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Psychosocial Development Research in Adolescence: a Scoping Review

• Original Article
• Published: 01 February 2022
• Volume 30 , pages 640–669, ( 2022 )

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• Nuno Archer de Carvalho   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6620-0804 1 , 2 &
• Feliciano Henriques Veiga   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2977-6238 1 , 2  

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Erikson’s psychosocial development is a well-known and sound framework for adolescent development. However, despite its importance in scientific literature, the scarcity of literature reviews on Erikson’s theory on adolescence calls for an up-to-date systematization. Therefore, this study’s objectives are to understand the extent and nature of published research on Erikson’s psychosocial development in adolescence (10–19 years) in the last decade (2011–2020) and identify directions for meaningful research and intervention. A scoping review was conducted following Arksey and O’Malley’s framework, PRISMA-ScR guidelines, and a previous protocol, including a comprehensive search in eight databases. From 932 initial studies, 58 studies were selected. These studies highlighted the burgeoning research on Erikson’s approach, with a more significant representation of North American and European studies. The focus of most studies was on identity formation, presenting cross-cultural evidence of its importance in psychosocial development. Most of the studies used quantitative designs presenting a high number of different measures. Regarding topics and variables, studies emphasized the critical role of identity in adolescents’ development and well-being and the relevance of supporting settings in psychosocial development. However, shortcomings were found regarding the study of online and school as privileged developmental settings for adolescents. Suggestions included the need to consider the process of identity formation in the context of lifespan development and invest in supporting adolescents’ identity formation. Overall, conclusions point out Erikson’s relevance in understanding adolescents’ current challenges while offering valuable research and intervention directions to enhance adolescent growth potential.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Conceição Martins and Filomena Covas for their help in assessing methodological options and text revision and Rita Fonseca and Sandra Torres for their advice regarding English accuracy.

This work was supported by the FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, IP, within the scope of the UIDEF — Unidade de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Educação e Formação, under the reference UID/CED/04107/2020.

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de Carvalho, N.A., Veiga, F.H. Psychosocial Development Research in Adolescence: a Scoping Review. Trends in Psychol. 30 , 640–669 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-022-00143-0

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Research on Adolescence in the Twenty-First Century

Robert crosnoe.

1 Department of Sociology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712

Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson

2 Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164-4020

Recent methodological advances have allowed empirical research on adolescence to do better justice to theoretical models. Organized by a life course framework, this review covers the state of contemporary research on adolescents' physical, psychological, interpersonal, and institutional pathways; how these pathways connect within primary ecological contexts; and how they relate to broader patterns of societal stratification and historical change. Looking forward, it also emphasizes three future challenges/opportunities, including efforts to illuminate biosocial processes, link adolescence to other life stages, and account for the influence of major social changes (e.g., the new media).

Introduction

First coined by Hall (1904) only a century ago, adolescence was “created” by the convergence of multiple trends, including labor and schooling laws, that extended dependency beyond childhood and delayed entry into adult roles ( Modell & Goodman 1990 ). Adolescence as a period of dependency and preparation for adulthood has since been reinforced through more recent social changes, including economic restructuring and changing cultural norms about parenting ( Goldin & Katz 2008 , Settersten et al. 2005 ). Research on adolescence has also changed dramatically. This review discusses recent developments in this literature, being cognizant of their historical underpinnings while focusing on the future. Given our background in the life course tradition, as well as the inherent importance of transitions, trajectories, and context to understanding this life stage, we use a life course framework to organize our review. Owing to space constraints, we focus primarily on American adolescents.

In his 1989 review, Dornbusch wrote that research on adolescence was turning from psychologists studying “individual adolescents carrying out their developmental tasks” (p. 233) to contextual approaches emphasizing transactions between adolescents and their environments. This trend has since intensified, reflecting refinements of theoretical models, including human ecology ( Bronfenbrenner & Morris 1998 ) and the life course paradigm ( Elder 1998 ). A central imagery of the latter, our focus here, is of lives as a tapestry of three threads—developmental trajectories (physical and psychological growth), social pathways (sequences of institutional roles and activities), and social convoys (continuity and change in interpersonal relations)—situated in settings of daily life, larger structures of society, and the broader sweep of history.

Unfortunately, studying this dynamic, multilayered model of adolescence has taxed methodological and data resources ( Elder & Giele 2009 ). Recently, however, data sets on children have aged into adolescence (e.g., Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth), and data sets on adolescents have aged into adulthood (e.g., National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, or Add Health). Data sets are also integrating biological, behavioral, and setting data. At the same time, significant advances in longitudinal and multilevel modeling have allowed researchers to capture individual and population trajectories and to identify person-context effects ( Bollen & Curran 2006 , Bryk et al. 2002 ). Of note is that qualitative and mixed methods research projects are also increasingly emphasizing context, longitudinal change, and the multiple strands of adolescent development ( Giordano et al. 2006 ).

In other words, sociologists are making progress on a more holistic understanding of adolescents in society. In reviewing this progress, we focus on each of the three main strands of the adolescent life course before turning to the ways in which their interweaving is embedded in ecological contexts and both reflects and contributes to population-level inequalities.

Three Threads in the Life Course Tapestry

Exhaustively reviewing recent research on the three main strands of the life course is impossible. As just one example, the United States has a high teen pregnancy rate that contributes to the overall rate of nonmarital fertility, and early parenthood relates to past and future socioeconomic disadvantages in complex ways ( Mollborn 2007 ). As a result, this topic could fill an entire review article, and in fact has ( Furstenberg 2003 ). Also regrettably left out are issues such as disordered eating and bullying. Consequently, this review should be viewed as an effort to put forward a limited set of illustrative examples of new ways to think about old issues.

Developmental Trajectories

Adolescence is a period of rapid change. This change is dramatically crystallized in the flood of hormonal activity and rapid physiological development that constitutes puberty ( Susman et al. 2003 ). Great psychological and emotional change also occurs during adolescence. In the years following puberty, adolescents are faced with the task of establishing their own identity separate from their parents, which may be stressful ( Kroger 2007 ). At the same time, rates of risky behavior (e.g., substance use, delinquency, sexual activity) also rise markedly, especially among boys ( Bachman et al. 2002 ). A hallmark of adolescence is that maturation can occur at different velocities in different domains of development, so that youth may look or feel like adults in some ways but not in others.

Beginning with puberty, a great deal of attention has been focused on pubertal timing, following earlier work outside the United States ( Stättin & Magnusson 1990 ). Primarily among girls, going through puberty earlier than the norm is associated with a host of adjustment problems, including risky sex and delinquency. Sociologists have elucidated many mechanisms underlying these patterns, which are not entirely hormonal or biological in nature. One concerns premature self- and other-perceptions of early maturers, especially girls, as adults. In other words, they are adult-like physically and, as a result, may engage in actions or put themselves in situations that are ahead of their emotional or cognitive capacities ( Cavanagh 2004 , Haynie 2003 ). Another mechanism is increased distress related to growing size in the context of strict norms about female body weight ( Ge et al. 2001 ). These socioemotional difficulties in early adolescence can then disrupt academic functioning ( Cavanagh et al. 2007 ). Pubertal timing, therefore, represents an intersection of biological, emotional, social, and institutional processes.

Turning to mental health, adolescence marks the emergence of gender differences in depression—with girls higher than boys—that persist for decades ( Hankin et al. 2007 ). Efforts to explain this trend have focused primarily on social psychological phenomena, including gender differences in self-concept, management of daily stressors, experiences of puberty, and the rigidity and enforcement of societal standards of appearance and behavior ( Martin 1996 , Rosenfield et al. 2000 ). A particularly insightful sociological approach to adolescent depression, regardless of gender, concerns how it is interpreted by others. For example, depression can be strongly stigmatized in social groups when it is perceived as mental illness as opposed to a health problem, leading depressed youth to be isolated from others just when they need more support ( Martin et al. 2007 ). Indeed, social responses to adolescent distress influence whether it can have long-term effects on other areas of life, including education ( McLeod & Fettes 2007 ). Thus, socialized perspectives on depression and other psychological constructs reveal insight into the complex dance between self and other that characterizes adolescence.

Identity development is another psychological process that has been studied from a variety of angles. The consensus is that it is a highly social process, with young people slowly integrating the different pieces of themselves that they come to understand through social interactions into a cohesive sense of who they are and where they fit in the world ( Kroger 2007 ). In the past two decades, considerable research has centered on the development of group-based identities. For example, racial identity taps into the significance and meaning attached to race within individuals' overall senses of self. According to work by Sellers and associates (1998) on African American youth, racial identity has four dimensions: ( a ) salience (how much race is part of one's self-concept), ( b ) centrality (whether one defines him or herself through race), ( c ) regard (the degree of positive or negative feelings about one's race), and ( d ) ideology (beliefs about how someone of a certain race should act). Across minority groups, these dimensions tend to increase as adolescence unfolds and are strongly related to mental health ( Mandara et al. 2009 , Umaña-Taylor et al. 2009 ). For the most part, the benefits of racial identity are strongest when minority adolescents have reached the achieved stage of identity development, meaning that they have committed to a particular identity after exploring what it means and what alternative identities might be possible ( Seaton et al. 2006 ). Similar research has been done on sexual identity, tracing the gradual process by which adolescents come to see themselves as homosexual and the role that this process plays in healthy development ( Russell & Sigler-Andrews 2003 ).

As for risky behavior, understanding why adolescents become more reckless even as they develop critical thinking skills has long been a major activity of adolescence researchers. One explanation is that adolescence is a time of heightened sensitivity to social influences and greater propensity toward emotional stimulation. These developmental changes have traditionally been viewed as by-products of identity development, but recent neurological research is shedding new light on this phenomenon ( Dahl & Spear 2004 ). Specifically, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies suggest that increased risky behavior during adolescence reflects different rates of growth in the brain's socioemotional and cognitive control systems. After puberty, dopamine receptors increase rapidly in regions that control sensation-seeking, which encourages behaviors that bring some emotional or sensory reward ( Steinberg 2008 ). Peer approval is one such reward, and ample evidence indicates that engaging in some level of dangerous behavior can elicit peer esteem and popularity ( Allen et al. 2005 , Kreager & Staff 2009 ). Importantly, structural changes of equivalent magnitude do not occur in the prefrontal cortex, which controls cognition, until adolescents approach young adulthood. That enhanced self-regulation skills tend to come after the increased propensity toward sensation-seeking helps to explain the increase in risky behavior that characterizes the years between the end of childhood and the start of adulthood ( Dahl & Spear 2004 , Steinberg 2008 ). Clearly, other factors are also at work, including changing cultural norms about permissible behavior and increasing opportunities for engaging in certain behaviors, but neurological development is certainly a piece of the puzzle.

As is evident even from this very selective discussion, adolescent development crosses many different psychological, physiological, cognitive, and behavioral domains. As a result, understanding one domain often requires consideration of others.

Social Pathways

Beyond the family, two key institutions structure the social pathways of adolescence. Beginning with schools, sociologists have traditionally studied the organization of high schools via academic tracks (e.g., vocational, college preparatory). As formal tracking has been largely dismantled ( Lucas 2001 ), new organizational schemas have been identified, including patterns of course-taking, critical courses (e.g., advanced math), and course trajectories ( Gamoran & Hannigan 2000 , McFarland 2006 , Riegle-Crumb 2006 ). Math is a clear example, as it is highly structured and strongly predicts educational and occupational attainment ( Adelman 2006 , Frank et al. 2008 , Riegle-Crumb 2006 ). Case studies have yielded new insights on the implications of curricular structure. McFarland (2006) , for example, examined student flow across math courses in two high schools, one characterized by five math trajectories with fewer lower-ability courses over time, and the other with a branching tree structure in which students move from a single trunk into four eventual trajectories of increasing differentiation. In each structure, specific courses represent critical junctions between trajectories and in math persistence altogether.

Thus, students' school pathways are far more complex than the traditional view of tracking suggests. Studying these pathways also reveals new insights into gender differences in education. Girls have been surpassing boys in most academic domains in secondary and postsecondary education for some time, especially among African Americans. Research on coursework trajectories suggests that girls have now also closed the gap with boys in math and science in terms of the course credits they accrue in high school. However, despite their advantage in college enrollment and graduation ( Buchman & DiPrete 2006 ), they remain underrepresented in these curricula in college ( Riegle-Crumb 2006 ).

Studies in the past decade have also emphasized the changing role of higher education in adolescents' lives. Expectations to earn four-year and graduate degrees have risen dramatically, faster than actual attainment ( Jacob & Wilder 2010 , Reynolds et al. 2006 ). In line with a “college for all” norm ( Rosenbaum 2001 ), expectations to complete college have become less tied to social class and previous achievement ( Goyette 2008 , Reynolds et al. 2006 , Schneider & Stevenson 1999 ). More than 80% of high school seniors in 2008 reported that they would probably or definitely earn a four-year college degree ( Bachman et al. 2009 ). Some of the least educationally ambitious students may have dropped out of school before senior year and, therefore, would be absent from such statistics, but educational expectations are actually even higher when measured at eighth or tenth grade instead ( Goyette 2008 , Jacob & Wilder 2010 ). The rise in expectations to earn a college degree has been even steeper among girls, who now expect BAs at higher rates than boys, with little difference within gender between blacks and whites ( Jacob & Wilder 2010 ).

Commonly cited explanations for rising educational expectations include ( a ) an increase in the earnings payoff to college (versus high school) graduation; ( b ) expanding higher education options, including online degrees and community colleges; and ( c ) trends in the educational attainment of parents ( Berg 2007 , Goldin & Katz 2008 , Goyette 2008 , Schneider & Stevenson 1999 ). Regarding the latter, the relative risk aversion thesis suggests that adolescents strive for at least as much education as their parents have. As parents' average education levels rise across cohorts, therefore, so do adolescents' educational expectations ( Breen & Goldthorpe 1997 ).

Paid work is another institution shaping adolescence, with nearly all high school students employed during the school year at some point while in high school ( Apel et al. 2007 , Mortimer 2003 , National Research Council 1998 ). Building on foundational studies from the 1980s and 1990s, recent research has elucidated the mix of risks and benefits of paid work for adolescents. Although adolescent work often starts earlier, most studies focus on high school, when employment is more likely to occur in the formal sector and for longer hours. Moreover, school-year employment continues to garner the most attention, despite higher rates of summer employment ( Mortimer 2003 , Perreira et al. 2007 ). These foci reflect concerns about potentially competing demands of school and employment, key institutions that structure the social pathways of adolescence. The question is whether (or under what conditions) employment facilitates educational attainment and builds human capital useful later in the labor market or whether employment, especially working 20 h or more per week, can distract from academic pursuits and foster various problem behaviors, including delinquency and substance use ( Lee & Staff 2007 , McMorris & Uggen 2000 , Mortimer 2003 , Paternoster et al. 2003 ).

