New Publication! Do smartphones impact men more than women?

In a recent study, our former PhD student, Matthew Leitao, complied the findings from 8 different studies in a mini mega-analysis to determine whether the effects of smartphones on well-being and social connectedness depend on the situation and individual differences. Leitao, alongside Dr. Kushlev and Dr. Proulx, found that smartphones significantly undermine people’s feelings of social connectedness across situations, but their impact on well-being does depend on the situation. When smartphones are used during ongoing social interactions, they have shown to negatively impact well-being. Yet, smartphones have not shown to have the same negative impact on well-being when they’re used to find information relevant to current goals. They also found individual differences in the effects of smartphones on well-being, primarily that smartphones negatively impacted men more than women.

These exciting research findings have recently been released for publication and will appear on Open APA in the coming weeks! To get the full read, please follow this link: c7mtgukaifx7xnmptte20rvp1s2d (owlstown.com)

Does social media have a causal impact on the mental health?

Dr. Kostadin Kushlev has won an R01 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the causal effects of exposure to social media on adolescent mental health. Congratulations, Dr. Kushlev!

PhD Position Available!

Dr. Kushlev is currently accepting applications for a PhD position for the Fall 2024 admissions cycle! Dr. Kushlev’s line of research explores the intersection between digital technology and health and well-being. Not only does our lab study the underlying psychological mechanisms that drive the link between technology and well-being, but we also strive to develop interventions that increase happiness and improve health through people’s digital behavior. To learn more about Georgetown University’s PhD programs in Psychology, click here. To apply, click here!

Dr. Kushlev's Fellowship Election (SESP)

The Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) Membership Committee just elected Dr. Kostadin Kushlev to become a Fellow in the Society! Membership is awarded for substantial contributions made to social psychology and/or significant publications in recognized journals or books. This is an awesome recognition of Dr. Kushlev’s scholarly contributions to the field of Social Psychology. Congratulations, Dr. Kushlev!

Do we regard our phones as parts of ourselves?

Dr. Kushlev’s paper, “Antecedents and Consequences of Smartphone Self-Extension,” explores the unanswered questions of how smartphone self-extension (the extent to which we regard our possessions as parts of ourselves) develops overtime and what it is able to predict. The psychological connection between mobile media and the self has long been studied with cross-sectional designs, but this study utilized a longitudinal approach to discern the relationship overtime. For example, Dr. Kushlev found that frequent smartphone use during boring situations most aptly predicted identity self-extension. In other words, using our phones when we’re bored represents the most readily available way to express our identities in boring situations. Think about it, when we’re bored, we’ll scroll through our favorite Pinterest board, watch a YouTube video, laugh at a funny meme, or text our best friend. All of these things may very well represent expressions of our identities.

This paper has recently been accepted with very positive reviews at the National Communication Association Conference! The NCA “promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems.” This is a very promising acknowledgement of Dr. Kushlev’s work! To read the full preprint paper and the rest of the findings, click here.