Title

Cyberpsychology, human relationships, and our virtual interiors

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Zygon

Publication Date

12-1-2002

Abstract

Recent research suggests an "Internet paradox"-that a communications technology might reduce social involvement and psychological well-being. In this article I examine some of the limitations of current Internet communication, including those of access, medium, presentation, and choice, that bear on the formation and maintenance of social relationships. I also explore issues central to human meaning in a technological culture-those of the history of the self, of individuality, and of human relationships-and suggest that social forces, technological and otherwise, have increasingly eroded our social interconnectedness and even produced psychological fragmentation. Finally, by considering the psychology of privacy, subjectivity, and intimacy, I look at the historical and developmental processes of internalization by which we construct the "virtual interior" of mind. Understanding this link between human meaning and technological culture, in the form and pattern of our virtual interiors, may help us to see opportunities as well as dangers for the growth of our humanity, our ethics, and our spirituality. © 2002 by the Joint Publication Board of Zygon.

Volume

37

Issue

3

First Page

677

Last Page

700

DOI

10.1111/1467-9744.00445

ISSN

05912385

E-ISSN

14679744

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