In the past two decades, a major activity has been in understanding the variable meaning and consequence of paid work in adolescence. For example, the outcomes linked to work hours depend on the goal of working, including saving for college and supporting the self or family ( Marsh 1991 , Newman 1996 ). Recent evidence indicates that work can promote educational attainment among those with low academic promise ( Staff & Mortimer 2007 ) and among poor and/or minority students ( Entwisle et al. 2005 ). For example, teenagers in Newman's (1999) ethnography of fast food workers often rejected the delinquency of peers in choosing to work, and their jobs brought them coworkers and supervisors that supported and rewarded their educational pursuits. Along these same lines, Lee & Staff (2007) compared adolescents who work intensively and those who do not do so but who share similar preexisting background characteristics. They found no effect on dropout among adolescents with backgrounds indicative of a high propensity to work intensively. These students tended to be from socioeconomically disadvantaged families and have weaker school performance. Additional studies indicate that the association between intensive employment and substance use is largely limited to whites ( Johnson 2004 ) and that intensive employment can actually help curb substance use and delinquency for adolescents with earlier histories of these problem behaviors ( Apel et al. 2007 ).

More effort also has been devoted to promoting causal inference in research on adolescent employment. Both spuriousness and bidirectionality are concerns in studies of work hour effects on adolescent behavior. Longitudinal studies adjusting for known covariates, including lagged measures of the outcome, often indicate that that preexisting differences account for many observed effects ( Schoenhals et al. 1998 , Warren et al. 2000 ). Links to substance use and some academic outcomes, however, persist ( McMorris & Uggen 2000 , Mortimer & Johnson 1998 , Paternoster et al. 2003 , Schoenhals et al. 1998 ). Other techniques, such as fixed and random effects models and propensity score matching, have revealed no evidence of work hour effects on adolescent behavior or effects only on adolescents with low or moderate propensities to work ( Lee & Staff 2007 , Paternoster et al. 2003 ), but they have been applied to a limited set of behavioral dimensions to date.

Thus, research is moving toward a clearer picture of how developmental, educational, human capital, and behavioral outcomes are linked to employment in adolescence. The same can be said of studies on other social pathways of adolescents (e.g., academic pathways).

Social Convoys

Adolescence is a time of both quantitative and qualitative change in the matrix of social relationships. In particular, the push and pull between parents and peers has been a dominant theme of research on adolescence for years.

Over time, the normative break with parents in adolescence has been reconceptualized as a renegotiation of parent and child roles, not disengagement. In other words, adolescents may spend less time with, and seek more autonomy from, parents, but they typically do so in the context of stable strong connections and parental influence ( Larson et al. 1996 ). Similar trends extend to other family relationships (e.g., with siblings and grandparents), which may loosen more in terms of shared time than in emotional bonds ( Crouter et al. 2004 , King et al. 2003 ).

The idea of parent-adolescent renegotiation has led to new ways of thinking about oft-studied issues. One of the best examples concerns parental monitoring. The general consensus has long been that adolescents engage in fewer problem behaviors when their parents keep close track of what they do and with whom they associate, in part because monitoring constrains opportunities to engage in such behaviors and in part because it helps to develop adolescent self-control ( Browning et al. 2005 , Hay 2006 ). Yet, Stättin & Kerr (2000) have argued that the most common indicator of parental monitoring—parental knowledge about adolescents' activities and peers—may be an effect of adolescent behavior more than a cause. In other words, well-behaved adolescents share their lives with their parents, creating the appearance of monitoring being behaviorally protective. More likely, this link is reciprocal—monitoring promoting prosocial behavior that, in turn, increases parent-adolescent relationship quality, adolescents' openness to parental monitoring, and adolescents' willingness to self-disclose to parents ( Fletcher et al. 2004 , Yau et al. 2009 ). This debate has driven home the need to think of adolescents' developmental trajectories and social convoys as intertwined over time.

Along these same lines, adolescents are increasingly viewed as eliciting parenting, not just being shaped by it. For example, changes in U.S. antipoverty policy that emphasize the role of fathers have brought attention to nonresident fathers ( Furstenberg 2007 ). Although the assumption is that having involved fathers is good for adolescents, this link partially reflects the tendency for nonresident fathers to be more involved in the lives of well-adjusted adolescents ( Hawkins et al. 2007 ). As another example, the normative increase in parent-child conflict during adolescence is less pronounced for second- or later-born children, as parents learn what to expect from their first-born children ( Shanahan et al. 2007 ). Another line of research that views both sides of the parent-adolescent relationship concerns the degree to which the characteristics and behaviors of parents and adolescents are aligned. Consider that religious mismatches within the family (e.g., religious mother and nonreligious adolescent, or vice versa) appear to engender adolescent problem behavior ( Pearce & Haynie 2004 ). Approaching parent-adolescent relationships as evolving, two-sided, and mutually influential, therefore, is crucial.

Of course, peers continue to be a primary focus of research on adolescence. Much of this research concerns how friends influence each other and how adolescents select into different kinds of friendships, but more attention is now being paid to the larger peer groupings in which these friendships are embedded. For example, boys are at greater risk for emotional distress when they are members of networks that are large and cohesive, but girls are at greater risk in networks that are large and noncohesive. This gendered pattern reflects differences in the interpersonal styles of girls and boys ( Falci & McNeely 2009 ). As another example, friendships tend to have greater influence on adolescent delinquency when they are embedded in dense networks ( Haynie 2001 ). Many social and institutional settings, such as schools and neighborhoods, can also be thought of as peer contexts, in that they organize the friendship market and serve as a center of youth culture ( Harding 2009 ). Peer relations and dynamics within such contexts may be better characterized by qualitative groupings of youth (e.g., crowds) as opposed to quantitatively measurable collectives (e.g., networks). Indeed, many meaningful peer groups are fluid but matter because they provide common identity and serve as the practical universe of potential friends ( Akerlof & Kranton 2002 , Brown & Klute 2003 ). Barber and associates (2001) , for example, used the archetypal characters from the movie The Breakfast Club (e.g., the jock, the rebel, the princess) as a way of organizing data collection on such peer crowds. Importantly, interpersonal processes that occur within larger bands of peers seem to do as much, if not more, to predict the positive and negative mental health and educational outcomes of adolescents than intimate friendships, especially in the long term.

Historically, scholars studied another key peer relation—romantic relationships—in terms of major developmental tasks (e.g., preparation for adult relationships), leading to a focus on their benefits ( Shulman & Collins 1998 ). Later, risks took the spotlight, including links of girls' dating with depression, stress, and abuse, and more attention was paid to the consequences of stricter norms about appropriate dating (and sexual) behavior for girls ( Hagan & Foster 2001 , Joyner & Udry 2000 , Kreager & Staff 2009 ). Increasingly, however, scholars have recognized that adolescent romance may be developmentally positive or negative depending on the characteristics of the partners, the quality of the relationship, and the context in which it occurs. For example, romantic relationships may foster early sexual activity but also reduce the psychological strain of sex and increase contraceptive use. They may be especially important as buffers against the potential harm of weak bonds with parents or as a stand-ins for close friends ( Giordano et al. 2006 , Manlove et al. 2007 , McCarthy & Casey 2008 ). Importantly, although boys were long thought to be less oriented to and affected by romance, emerging evidence suggests that boys may have equally strong ties to their partners as girls and be more influenced by them. Along with their lower confidence in their romantic skills, these qualities might leave boys vulnerable emotionally to the vicissitudes of adolescent romance ( Giordano et al. 2006 ).

An emerging task is to add a wider variety of extrafamilial and other familial relationships to this traditional focus on parents and peers. Taking such a holistic view of overlapping relationships as they evolve is the best way to capture the concept of social convoys.

The Social Embeddedness of Adolescence

As alluded to throughout the prior discussion, the three main strands of the life course play out—and come together—within social contexts, ranging from small primary and secondary groups (e.g., families) to larger societal institutions (e.g., schools) to macro-level social structures, such as stratification systems based on gender, race, and class. Here, we highlight some recent explorations of this social embeddedness of adolescence.

The Ecological Contexts of Adolescence

Because adolescents have limited mobility, neighborhoods can powerfully structure their lives physically and socially. As a result, studies of neighborhood effects have proliferated in recent years, aided by neighborhood data in specific locales (e.g., Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, L.A. Family and Neighborhood Survey), on the national level (e.g., Add Health), and through demonstration projects moving low-income families to new communities (e.g., the Moving to Opportunity, or MTO, experiment), as well as by qualitative studies of neighborhoods and communities. Most of these studies focus on neighborhood disadvantage and adolescent risk-taking ( Bellair & Roscigno 2000 , Browning et al. 2005 , Dance 2002 , Harding 2003 , Kling et al. 2007 ).

Motivating much of this research is Wilson's (1996) perspective on spatially concentrated disadvantage, which is thought to disrupt networks of social capital that socialize and supervise youth and to hinder the effectiveness of local institutions (e.g., schools, churches) and informal networks in providing social control. Contemporary scholars have sought to identify the mechanisms involved in these processes. For example, Browning and associates (2005) reported that adolescents in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty experienced sexual onset earlier than others but that higher neighborhood collective efficacy delayed sexual onset, at least among adolescents experiencing lower levels of parental monitoring. These findings suggest conditional effects between neighborhood conditions and family functioning, appearing to contradict prior studies downplaying the possibility of multiplicative contextual influences ( Cook et al. 2002 ). Importantly, studies such as another by Browning and associates (2008) raise the issue of rates of risky sex in turn affecting the concentration of STD risk in neighborhoods, with individuals shaping context. Such micro-to-macro examples are rare but need more attention.

As in all examinations of contextual effects, causality has been a concern in neighborhood research. Browning and associates (2005) have argued that findings varying by level of neighborhood exposure suggest true effects. In line with this argument, Harding (2003) reported that neighborhood poverty effects on adolescents persisted when propensity score matching was employed. He also noted that controlling for individual-level factors may obscure real neighborhood effects if they are affected by neighborhood features themselves, a point echoed by Chuang and associates (2005) in arguing that parents may adjust their parenting based on neighborhood conditions. Indeed, instead of isolating neighborhood effects by controlling individual, economic, and family factors, Bellair & Roscigno (2000) have advocated for viewing labor market opportunities as preceding neighborhood disadvantage, family income, and adolescent attachments, all of which affect adolescent behavior. In other words, instead of controlling for family income, family structure, and adolescents' attachments to family, school, and peers to evaluate the link between local labor market conditions and delinquency, they map the effects of local labor market conditions on delinquency through its effects on family income and structure and adolescents' attachments.

With an experimental design, MTO revealed compelling findings about the implications of switching from low-income to middle-income neighborhoods for adolescents. Interestingly, the benefits of such moves were limited to girls, including improvements in mental health and decreases in delinquency. The qualitative components of the experiment suggested several mechanisms underlying these gendered effects, including girls' greater freedom from sexual fears, boys' (especially minority boys') greater difficulty integrating into new peer networks, and boys' continued strong ties to peers from their former communities ( Clampet-Lundquist et al. 2006 , Kling et al. 2007 ). Outside MTO, other qualitative studies of minority youth have detailed the gendered dilemma of youth adaptation to neighborhood disadvantage, especially crime. Girls must live up to feminized social expectations of them while trying to survive often violent conditions, and boys must develop fearsome personae that protect them on the streets but may disadvantage them in other contexts ( Dance 2002 , Jones 2010 ).

Another major ecological setting of adolescence is the school, where young people spend a large proportion of their waking hours. Scholars continue to decipher the effects of the organizational structure of schools (e.g., size, sector, and racial and socioeconomic composition) on student outcomes (see Arum 2000 for a recent review). Yet, the past decade has witnessed considerably more interest in the normative and social climate of schools, as captured by the rates of behaviors and social characteristics in the student body as a whole. These aggregated aspects of the student body tap into the value systems and opportunity structures to which adolescents are exposed on a daily basis, socializing them as well as affecting their ability to act on or against their own proclivities ( Crosnoe 2011 ). For example, adolescents attending schools in which a high proportion of their fellow students come from single-parent homes transition to first sex earlier than others, as this feature of the student body indicates reduced parental supervision of adolescents and their peers and also speaks to normative understandings of sexual relationships and families among students ( Harris et al. 2002 ). As another example, the average body size of students in a school sets the standard of comparison for adolescents' self-evaluations, affecting whether their own body size has implications for their socioemotional functioning ( Crosnoe 2011 ). As a final example, behavioral patterns in the student body as a whole can constrain or strengthen close friends' similarities on substance use ( Cleveland & Wiebe 2003 ). The peer culture of the school, therefore, provides opportunities that condition selection and socialization processes. Importantly, schools do not just expose students to a student body, they also organize peer subsets within the student body through activity and curricular offerings. Consider that the aforementioned Breakfast Club groups ( Barber et al. 2001 ) often arise from extracurricular activities. Moreover, Frank and associates (2008) used school transcripts to identify adolescents sharing the same social and academic space in school, peer groups that were significantly related to student outcomes.

As for the connection between neighborhoods and schools, ethnographic work has been especially insightful. For example, several studies have illuminated the unique challenges faced by working class and low-income African American youth, especially boys, as they simultaneously navigate their neighborhoods and their schools with very different sets of racialized expectations for youth. For such boys, the tough and seemingly defiant posture that they develop among peers in their neighborhoods is often misconstrued and viewed negatively by the middle-class personnel in their schools, leading to academic marginalization and fueling pernicious ideas about the oppositional culture of minority youth ( Dance 2002 , Carter 2006 ).

The point of this neighborhood and school research is that ecological settings create social networks and contexts in which the powerful peer and family processes of adolescence operate. Thus, going beyond structural dimensions of such settings to capture social processes is important.

Adolescence and Social Stratification

The adolescent population is quite diverse in terms of race/ethnicity, social class, and other markers of social location. Especially among sociologists, such diversity has motivated a great deal of research concerning the ways that adolescents' experiences are both a product of and contributor to major systems of social stratification ( Morgan 2005 ).

In part because adolescence is a relatively healthy period in the life course, major health disparities are less common and consistent during this stage compared with others ( Crockett & Peterson 1993 ). Indeed, adolescents from historically disadvantaged minority groups often are similar to or lower than whites in rates of many risky health behaviors, such as drinking ( Harris et al. 2006 ). Yet, the recent rise in obesity has also been problematic from a long-term health perspective, particularly for African American and Latino/a youth ( Ogden et al. 2010 ). Thus, adolescence may play a positive and negative role in race/ethnic disparities across the life course.

