Social Psychology of the Digital Age: The Interpersonal Neuroscience of Mediated Communication

Michiel M. A. Spapé, Niklas Ravaja

Abstract: Psychological science has a rich tradition of investigating how interaction with others affects individual affect and cognition. Findings from neuroscience suggest that the reason for this is that we perceive others as fundamentally part of us. However, with the advent of mobile networks and the internet, the physical presence of others has become more and more often mediated by technology. In order to better understand the consequences, we call for the rise of a combined effort between human-computer interaction, psychology and social neuroscience which we term the interpersonal neuroscience of mediated communication. We demonstrate the many faces of this new field by describing five paradigms that provide insight in the question of how the technological medium – from the most sparse, haptic type to rich, computer-gaming scenarios – affects the message and inter-individual interaction. Furthermore, the paradigms show how the mediated interaction field may provide new answers to the perception of others affects individual affect, cognition and decision making.