Social Psycologhical Pathologies

Onadescriptivelevel,thearticlepointsoutthatWesternpopulationshave experienced an increase in possibilities for self-realization, but also that the rise in options has led to a paradoxical increase in different forms of psychic distortion. On a more normative level, it has become clear that the neo-liberal idea of freedom, which seems to state that a free market will facilitate all forms of self-realization options, is incomplete. Application of the neo-liberal idea of freedom makes it clear in two ways that the recognition–graduation semantics are twisted in such a manner that individuals cannot cognitively make sense of what can and cannot be an object of recognition, and that intersubjective recognition relations are eroding to such an extent that commonly shared pathological development tendencies are in danger of being suppressed by the lacking ability to join in a collective will-formation. It seems that the neo-liberal idea of freedom is creating a cognitive discrepancy be- tween a promise for more and more self-realization options through deregulation and the actual stable possibilities for individual self-realization. What is becoming evident is that no secure self-realization options are offered, but rather that the indi- vidual has to have options in order to gain recognition.

"Il saggio mira a individuare e delucidare alcuni nessi causali tra il concomitante incremento dei fenomeni depressivi, non solo in senso strettamente clinico, e l’affermazione del nuovo modello capitalistico avvenuto nei paesi occidentali dai primi anni settanta ad oggi. Oltre che sul meccanismo della flessibilità del mercato del lavoro, si insiste in particolare sulle dinamiche paradossali delle istanze etiche e morali della nuova configurazione ideologica. Ricorrendo anche alla categoria di egemonia, vengono da ultimo approntati degli strumenti teorici finalizzati a riattivare i potenziali emancipativi frustrati nella sofferenza sociale di natura depressiva e regressiva.

The paper aims to single out and clarify some causal connections between theconcomitant growth of depressive phenomena, not only in the strict clinicalsense, and the establishment of the new capitalist model, which has taken place in Western countries from the early seventies until today. As well as onthe mechanism of labour market flexibility, the essay dwells in particular onthe paradoxical dynamics of the ethical and moral ideals of the newideological configuration. Finally, the paper will also use the category of hegemony to offer some theoretical instruments directed at reactivating theemancipatory potentials frustrated by social suffering of a depressive andregressive nature."

This study resumes elements of pioneering research initially conducted in Internet addiction and dependency (Thompson, 1996). Further study of Internet phenomena over the 15 years since, has taken the author into the realm of iconic mediated messaging as a struggle between global media, terrorism, and the viewer (Thompson, 2010). Having grown in access and privilege within the consumer Web — initial concerns over usage and expectations as laid out in 1996 whereby Internet addiction and dependency were determined to be more along the lines of investment and empowerment vs. self-destructive habit — the maturation process from initial usage to full-fledged Internet literacy has been fraught with obstacles, yet with deep reward.

As a scholar well-versed in interdisciplinarity and cybercultures, and having moved away from the fears of Internet addiction to the reality of empowerment, one recognizes a plethora of reasons why Internet literacy has molded scholarship and individual into a new creation of cybernetic origin: cyberspace provides and subscribes opportunity for humans to communicate as more than the sum of their parts. In the process of literacy change and alteration over this time period, there has also been adjustment in the cyber network, which has been fed both the good and bad that humanity has been able to conjure and upload: a vast, endless, exponential archive of every human conception.

What have we learned in the last 15 or so years as a species interacting with the virtual species that has seemingly aligned itself with our purposes and future, a future that has taken on the permanent persona of an ever-presence in which we are? This study evaluates emerging information literacy trends, the media, and individual participatory freedoms and consequences that confront those trends within the Internet.

The aim of this study is to investigate pre-service teachers’ Internet addiction in terms of gender, Internet accessibility, loneliness and life satisfaction. Statistical analyses were completed on the data by the 247 pre-service teachers that filled the surveys completely. According to findings, pre-service teachers’ level of loneliness and Internet addiction scores is low while their life satisfaction scores are high. Male participants are more addicted to the Internet than female participants. Also those, males and females, who had Internet access, had more tendencies to be addicted to the Internet. There is evidence to indicate a positive correlation between loneliness and Internet addiction, and negative correlation between life satisfaction and Internet addiction. Based on the results several different suggestions are made for continuing research in this field

If Internet addiction/dependency is the new substance abuse of the 90s, what are some of its measurable effects? An on-line website survey administered to 120 respondents who claimed Internet addiction resulted in subjects (N=32) being evaluated for personal disruptions. The study looked at factors involved in separating persons addicted from those persons dependent, and then evaluated what this might mean for a global society newly affected by unlimited access to this new communication medium.

How to cite: Thompson, S. J. (1996). “Internet Connectivity: Addiction and Dependency Study.” The Penn State McNair Journal, The Pennsylvania State University, Summer, Vol. 3, (pp. 137-154).

It is not the first time that psychologist mention Facebook as a reason for low self-esteem among users. Some researches state that women who spend a lot of time on social networking sites tend to think less of themselves. Others point out that users of both genders might feel less attractive and successful after checking updates from their Facebook friends. Psychological effect responsible for such a negative outcome is an attribution error called correspondence bias.

This study resumes elements of pioneering research initially conducted in Internet addiction and dependency (Thompson, 1996). Further study of Internet phenomena over the 15 years since, has taken the author into the realm of iconic mediated messaging as a struggle between global media, terrorism, and the viewer (Thompson, 2010). Having grown in access and privilege within the consumer Web -- initial concerns over usage and expectations as laid out in 1996 whereby Internet addiction and dependency were determined to be more along the lines of investment and empowerment vs. self-destructive habit -- the maturation process from initial usage to full-fledged Internet literacy has been fraught with obstacles, yet with deep reward.

As a scholar well-versed in interdisciplinarity and cybercultures, and having moved away from the fears of Internet addiction to the reality of empowerment, one recognizes a plethora of reasons why Internet literacy has molded scholarship and individual into a new creation of cybernetic origin: cyberspace provides and subscribes opportunity for humans to communicate as more than the sum of their parts. In the process of literacy change and alteration over this time period, there has also been adjustment in the cyber network, which has been fed both the good and bad that humanity has been able to conjure and upload: a vast, endless, exponential archive of every human conception.

What have we learned in the last 15 or so years as a species interacting with the virtual species that has seemingly aligned itself with our purposes and future, a future that has taken on the permanent persona of an ever-presence in which we are? This study evaluates emerging information literacy trends, the media, and individual participatory freedoms and consequences that confront those trends within the Internet.