On a structural level, school segregation continues to be an issue of great interest ( Rothstein 2004 ). Studies of school composition suggest that racial desegregation has academic benefits for both white and non-white students by exposing them to different ways of thinking and by leading to greater equity in school resources. Yet, students may also feel lowered senses of belonging and perceive more discrimination in diverse schools ( Goldsmith 2004 , Johnson et al. 2001 , Rumberger & Palardy 2005 ). Progress in school desegregation has also often come with increased within-school segregation ( Mickelson 2001 ). Recently, Parents Involved , in which the Supreme Court curtailed use of race in school assignment, has shifted attention from race to socioeconomic status. Efforts to socioeconomically desegregate schools, however, also demonstrate a mixture of benefits and risks, with research suggesting that academic gains might be accompanied by psychosocial problems and that socioeconomically integrating schools would not alter levels of racial segregation ( Crosnoe 2009 , Reardon et al. 2006 ).

On an interpersonal level, Ogbu's (1997) oppositional culture thesis—which, among other things, argues that African American and Latino/a peers de-emphasize achievement and equate it with acting white—has continued to generate debate. Quantitative examinations have provided little evidence of this phenomenon ( Ainsworth-Darnell & Downey 1998 , Harris 2006 ). Mixed methods examinations have suggested that it does occur occasionally but with some important caveats: ( a ) It is rooted in schools' long-term misunderstanding of minority group culture, and ( b ) it is not racialized but instead happens in youth culture more generally, in ways that are manifested differently by race and class ( Carter 2006 , Tyson et al. 2005 ). In total, research on oppositional culture has probably done less to unpack race/ethnic achievement gaps than it has to illuminate the nexus of youth culture and schooling.

For the most part, research on socioeconomic disparities has continued to focus on socioeconomic disadvantage (e.g., poverty), especially after the contentious public debate about welfare reform ( Gennetian et al. 2008 ). Much of this research suggests that poverty is clearly detrimental to adolescents but perhaps less so than it is for children ( Duncan et al. 1998 ). At the same time, the past decade has also witnessed significant advances in our understanding of socioeconomic advantage. Lareau's (2004) work has been enormously influential. This research has demonstrated that middle-class parents tend to follow an approach to parenting, concerted cultivation, that prioritizes providing children cognitively and socially stimulating activities at home and in formal organizations that develop skills, enhance their senses of entitlement, and teach them how to work institutional systems. Such parenting is so well aligned with the American educational system that it gives their children a competitive edge in school. Initially, Lareau focused on elementary school, but her basic insights have been replicated in studies of adolescence ( Crosnoe & Huston 2007 , Kim & Schneider 2005 ). Moreover, Lareau's recent follow-up of her sample in young adulthood revealed that parenting-related socioeconomic advantages persisted into adolescence and beyond.

Turning to immigration, traditional assimilation perspectives posited improved outcomes for the descendants of immigrants compared with immigrants themselves. Yet, newer research suggests that the foreign- and U.S.-born children of immigrants outperform third-plus-generation youth, despite higher levels of socioeconomic disadvantage among immigrants. Evidence of this immigrant paradox is more consistent among adolescents than children ( Glick & Hohmann-Marriott 2007 , Kao 1999 , Portes & Rumbaut 2001 , Suarez-Orozco et al. 2009 ). This age difference could reflect adolescents' greater time to adapt to American schools and culture. It could also reflect biases in high school data sets, as immigrants from many regions are more likely to drop out of or bypass school ( Oropesa & Landale 2009 ). Perhaps more importantly, evidence of the immigrant paradox varies widely according to national origin, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. For example, adolescents whose parents emigrated from Asia best illustrate the immigrant paradox, at least in the academic realm. Asia is a region in which migration is positively selective on education and income, but, beyond socioeconomic status, Asian immigrant parents tend to have high standards of academic success, go to great lengths to secure educational opportunities for adolescents, and are highly planful (especially financially) about education ( Kao 2004 , Zhou 2009 ). This diversity in immigrant outcomes has supported theoretical reconceptualizations, such as segmented assimilation ( Portes & Zhou 1993 ), contending that the outcomes of assimilation depend on the context in which it occurs.

Of course, the adolescent population is stratified by factors beyond race and family background that also shape trajectories into adulthood. Two examples are obesity and homosexuality. Because of the stigma of obesity in American culture, obese youth are at heightened risk for psychosocial difficulties, which appear to disrupt their educational trajectories ( Crosnoe 2011 ). Similarly, same-sex-attracted youth often face strong social sanctions during high school that can filter into multiple domains, including academic progress ( Pearson et al. 2007 , Russell & Joyner 2001 ). In both cases, adolescents' characteristics position them on a social hierarchy to create short-term problems with long-term consequences. These stratifying processes are similar to gender, race, class, and immigration in that their significance in adolescence may create and reinforce unequal life chances.

New Directions for Research on Adolescence

Attempts by sociologists and other scholars over the past two decades to answer many of the tough questions about adolescence have raised additional questions. Having looked back, therefore, we now look forward. Given the space allowed, we have decided to focus on three specific future directions that touch on particularly provocative and timely debates and discussions in the field.

Biosocial Processes

In recent years, the integration of biomarkers with psychological and social data has helped empirical activity catch up with developmental theory. The sociological value of this activity is not in establishing genetic effects on adolescent behavior but instead in understanding the interplay of genes and environment at work in adolescent behavior ( Guo et al. 2008 ).

Understanding latent genetic influences has been aided by the creation of sibling samples, which allow assessments of sibling similarity in behavioral or other outcomes across sibling pairs of different degrees of genetic relatedness. Analyses of data from one such sample, the Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development project, have elucidated the ways in which genetic traits select adolescents into different relationships and elicit different kinds of parenting. They have also demonstrated how the experiences that siblings have outside the home differentiate them on developmental outcomes, despite their genetic relatedness ( Reiss et al. 2000 ). Research on Add Health's diverse sibling pairs subsample has been particularly insightful about variability in shared environment and observed heritability of behaviors across social settings ( Boardman et al. 2008 ). For example, adolescent aggression is genetically influenced in both socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged communities, but the effects of shared environments (e.g., social influences experienced by both siblings) are significantly stronger in disadvantaged communities ( Cleveland 2003 ).

Turning to specific genetic influences, the collection of genetic data in behavioral studies has encouraged deeper exploration of gene-environment interactions. For example, Caspi and associates (2003) , drawing on biological and psychosocial data from New Zealand, reported that stressful life events had a larger impact on depression among youth with short alleles of the 5-HTT promoter polymorphism, which reduces efficiency of serotonin reuptake in the brain. Research by Guo and associates (2008) with the genetic data in Add Health demonstrated that the significance for delinquency of DRD2 alleles, which reduce efficiencies in the dopaminergetic system, is weaker in families with well-organized routines. Such studies push for a transactional view of biology, development, and environment.

Particularly important are genetically informed studies comparing adolescence with other life stages. For example, Dick and associates (2006) , working with genetic and psychosocial data from the United States, reported that the presence of a gene-regulating neurotransmitters, GABRA2, was associated with conduct disorder in adolescence and then with alcohol use in young adulthood. Thus, a genetic predisposition toward risky behavior is manifested differently across stages. A sociological interpretation is that entry into new settings across the transition from adolescence to adulthood might account for such changes.

As for other biomarkers, cortisol is a central hormone in stress response. Because cortisol levels tend to decline over the day, flatter diurnal patterns may signal health risks through the overactivation of physiological stress response ( Susman 2006 ). Efforts to integrate saliva samples and time diaries have revealed that minority youth report higher levels of chronic stress and demonstrate flatter cortisol patterns across the day than whites. Thus, identifying biological mechanisms underlying links between environmental stress and adolescent health may shed light on the role of adolescence in health disparities ( DeSantis et al. 2007 ). Similarly, immunological processes provide a window into environmental effects on youth. For example, McDade (2001) has combined samples of Epstein-Barr virus antibodies with lifestyle data. This work indicates that the stress that adolescents feel from modernization in developing countries is manifested in reduced immune functioning. Like neuroscience, this biomarker research is more common outside sociology, but it touches on core sociological questions, such as the effects of social integration on life chances, thereby representing a growth area for sociologists.

The nature versus nurture debate, therefore, seems to be dying. Indeed, research on adolescence is turning to the synergistic interplay between nature and nurture. Sociologists interested in adolescence have a significant role to play in uncovering the complexities of this interplay moving forward.

Linking Life Stages

Adolescence is better understood when it is viewed within the full life course, and we are now well poised to theorize and empirically evaluate linkages between adolescence and other life stages ( Johnson et al. 2011 ). As noted in the opening section of this review, advances in longitudinal sampling and modeling have facilitated asking and answering questions that involve processes unfolding over time and across contexts. At least in some domains (e.g., education, work), scholars of adolescence are accustomed to thinking about how adolescent experiences affect adult life. Both looking back to childhood and looking forward to adulthood, however, will enable us to elucidate the role of adolescence in the life course.

For example, initial curricular placements and academic achievement in high school are recognized as important to concurrent and future well-being. Yet, the past decade has also witnessed greater emphasis on understanding proximate and distal factors involved in producing varying levels of high school achievement. By following Baltimore schoolchildren from first grade into early adulthood, Alexander and associates (2007) were able to capture the full educational career and, in the process, identify critical periods. Socioeconomic disparities in academic progress at the start of high school were traced back to corresponding disparities in place at the start of first grade and to summer learning differences by socioeconomic status during the elementary school years. These ninth grade differences were then linked to curricular track, high school completion, and college attendance. Their interpretation emphasized how foundational the skills are that are learned in the early years of schooling and the ways in which the in-school and out-of-school settings and experiences that stratify early learning can have lasting, even accumulating, consequences for the life course. Exclusive focus on the adolescent years, and particularly the high school years, misses these processes set in motion much earlier and likely obscures the best points of intervention ( Heckman 2006 ).

As another example, pubertal timing may be a conduit in the connection between disadvantage in childhood and adulthood. Consider that family adversity is among the myriad biological and environmental factors accelerating pubertal timing ( Belsky et al. 2007 ). Cavanagh and associates (2007) have reported that early pubertal timing during middle school is linked to lower grades and the likelihood of course failure at the start of high school, and that as a result, high school completion and the grades of those who graduate are also affected. By stepping back to view longer-term processes, we see additional mechanisms through which family disadvantage impacts children's success in adolescence and adulthood, operating via biological and social processes, as well as their complex interactions.

Finally, charting individual trajectories over time provides important context for understanding what is observed in adolescence. The influential differentiation between life course persistence and adolescence desistance in criminal behavior is one example ( Moffitt 1993 ). Another concerns adolescent substance use, which is embedded within a variety of long-term trajectories that have distinct meaning and consequence. Following cohorts of adolescents in the Monitoring the Future Surveys into adulthood, Schulenberg and associates (2005) linked different patterns of substance use to the pathways through which adolescents transition into adulthood. Levels of substance use in adolescence anticipated the configuration of role transitions young people experienced in the years immediately following, but were also shaped by them. Young people who worked and did not attend school during these years binge drank more frequently during high school. Those who moved away from home for college were less frequent binge drinkers in high school but quickly caught up. These patterns suggest the varied settings and conditions that different adult statuses bring but also the potential for psychosocial preparation for these statuses during adolescence.

The life course paradigm emphasizes that development is lifelong and that no life stage can be understood in isolation. These examples highlight the advances that can be made if we rise to the challenge posed in this life course principle.

Social Change

Of course, linkages among life stages are also shaped by broader changes in the structure of society. Economic restructuring, for example, is dramatically affecting education and employment in young adulthood and beyond, and we need to better understand what this means for adolescents. Changes in the relative size of the manufacturing and service sectors have occurred in such a way as to reduce the availability of jobs with benefits, increase the income premium of higher education, and create greater fluidity between jobs ( Goldin & Katz 2008 ). Furthermore, Fullerton & Wallace (2007) characterized a set of interrelated changes occurring since the 1970s, including declining unionization, downsizing, growing use of contingent labor, and organizational restructuring as a “flexible turn in U.S. labor relations (p. 201),” which has eroded workers' perceptions of job security. Such changes are increasing the importance of adolescents' educational experiences in the status attainment process, thereby magnifying the significance of all of the factors discussed in this review that matter to these experiences.

In this context, the process of becoming adult has clearly changed, with scholars suggesting that adolescence has been extended to older ages or even that a new life stage should be recognized ( Settersten et al. 2005 ). Demands for and returns to education have risen, and relatedly, the period of dependency and semi-autonomy has lengthened. We know young people are staying in school longer, more often combining employment with higher education, and marrying later ( Bernhardt et al. 2001 , Fitzpatrick & Turner 2007 , U.S. Census Bureau 2006 ). Although race/ethnic and socioeconomic variability in these patterns has long been recognized ( Settersten et al. 2005 ), we are only just beginning to address a number of other important questions related to these broad social changes, including what they mean for the achievement of social and financial autonomy and relationships with others, including parents, and what we need to equip adolescents with in order for them to successfully navigate the transition to adulthood.

Two major collaborative efforts have laid an important foundation for understanding the implications of these social changes for adolescence. The first is the MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy ( Settersten et al. 2005 ). It has reported, among other things, that parents, especially those with more resources, increasingly support their children through the transition to adulthood financially and otherwise. About one-third of 18–34 year olds in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics received cash support from their parents, at an average of just over $3,400 per year ( Schoeni & Ross 2005 ). This and other forms of ongoing material assistance (e.g., support of higher education pursuits, allowing children to remain in the home, assistance in establishing independent households, providing childcare) may be yet another way in which parents' level of education and income can affect the status attainment of their children. The second effort is the Society for Research on Adolescence's Study Group on Adolescence in the Twenty-First Century ( Larson et al. 2002 ). One of its reports has argued that changes in family size, structure, and relationships; increased participation in school and after-school activities; and the advent of the Internet have created new opportunities for adolescents to develop more flexible social skills and capacities to move between diverse social worlds. It also notes, however, that those from families in poverty and those in elite families are more deprived when it comes to the social experience that builds these skills.

Another major social change concerns the transformation of social interaction though new media and technologies. The Pew Internet and American Life Project has reported that, in 2009, 75% of 12–17 year olds had cell phones and 93% went online ( Lenhart et al. 2010 ). The report also indicated that 76% of families with adolescents now had broadband access at home. Adolescents also go online via cell phones and portable gaming devices, in addition to computers at home. These technologies offer new opportunities for leisure, shopping, and staying in touch with others, as well as broader access to information and support. Roughly one-third of adolescents in the Pew study who went online used the Internet to gather information on health, dieting, or physical fitness, and 17% looked online for information about sensitive health topics, such as those related to drug use, mental health, and sex ( Lenhart et al. 2010 ).

