Cyberpsychology is something that impacts all of us, given that digital devices and our use of them is part of most areas of our lives. Dr Dave Harley has been studying the subject of Cyberpsychology for more than fifteen years, researching how new developments in the digital world continue to alter who we are and how we think and act.

Most recently he has been looking at the relationship between mindfulness and our increasingly high-tech existence. His new book, ‘Mindfulness in a digital world’, was released in November 2022. Here, he tells us about what led to his interest in this area of research and some of his research projects to date.

Digital later life – opportunity and exclusion

‘I have been based at Brighton University for over twenty years, where my research began in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Initially, my work explored older people’s adoption of digital technologies, looking at the role of gaming, online communities, vlogging, mobile phones, social media and digital approaches to intergenerational contact, as features of later life. My PhD studied this topic through the case study of a 79 year old YouTube vlogger who posted under the name of ‘Geriatric1927’.

‘In addition to this case study research, I also worked with Age UK, as a volunteer at Brighton’s Age UK IT drop-in centre in Brighton. This volunteering enabled me to carry out ethnographic research into different people’s reasons for coming to the centre and their need for an IT drop-in. They talked to me about the obstacles they faced, what they wanted to achieve and why, as well as their experiences of digital technology as part of their lives. Later on, I undertook further work with Age UK, this time visiting residents of Sussex care homes. That project was funded by the EPSRC.

‘Technology changes fast and so does people’s experience of it – both in how they interact with it and utilise it, and in what they expect of others. In the 15+ years since my research in this field began, one of the more recent changes has been the expectation that all people, including older people, have access to the latest technology along with the ability to use it. ‘Digital by default’ has become the operating standard of many organisations and services, including crucial ones, such as government agencies and services, local government services, healthcare and shopping for necessities. The ‘digital by default’ model is also a feature of social activity – for example accessing event information, buying tickets, taking part in hobbies and interests, and forming links and interacting with others, including family and friends. Digital communication has become the only method of contacting many organisations. So, while the character of obstacles has changed, it’s a mistake to think that the challenges for this age group are diminishing. Digital inequality is still a big problem.

Discovering the extended self

‘My research has now moved into the field of Cyberpsychology and the extended digital self. This area of study differs from my earlier work in that it’s not about redesigning digital technologies and platforms to accommodate older users. Rather, it’s about how digital interaction actually changes us as human beings – our relationships with each other, our behaviour, the way that we think, our sense of self and our sense of others. Cyberpsychology is a relatively new field in terms of psychological research – the term Cyberpsychology has only been in existence for about ten years and it was just four years ago that it became a specific section within the British Psychological Society.

‘The expression ‘extended self’ refers to the way that digital technologies allow us to experience ourselves in an expanded way, extending our capacity for cognition, connection and self-knowledge. Through habitual use, digital technologies start to become part of us, providing ways to outsource our memory capacity and particular thought processes. Whereas once we may have used our memories for personal information like phone numbers, addresses or birthdays, now we tend to use our phone to remember them for us. The same is true of more complex calculations such as finding directions in a new town, choosing a restaurant or even a romantic partner. In short, we have become dependent upon these technologies as fundamental aspects of our everyday life.

‘As we function in this way, we are extending ourselves through the technology we use, giving jobs to our digital devices that were previously carried out by our minds. Increasingly we are also using these devices to present ourselves to others in new ways, exploring the possibilities for who we can be, through social media and other virtual spaces. This process changes the way that we think about ourselves and how others think about us – it changes how we understand who we are.

Mindfulness and digital: where do they meet?

‘The idea of the extended self is linked to my research into smartphone dependency and digital mindfulness. Dependency may seem like an extreme characterisation, but because we invest so much of ourselves into our phones, many of us feel threatened when we don’t have access to them. Studies suggest that around 60% of people experience this ‘nomophobia’ (no mobile phone phobia), which expresses itself in the form of fear and anxiety when we are disconnected. This resembles something akin to withdrawal and some suggest that this could indicate an addiction. The underlying nature of this dysfunction is something I’m exploring in my research on mindfulness.

I delve further into the psychological challenges of the extended self in my latest book – ‘Mindfulness in a Digital World’. This book explores the experience of extending oneself through digital technology, through the lens of mindfulness – an ancient practice, reframed for the modern age and proven to improve psychological wellbeing in many contexts. For the research that led to the book, I interviewed people who teach and practice mindfulness, posing the questions: Can mindfulness be practiced as part of a digital existence? Are digital activities and mindfulness compatible? I was also able to explore the tactics they have developed in lieu of emerging digital habits.

‘One such area of digital habit formation is in relation to social media. Social media engages the human psyche in such a way that it hijacks innate attentional resources in ways that can easily overwhelm attentional capacities and undermine wellbeing. It is this all-consuming nature of social media (and other digital technologies) that is often misunderstood as addiction. It is difficult to develop an awareness of the processes at work here because the influences are not transparent – this can be a particular challenge even for those practising mindfulness. The attention economy that has emerged within social media means that these companies are intent on capturing users’ attention without any concern for how it may undermine their psychological equilibrium. In fact, the addictive nature of social media is deliberate and ‘by-design’ and not simply due to the weak will of users.

Mindfulness in a Digital World is due out by the end of November 2022 and if you’d like to read more then look here:https://link.springer.com/book/9783031194061

CDCI collaboration and Cyberpsychological wellbeing

‘As I said at the outset, Cyberpsychology is something that has implications for all of us. My involvement in the CDCI has allowed me to explore these same issues with colleagues across the university as part of an interdisciplinary research group comprised of artists, media theorists, computer scientists and those involved in social policy research. In addition, my role as co-lead of the Digital Health and Wellbeing theme within the CDCI has allowed me to pursue more focused research within the Psychology Team which has resulted in funding bids and Knowledge Exchange work. Collaborations with this group currently involve working with an app developer whose aim is to support digital productivity and burnout amongst university students. The development of digital technology is a constantly changing landscape, and this ongoing sharing and development of our work within the CDCI plays an important role in ensuring our research is relevant and innovative. It’s something I’m proud to be part of.’