Media and applied psychology

Applied psychology is a term used to refer to those branches of science in which the principles of psychological theory and practice in related industries are applicable. An example can serve: in education - pedagogy, in industry - ergonomics, in the work of personnel services - psychodiagnostics.

Modern living conditions led to the need to convey to a larger circle Population knowledge of the psychological aspects in different activities. Mass media are actively used for this purpose . That is why psychologists of different orientations use them to solve their problems. For example, programs are very popular, specialists are invited to various meetings. This fact reflects the need to meet the needs of people in psychological knowledge, information. Especially in this sense, applied social psychology is becoming popular , through which the behavior of a person in society is studied.

The use of the media to increase the psychological knowledge of the population has a number of significant limitations and is not indisputable. This is due to the fact that the applied branches of psychology have their own peculiarities (specific), which postpone the imprint on the transmitted information. These include:

• Social orientation. Information is transmitted not for a specific individual, but for a large group of people. Accordingly, a psychologist, when communicating with a large audience, communicates knowledge that is different from that obtained in the course of individual and personal communication. In this case, applied psychology is generalized, but the requirements that are imposed on compliance with ethical standards become more stringent.
• Lack of feedback. This feature determines the unidirectional nature of the interaction. A specialist who transmits information through the media does not see and does not feel his listeners. Therefore, a psychologist should be extremely cautious in giving advice, in formulating statements, in selecting examples from life. It's not for nothing that the students of psychological faculties repeat throughout their studies: "A psychologist should not give recommendations!". However, by inviting a psychologist, people expect from him ready-made solutions that can be applied in real life. Therefore, a person who is interested in popular or applied psychology should understand that the recommendation of a psychologist is not a ready-made formula, but the direction of a solution within which there are alternatives.

In foreign and domestic sources devoted to media research, their influence on the psyche and the consciousness of the individual is emphasized, therefore, the use of methods of psychological influence must be strictly argued and extremely cautious, especially for the Internet and television. The absence of direct contact, delayed feedback lead to the impossibility of monitoring the consequences of such impacts. For example, the use of hypnosis, suggestion methods can be unsafe for both the psychological and physical health of viewers. Thus, the optimal delivery of general information, regardless of whether applied psychology, general or popular is the source of knowledge.