Importantly, the Internet can also be thought of as a new kind of peer context. A recent study of 800 American youth revealed that, for most youth, new media technologies are used primarily to maintain and extend friendship networks ( Ito et al. 2010 ). Moreover, the Internet provides opportunities for socially isolated youth to connect with others in meaningful ways while also enabling the peer cultures of high school—including negative dimensions, such as bullying and gossiping—to follow young people home ( Crosnoe 2011 , Raskauskas & Stoltz 2007 ). Thus, new media represent a potential context of resource and risk related to peers.

Other potential risks ranging from driving accidents related to texting or talking on cell phones to exposure to questionable online content or social interactions (e.g., pornography, gambling, sexual solicitation) have concerned parents, educators, and lawmakers. Debates continue over whether risks can also accrue from the potentially sensitive or identifying information, including pictures and videos, adolescents post online about themselves and one another, or whether this is a healthy part of adolescents' self-expression and identity exploration. Nearly three-quarters of online youth use a social networking Web site such as Facebook or MySpace ( Lenhart et al. 2010 ). A recent content analysis of teenagers' MySpace pages indicated that 40% of adolescent users restricted access to their pages to identified friends. Yet, 10% of adolescent users who did not restrict access posted their full name, and many more listed their hometowns and the name of their schools, which could be used to identify them ( Hinduja & Patchin 2008 ).

Relevant empirical evidence about these concerns, however, is rare, and the topic is notably absent from the top sociological publishing outlets. Yet, sociologists have much to contribute, as adolescents' use of new media raises important questions about social networks, personal relationships, and identity development. What are the implications of cell phone use or online communication for parental monitoring and peer interactions? Do electronic interactions replace or complement face-to-face interactions? Do online venues provide a safe or dangerous place for identity work? As an example highlighting the potential work to be done, Blais and associates (2008) reported that Internet activity was related to changes in the quality of best friendships and romantic relationships over the course of a year among Canadian adolescents. Specifically, use of instant messaging, which occurs with known others, enhanced these relationships, but visits to chat rooms, which primarily involve communicating with strangers, were associated with worsening relationship quality over time. As these findings suggest, we will need to be specific about the types of media being used when we attempt to understand their implications for today's adolescents.

As is evident from this review, the rich sociological tradition of research on adolescence has continued into the new century. Still, the sociology of adolescence may be at something of a crossroads. The mapping of the human genome and the increasing sophistication of brain imaging are reshaping the scientific agenda in ways that, at first glance, do not tap into the traditional strengths of sociologists. At the same time, the renewed interest in childhood as a critical period—generated by findings that early interventions bring greater long-term returns to investments than those targeting adolescence ( Heckman 2006 )—has shifted attention to earlier stages. Another way of looking at these developments, however, is that they are opportunities. Indeed, sociologists are well-positioned to demonstrate how biological processes cannot be understood absent a firm sociological understanding of the environment in which they play out over time, explain how the long reach of childhood is channeled through adolescence, and identify ways in which adolescence produces turning points and deflections in the life course.

Summary Points

• Research on adolescence has moved in a sociological direction by emphasizing the role of context in shaping adolescents' lives and the link between adolescent development and societal inequality, fueled in part by recent advances in data collection and methodology.
• Early childhood experiences are very important to long-term health, educational, and behavioral trajectories, but adolescent experiences play key roles in this process by magnifying or deflecting children's trajectories.
• Many of the major developmental trajectories of adolescence, including those related to puberty, risky behavior, academic achievement, health, and identity development, reflect a complex interplay of biology, personal agency, and environment.
• Adolescents' navigation of institutional systems, such as school and work, have become increasingly complex and interrelated, with high school coursework more consequential to long-term outcomes in the globalized economy and paid work during adolescence becoming more common and potentially either risky or beneficial for educational attainment depending on motivation, background, and academic competence.
• Adolescents tend to spend less time with parents and other relatives and seek more autonomy while becoming more immersed in expanding peer networks, including romantic networks, but they typically do so while maintaining strong emotional ties to their families.
• Although much of the research on school and neighborhood effects on adolescent behavior has focused on the structural features of these contexts, more attention is being paid to the ways in which they organize peer groups that differ widely in terms of norms, values, and behavioral opportunities, as well as the ways families affect and respond within them.
• Gender, race, social class, and immigration stratify adolescents' lives, with poor and/or minority youth particularly vulnerable in the educational system, through a variety of structural inequalities and interpersonal processes, but immigrant youth often demonstrate a high level of resilience in the face of similar risks.

Acknowledgments

Support for R.C. came from a faculty scholar award from the William T. Grant Foundation, as well as a center grant to the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24 HD042849; PI: Mark Hayward). The authors thank Anna Thornton for her help with this review.

Disclosure Statement : The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review.

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Developmental Psychology Research Paper Topics

This page provides a comprehensive list of developmental psychology research paper topics , designed to support students in exploring the vast field of human growth and psychological development. Developmental psychology examines the changes in cognitive, emotional, and social behavior that occur throughout a person’s life, from infancy to old age. This discipline not only seeks to understand the nature of these changes but also the processes that underlie them, including biological, environmental, and cultural influences. By delving into topics such as infant attachment, adolescent identity formation, adult aging, and the impact of developmental disorders, students can gain insights into the complexity of developmental trajectories. This resource aims to inspire students to investigate the diverse aspects of developmental psychology, offering a foundation for research that contributes to our understanding of human development and informs practices in education, healthcare, and policy-making.

100 Developmental Psychology Research Paper Topics

Developmental psychology stands as a fascinating field that delves into the growth and transformation of human behavior and mental processes throughout a person’s life. It encompasses a broad spectrum of research topics, each shedding light on the various aspects of development—cognitive, emotional, social, and physical. This area of psychology not only aims to chart the normative patterns of development but also to understand the variances and factors influencing these trajectories. The scope of research within developmental psychology is vast, offering rich insights into how individuals evolve from infancy through old age, influenced by their genetics, environment, culture, and experiences.

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• Attachment theories and their implications in early childhood
• The role of play in cognitive and social development
• Impact of parenting styles on child behavior and emotional health
• Early intervention strategies for developmental delays
• The effects of technology use on young children’s development
• Childhood resilience and adversity
• Peer relationships and social skills in childhood
• Developmental milestones and their variations
• The influence of early education on lifelong learning
• Neurodevelopmental aspects of child psychology
• Identity formation and self-concept in adolescence
• Adolescent mental health and coping strategies
• The impact of social media on adolescent self-esteem and relationships
• Risk-taking behavior and decision-making in adolescence
• The transition from adolescence to adulthood
• Peer pressure and its psychological implications
• Gender identity and sexual orientation development
• The role of family dynamics in adolescent development
• School engagement and academic achievement
• Cultural variations in adolescence experiences
• Psychological theories of aging and life satisfaction
• Cognitive changes in the aging process
• Retirement and the transition to later life
• Aging and mental health: challenges and interventions
• Adult learning and brain plasticity
• The impact of physical health on psychological well-being in older adults
• Social relationships and aging
• Age-related psychological disorders
• Coping with loss and bereavement in old age
• The role of leisure and hobbies in promoting healthy aging
• Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
• Vygotsky’s theory of social development and its implications
• The development of problem-solving skills and logical reasoning
• Memory development across the lifespan
• The role of curiosity and exploration in cognitive development
• Language acquisition and cognitive growth
• The impact of bilingualism on cognitive flexibility
• Cognitive decline with aging: prevention and management
• Executive functions development in children and adolescents
• The influence of nutrition and physical health on cognitive development
• Emotional regulation strategies across different stages of life
• The development of empathy and moral reasoning
• Socialization processes and their outcomes
• The psychology of friendship and romantic relationships
• Cultural and family influences on emotional expression
• The impact of trauma on social and emotional development
• Development of self-esteem and its fluctuations
• Bullying and its long-term psychological effects
• Coping mechanisms for stress and adversity
• The role of emotional intelligence in personal and professional success
• Stages of language acquisition in infancy and early childhood
• The role of environment in language learning
• Language disorders: identification and intervention
• Second language learning and cognitive development
• The relationship between language and thought
• Sign language development in deaf children
• Socioeconomic status and language development
• The critical period hypothesis for language learning
• Language and literacy: building blocks for academic success
• Cross-linguistic comparisons of language development
• Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
• The role of culture in shaping moral values
• Ethical dilemmas and decision-making in children and adults
• The influence of religion on moral development
• Social justice awareness and activism in youth
• Development of conscience and guilt mechanisms
• Prosocial behavior and its roots in early childhood
• Peer influences on ethical behavior
• The psychology of altruism and empathy
• Moral disengagement and its consequences
• Autism spectrum disorders: early detection and lifelong management
• ADHD in children and adults: challenges and coping strategies
• Learning disabilities and educational interventions
• Down syndrome and developmental milestones
• The impact of prenatal exposure to toxins on development
• Early signs of developmental disorders and the importance of screening
• Support systems for families dealing with developmental disorders
• Intellectual disabilities and social inclusion
• The role of genetics in developmental disorders
• Transitioning to adulthood with a developmental disorder
• Cross-cultural studies on child-rearing practices
• The impact of globalization on developmental norms
• Cultural identity development in a multicultural society
• Indigenous perspectives on development
• Biculturalism and its effects on individual development
• Racial and ethnic disparities in access to developmental resources
• Cultural variations in the perception of aging
• The role of language in cultural integration
• Cultural competence in developmental psychology research and practice
• Tradition vs. modernity: impacts on developmental pathways
• Longitudinal vs. cross-sectional studies in developmental research
• Qualitative methods in studying developmental processes
• The use of technology in developmental psychology research
• Ethical considerations in conducting research with minors
• The role of case studies in understanding unique developmental trajectories
• Innovative data collection techniques in developmental research
• The challenges of replicability and generalizability in developmental studies
• Integrating biological, psychological, and social models in developmental research
• The use of meta-analysis in synthesizing developmental psychology findings
• Collaborative international research in developmental psychology

The exploration of developmental psychology research paper topics offers a window into the fascinating journey of human growth and transformation across the lifespan. By engaging with this broad array of topics, students have the opportunity to contribute to a deeper understanding of the intricate processes that shape human development. Such research is not only academically enriching but also has the potential to inform practices and policies in education, healthcare, and beyond, ultimately improving lives and fostering healthy development from infancy through old age. Students are encouraged to pursue topics that spark their curiosity and align with their academic and professional goals, contributing their voices to the rich tapestry of developmental psychology research.

What is Developmental Psychology?

Introduction.

Studying developmental psychology is pivotal for several reasons. It aids in identifying normative patterns of development and the wide variance among individuals due to different influences. This understanding is crucial for parents, educators, and healthcare professionals to support individuals’ developmental needs. Furthermore, it informs interventions aimed at mitigating developmental challenges and maximizing the potential for growth and learning.

Research Importance

Research in developmental psychology is fundamental in advancing our understanding of human development stages. It sheds light on the mechanisms underlying changes from childhood through adulthood and into old age. This research enriches our knowledge base, offering critical insights that drive theoretical advancements and practical applications in educational curricula, parenting strategies, and therapeutic interventions.

The implications of developmental psychology research span various domains. In education, it informs teaching methods that cater to the developmental stages of learners. In healthcare, it guides age-appropriate care strategies. Research findings also influence policy-making, particularly in creating supportive environments that promote healthy development across the lifespan.

Diverse Topics Exploration

The exploration of topics within developmental psychology is as diverse as the stages of human life. It includes the study of attachment in infancy, the impact of adolescence on identity formation, and the challenges of aging. Each topic not only contributes to our theoretical understanding but also addresses practical concerns faced by individuals at different life stages.

These topics are highly relevant to current societal challenges. For example, understanding adolescent development can inform strategies to navigate the digital world’s challenges, while insights into aging are crucial in societies with increasing life expectancies. Developmental psychology research thus plays a critical role in formulating responses to the evolving needs of populations.

Recent Advancements

Recent years have seen significant methodological innovations in developmental psychology. Longitudinal studies tracking the same individuals over many years provide valuable data on changes and consistencies in development. Technological advancements, like neuroimaging, offer new insights into the brain’s developmental changes, enhancing our understanding of cognitive processes across the lifespan.

Theoretical advancements have deepened our understanding of developmental processes, integrating perspectives from genetics, neurology, and sociology. Interdisciplinary research, bridging fields like developmental psychology and education, fosters a more holistic understanding of how individuals learn and grow, spotlighting the interplay between biology, environment, and culture in development.

Ethical Considerations

Conducting research in developmental psychology involves navigating significant ethical challenges, particularly when working with vulnerable populations such as children or elderly individuals. Ensuring informed consent, maintaining privacy, and considering the long-term impact of research findings are paramount to ethical research practices in this field.

Cultural sensitivity is crucial in developmental psychology research. Studies must respect cultural differences in development and parenting practices, recognizing that developmental milestones and norms can vary widely across cultures. This approach ensures that research is inclusive and reflective of diverse human experiences.

Future Directions

Future research in developmental psychology is likely to focus on emerging trends such as the impact of technology on development, the psychology of climate change on young generations, and the increasing importance of understanding development in multicultural contexts. These areas present new challenges and opportunities for developmental psychologists to explore.

The field also faces challenges, including the need for more diverse and inclusive research samples and methodologies that can capture the complexity of human development in a rapidly changing world. However, these challenges also offer opportunities to innovate and expand the field’s reach, making developmental psychology more relevant and applicable than ever before.

The critical role of research in developmental psychology cannot be overstated. It is fundamental to understanding the intricate processes of human development, providing insights that help navigate the complexities of growth and change. As societal contexts and challenges evolve, so too will the field of developmental psychology, continuing to offer vital contributions to our understanding of human behavior and aiding in societal progress.

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Free APA Journals ™ Articles

Recently published articles from subdisciplines of psychology covered by more than 90 APA Journals™ publications.

For additional free resources (such as article summaries, podcasts, and more), please visit the Highlights in Psychological Research page.

