Networks, Groups and Social Interaction

• Actor Network Resource (ANT)
  A review of references in actor network theory, a major theoretical approach in the sociology of science and technology. Editors: Olaf Boettger and John Law (Centre for Social Theory and Technology, Keele University, UK).

• Analyzing Social Interaction
  An Event Structure Analysis page with an on-line Java program, and an Affect Control Theory page offering a number of programs and datasets.

• Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA)
  An association dedicated to promoting the experimental, theoretical, and applied analysis of behavior.

• Backstrom, Lars / Boldi, Paolo / Rosa, Marco / Ugander, Johan / Vigna, Sebastiano [2012]
  Four Degrees of Separation
  In: Cornell University Library, Social and In formation Networks
  The results of the first world-scale social-network graph-distance computations, using the entire Facebook network of active users (approx 721 million users, approx 69 billion friendship links). The average distance they observe is 4.74, corresponding to 3.74 intermediaries or “degrees of separation”. This shows that the world is even smaller than expected.

• Behavior Analysis, Journal of Applied (JABA) - University of South Florida, USA.

• Behaviorology - International Behaviorology Institute (TIBI)
  Dedicated to forwarding the science of contingent behaviorrelations as developed and championed by B.F. Skinner.

• B.F. Skinner Foundation
  The major function of this foundation is to preserve and maintain Skinner's works and other behavioral classics that should be available to all students.

• Burke, Peter: Home Page
  Burke is known for his research on identity theory and his innovative work with computer simulations of social behavior.

• Center for the Study of Group Processes - University of Iowa, USA.
  Information about group processes research, researchers & publications. Here you can also read the electronic journal: Current Research in Social Psychology. Edited by: Michael J. Lovagliva.

• Center for the Study of Work Teams - University of North Texas, USA.
  The mission of the Center is to create learning partnerships which support the design, implementation, and development of collaborative work systems, thereby maximizing individual & organizational effectiveness. The site contains information on the vision and activities of the center, free articles & literatuure, a recommended readings list, and a list of links.

• Collins, Randall - University of Pennsylvania (USA)
  • [1998] The Golden Age of Macro-Historical Sociology

  • [2000] Interview with Randall Collins
    By Alair Maclean and James Yocom.
    Collins emphasizes that the real unit of analysis is the situation, and situations have their dynamics and individuals get constructed out of those situations. And he explains his interest in the sociology of the emotions, particularly emotions as things which are shared among people.

  • [2004] Interaction Ritual Chains

  • [2005] The Sociology of Almost Everything Four Questions to Randall Collins about Interaction Ritual Chains
    In: Canadian Journal of Sociology Online January-February 2005.
    Randall Collins replies to questions raised by Peter Baehr.

  • [2011] Interaction Rituals and the New Electronic Media
    In: The Sociological Eye, 25.01.2011.

  • The Sociological Eye
    The personal blog of Collins. “The sociological eye holds up a periscope above the tides of political and intellectual partisanship, spying out the patterns of social life in every direction.”

  • Randall_Collins - Wikipedia

• Classroom Sociometrics
  A computer program which facilitates the collection of sociometric data in the classroom. It employs sociograms, scatter charts, and bar graphics to depict the social climate of a classroom.

• Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis

• Eve, Michael [2002]
  Deux traditions d’analyse des reseaux sociaux
  In: Networks, 115: 1883-212.
  

• Forsyth, Donelson R. (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)
  Group Dynamics
  How do groups (and individuals) cope with their failures? What basic human needs do we satify by joining together with others? How does leadership within a group emerge? These and other questions are discussed in some clearly written documents.

• Garlikov, Richard
  A Kiss is Just a Kiss — The Impossibility of Sexual Communication
  A chapter from his book “The Meaning of Love”.
  His argument is not that communication about or about feelings is impossible, but that communication by means of sex is impossible.

• Garton, Laura / Haythornthwaite / Wellman, Barry [1997]
  Studying Online Social Networks

• Harris, C. Dodd (House Atreides)
  Symbolic Interactionism as defined by Herbert Blumer
  Blumer was one of the premier symbolic interactionists.

• Ideas on Teams and Teamwork
  A summary of many books on teams by IBM Corp. Compiled by Bob Willard.The purpose of the site is to lead those interested in leadership development to on-line resources. The material is organizaed by topics including teamwork, learning organizatyions, and systems thinking.

