TanyaWasir_B037

Tanya Wasir (B037) Prof. Adwait Kapileshwari Psychology 14th January, 2020. Media and Psychological Well-Being What exactly is Well-being? The concept of well-being in Psychology refers to “optimal functioning and experience” (Ryan & Deci, 2001). It is the focus not only of everyday interpersonal inquiries, but also of intense scientific scrutiny. Although the question, “How are you?” may seem simple enough, theorists have found the issue of well- being to be complex and controversial. There are two traditions in the study of well-being- The Hedonic View and the Eudaemonic View. The Hedonic view believes in the assessment of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being consists of three components: life satisfaction, the presence of positive mood, and the absence of negative mood, together often summarised as happiness. Eudaemonic theories maintain that not all desires would yield well-being when achieved. Even though they produce pleasure, some outcomes are not good for people and would not promote wellness. Thus, from the eudaemonic perspective, subjective happiness cannot be equated with well-being. Media on Well-being Media use occupies a significant share of our waking hours and since we spend a significant amount of time on it, we should be careful of what we put out through it. Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian philosopher says, “The medium is the message\". This famous statement was suggestive towards the notion that media is inherently dangerous. (McLuhan, 2016) The research of the effects on the well being of humans has long been dominated by an emphasis on understanding the detrimental effects of media use, such as media violence or excessive and addictive media use. Dolf Zillmann, a researcher, advanced the two-factor model of emotion. The two-factor of emotion proposed that emotion involves both psychological and cognitive components. He advanced the theory of \"Excitation transfer\" by establishing the explanation for the effects of violent media. This theory proposed the notion that viewer's are physiologically aroused when they watch aggressive scenes. So, after watching an aggressive scene, an individual will show aggressive tendencies due to the arousal from the scene.

Besides showing violent tendencies, media in the form of social media or digital media have a series of other negative effects. Depression, low self-esteem, narcissism, superficial relationships and envy of others are a few of the pressing problems that persist today. Use of media is linked to a reduction in face-to-face contact, increased social isolation and sleep deprivation. Today, cyberbullying too remains a persistent problem. However, media does not only have a negative impact on our well-being. We know that humans have a fundamental need to create interpersonal relationships. Media helps one create these social relationships and hence, gain social capital. The benefits obtained from one’s social relationships are called social capital. So to conclude, does usage of media increase or decrease subjective well-being? In my opinion, it depends on how one uses it. Media has the potential to increase our subjective well-being by allowing us to increase our social capital and feeling of connectedness due to active usage of these sites. However, they can also be a significant cause of distress, especially when they elicit social comparisons and envy due to passive usage of these sites. However, I believe that it is incorrect to think that digital celibacy will help one be healthier, happier, and more capable. Furthermore, I believe that in order to increase the well-being of people, they need to be educated about the meanings of mental health and well-being, as well as about mental illness and the ways of preventing this or managing it, if diagnosed with a condition. References Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self- determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 141–166. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych. 52.1.141 Marshall McLuhan: The Possibility of Re-Reading His Notion of Medium. (2016, August 12). Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/1/2/141/htm