• Basic / Experimental Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Core of Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology, School Psychology, and Training
• Forensic Psychology
• Health Psychology & Medicine
• Industrial / Organizational Psychology & Management
• Neuroscience & Cognition
• Social Psychology & Social Processes
• Moving While Black: Intergroup Attitudes Influence Judgments of Speed (PDF, 71KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: General February 2016 by Andreana C. Kenrick, Stacey Sinclair, Jennifer Richeson, Sara C. Verosky, and Janetta Lun
• Recognition Without Awareness: Encoding and Retrieval Factors (PDF, 116KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition September 2015 by Fergus I. M. Craik, Nathan S. Rose, and Nigel Gopie
• The Tip-of-the-Tongue Heuristic: How Tip-of-the-Tongue States Confer Perceptibility on Inaccessible Words (PDF, 91KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition September 2015 by Anne M. Cleary and Alexander B. Claxton
• Cognitive Processes in the Breakfast Task: Planning and Monitoring (PDF, 146KB) Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie expérimentale September 2015 by Nathan S. Rose, Lin Luo, Ellen Bialystok, Alexandra Hering, Karen Lau, and Fergus I. M. Craik
• Searching for Explanations: How the Internet Inflates Estimates of Internal Knowledge (PDF, 138KB) Journal of Experimental Psychology: General June 2015 by Matthew Fisher, Mariel K. Goddu, and Frank C. Keil
• Client Perceptions of Corrective Experiences in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: An Exploratory Pilot Study (PDF, 62KB) Journal of Psychotherapy Integration March 2017 by Jasmine Khattra, Lynne Angus, Henny Westra, Christianne Macaulay, Kathrin Moertl, and Michael Constantino
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Developmental Trajectories Related to Parental Expressed Emotion (PDF, 160KB) Journal of Abnormal Psychology February 2016 by Erica D. Musser, Sarah L. Karalunas, Nathan Dieckmann, Tara S. Peris, and Joel T. Nigg
• The Integrated Scientist-Practitioner: A New Model for Combining Research and Clinical Practice in Fee-For-Service Settings (PDF, 58KB) Professional Psychology: Research and Practice December 2015 by Jenna T. LeJeune and Jason B. Luoma
• Psychotherapists as Gatekeepers: An Evidence-Based Case Study Highlighting the Role and Process of Letter Writing for Transgender Clients (PDF, 76KB) Psychotherapy September 2015 by Stephanie L. Budge
• Perspectives of Family and Veterans on Family Programs to Support Reintegration of Returning Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PDF, 70KB) Psychological Services August 2015 by Ellen P. Fischer, Michelle D. Sherman, Jean C. McSweeney, Jeffrey M. Pyne, Richard R. Owen, and Lisa B. Dixon
• "So What Are You?": Inappropriate Interview Questions for Psychology Doctoral and Internship Applicants (PDF, 79KB) Training and Education in Professional Psychology May 2015 by Mike C. Parent, Dana A. Weiser, and Andrea McCourt
• Cultural Competence as a Core Emphasis of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (PDF, 81KB) Psychoanalytic Psychology April 2015 by Pratyusha Tummala-Narra
• The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-Being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure Patients (PDF, 123KB) Spirituality in Clinical Practice March 2015 by Paul J. Mills, Laura Redwine, Kathleen Wilson, Meredith A. Pung, Kelly Chinh, Barry H. Greenberg, Ottar Lunde, Alan Maisel, Ajit Raisinghani, Alex Wood, and Deepak Chopra
• Nepali Bhutanese Refugees Reap Support Through Community Gardening (PDF, 104KB) International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation January 2017 by Monica M. Gerber, Jennifer L. Callahan, Danielle N. Moyer, Melissa L. Connally, Pamela M. Holtz, and Beth M. Janis
• Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence (PDF, 384KB) Psychological Bulletin February 2016 by Benjamin Harkin, Thomas L. Webb, Betty P. I. Chang, Andrew Prestwich, Mark Conner, Ian Kellar, Yael Benn, and Paschal Sheeran
• Youth Violence: What We Know and What We Need to Know (PDF, 388KB) American Psychologist January 2016 by Brad J. Bushman, Katherine Newman, Sandra L. Calvert, Geraldine Downey, Mark Dredze, Michael Gottfredson, Nina G. Jablonski, Ann S. Masten, Calvin Morrill, Daniel B. Neill, Daniel Romer, and Daniel W. Webster
• Supervenience and Psychiatry: Are Mental Disorders Brain Disorders? (PDF, 113KB) Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology November 2015 by Charles M. Olbert and Gary J. Gala
• Constructing Psychological Objects: The Rhetoric of Constructs (PDF, 108KB) Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology November 2015 by Kathleen L. Slaney and Donald A. Garcia
• Expanding Opportunities for Diversity in Positive Psychology: An Examination of Gender, Race, and Ethnicity (PDF, 119KB) Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne August 2015 by Meghana A. Rao and Stewart I. Donaldson
• Racial Microaggression Experiences and Coping Strategies of Black Women in Corporate Leadership (PDF, 132KB) Qualitative Psychology August 2015 by Aisha M. B. Holder, Margo A. Jackson, and Joseph G. Ponterotto
• An Appraisal Theory of Empathy and Other Vicarious Emotional Experiences (PDF, 151KB) Psychological Review July 2015 by Joshua D. Wondra and Phoebe C. Ellsworth
• An Attachment Theoretical Framework for Personality Disorders (PDF, 100KB) Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne May 2015 by Kenneth N. Levy, Benjamin N. Johnson, Tracy L. Clouthier, J. Wesley Scala, and Christina M. Temes
• Emerging Approaches to the Conceptualization and Treatment of Personality Disorder (PDF, 111KB) Canadian Psychology / Psychologie canadienne May 2015 by John F. Clarkin, Kevin B. Meehan, and Mark F. Lenzenweger
• A Complementary Processes Account of the Development of Childhood Amnesia and a Personal Past (PDF, 585KB) Psychological Review April 2015 by Patricia J. Bauer
• Terminal Decline in Well-Being: The Role of Social Orientation (PDF, 238KB) Psychology and Aging March 2016 by Denis Gerstorf, Christiane A. Hoppmann, Corinna E. Löckenhoff, Frank J. Infurna, Jürgen Schupp, Gert G. Wagner, and Nilam Ram
• Student Threat Assessment as a Standard School Safety Practice: Results From a Statewide Implementation Study (PDF, 97KB) School Psychology Quarterly June 2018 by Dewey Cornell, Jennifer L. Maeng, Anna Grace Burnette, Yuane Jia, Francis Huang, Timothy Konold, Pooja Datta, Marisa Malone, and Patrick Meyer
• Can a Learner-Centered Syllabus Change Students’ Perceptions of Student–Professor Rapport and Master Teacher Behaviors? (PDF, 90KB) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology September 2016 by Aaron S. Richmond, Jeanne M. Slattery, Nathanael Mitchell, Robin K. Morgan, and Jared Becknell
• Adolescents' Homework Performance in Mathematics and Science: Personal Factors and Teaching Practices (PDF, 170KB) Journal of Educational Psychology November 2015 by Rubén Fernández-Alonso, Javier Suárez-Álvarez, and José Muñiz
• Teacher-Ready Research Review: Clickers (PDF, 55KB) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology September 2015 by R. Eric Landrum
• Enhancing Attention and Memory During Video-Recorded Lectures (PDF, 83KB) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology March 2015 by Daniel L. Schacter and Karl K. Szpunar
• The Alleged "Ferguson Effect" and Police Willingness to Engage in Community Partnership (PDF, 70KB) Law and Human Behavior February 2016 by Scott E. Wolfe and Justin Nix
• Randomized Controlled Trial of an Internet Cognitive Behavioral Skills-Based Program for Auditory Hallucinations in Persons With Psychosis (PDF, 92KB) Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal September 2017 by Jennifer D. Gottlieb, Vasudha Gidugu, Mihoko Maru, Miriam C. Tepper, Matthew J. Davis, Jennifer Greenwold, Ruth A. Barron, Brian P. Chiko, and Kim T. Mueser
• Preventing Unemployment and Disability Benefit Receipt Among People With Mental Illness: Evidence Review and Policy Significance (PDF, 134KB) Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal June 2017 by Bonnie O'Day, Rebecca Kleinman, Benjamin Fischer, Eric Morris, and Crystal Blyler
• Sending Your Grandparents to University Increases Cognitive Reserve: The Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project (PDF, 88KB) Neuropsychology July 2016 by Megan E. Lenehan, Mathew J. Summers, Nichole L. Saunders, Jeffery J. Summers, David D. Ward, Karen Ritchie, and James C. Vickers
• The Foundational Principles as Psychological Lodestars: Theoretical Inspiration and Empirical Direction in Rehabilitation Psychology (PDF, 68KB) Rehabilitation Psychology February 2016 by Dana S. Dunn, Dawn M. Ehde, and Stephen T. Wegener
• Feeling Older and Risk of Hospitalization: Evidence From Three Longitudinal Cohorts (PDF, 55KB) Health Psychology Online First Publication — February 11, 2016 by Yannick Stephan, Angelina R. Sutin, and Antonio Terracciano
• Anger Intensification With Combat-Related PTSD and Depression Comorbidity (PDF, 81KB) Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy January 2016 by Oscar I. Gonzalez, Raymond W. Novaco, Mark A. Reger, and Gregory A. Gahm
• Special Issue on eHealth and mHealth: Challenges and Future Directions for Assessment, Treatment, and Dissemination (PDF, 32KB) Health Psychology December 2015 by Belinda Borrelli and Lee M. Ritterband
• Posttraumatic Growth Among Combat Veterans: A Proposed Developmental Pathway (PDF, 110KB) Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy July 2015 by Sylvia Marotta-Walters, Jaehwa Choi, and Megan Doughty Shaine
• Racial and Sexual Minority Women's Receipt of Medical Assistance to Become Pregnant (PDF, 111KB) Health Psychology June 2015 by Bernadette V. Blanchfield and Charlotte J. Patterson
• An Examination of Generational Stereotypes as a Path Towards Reverse Ageism (PDF, 205KB) The Psychologist-Manager Journal August 2017 By Michelle Raymer, Marissa Reed, Melissa Spiegel, and Radostina K. Purvanova
• Sexual Harassment: Have We Made Any Progress? (PDF, 121KB) Journal of Occupational Health Psychology July 2017 By James Campbell Quick and M. Ann McFadyen
• Multidimensional Suicide Inventory-28 (MSI-28) Within a Sample of Military Basic Trainees: An Examination of Psychometric Properties (PDF, 79KB) Military Psychology November 2015 By Serena Bezdjian, Danielle Burchett, Kristin G. Schneider, Monty T. Baker, and Howard N. Garb
• Cross-Cultural Competence: The Role of Emotion Regulation Ability and Optimism (PDF, 100KB) Military Psychology September 2015 By Bianca C. Trejo, Erin M. Richard, Marinus van Driel, and Daniel P. McDonald
• The Effects of Stress on Prospective Memory: A Systematic Review (PDF, 149KB) Psychology & Neuroscience September 2017 by Martina Piefke and Katharina Glienke
• Don't Aim Too High for Your Kids: Parental Overaspiration Undermines Students' Learning in Mathematics (PDF, 164KB) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology November 2016 by Kou Murayama, Reinhard Pekrun, Masayuki Suzuki, Herbert W. Marsh, and Stephanie Lichtenfeld
• Sex Differences in Sports Interest and Motivation: An Evolutionary Perspective (PDF, 155KB) Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences April 2016 by Robert O. Deaner, Shea M. Balish, and Michael P. Lombardo
• Asian Indian International Students' Trajectories of Depression, Acculturation, and Enculturation (PDF, 210KB) Asian American Journal of Psychology March 2016 By Dhara T. Meghani and Elizabeth A. Harvey
• Cynical Beliefs About Human Nature and Income: Longitudinal and Cross-Cultural Analyses (PDF, 163KB) January 2016 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology by Olga Stavrova and Daniel Ehlebracht
• Annual Review of Asian American Psychology, 2014 (PDF, 384KB) Asian American Journal of Psychology December 2015 By Su Yeong Kim, Yishan Shen, Yang Hou, Kelsey E. Tilton, Linda Juang, and Yijie Wang
• Resilience in the Study of Minority Stress and Health of Sexual and Gender Minorities (PDF, 40KB) Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity September 2015 by Ilan H. Meyer
• Self-Reported Psychopathy and Its Association With Criminal Cognition and Antisocial Behavior in a Sample of University Undergraduates (PDF, 91KB) Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement July 2015 by Samantha J. Riopka, Richard B. A. Coupland, and Mark E. Olver

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50+ Research Topics for Psychology Papers

How to Find Psychology Research Topics for Your Student Paper

• Specific Branches of Psychology
• Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy
• Human Cognition
• Human Development
• Critique of Publications
• Famous Experiments
• Historical Figures
• Specific Careers
• Case Studies
• Literature Reviews
• Your Own Study/Experiment

Are you searching for a great topic for your psychology paper ? Sometimes it seems like coming up with topics of psychology research is more challenging than the actual research and writing. Fortunately, there are plenty of great places to find inspiration and the following list contains just a few ideas to help get you started.

Finding a solid topic is one of the most important steps when writing any type of paper. It can be particularly important when you are writing a psychology research paper or essay. Psychology is such a broad topic, so you want to find a topic that allows you to adequately cover the subject without becoming overwhelmed with information.

I can always tell when a student really cares about the topic they chose; it comes through in the writing. My advice is to choose a topic that genuinely interests you, so you’ll be more motivated to do thorough research.

In some cases, such as in a general psychology class, you might have the option to select any topic from within psychology's broad reach. Other instances, such as in an  abnormal psychology  course, might require you to write your paper on a specific subject such as a psychological disorder.

As you begin your search for a topic for your psychology paper, it is first important to consider the guidelines established by your instructor.

Research Topics Within Specific Branches of Psychology

The key to selecting a good topic for your psychology paper is to select something that is narrow enough to allow you to really focus on the subject, but not so narrow that it is difficult to find sources or information to write about.

One approach is to narrow your focus down to a subject within a specific branch of psychology. For example, you might start by deciding that you want to write a paper on some sort of social psychology topic. Next, you might narrow your focus down to how persuasion can be used to influence behavior .

Other social psychology topics you might consider include:

• Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)
• Social cognition
• Person perception
• Social control and cults
• Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing
• Attraction, romance, and love
• Nonverbal communication
• Prosocial behavior

Psychology Research Topics Involving a Disorder or Type of Therapy

Exploring a psychological disorder or a specific treatment modality can also be a good topic for a psychology paper. Some potential abnormal psychology topics include specific psychological disorders or particular treatment modalities, including:

• Eating disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Profile a  type of therapy  (i.e., cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, psychoanalytic therapy)

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Cognition

Some of the possible topics you might explore in this area include thinking, language, intelligence, and decision-making. Other ideas might include:

• False memories
• Speech disorders
• Problem-solving

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Human Development

In this area, you might opt to focus on issues pertinent to  early childhood  such as language development, social learning, or childhood attachment or you might instead opt to concentrate on issues that affect older adults such as dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Some other topics you might consider include:

• Language acquisition
• Media violence and children
• Learning disabilities
• Gender roles
• Child abuse
• Prenatal development
• Parenting styles
• Aspects of the aging process

Do a Critique of Publications Involving Psychology Research Topics

One option is to consider writing a critique paper of a published psychology book or academic journal article. For example, you might write a critical analysis of Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams or you might evaluate a more recent book such as Philip Zimbardo's  The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil .

Professional and academic journals are also great places to find materials for a critique paper. Browse through the collection at your university library to find titles devoted to the subject that you are most interested in, then look through recent articles until you find one that grabs your attention.

Topics of Psychology Research Related to Famous Experiments

There have been many fascinating and groundbreaking experiments throughout the history of psychology, providing ample material for students looking for an interesting term paper topic. In your paper, you might choose to summarize the experiment, analyze the ethics of the research, or evaluate the implications of the study. Possible experiments that you might consider include:

• The Milgram Obedience Experiment
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• The Little Albert Experiment
• Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
• The Asch Conformity Experiment
• Harlow's Rhesus Monkey Experiments

Topics of Psychology Research About Historical Figures

One of the simplest ways to find a great topic is to choose an interesting person in the  history of psychology  and write a paper about them. Your paper might focus on many different elements of the individual's life, such as their biography, professional history, theories, or influence on psychology.

While this type of paper may be historical in nature, there is no need for this assignment to be dry or boring. Psychology is full of fascinating figures rife with intriguing stories and anecdotes. Consider such famous individuals as Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Harry Harlow, or one of the many other  eminent psychologists .

Psychology Research Topics About a Specific Career

​Another possible topic, depending on the course in which you are enrolled, is to write about specific career paths within the  field of psychology . This type of paper is especially appropriate if you are exploring different subtopics or considering which area interests you the most.

In your paper, you might opt to explore the typical duties of a psychologist, how much people working in these fields typically earn, and the different employment options that are available.

Topics of Psychology Research Involving Case Studies

One potentially interesting idea is to write a  psychology case study  of a particular individual or group of people. In this type of paper, you will provide an in-depth analysis of your subject, including a thorough biography.

Generally, you will also assess the person, often using a major psychological theory such as  Piaget's stages of cognitive development  or  Erikson's eight-stage theory of human development . It is also important to note that your paper doesn't necessarily have to be about someone you know personally.

In fact, many professors encourage students to write case studies on historical figures or fictional characters from books, television programs, or films.

Psychology Research Topics Involving Literature Reviews

Another possibility that would work well for a number of psychology courses is to do a literature review of a specific topic within psychology. A literature review involves finding a variety of sources on a particular subject, then summarizing and reporting on what these sources have to say about the topic.

Literature reviews are generally found in the  introduction  of journal articles and other  psychology papers , but this type of analysis also works well for a full-scale psychology term paper.

Topics of Psychology Research Based on Your Own Study or Experiment

Many psychology courses require students to design an actual psychological study or perform some type of experiment. In some cases, students simply devise the study and then imagine the possible results that might occur. In other situations, you may actually have the opportunity to collect data, analyze your findings, and write up your results.

Finding a topic for your study can be difficult, but there are plenty of great ways to come up with intriguing ideas. Start by considering your own interests as well as subjects you have studied in the past.

Online sources, newspaper articles, books , journal articles, and even your own class textbook are all great places to start searching for topics for your experiments and psychology term papers. Before you begin, learn more about  how to conduct a psychology experiment .

What This Means For You

After looking at this brief list of possible topics for psychology papers, it is easy to see that psychology is a very broad and diverse subject. While this variety makes it possible to find a topic that really catches your interest, it can sometimes make it very difficult for some students to select a good topic.

If you are still stumped by your assignment, ask your instructor for suggestions and consider a few from this list for inspiration.

• Hockenbury, SE & Nolan, SA. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers; 2014.
• Santrock, JW. A Topical Approach to Lifespan Development. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2016.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Instant insights, infinite possibilities

61 intriguing psychology research topics to explore

Last updated

11 January 2024

Reviewed by

Brittany Ferri, PhD, OTR/L

Short on time? Get an AI generated summary of this article instead

Psychology is an incredibly diverse, critical, and ever-changing area of study in the medical and health industries. Because of this, it’s a common area of study for students and healthcare professionals.

We’re walking you through picking the perfect topic for your upcoming paper or study. Keep reading for plenty of example topics to pique your interest and curiosity.

• How to choose a psychology research topic

Exploring a psychology-based topic for your research project? You need to pick a specific area of interest to collect compelling data. 

Use these tips to help you narrow down which psychology topics to research:

Focus on a particular area of psychology

The most effective psychological research focuses on a smaller, niche concept or disorder within the scope of a study. 

Psychology is a broad and fascinating area of science, including everything from diagnosed mental health disorders to sports performance mindset assessments. 

This gives you plenty of different avenues to explore. Having a hard time choosing? Check out our list of 61 ideas further down in this article to get started.

Read the latest clinical studies

Once you’ve picked a more niche topic to explore, you need to do your due diligence and explore other research projects on the same topic. 

This practice will help you learn more about your chosen topic, ask more specific questions, and avoid covering existing projects. 

For the best results, we recommend creating a research folder of associated published papers to reference throughout your project. This makes it much easier to cite direct references and find inspiration down the line.

Find a topic you enjoy and ask questions

Once you’ve spent time researching and collecting references for your study, you finally get to explore. 

Whether this research project is for work, school, or just for fun, having a passion for your research will make the project much more enjoyable. (Trust us, there will be times when that is the only thing that keeps you going.) 

Now you’ve decided on the topic, ask more nuanced questions you might want to explore. 

If you can, pick the direction that interests you the most to make the research process much more enjoyable.

• 61 psychology topics to research in 2024

Need some extra help starting your psychology research project on the right foot? Explore our list of 61 cutting-edge, in-demand psychology research topics to use as a starting point for your research journey.

• Psychology research topics for university students

As a university student, it can be hard to pick a research topic that fits the scope of your classes and is still compelling and unique. 

Here are a few exciting topics we recommend exploring for your next assigned research project:

Mental health in post-secondary students

Seeking post-secondary education is a stressful and overwhelming experience for most students, making this topic a great choice to explore for your in-class research paper. 

Examples of post-secondary mental health research topics include:

Student mental health status during exam season

Mental health disorder prevalence based on study major

The impact of chronic school stress on overall quality of life

The impacts of cyberbullying

Cyberbullying can occur at all ages, starting as early as elementary school and carrying through into professional workplaces. 

Examples of cyberbullying-based research topics you can study include:

The impact of cyberbullying on self-esteem

Common reasons people engage in cyberbullying 

Cyberbullying themes and commonly used terms

Cyberbullying habits in children vs. adults

The long-term effects of cyberbullying

• Clinical psychology research topics

If you’re looking to take a more clinical approach to your next project, here are a few topics that involve direct patient assessment for you to consider:

Chronic pain and mental health

Living with chronic pain dramatically impacts every aspect of a person’s life, including their mental and emotional health. 

Here are a few examples of in-demand pain-related psychology research topics:

The connection between diabetic neuropathy and depression

Neurological pain and its connection to mental health disorders

Efficacy of meditation and mindfulness for pain management

The long-term effects of insomnia

Insomnia is where you have difficulty falling or staying asleep. It’s a common health concern that impacts millions of people worldwide. 

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• Open access
• Published: 11 September 2024

Adult co-creators’ emotional and psychological experiences of the co-creation process: a Health CASCADE scoping review protocol

• Lauren McCaffrey   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2524-977X 1 ,
• Bryan McCann 1 ,
• Maria Giné-Garriga 2 ,
• Qingfan An 3 ,
• Greet Cardon 4 ,
• Sebastien François Martin Chastin 1 , 4 ,
• Rabab Chrifou 4 ,
• Sonia Lippke 5 ,
• Quentin Loisel 1 ,
• Giuliana Raffaella Longworth 2 ,
• Katrina Messiha 6 ,
• Mira Vogelsang 1 ,
• Emily Whyte 1 &
• Philippa Margaret Dall 1  

Systematic Reviews volume  13 , Article number:  231 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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There is a growing investment in the use of co-creation, reflected by an increase in co-created products, services, and interventions. At the same time, a growing recognition of the significance of co-creators’ experience can be detected but there is a gap in the aggregation of the literature with regard to experience. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review is to uncover the breadth of existing empirical research on co-creation experience, how it has been defined and assessed, and its key emotional and psychological characteristics in the context of co-created products, services, or interventions among adults.

The development of the search strategy was guided by the research question, Arksey, and O’Malley’s scoping review methodology guidelines, and through collaboration with members of the Health CASCADE consortium. The results of the search and the study inclusion process will be reported in full and presented both narratively and by use of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for scoping review (PRISMA-ScR) flow diagram. Comprehensive searches of relevant electronic databases (e.g. Scopus) will be conducted to identify relevant papers. Snowball searches to identify additional papers through included full-text papers will be done using the artificial intelligence tool, namely, Connected Papers. All review steps will involve at least two reviewers. Studies in English, Dutch, Chinese, Spanish, and French, published from the year 1970 onwards, will be considered. Microsoft Excel software will be used to record and chart extracted data.

The resulting scoping review could provide useful insights into adult co-creators’ experience of participating in the co-creation process. An increased understanding of the role of emotional and psychological experiences of participating in co-creation processes may help to inform the co-creation process and lead to potential benefits for the co-creators and co-created outcome.

Systematic review registration

10.5281/zenodo.7665851.

Peer Review reports

Co-creation can be defined as “any act of collective creativity that involves a broad range of relevant and affected actors in creative problem-solving that aims to produce a desired outcome” [ 1 ]. Co-creation is increasingly acknowledged as a promising approach to address complex ‘wicked’ societal problems and develop more contextually relevant interventions to improve outcomes in a variety of settings [ 2 ]. By facilitating communication across sectors, integrating diverse forms of knowledge and expertise, and enabling local ownership, co-creation can be useful in a broad range of fields including, healthcare, community, and education [ 3 ].

The co-creation process is guided by participatory methodologies [ 4 ]. The goal of participatory research is to engage all those who are the subject of the research in all stages of the research [ 5 ]. Participatory research acknowledges the value of their contribution in a practical and collaborative way [ 5 ]. Co-creation builds on these participatory methodologies, to address the power imbalances stemming from social inequities and uses empowerment approaches to address and meet the needs of citizens [ 3 ]. Co-creation is more specific than the broad concept of participation, which also refers to passive involvement [ 6 ]. The ultimate goal of co-creation is to actively involve all relevant and affected stakeholders in all aspects of the co-creation process, such as planning or conducting [ 7 ].

Whilst the co-creation behaviour of participants in a co-creation process is mostly documented in the co-creation literature, the emotional and psychological experience of participating in the co-creation process has been given less attention [ 8 , 9 ]. Co-creation behaviour is argued to comprise multiple behavioural dimensions that fall under two higher-order factors, namely, participation behaviour and citizenship behaviour [ 10 ]. The behavioural dimensions of participation behaviour include information seeking and sharing, responsible behaviour, and personal interaction. The dimensions of citizenship behaviour include feedback, advocacy, helping, and tolerance [ 10 ]. On the other hand, the co-creators’ experiences of participating in the co-creation process, hereby shortened to co-creation experience, capture co-creators’ emotional and psychological states; highlight the interactive component; and involve a continuous process as opposed to a single fixed-time event [ 9 ]. In brief, the co-creation experience, as defined for the purposes of this review, is the co-creators’ emotional and psychological states during active participation and interaction when engaging in the co-creation process [ 9 ]. Co-creation experience differs from co-creation behaviour due to its focus on the feelings and cognitions derived from the act of undertaking the co-creation behaviour [ 9 ].

Research indicates that active involvement in the co-creation process can have profound positive effects on increased health and performance outcomes, satisfaction, and well-being [ 11 , 12 ]. For example, Leask et al. [ 13 ] reported older adults having positive experiences engaging with the co-creation of a health intervention, describing that participants’ role as co-researchers made it enjoyable, interesting, and rewarding. Similar findings from Rooijen et al. [ 14 ] indicated that participants felt empowered, liked the interactive characteristic of meetings, and felt they were valued contributors with a shared responsibility for the project. Positive emotional states like happiness or gratitude can foster trust, which is important for building relationships, whereas negative emotional states, like anger, uncertainty, and frustration, can decrease trust [ 15 ]. Building relationships is an important aspect of the co-creation process, in which experiencing positive emotions helps to create new relationships [ 16 ]. Therefore, positive emotions could also contribute to the functioning of the co-creation group(s) and the successful development of products like intervention components, tools, and further actions.

There are instances when co-creators can experience the co-creation process negatively. There exists some research to indicate how failed co-created services recovered can impact co-creators in terms of future intention to co-create, role clarity, and motivation [ 17 ]. However, there might be a lack of, or a lack of visibility of, literature documenting the negative emotional and psychological experiences associated with the co-creation process because of publication bias. Individual and interpersonal experience including group dynamics are central to the creation of value and innovation and this justifies the need to study the role of human experience in the context of co-creation [ 18 , 19 ]. Figure  1 provides a visual depiction of the proposed connection between co-creation experience and the other elements of co-creation.

Suggested model of the relationship between co-creation experience, processes, behaviour, outcomes, impact, and future co-creation

However, so far, there is a gap regarding the aggregation of the literature pertaining to co-creation experience. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review is to uncover the breadth of existing empirical research on co-creation experience, how it has been defined, and assessed and its key characteristics in the context of co-created products, services, or interventions among adults. As the focus is on the participant’s experience of the process and not the outcome, no limits have been applied to the co-creation context. Scoping reviews are exploratory in nature and systematically map available literature on a broad topic to identify key concepts, theories, sources of evidence, and research gaps [ 20 ]. A scoping review has been identified as an appropriate means to address this broad research question given that, to the authors’ knowledge, there has been no systematic review of co-creation experience literature, the phenomenon is not well understood or utilised, and studies span a wide variety of fields. The aim of the current scoping review is to deliver an evidence-based review of co-creators’ experiences of co-creating. This review will guide future research to advance evidence-based co-creation methods and inform guidance aimed at enhancing positive experiences for those participating in co-creation.

Research question

What is the current state of the science regarding adult co-creators’ emotional and psychological experiences of participating in co-creation?

The objectives of this review are to:

Determine the extent of research on co-creation experience.

Uncover the range of and key characteristics of emotional and psychological experiences documented in the literature to date.

