is also given to addressing the interaction between issues of social justice and the media, as well as the effects media has on both the members of marginalized groups and how those groups are perceived. A student website and instructor resources provide further ways to engage with the content and support teaching and learning.

Containing a range of pedagogical features throughout to aid teaching and student learning, including vocabulary and key terms, discussion questions, and boxed examples, this is an essential resource for media psychology courses at the undergraduate and introductory master’s levels globally.

Gayle S. Stever is Professor of Psychology for Empire State University of New York, USA. She works in the areas of developmental psychology, media psychology, and fan studies. Her writing has centered around celebrity-audience relationships, the nature of attachment both within and outside of a media context, evolutionary psychology as it relates to media, and mixed-methods research.

David C. Giles is Reader in Media Psychology at the University of Winchester, UK. He explores the impact of media on human behavior with a particular interest in celebrity-audience relationships, the dynamics of online interaction, qualitative research methods, and psychological issues around artistic and cultural activities.

J. David Cohen is on the faculty at Empire State University of New York, USA. His research focuses on rewatching media, parasocial experiences, and how media affects human development. Other specific topics of interest for Josh are narrative psychology, advertising, new media, and social psychology.

Mary E. Myers is Assistant Professor in the School of Communication & the Arts at Regent University, Virginia, USA. She built and currently leads the Doctor of Strategic Communication (DSC) doctoral program--the nation’s first technical doctorate in strategic communication. Her work also explores parasocial and place attachment, artificial intelligence, and crisis.