Cyberpsychology,Behavior,and Social Networking

Stigma negatively impacts minority college students’ mental health, yet little is known about how stigma processes differ across minority groups. This study examines how key components of stigma—labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination—emerge across minority statuses (gender, race, religion, profession) and how they intensify through intersecting identities. We analyzed 331,353 posts from r/college using a Stereotype BERT model with stance detection. We extended the model to identify status loss and discrimination using semantic distance measures. Posts referencing professional identity were most associated with stereotyping, while those indicating racial identity showed higher frequencies of status loss and discrimination. Posts with intersecting identities showed the strongest associations with compounded stigma. Findings underscore the importance of intersectional approaches to understanding stigma, especially in addressing the compounded vulnerabilities faced by racial minorities and multiply-marginalized students.

Digital citizenship, a multidimensional concept that encompasses digital literacy, online ethics, and civic engagement, promotes young people’s responsible, respectful, and safe participation in digital society. Precisely defining the values and behaviors that shape its ethical dimension is thus essential for understanding youth digital engagement. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a self-report measure to assess online ethical values and behaviors and to examine their interrelations. A sample of 529 Spanish youth (61.4 percent women, aged 13–23 years) completed a self-report measure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a five-factor structure (57.1 percent variance explained): Online Respect, Online Responsibility, Tolerance for Diversity, Prosocial Cyberbystander, and Online Self-Development. We also aimed to analyze the relationships between these online values and the associated variables. We found significant correlations with higher empathy, lower cyberhate perpetration, and increased online ethical behaviors, including prosocial bystander interventions in cases of cyberhate. Women, non-heterosexual youth, and older participants (18–23 years) reported higher ethical values, with no significant group differences in self-reported online ethical behaviors. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between online ethical values in youth and their actual practices, highlighting the importance of incorporating socio-emotional and sociodemographic factors into prevention strategies aimed at preventing unethical online behaviors. The newly developed scale offers a practical tool for assessing and enhancing digital citizenship interventions, addressing the growing need for responsible and respectful online engagement.

Sexting—defined as the exchange of sexually suggestive messages via smartphones or other digital devices—has become a common behavior among emerging adults aged 18–29. This trend is particularly prominent among gender and sexual minorities, for whom sexting is often viewed as a normative and socially accepted form of expression. However, these populations also appear to face disproportionate mental health challenges associated with sexting. In a longitudinal online survey, 415 emerging adults (223 women, 171 men, 21 gender-diverse individuals) reported on their sexting behaviors, sexting motivations (autonomous versus controlled), and mental health outcomes across two time points, 6 weeks apart. Structural equation modeling revealed that gender and sexual minorities experienced significantly higher levels of internalizing (β = 0.60, 95 percent CI [0.23–0.97], p = 0.001) and externalizing symptoms (β = 0.69, 95 percent CI [0.29–1.08], p = 0.001) when engaging in sexually suggestive communication, compared to their majority peers. Furthermore, while sexting for autonomous reasons was linked to fewer internalizing symptoms among sexual majority youth (β = 0.12, 95 percent CI [0.03–0.22], p = 0.01), this protective effect did not extend to gender and sexual minorities. Therefore, sexting may carry different implications for gender and sexual minority youth compared to their majority peers, highlighting the need for tailored intervention strategies that account for these distinct experiences.

Two web-based experiments were conducted during (Study 1, N = 451) and after the COVID-19 pandemic (Study 2, N = 431) to investigate (a) if revisiting nostalgic social media posts yields psychological benefits by mentally transporting people to meaningful past moments and (b) whether such effects depend on how strongly one feels connected to their past self (i.e., self-continuity). Participants were asked to browse through their own social media posts that captured either a memorable life event (nostalgic condition) or a mundane, daily event (ordinary condition). In Study 1, engaging with nostalgic (vs. ordinary) posts facilitated mental transportation, which enhanced positive affect, self-regard, and meaning in life, but such effects emerged only for those with lower levels of self-continuity. Those high in self-continuity exhibited consistently high levels of mental transportation, regardless of the type of posts. Study 2 largely replicated Study 1 findings, except that (a) nostalgic posts facilitated mental transportation across all levels of self-continuity, and (b) psychological benefits of nostalgic social media use were not observed for self-regard. Results are discussed as to how reliving the past on social media platforms may improve individuals’ subjective well-being and how macro-level stressors such as COVID-19 may moderate such effects.

This study aims to elucidate the mechanisms through which service robot anthropomorphism and employee self-efficacy influence human–robot collaborative performance in the service industry. A conceptual model was developed in which perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived competence, and collaborative intention operate as multiple mediators, clarifying how robot-assisted collaboration enhances performance. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed data from 418 valid questionnaires collected from employees in the hospitality and catering sectors. The results indicate that both service robot anthropomorphism and employee self-efficacy significantly enhance employees’ perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, and competence. These perceptions, in turn, positively affect collaborative intention, which subsequently improves collaborative performance. Moreover, perceived usefulness, ease of use, and competence jointly mediate the relationships between the antecedent variables (anthropomorphism and self-efficacy) and collaborative performance. In summary, the findings elucidate a sequential mediation pathway: robot anthropomorphism and employee self-efficacy boost key perceptions, thereby fostering collaborative intention and ultimately enhancing performance. The study provides theoretical insights into the psychological mechanisms through which anthropomorphic design features and employee self-efficacy shape effective human–robot collaboration and offers practical guidance for the successful integration of service robots into service operations.

Social media (SM) use has been associated with increased body image dissatisfaction and body checking behaviors. Repetitive exposure to idealized images and interaction with appearance-related content may be the cause of this relationship. The present study used a cross-sectional survey to examine the associations between body checking behaviors and SM use, emotional eating, perceived stress, and self-esteem among adults (n = 423; aged 18–50 years, 71.9 percent female). Results showed that the number of online friends/followers, emotional eating, perceived stress, and general SM use significantly correlated with higher body checking scores. Conversely, self-esteem was negatively correlated with these scores. In multivariate regression analyses, perceived stress (B = 0.94, p < 0.001), emotional eating (B = 0.60, p < 0.001), general SM use (B = 0.18, p = 0.002), and lower educational level (B = −2.17, p = 0.011) independently predicted higher body checking scores, explaining 31.7 percent of the variance. These findings indicate that interventions focusing on media literacy and the management of stress and emotional eating may help mitigate the adverse effects of SM on body image and body-checking behaviors.

Social media platforms are fighting misinformation by adding warning flags and suggesting related content. However, it is still unclear how users understand these flags and whether they influence users’ willingness to share content or believe false information—especially on video platforms such as TikTok. Do users notice these flags? If so, do the flags change how they view the content? Inoculation theory suggests that if individuals are forewarned about the potential for misinformation and are exposed to weakened forms of such misinformation, they may become less susceptible to misinformation. Does inoculating users with flagged content reduce false acceptance and sharing intentions later? To address these questions, we conducted a user study (N = 322) utilizing a TikTok-like interface, employing a 2 (misinformation warning: absent, present) × 3 (counterargument in pre-suggested false-flagged content: absent, cue, action) between-subject experimental design. While users noticed flags as intended, their perceptions regarding the frequency and harm of misinformation remain unchanged. Furthermoe, neither warning nor counterargument messages effectively reduced users’ acceptance of misinformation or their intention to share it, highlighting the boundary conditions of inoculation theory within immersive short video contexts. Interestingly, media literacy and TikTok dependency have emerged as significant predictors of false acceptance. This study discusses the practical implications for the design of ethical social media interfaces.