Identify any explicit or implicit underlying psychological theories drawn upon to explain the potential mechanism of the experience of co-creation.

Document any tools or technology used during the co-creation process that impacted the experience during co-creation or to make co-creation more successful .

Methodology

This scoping review protocol is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) checklist (see Additional file 1).

Search strategy

The search strategy comprises three main stages (see Fig.  2 ). The first stage involved searching the newly created Health CASCADE Co-creation Database. This database was created by members of the Health CASCADE network and was aimed at collecting in one place the entire corpus of literature pertaining to participatory research and co-creation (1). This database was created using CINAHL, PubMed and all databases accessible via ProQuest through Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) institutional licence (17 databases in total, APA PsycArticles®, APA PsycInfo®, Art, Design & Architecture Collection, British Periodicals, Coronavirus Research Database, Early Modern Books, Ebook Central, Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive, Humanities Index, Periodicals Archive Online, ProQuest One AcademicTrial-Limited time only, PTSDpubs, SciTech Premium Collection, Social Science Premium Collection, Sports Medicine & Education Index, The Vogue Archive, and The Women's Wear Daily Archive). The key search terms used in this search strategy are found in Table  1 . ASReview, an artificial intelligence (AI) aided platform that helps find relevant records was used for screening the records to be included in this database. The AI performs a textual analysis of the provided records, based on active learning and prioritization. Given the large volume of records retrieved from PubMed, CINAHL, and all databases available through ProQuest with GCU access, AI was necessary to speed up the screening process. There are over 13,000 records contained in this database, with all titles and abstracts containing at least one of the search terms.

Stages of search strategy

The Health CASCADE Co-creation Database was searched using free-text terms relating to co-creation experience (see Table  2 ). Search terms have been developed in reference to the research question and through consultation with members of the Health CASCADE consortium. The search will be piloted to check the appropriateness of keywords and to ensure known studies are identified.

The second stage of the search strategy is to use both sets of search terms (see Tables  1 and 2 ) in Scopus using the Boolean operator AND to combine the two sets. This is to provide additional robustness to the search. Due to the large volume of records retrieved (> 35,000) when combining the two sets of search terms, it is necessary to omit some search terms used to create the Health CASCADE Co-creation Database. Four search terms will be retained “co-creat*”, “co-production”, “co-design” and “experience-based design”. These search terms are specifically chosen because co-production and co-design are commonly used interchangeably with the term co-creation [ 21 ]. In addition, “experience-based design” is retained due to the obvious focus on the experience. We will include articles that meet our inclusion criteria for co-creation, regardless of the terminology used to describe the methodology. For pragmatic reasons, sources of unpublished empirical studies (including grey literature, theses, and dissertations) will not be searched for. The draft search strategy for Scopus is available in Additional file 2.

The final stage of the search is to employ snowballing to capture any additional articles that may be potentially missed. An artificial intelligence tool called Connected Papers [ 22 ] will be used to identify papers that (1) the included paper has cited (backward reference searching), and (2) papers that have since cited the included paper (forward reference searching).

The article selection process is considered an iterative process, whereby the search strategy will be initially broad and then refined based on abstracts retrieved and as reviewer familiarity with the literature increases. The concept of co-creation is defined differently depending on the setting and context and is often used interchangeably with similar, yet distinct concepts, but equally lacking a clear universal understanding [ 21 ]. Therefore, to account for the overlaps in terminology a broad scope will be initially implemented.

As recommended by Arksey and O’Malley [ 23 ], decisions on how to set search parameters will be made after a general scope of the field has been gained. Hence, this stage will require the reviewer(s) to engage in a reflexive way and repeat steps to ensure a comprehensive literature search with more sensitive searches [ 23 , 24 ].

Inclusion/exclusion criteria

All study participants in the included papers must be adults, described as people aged 18 years and over with no upper limit. Children/adolescents are not included in this study as research indicates that there are differences between their emotional experiences in terms of emotional intensity and stability [ 25 ].

Empirical articles (i.e. primary research studies) include any qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs that include a description of the co-created product, service, or intervention and an evaluation of the co-creators’ co-creation experience. Although scoping reviews can draw on evidence from non-empirical sources, this review imposes limits to include empirical sources only as empirical sources would be most useful and appropriate for contributing to an evidence-based understanding of co-creation methods.

Any context that involves the co-creation of a product, service, or intervention will be considered.

The Health CASCADE Co-creation Database is limited to searching records between 1st January 1970 and 1st December 2021. The search in Scopus will include records from 1st January 1970 until the date of the search.

The Health CASCADE Co-creation Database is limited to only include materials that are written in English. However, for the search conducted in Scopus, publications in English, Spanish, Dutch, French, and Chinese languages will also be considered, as the research team has proficient fluency in these languages.

Data extraction

Following the database search, articles will be exported as a CSV file for removal of duplicates in Excel. The articles will be imported and screened in Rayyan. The title and abstract of all studies will be screened independently by several reviewers (LMcC, QA, QL, EW, GRL, RC, and MV) and irrelevant studies will be removed. All titles and abstracts will be double-screened. Full-text articles of studies identified as potentially relevant for inclusion will subsequently be sought and screened by several reviewers (LMcC, QA, QL, EW, GRL, RC, MV, and KM) against the agreed set of criteria. Differences of opinion regarding inclusion or exclusion will be resolved by discussion and reaching a consensus or by a third reviewer. The results of the search and the study inclusion process will be reported in full in the final scoping review and presented both narratively and by use of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for scoping review (PRISMA-ScR) flow diagram.

To determine the extent of research on co-creation experience (objective 1), details about co-creation more generally will first be extracted. This includes:

Study’s definition of co-creation and co-creation experience (if available).

The context or setting.

Data about the participants (number, type, and characteristics of co-creators’ involved).

Description of the co-creation process undertaken (including number of sessions, level of participation).

Purpose of co-creation.

Outcome of the co-created intervention, service, or product.

The key characteristics of psychological and emotional experience including positive and negative components (objective 2) will be extracted.

The psychological theory underpinning the co-creation experience identified by the authors of the studies (objective 3) will be recorded.

Information about the technology or tools that had an impact on the co-creation experience (objective 4) will be extracted.

Additional descriptive information such as discipline and date of publication will also be extracted.

The above-extracted information will be entered into an Excel spreadsheet developed by the authors. This data extraction Excel spreadsheet may be modified and revised as necessary during the process of extracting data from the included evidence sources to ensure that key findings relevant to the review question are addressed.

Quality assessment

There exists debate as to whether a scoping review should contain an assessment of study quality [ 26 ]. A quality assessment component will be included in this review in relation to the sufficiency of reporting the process of co-creating an intervention, service, or product. This tool (see Table  3 ) has been adapted from Leask et al.’s [ 4 ] ‘checklist for reporting intervention co-creation’ and Eyles et al.’s [ 27 ] amended version of a checklist for reporting non-pharmacological interventions. The reason for including this checklist is two-fold. Firstly, the scoping review may contain a variety of study designs and the focus is not solely on the outcomes, but rather on the process [ 27 ]. Secondly, as explained above, the concept of co-creation is used interchangeably with other similar overlapping concepts, such that some processes may be described as co-creation when they are in fact not (according to the definition used in this review) or vice versa. Therefore, by incorporating this checklist, it will become clearer as to the type or extent of co-creation processes that were implemented and whether they were clearly reported within each individual source of empirical evidence. However, given that a scoping review aims to present an overview of the extant literature on a particular topic without synthesis from individual studies, no study will be excluded on the basis of the quality of reporting co-created interventions.

Strategy for data analysis

The PRISMA-ScR will be used to guide the reporting of the scoping review [ 28 ]. Whilst, the synthesis of the results from included sources of evidence is more appropriately done with a systematic review, the analysis of data in scoping reviews is generally descriptive in nature [ 29 ]. A narrative summary of extracted data will be produced along with the tabulated and/or charted results described in relation to the review question and objectives. Descriptive techniques, such as basic coding of data to particular categories, are recommended as a useful approach when the purpose is to identify concepts or key characteristics related to the concept [ 20 ]. Data will be analysed using the well-established method of thematic analysis [ 30 ]. This method is characterised by identifying and reporting recurring themes within the data and is a suitable analytic method because it allows for patterns of experience to be recorded, such as understanding adults’ experiences of participating in co-creation. We intend to extract relevant co-creation experience data from the result sections of articles, including verbatim participant quotations. For quantitative data, such as questionnaires, we will attempt to extract the item statements and code them alongside the qualitative data.

The purpose of this scoping review is to uncover the breadth of existing empirical research on co-creation experience with a focus on emotional aspects and from a psychological perspective. An increased understanding of the role of experiences of participating in co-creation processes may help to inform the development and use of co-creation processes and lead to potential benefits for the co-creators’ and co-created outcome.

This scoping review has some limitations, which reflect the balance between conducting a wide search to discover the breadth of existing literature and the pragmatic constraints of conducting the review. This scoping review searches for published peer-reviewed work from SCOPUS and the Health CASCADE Co-creation Database. Other databases could be searched but for pragmatic reasons, these two databases were selected for their breadth and relevancy. Another limitation is that it was necessary to restrict the search terms for capturing ‘co-creation’ for the search in Scopus to maintain a manageable number of records retrieved to screen by the research team. However, authors may use different terms or descriptions. For instance, variations of terms like co-creation, co-design, and co-production, whether written with a dash or space can affect the number of articles retrieved. Boundaries on the search terms relating to experience were also formed, for example, specific emotions were not included in the search string, due to the large range of possible emotions that can be experienced, which would make the search unwieldy. We also have not used any of the advanced search features of the databases, such as proximity searching, which could potentially improve the specificity.

A strength of this review is the comprehensive snowballing search strategy to capture additional relevant papers. The results will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and to scientific conferences. The plan for dissemination includes digital science communication platforms and presentations.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

Artificial intelligence

Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols

Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis–extension for scoping reviews

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The PhD studies of Lauren McCaffrey are funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement n° 956501.

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LMcC coordinated and conceived the study. LMcC, PMD, BMcC, and MGG have made substantive contributions to developing this protocol and the review question. LMcC, PMD, BMcC, MGG, QA, QL, EW, GRL, MV, RC, and KM jointly developed the search strategy. LMcC drafted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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McCaffrey, L., McCann, B., Giné-Garriga, M. et al. Adult co-creators’ emotional and psychological experiences of the co-creation process: a Health CASCADE scoping review protocol. Syst Rev 13 , 231 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-024-02643-9

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Social media ostracism and creativity: moderating role of emotional intelligence

• Muhammad Waqas Amin 1 &
• Jiuhe Wang 1  

BMC Psychology volume  12 , Article number:  484 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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The goal of this study is to learn more about social media ostracism, a stressor associated with online social networks, defined by feelings of rejection, exclusion, or ignoring. We investigate the connection between social media ostracism and worker creativity. We suggest that psychological safety and psychological rumination serve as intermediaries in this relationship. Furthermore, we investigate emotional intelligence as a relationship regulator. To verify our hypothesis, we gathered data with the help of the HR department from 244 workers of nine Chinese organizations. Our research shows that psychological rumination and social media exclusion are significantly correlated, but only in workers with low emotional intelligence. Furthermore, for individuals with strong emotional intelligence, we did not discover a statistically negative association between psychological safety and social media exclusion. Findings suggest that psychological safety and psychological rumination serve as mediating factors in the relationship between employee creativity and social media exclusion. This study illuminates the negative aspects of social media ostracism and reveals how it might hinder creativity. It also emphasizes how emotional intelligence functions as a moderator. Organizations may learn a lot from this study on how to lessen the negative impacts of social media exclusion on employee creativity.

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Introduction

Social media usage in the workplace and its outcomes become a hot topic for researchers. Individuals use social media to communicate, interact, share information, and become a part of his/her favorite social communities [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Many modern organizations encourage their employees to use enterprise social media (ESM) for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and receiving information from other employees within the organization, considered a primary contributor to the success, competitiveness, and growth of the organization [ 4 , 5 ]. Although social media use has positive effects, Social media is repeatedly exemplified by numerous stressors. That is, scholars investigated cyberbullying and information overload as prominent stressors [ 6 ]. As more individuals engage in online interaction and social media use, the potential for experiencing exclusion in these virtual spaces has increased. Understanding the impact of social media–based ostracism on creativity is crucial, as creativity is a vital driver for innovation, problem-solving, personal growth, and creating robust, novel, and valuable ideas at the workplace [ 7 ]. Employees’ creativity is considered a critical component of innovation, which encompasses both the invention of the latest ideas and their accomplishment [ 8 ]. The existing literature has primarily focused on the general effects of ostracism ( family ostracism, workplace ostracism) on various psychological and behavioral outcomes [ 9 , 10 ]. Understanding the connection between SMO and employees’ creativity is supremely significant in the digital age. However, the impact of SMO on employees’ psychology and cognitive approach has been overlooked. This represents a significant research gap that warrants further investigation. Predominantly, we focus on the role of social media stressors (SMO) on employee’s behavior and creativity. The prominence of SMO relates in a way like, that organization must realize, how it can help or hinder creativity.

Research has repeatedly backed the idea that social media stressors have a detrimental effect on users. Organizations appear to be experiencing a revival in ostracism. SMO refers to the act of excluding someone in a social setting [ 11 ]. It can lead to feelings of social rejection and loneliness. Ostracism, however, is thought to be a phenomenon that exists everywhere and in a variety of circumstances [ 12 ]. As a result, previous research has revealed that Internet users experience cyber-ostracism. However, given that ESM can be used as a tool for employees to collaborate on projects, share information, and ask questions, thereby fostering teamwork and innovation [ 5 , 13 , 14 ]. Employee perception of social media usage can be influenced by SMO. If an employee frequently experiences exclusion or negativity on social media, it can affect their self-esteem, overall job satisfaction, and perception of their employer or colleagues. They may feel isolated, unappreciated, or less motivated in their work. This can have negative effects on individuals’ psychological well-being, including a decrease in self-esteem and an increase in negative emotions. Therefore, we concentrate on SMO and also define it, as the degree to which social media users think that they are excluded, redundant, or ignored by their social media friends. Yet, scarce studies have examined the linkage between SMO and employees’ creativity. Unfortunately, this study gap exists given the importance of stressors related to ESM in the workplace [ 15 ]. The mechanism by which SMO hinders employees’ capacity for creativity remains undermined. Hence, scholars urged for additional research on social media-related stressors, as well as their impact associated with the workplace [ 14 ]. Hence, an investigation of the link between SMO and employee creativity will aid in the foundation of managerial implications as well as the growth of theory.