• International Association Relationship Research (IARR)
  A scientific and professional organization focused on stimulating and supporting the scientific study of personal and social relationships. Members of IARR come from around the globe and various disciplines. The majority of members are affiliated with academic institutions, however many work in industry and/or private practice.

• International Network for Social Network Analysis (INSNA)
  Information on INSN, its journal, and related resources. Includes portion of recent issues of "Connnections" and the journals "Social Networks" and "Journal of Social Stucture", the professional organization for social network researchers. A dailey updated page, that will provides access to network analysis software and to datasets contributed by network researchers.

• International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships (ISSPR)
  A professional organization interested in all aspects of personal relationships. Its goal is to stimulate and support scholarship and research on personal relationships, improve communication between researchers around the world engaged in the scientific study of personal relationships, and establish the field of personal relationships within the scholarly community.

• Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA)

• Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior (JEAB)

• Language and Social Interaction
  A devision of the National Communication Association (NCA).

• Language and Social Interaction
  Provides information on conferences, symposia and proceedings, topic specialty resources, personal resources, syllabi, electronic journals and more. Presented by the Department of Communication of the University of Colorado at Boulder (USA).

• Moreno, J.L.
  Sociometry is one of the methods of socio-psychology developed by professional psychiatrist Jacob Levi Moreno (USA) to estimate the interpersonal emotive relationships within a group (1934). The results of the sociometric study of a community can help to spot informal leaders, rank employees, identify those who are socially isolated. Sociometric methods enable one to express intragroup relations in terms of numbers, graphs and text and thereby obtain valuable information on the state of subjective psychological relationships in a group.

• NetAge: Virtual Teams
  NetAge helps people work together across boundaries of space, time and organizations using technology. The site provides information about 21st century organizations, virtual teams, teamnets, and networks.

• Network Visualization
  The Network gallery documents work in progress in efforts to visualize social structures. The aim is to develop experience how automatic procedures can be combined with aesthetics to ease insight into usually complex phenomena. There are two tracks which visitors can follow. As the visualizations stem from varying subject domains you may choose to follow the subject track, which organizes the presentation around the thematic aspects of the datasets. If your interest is more formal, you may wish to enter the technical laboratory. There they demonstrate methodological approaches for handling empirical data. This will often move quickly through various substantive domains where similar technical problems arise.

• Personal Relationships - Journal of ISSPR
  Journal of the International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships(ISSPR). PR (first published in 1994), is an international, interdisciplinary journal which has as its aim the promotion of scholarship in the field of personal relationships throughout a broad range of disciplines & methodologies. The subject matter of PR includes such topics as love, jealousy, conflict, intimacy, social support, loneliness, socialization, attachment and bonding, communication, kinship, and sexuality. They suggest that we can progress in understanding relationships, and that the separate funds of knowledge accumulated by each research style must be banked in the same vault and made readily available. That's right, but you'll have to pay (subscribe) to get access to this knowledge. Editor: Patricia Noller (University of Queensland).

• Redes
  A Spanish contribution to social network analysis.

• Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD)
  A research center at the University of Michigan. RCGD's goal is to advance the understanding of human behavior in a societal context. Current research includes studies concerned with group decision making and social judgment; conformity and independence; violence and aggression, scholastic achievement, delinquency, and alternative schools; social relationships and social support within African American communities, the study of aging in a variety of social contexts, studies focusing on the effects of educational television, computers, and other novel technology in classrooms; stereotyping and social judgment, culture and cognition, cognitive anthropology; human mating strategies and conflict between the sexes, and studies on the mental representation of social categories with a focus on the development of notions of race in young children.

• Rocco, Elena (Laboratory of Experimental Economics - University of Trento, Italy)
  Trust breaks down in electronci contexts but can be repaired by some initial face-to-face contact
  Trust is the prerequisite for success when a collaborative task involves risk of individualistic or deceitful behaviors of others. Can trust emerge in electronic contexts? This issue is explored in an experiment in which trust emergence is measured in both face-to-face and electronic contexts. In this experiment trust is revealed by the degree of cooperation the group is able to reach in solving a social dilemma, i.e. a situation in which advantages for individualistic behavior make group cooperation highly vulnerable. The experiment consists of two stages. The first stage analyzes the effects of F-t-F and electronic communication on trust Trust succeeds only with F-t-F communication. The second stage investigates whether a pre-meeting F-t-F can promote trust in electronic contexts- Results are positive. Examination of how people converse in these two contexts sheds some light on the effects of technical characteristics and social circumstances on the emergence of trust.

