The “Constructive” Side of Media: Promoting Prosocial Behavior, Well-Being, and Health

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, both traditional and new media have become widely investigated topics due to their extreme flexibility and pervasiveness in any sphere of human experience and life. Identity, belonging, relations, and behaviors, as actualized in mediated practices, are increasingly “real” phenomena, having effective multifaceted implications and lessening the boundaries between online and offline domains.

The psychosocial literature concerning these matters swarms with the positive and negative aspects, impacts, and effects of media in private and public life. However, it seems that this balance tends to emphasize the negative implications and risks of media, especially new media, by involving the cognitive, emotional, and social domains: disinformation, stereotypes, hate speech and violence, cyberbullying and cyberstalking, extreme behaviors, and internet addiction are just some examples of the “dark side” of media.

A promising research field concerns the “bright” side of media exposure and participation: global positive implications concerning opportunities and potentialities are accompanied by niche investigations related to more contextualized cases and practices. In this wide field, prosocial behaviors, well-being, and health represent three poles of a triangular symbol with human empowerment at its core. Potential topics and domains to be investigated concerning media include (but are not limited to) the following:

1. Social identity and interpersonal and social interactions;
2. Social engagement and participation and intra- and inter-group processes;
3. Work experiences, hobbies, and cultural activities;
4. Health practices and communication;
5. Prosocial behaviors;
6. Subjective well-being as related to private and public roles and experiences;
7. Human–computer interactions and digital tools.   

Empirical research; qualitative, quantitative, or mixed analyses; systematic reviews; meta-analyses; and case studies involving the role of traditional and new media in these matters will be considered. Longitudinal or cross-sectional studies that emphasize these processes will be welcome too. The presentation of even tangentially focused works can be discussed with the Editor. Especially in the latter case, authors are encouraged to prepare a short abstract to be sent to the Guest Editor in advance to assess the pertinence of their proposal.

Dr. Rosa Scardigno
Guest Editor

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• media engagement
• participation
• prosocial behavior
• well-being
• health