Psychology

Abstract Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior. While it shares considerable overlap with the field of communications, psychology starts with “why” questions. It focuses on primary psychological processes, such as behavior, emotion, and cognition, within multiple contexts and analytical perspectives, including biology, individual differences, environment, and culture. Psychology is a science and, therefore, has established research frameworks and traditions that guide inquiry and interpretation. The purpose of this entry is to highlight some of the areas where psychology's perspective contributes to communications. There are several subfields within psychology whose theories and perspectives have been historically important contributors to communications and media studies research and theory. These include cognitive, developmental, identity and personality, and social psychology. The field of psychology is also being continually expanded and enriched by emerging fields, among them media psychology, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, cultural psychology, environmental psychology, narrative psychology, systems theory, and positive psychology.