• Schneider, Andreas / Heise, David R. [1995] (Dep. of Sociology, Indiana Univ., USA)
  Simulating Symbolic Interaction [pdf]
  In: Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 20 (1995): 271-87.
  A description of a program for simulating symbolic interaction. The program processes verbal inputs using empirically-based equations and a cybernetic theoretical model, while making reference to dictionaries of culture measurements. Results are verbal outputs suggesting what behaviors, emotions, attributions, and labelings will occur in the given situation.

• Scott, John
  Social Network Analysis: A Handbook

• Self Directed Work Teams (SDWT)
  Self Directed Work Teams are making an impact in organizations throughout the world. Why are leading-edge organizations switching from the traditional management 'boss-worker' model to a team 'collaborative' model? The site contains an extensive list of links to other sites. It also inlcudes a bibliography and links to other bibliographies on the www.

• Social Networks
  A journal for the study of social networks. It is an inter-disciplinary and international quarterly that provides a common forum for representatives of anthropology, sociology, history, social psychology, political science, human geography, biology, economics, communications science and other disciplines who share an interest in the structure of social relations and associations. The journal publishes theoretical, methodological and substantive papers. Articles published in the journal are all concerned with questions about the structure —or patterning— of the linkages that connect social actors. It is edited by P. Doreian & M. Everett and published by Elsevier Science B.V.

• Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI)
  A social science professional organization of scholars interested in qualitative, especially interactionist, research. Provides a set of resources for qualitative researchers.

• Sociometric Method
  A short explanation of the sociometric method to estimate the interpersonal emotive relationships within a group. It is presented by the makers of a commercial program called Sociometry Plus.

• Studying Social Interaction
  Home page of David Heise (Indiana University's Department of Sociology), the originator of Affect Control Theory. His methodological research has proceeded from issues in quantitative modeling to methodological problems in qualitative research. His social psychological research focuses on the affective and logical foundations of social interaction. His site contains recent or forthcoming papers. You can download software for the analysis of social interaction.

• SYMBOLS.com: Encyclopaedia of Western Signs and Ideograms
  A collection of more than 2,500 Western signs, arranged into over 50 groups according to their graphic characteristics. Includes the symbols' histories, uses, and meanings. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti.

Software for Network Analysis

• Cytoscape [Multi-OS | Free]
  A software platform for visualizing molecular interaction networks and biological pathways and integrating these networks with annotations, gene expression profiles and other state data. Cytoscape was originally designed for biological research, but is now a general platform for complex network analysis and visualization. It provides a basic set of features for data integration, analysis, and visualization.

• Gephi [Multi-OS | Free]
  An interactive visualization and exploration platform for all kinds of networks and complex systems, dynamic and hierarchical graphs. A great tool for people that have to explore and understand praphs.

• Igraph [Free]
  A software package for creating and manipulating undirected and directed graphs. It includes implementations for classic graph theory problems like minimum spanning trees and network flow, and also implements algorithms for some recent network analysis methods, like community structure search. It contains functions for generating regular and random graphs, manipulating graphs, assigning attributes to vertices and edges. It can calculate various structural properties, graph isomorphism, includes heuristics for community structure detection, supports many file formats.

• Navicrawler Multi-OS-Free]
  A plugin for Firefox to retrieve data from the web.

• NetDraw [Windows | Free]
  A program for visualizing social network data.

• NodeXL [Windows | Free]
  An open-source template for Microsoft® Excel® 2007, 2010 and (possibly) 2013 that makes it easy to explore network graphs. You can enter a network edge list in a worksheet, click a button and see your graph, all in the familiar environment of the Excel window. Presented by the Social Media Research Foundation.

• NetDraw [Windows | Free]
  A program for visualizing social network data.

• NetLogo [Multi-OS | Free]
  A multi-agent programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena. It is particularly well suited for modeling complex systems developing over time.

• NodeXL [Windows | Free]
  An open-source template for Microsoft® Excel® 2007, 2010 and (possibly) 2013 that makes it easy to explore network graphs. You can enter a network edge list in a worksheet, click a button and see your graph, all in the familiar environment of the Excel window. Presented by the Social Media Research Foundation.
• Pajek [Windows | Free]
  A free Windows program for large network analysis and visualization. Pajek is the Slovene word for Spider. The program has been developed by Vladimir Batagelj and Andrej Mrvar.

• R [Multi-OS | Free]
  R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics (similar to the S language and environment which was developed by John Chambers and colleagues at Bell Laboratories). R provides a wide variety of statistical (linear and nonlinear modelling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering) and graphical techniques. The S language is often the vehicle of choice for research in statistical methodology. One of R’s strengths is the ease with which well-designed publication-quality plots can be produced, including mathematical symbols and formulae where needed.

• RCurl [Multi-OS | Free]
  Allows to download files van web servers, post forms, use HTTPS, use persisten connections, upload files, use binary content, handle redirects, password authentication, etc.

• Tulip [Windows | Free]
  An information visualization framework dedicated to the analysis and visualization of relational data. It provides developers with a complete library, supporting the design of interactive information visualization applications for relational data that can be tailored to the problems he or she is addressing. It facilitates the reuse of components and allows developers to focus on programming their application.

• Unicet [Windows | Free trial for 30 days]
  A software package for the analysis of social network data. It was developed by Lin Freeman, Martin Everett and Steve Borgatti. Free trial period of 30 days. It comes with the NetDraw network visualization tool.

• Visone [Multi-OS | Free]
  A software tool intended for research and teaching in social network analysis. It allows experts and novices to apply advanced visual methods.

• Wikipedia: Social Network Analysis Software

Social Psychology

• Association Géza Róheim - Ethnopsychanalyse
  Information on the activities of the Association and online texts in relation with ethnopsychanalysis. In French with possibility to translate with Babelfish.

• CROW: Course Resources On the Web
  Site to point instructors of social psychology to relevant course resources on the web such as assignments, activities, online studies, topic resources and student resources.

• Current Research in Social Psychology (CRISP)
  A peer reviewed, electronic journal covering all aspects of social psychology. Publication is sponsored by the Center for the Study of Group Processes at the University of Iowa which provides free access to its contents. Editor: Michael J. Lovaglia, University of Iowa, USA.

• Evolutionary Psychology (EP)
  An international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior. EP aims to foster communication between experimental and theoretical work, on the one hand, and historical, conceptual and interdisciplinary writings acroos the whole range of the biological and human sciences, on the other.

• Gergen, Kenneth (Swarthmore College Tojo Joseph, George Mason University)
  Social Psychology as Social Construction: The Emerging Vision
  You can get more great text when you visit his homepage

• Kurt Lewin Institute (KLI)
  A joint venture of senior researchers in social psychology and its applications, who are affiliated to five Dutch Universities. The goal of the KLI is to stimulate and strengthen basic and applied research on human relations. More specifically, the KLI focuses on how human behaviour is influenced by dispositional, cognitive and motivational factors in different social contexts.

• Online Papers on Consciousness
  David Chalmers (University of Arizona, USA) created a directory of more than thousand papers on consciousness and related topicsm such as memory, learning, language, and free will.

• Psychology Virtual Library
  A collection of topocally organized links. The categories are: Academic Departments, Academic Psychology. Books and Publishers, Clinical Social Work, Directories of Psychology Sites, E-Mail Lists and Newsgroups, Employment & Entrepreneurship, History of Psychology, Journals, Library Resources Online, Mental Health Resources, Professional Societies, Psychology of Religion, School Psychology, Stress Management, and Transpersonal Psychology.

• PsycSite
  A public service designed to help students and professionals interested in the science of psychology find resources on the internet. A major jumping-off point for searching out psychological information. The focus is on psychology as a science (not on parapsychology or self-help). Topics ranging from social, industrial and health psychology to neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Conception and Design: Ken Stange.

• Psych Web - Russ Dewey.
  Psychology-related information for students and teachers of psychology.

• Psychology Web Sites
  Editor: William E. Snell, Department of Psychology, Southeast Missouri State University, USA.

• Social Psychology
  A sociological perspective written by Michael Kearl (Trinity University, USA).
  A very good place to start with.

• Social Psychology Network
  One of the most comprehensive source of social psychology information on the Internet. Editor: Scott Plous (Wesleyan Univ., USA).

• Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
  You can read the newsletter in psychology, join an electronic mailing list, and browse resources for personality and social psychologists.

• Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)
  An international group of over 3500 psychologists, students and others who share a common interest in research on the psychological aspects of important social issues.

• Vaknin, Shmuel (Israel)
  Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited
  “The narcissist is an actor enacting a monodrama, yet forced to remain behind the scenes. The scenes take center stage, instead. The Narcissist does not cater at all to his own needs. Contrary to his reputation, the Narcissist does not ‘love’ himself in any true sense of this loaded word. He feeds off other people who hurl back at him an image that he projects to them. This is their sole function in his world: to reflect, to admire, to applaud, to detest - in a word, to assure him that he exists.”

Psychology of Cyberspace

• Bruckman, Amy
  • [1992] Identity Workshop : Emergent Social and Psychological Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Reality. An introduction to the different kinds of MUDs, and social phenomena typical of each kind. The paper introduces issues of representations of self and how MUDs form a kind of “identity workshop”; the notion of MUDs as an evocative medium (by being between reality and unreality, MUDs often encourage people to reflect on the nature of reality); gender issues that arise in MUDs, and explores the topic of MUD addiction.

  • [1994] Approaches to Managing Deviant Behavior in Virtual Communities
    In: Proceedings of CHI 1994 (Boston, MA, April 24-April 27, 1994). New York: Association for Computing Machinery.

  • [2006] Teaching Students to Study Online Communities Ethically
    In: Journal of Information Ethics 15(2): 82-98

  • [2006] A New Perspective on “Community” and its Implications for Computer-Mediated Communication Systems
    In: Works in Progress, Extended Abstracts, Proceedings of CHI 2006, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, April 2006.

• Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking (DBLP)

• DeAngelis, Tori
  Is Internet addiction real?
  In: Monitor on Psychology, 31(3), April 2000.
  Many psychologists doubt that addiction is the right term to describe what happens to people when they spend ‘too much’ time online. It is misleading to characterize behaviors as ‘addictions’ on the basis that peole say they do too much of them. Has it been established that there is a disorder of internet-addication that is separable from problems such as loneliness or probleem gambling, or that a passion for using the internet is ‘long-lasting’? How do we handel the paradox that the internet is a socially connecting device that can be socially isolating at the same time?

• Egger, Oliver / Rauterberg, Matthias (Institute for Hyhiene and Applied Physiology, Zurich, Switzerland)
  Internet Behavior and Addiction [1996]
  A Swiss survey on Internet addiction. 10% of the respondents considered themselves as addicted to or dependent on the Internet.

• Hoffmann, Ute [1997]
  Not Without a Body? Bodily Functions in Cyberspace
  6th International IFIP-Conference on Women, Work and Computerization (WWC).

• Kelly, Paul J.
  • Human Identity
    “Who Am I?” is an important question simply because “the Net gives us an opportunity to present our selves in front of a lot of people who would not otherwise experience our presence. Not surprisingly, a new medium of presentation is accompanied by new ways of approaching the question of identity. On the Net, we find, people are using different new media to reveal both more and less of who they are (or who they think they are). In both cases the question of the self, what it is, and how we should think about it becomes something of an issue.”
    This is an e-lecture from a university course about the net. For more interesting stuff about the internet and virtual communities you can visit Netropolitan Life, the coursehomepage if tge Calumet College at York University.

  • [1995-7] The Ins and Outs of Personal Privacy

• King, Storm A. (Pacific Graduate School of Psychology)
  • Psychology of Cyberspace
    “Cyberspace. The space between our terminals? Or a place in our minds? ... What we think and how we act and the relationships between the two. Our thoughts influence our behavior, our behavior influences our thoughts. Either way, the opportunity to know what other individuals are thinking, and to share ones own thoughts far and wide, has never been at a higher level. The implications are astounding. Just how this new interconnectivity, where geographic constraints are abolished, will influence individual and social behavior is unclear, but we know it will.” The site presents essays and articles written by King. Subjects are: internet addication, internet gambling and pornography, support groups for recovering addicts, suicidal ideation in virtual support groups, ethical guidelines for on-line therapy. The site also contains a resource list on the psychology of virtual communities and a large collection of humorous notes.

  • [1996] Is the Internet Addictive, or are Addicts Using the Internet?
    Some internet users spend so much time logged on that their personal and/or professional life suffers. Alomost anyone has met or heared annactdocal accounts of someome who has been ^#145;hooked on the net’ to a point that they ignore important personal responsibilities. In this paper the current research findings are reviewd, and an attempt is made to explore some the possible explanations of this phenomena. Factors that are inherent in online interactivity — an might contribute to developing an Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) — are distinguished from factors inherent in the people proposed to be most at risk for. or suffering from an internet addiction disorder. Recommendations for affected individuals are offered.

  • [1998] Internet therapy and self help groups — the pros and cons
    Mental health professionals are pioneering new services that offer to establish a therapeutic relationship over the internet. And we know that many people are dedicated to assist people to use the internet to find such information and how to connect to cyberspace forums dedicated to various mental health topics. But we know very little about the fenomena that many people are choosing to use the internet to seek therapeutic interventions and peer support. In this article the self-help resources and online therapy is analysed in the perspective of how the internet can ethically be used tu assist tratment of emotional and mental disorders. The unique ethical dilemmas facing researchers in this field are illustrated in an analysis of the protocols and methodologies which are use to analyse the value of self help and therapy online.

  • [2000] The Two Faces of the Internet: Introduction to the Special Issue on the Internet and Sexuality (with Azy Barak)
    In: CyberPsychology & Behavior, 3(4):517-520.
    The internet has two faces, positive and negative. Its positive aspect is that it enables the enrichment and improvement of human functioning in many areas, including health, education, commerce, and entertainment. On its negative side, the internet may provide a threatening environment and expose individuals to great risks. Paralleling this overall dual perspective, the internet facilitates sexual exploration, education, and pleasure; on the other hand, it furnishes an opportunity for criminal and other negative and harmful sexual conduct.

• Orzack, Maressa Hech
  Computer Addication Services
  Computer addiction has been identified (in terms of psychological and physical symptoms) and can be treated. Dr. Orzack (McLean Hispital, Belmont, MA, USA) believes that one of the most effective methods to deal with all these types of problems is Cognitive Behavior Therapy, which teaches the patient to identify the problem, to sole the problem and to learn coping skills to prevent relapse (often the treatment is helped by medication). In addition she recommends support groups for the other affected persons. She does not treat online. The site offers some general information on computer addiction, and an informative FAQ with answers on questions like: what is computer addiction, who are the people who come to see you, why is computer addiction now a problem, how do you diagnose computer addication, and how do you treat computer addiction?

• Suler, John (Department of Psychology, Rider University)
  • Psychology of Cyberspace
    A hypertext book that explores the psychological dimensions of the environments created by computers and online networks. It is intended as an evolving conceptual framework for understanding the various psychological components of cyberspace and how people react to and behave within it. Suler and his students use this framework as a basis for our ongoing research on the psychology of cyberspace (or "cyberpsychology").

  • Computer and Cyberspace Addiction
    An examination of the multiple definitions. Suler clarifies several common warning signs of computer/Internet addiction.

  • Why This Thing Eating My Live? Computer and Cyberspace Addiction at the “Palace”
    An examination of the Palace, a forum which provides graphical interface where participants create personal avatars which interact among other avatars in a visually rich environment, known as the Graphical Multi-User (K)onversation - or GMUK. These GMUKs are similar to the familiar, text-only chat environments, except you interact with people in a visual scene with little graphical icons (avatars) to represent yourself. The Palace; is an excellent example of a GMUK. Suller examines why some people might become addicted to that type of environment in terms of how this activity fulfills all of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

  • Internet Addiction in a Nutshell
    Howard Rheingold asked Suler’s opinion of the media’s coverage of ‘internet addiction’. He breaks down the answer to the internet addiction in three part. The largest group of addicts are ghosts, which only exist in the minds of the media (that love to hype and scandalize) and of luddites (who fear the unstoppable power of the internet). The second group just get caught up in the excitment and novelty of the many fascinating opportunities the internet offers. They might cause problems in their local world, but it is a phase. They realize what they can and can't get out of cyberspace, and might return to the local world a bit wiser. The last group, a minority, are the unfortunate who succumg to one or more of the many seductions of the internet, and who are unable to help themselves. The keywords for a healthy internet use als balance and integration: try to find a balance between the time you invest in online relationships with the time invested in local relationships.

  • Bringing Online and Offline Living Together
    One of the principles in psychology is the importance of integration: the fitting together and balancing of the various elements of the psyche to make a satisfaying and more or less harmonous whole. We are as healthy as we are able to realize a kind of balance betwee te contradictory emotional drives of our personal life. We seem to need a minimal balance between our conflicting needs and ambitions in order to survive. How can we reach a balance between our online and offline lives? How bad is it to experience a split between online and offline living and the compartmentalizing of one’s identifications?

• Young, Kimberly. (University of Pittsburgh at Bradford)
  • Center for On-Line Addiction (COLA)
    The center answers FAQs, posts research articles on internet addiction, provides a professional directory for locating further information, and offers personal counseling services for internet addicts and their families.

  • Self Tests
    Several tests to determine if you are addicted to the internet, to cybersex or cyberporn, or to online gambling. It also includes a test for spouses or partners of potential internet addicts.

  • Addictive Use of the Internet: A Case that Breaks the Stereotype
    In: Psychological Reports, 1996, 79:899-902
    Contrary to the stereotype of a young, male, computer-savvy on-line user as the prototypic internet ‘addict’, new consumers of the internet who do not match this general stereotype are just as susceptible.

  • Cyber-Disorders: The Mental Health Concern for the New Millennium (with Molly Pistner. James O'Mara and Jennifer Buchanon)
    A survey among therapists who have treated clients suffering from cyber-related problems. It results in information on incidence rates (specified in subtypes of internet addiction) and treatment strategies. Paper presented at 107th APA convention, August 20, 1999.

  • Cybersex and Infidelity Online: Implications for Evaluation and Treatment (with James O'Mara and Jennifer Buchanon)
    A description of warning signs of cyberaffairs and their dramatic impact on marital separation and divorce. The underlying cyber-cultural issues that increase the risk of virtual adultery are explained with the ACE Model (Anonimity, Convenience, Escape). Paper presented at the 107th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, August 21, 1999.

  • Drug Treatment for Internet Addiction

  • Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Disorder
    An attempt to differentiate addictive from normal use of the Internet. It documents significant behavioral and functional differences between those subjects classified as addicts and non-addicts. She discusses clinical and social implications of pathological Internet use and future directions for research. This paper was presented at the 104th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada, August 15, 1996.

  • Internet Addiction: Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment
    Discusses the complications to diagnosis of Internet addiction and evaluates procedure to assess for this disorder, and several treatment strategies for recovery.

  • Surfing not Studying: Dealing with Internet Addicaion on Campus
    A review of the impact of cyber-abuse on college students and an outline of effective strategies to cope with this emergent campus dilemma.

  • The Relationship Between Depression and Internet Addiction (with Robert C. Rodgers)
    In: CyberPsychology & Behavior, 1(1): 25-28, 1998
    An empirical study on the correlation between rates of depression with pathological internet use. The findings suggest that increased levels of depression are associated with those who become addicted to the internet: depression is significantly associated with increased levers of personal internet use. This result should be interpreted with caution. It is likely that low self-esteem, poor motivation, fear of rejection, and the need for approval associated with depressives contribute to increased internet use. It is plausible that depressives are drawn to electronic communication because of the anonymous cover granted to them by talking with other through fictitious handles, which helps them overcome real-life interpersonal difficulties.

  • Treatment Outcomes with Internet Addicts
    An investigation on the efficacy of using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with internet addicts.

  • Understanding Online Gaming Addiction and Treatment Issues for Adolescents
    In: The American Journal of Family Therapy, 37: 355-72, 2009
    MMORPGs seem to be one of the fastest growing forms of internet addication, especially among children and teenagers. The become preoccupied with gaming, lie about their gaming use, lose interest in other activities just to game, withdrawal from family and freinds to game, and use gaming as a means of psychological escape. Kimberley Young explores the emergens of online gaming addiction and its impact on individuals and families. She also reviews the nature of online games and what makes them addictive among some players.

  • What Makes the Internet Addictive: Potential Explanations for Pathological Internet Use
    Discussion of the psychological reinforcement of increased social support, engagement in unforbidden sexual fantasies through cybersex, and the ability to reinvent oneself through on-line personas that provide potential explanations for addictive Internet use. Paper presented at the 105th annual conference of the American Psychological Association, August 15, 1997, Chicago, IL.

Editor	dr. Albert Benschop Social & Behavioral Studies University of Amsterdam
Created	September, 1996
Last modified	13th September, 2013