Our study deals with the issue of social media stressor namely SMO. We squabble that different types of social media stressors have different effects on employees’ behavior. In the notion of ego depletion theory, this study is to examine the mechanism involving between SMO and creativity. Ego depletion theory according to [ 16 ] “a temporary reduction in the self’s capacity to engage in volitional action caused by the prior exercise of volition” (p. 1235). Ego depletion was first introduced by social psychology. Numerous domains, including personality, consumer behavior, cognitive psychology, decision-making, and organizational behavior, continue to apply and explore them [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. It describes the circumstance in which an individual performs worse on self-control tasks after having completed a self-control-requiring task in the past. According to the theory, future regulatory efforts becoming more and more challenging as resources are depleted. As a result, the more regulatory duties individuals must undertake throughout the day, the more tricky it is for them to retain effort, tenacity, and, eventually, appropriate performance on a variety of jobs. Moreover, such depleted individuals are also more inclined to deceive and misread organizational performance, mislead and undermine coworkers, and be vocally aggressive toward colleagues, supervisors, and subordinates [ 20 ]. Hence our research projected that the exhibition of SMO provides a foundation for psychological cost, like, psychological safety and psychological rumination, which limits employees to present creativity in their job tasks.

From the above argument, a potential inconsistency emerges. We further move forward to study such circumstances in which SMO is interconnected with psychological safety, psychological rumination, and creativity. The value of resource depletion is not the same for all individuals [ 20 ]. However, this condition may not apply to all individuals. People do have diverse personalities, and depending on the circumstances, they act in different ways. So, a person’s reaction to stress is determined by their traits. Although depilation of individual resources due to SMO always prevails, individuals having high emotional intelligence may stay away from the adverse effect of recourse depletion. Emotional intelligence comprises the ability to understand and manage emotions effectively and the flexibility to acclimatize unpredicted situations [ 21 ]. Individuals with higher emotional intelligence may be better equipped to cope with the negative emotions associated with social media stressors such as SMO [ 11 ] and are expected to tolerate a smaller amount of resource loss when dealing with SMO., in turn, we propose that emotional intelligence can moderate the significant affect of SMO on psychological rumination, psychological safety, and indirect negative impact of SMO on employees creativity passing through psychological rumination and psychological safety and allowing individuals to maintain their creativity levels.

The ongoing study aims to examine the relationship among social media stressors such as (SMO), psychological states including (psychological rumination, and psychological safety), and creativity through a survey of Chinese employees, contributing to the existing literature in various important ways. Firstly, adding to on-hand literature on ESM and social media stressors by incorporating it with ostracism literature. Secondly, our research is the primary effort to look at how social media stressors—specifically, SMO—affect employees’ creativity. In this approach, we help widen the scope of social media stressors and their effect on workers’ creativity. Thirdly, we integrate SMO with ego depletion theory. By doing this, we acquire tools such as the depletion of resources (self-control) and identify psychological safety and rumination as a mechanism through which SMO is allied to creativity. Fourthly, we implement a contingency view and introduce emotional intelligence as a significant edge on SMO. Finally, this study adds to the literature on ego depletion theory by incorporating and experimentally assessing its function in propagating the blow of SMO on creativity.

The following segment of the study begins with a review of pertinent literature. Following that, three mediating and two moderating assumptions are provided. Section  3 is highly structured on our study technique, including data gathering methodology, and sample demographic information, in addition to constructing operationalization. The findings of the data analysis are presented in Sect.  4 . Section  5 reviews the findings, gives theoretical and practical suggestions, and defines the study’s limitations. Section  6 concludes this research.

Theoretical background and hypothesis development

• Social media ostracism

Ostracism refers to the act of excluding an individual or a group from social acceptance, inclusion, or participation [ 22 ]. Researchers argued that ostracism commonly prevails in social settings including social media [ 11 ]. Social media is used to connect, interact, share ideas, contact, and knowledge sharing among employees [ 23 , 24 ]. When coworkers on social media platforms shun others by not responding to their messages, neither seeing nor appraising and giving likes to their postings, or acting as, if a person is not a member of their organization’s social media network, it can cause SMO for employees.

Ostracism tends to in result adverse consequences as it causes a sense of " social pain” [ 25 ]. The theoretical background of ostracism can be traced to various psychological theories and frameworks. One prominent theory is the human need theory, which posits that humans have basic psychological needs necessary for their well-being and functioning. According to this theory, developed by [ 26 ], the need for belongingness and social acceptance is fundamental to human nature. Ostracism on social media platforms can often take the form of cyberbullying [ 27 ]. When individuals are deliberately excluded from online activities or targeted by negative comments, and messages, they can experience emotional distress and harm to their self-esteem. It is very imperative to note that while social media can be a platform for ostracism [ 11 ], it can also serve as a tool to address and combat it. By promoting positive online behavior, encouraging empathy and inclusivity, and actively working on creating safe and supportive digital spaces, individuals and platforms can diminish the pessimistic impact of ostracism on social media. SMO refers to the act of shunning individuals within an online platform [ 11 , 28 ]. This can happen through various means, including blocking, or excluding someone from conversations, groups, or events. SMO can have significant effects on individuals’ well-being and sense of social belonging. Given the nature of ostracism, we discover numerous aspects of SMO. Like, Due to their hectic schedules, social media users generally don’t reply to other users’ comments. Irrelevant connections could be the cause of social media exclusion. That instance, if employees post about hedonistic events on ESM, other users are likely to ignore the posts. A person’s sense of connection to their connections is jeopardized by being ignored. Hence, SMO is a complex phenomenon that people might encounter and it can be challenging to grasp how it starts and ends, thus it is a part of everyday life for social media users. Employees try to build and sustain interpersonal connections with their colleagues on social media to get the maximum payback of social media for job performance [ 29 , 30 ], and fulfillment of their social needs projected by social media customers [ 31 ]. Consequently, ostracism from social media contacts leads to a disruption in the individual’s needs, thoughts, and emotions, triggering various cognitive and emotional reactions. However, the intuition of SMO is not essentially to ruin workers [ 32 ]. It is just an exemption of optimistic commitment in online networks eventually it is apposite in the social media context [ 11 ]. Although SMO is treated as a trifling issue, it has an important effect on ostracized employees’ psychological emotions and cognitive behavior [ 11 ]. In the light of ego depletion theory [ 33 ], for example: targeted personnel, who are perceived to be ignored, avoided, or rejected by other colleagues on social media, are more likely to feel psychological pressure, discomfort, and less work engagement resulting in insignificant creativity. Furthermore, staff use social media to intermingle, and exchange information as well as to communicate with others to fulfill their needs through interpersonal exchange. However, for ostracised employees, the use of social media creates an intimidating environment, resulting in psychological pressure and insignificant creativity.

The majority of research has been done in behavioral labs and has been framed from an “intrinsic motivation” perspective. This viewpoint contends that an individual’s intrinsic motivation is affected by the situation in which they accomplish a task, which in turn affects how creatively they can express themselves [ 34 ]. Additionally, creativity has been categorized into two main dimensions: originality and effectiveness. The former focuses on the novelty and uniqueness of ideas, while the latter assesses their value and utility in addressing a problem or meeting a goal [ 3 , 35 ]. Numerous cognitive abilities have been found to influence creativity, such as high levels of fluency, flexibility, and originality of thinking. The ability to generate a large number of ideas and to think beyond conventional constraints contributes significantly to creative output. Intrinsic motivation, driven by genuine interest and enjoyment, is found to be crucial for initiating and sustaining creative endeavors. Extrinsic motivators, such as rewards and recognition, may also influence creativity, but their effects are more context-dependent. Employees are thought to be most creative when they have a high level of intrinsic motivation—that is when they are passionate about a professional activity and want to engage in it for the sake of the activity itself [ 36 , 37 , 38 ].

Social media provide a platform for social interactions, collaborative environments, and diverse perspectives that can enhance creative thinking by fostering the exchange of ideas, challenging assumptions, sharing knowledge, and promoting interdisciplinary approaches [ 39 ]. Social media used by employees in the organization ( ESM ) is different from public social media(PSM). ESM platforms have become increasingly popular tools for collaboration and communication within organizations. ESM use has been found to positively influence individual creativity [ 40 ]. Studies highlight that these platforms provide opportunities for idea generation, knowledge sharing, and informal discussions, where cognitive resources can be quickly and conveniently accessed [ 41 ]. Collaborative features of these platforms facilitate the exchange of diverse perspectives, enhancing the likelihood of new and innovative ideas. Research also suggests that social interactions on ESM platforms increase intrinsic motivation, helping employees overcome creative blocks and fear of criticism [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Employees are bound to join ESM at any cost, while users on PSM are free to use or switch to other platforms. Employees can share hedonic stuff, and information with colleagues on the ESM platform [ 44 , 45 ]. Meanwhile, PSM provides a wide range of social, cognitive, and hedonic activity platforms, to build social associations, sharing photos and videos with social media users [ 46 , 47 ]. Thus, ESM compelled employees to interact with organizational members having competing interests. Hence, conflict of interest my lead employees keep silent on ESM, resulting in not giving a response to any post or message and deliberately not taking part in any routine discussion. Thus, ignoring others may lead to psychological stress, and insecurity and affecting work engagement [ 48 ]. However, the emergence of SMO – the deliberate exclusion or rejection of individuals within these online communities – has raised concerns about its potential impact on one’s creativity [ 49 ]. Employees are less likely to contribute creative ideas in performing their tasks when they experience rejection. To the paramount of our knowledge, none of the studies has been carried out to investigate employees’ creativity using social media stressors. Hence, our motivation behind this unique study is to investigate how employees’ creativity is being affected by social media stressors namely SMO.

Ego depletion theory

Ego depletion theory, also known as self-control theory, was developed by psychologists [ 50 ]. The supposition postulates employee self-control or willpower resources are limited and can easily be depleted with repeated or prolonged use, resulting in a decrease in the employee’s ability to regulate oneself effectively, suggests that when individuals engage in acts of self-control, such as resisting the temptation or suppressing emotions, their self-control reserves become diminished, leading to reduced employees self-control performance in subsequent tasks [ 51 , 52 ]. For instance [ 50 ], found that participants who initially resisted eating tempting cookies performed worse on an unsolvable puzzle task compared to those who did not resist temptation. These findings suggest that self-control depletion affects cognitive resources needed for subsequent self-control tasks. This theory has been extensively studied and researched in the field of psychology [ 53 ].

The concept of ego depletion is rooted in the psychodynamic and cognitive approaches to employees’ behavior. According to [ 54 ] psychoanalytic theory suggests that the self is tranquil of three parts: the id, ego, and superego. The ego, being the rational part, is responsible for self-control and decision-making. Building upon this idea, ego depletion theory proposes that the self-control capacity is a central aspect of employees’ behavior, contributing to the regulation of emotions, impulses, and thoughts [ 50 ]. Explain the foremost efficacy of ego depletion theory: Resources gained from personnel and social activities are well sheltered and appropriate. Personal resources include a sense of self, personal characteristics, and energies. Meanwhile, social resources take account of social support, which comes from communication, relation, and interaction with other groups or individuals [ 55 ]. Individuals make an effort to acquire, hold onto, and preserve their social resources because they are the primary route to acquiring valuable personal resources. According to the ego depletion theory, when there is a possibility of losing resources, people would experience psychological discomfort. An individual who practices ego depletion tends to exhibit cognitive biases, miscalculate their ability, and feel a weakened sense of self-control over the future [ 56 ]. Depleting cognitive resources impairs individual creative performance. Individuals are less successful at reacting promptly when resources (limited) run out, even in an apparent unconnected domain of action. Ego depletion can discourage self-regulation, leading to impulsive decisions and a decline in creative performance. Numerous studies show that depleted individuals cannot carry out daily tasks and respond in a broad range as they would be able to if not depleted. Once depleted, workers’ ability to show self-control or reveal proper behavior based on their limited resources befalls challenging, resulting in inappropriate conduct [ 17 ]. Therefore, individuals under stressful conditions play defensively to protect their emotional, social, and cognitive resources.

In addition, ego depletion theory suggests that the impact of a stressor differs from person to person depending on their attributes and characteristics. Moreover, individuals give more value to their social connections and if they are unable to receive perceived social care, thus, this situation has an unfavorable impact on individuals’ emotional and psychological state. Consequently, social media stressors like SMO have a negative impact on individuals’ psychological, emotional, and cognitive states [ 57 ]. When employees experience ostracism on social media, it can deplete their psychological and cognitive resources. In light of ego depletion, susceptible willpower resources are depleted [ 50 ]. Emotional intelligence may support individuals to trim down the adverse effect of stressors on employees’ psychological discomfort state (rumination and safety) and respectively on employees’ cognitive approach. We argue based on ego depletion theory, that SMO may linked with individual psychological discomfort state (rumination and safety), and affect individual creativity. Meanwhile, the depressing effect of SMO may be moderated by emotional intelligence. Fig.  1 shows the conceptual model.

Social media ostracism, psychological rumination, and psychological safety

Social media within the workplace can be used as a tool for employees to collaborate on projects, share information, and ask questions, thereby fostering teamwork and innovation. Employees can use ESM platforms to connect with colleagues and industry professionals, which can enhance their networking opportunities and career growth prospects [ 40 ]. SMO refers to the exclusion or isolation of individuals on social media platforms. This can be a result of various factors, such as not receiving likes or comments on posts, being ignored by social media groups or conversations, and being targeted by negative or hurtful comments [ 58 ]. Employee perception of social media usage can be influenced by SMO. If an employee experiences frequent exclusion or negativity on ESM, it can affect their self-esteem, overall job satisfaction, and perception of their employer or colleagues. They may feel isolated, unappreciated, or less motivated in their work [ 11 , 59 ]. When individuals experience SMO, such as being excluded from enterprise online social groups or being subject to cyberbullying, the end product can be psychologically struck personally (i.e. psychological rumination, psychological safety). Psychological rumination refers to the repetitive thinking about negative experiences, which can have detrimental effects on mental well-being. Rumination can further intensify feelings of social exclusion and negatively impact overall psychological functioning [ 60 ]. Psychological safety refers to an individual’s perception of safety within a group or social environment, where one feels free to express oneself without fear of negative consequences such as rejection or humiliation [ 61 ].

When someone experiences SMO, it can have a profound impact on their mental and emotional well-being. Being excluded or ignored on social media may trigger feelings of sadness, loneliness, and low self-esteem [ 11 , 62 ]. These negative emotions can then lead to psychological rumination and a decrease in psychological safety, where individuals excessively think about the event, replaying it in their minds and analyzing what they might have done wrong. This means that individuals who experience more frequent instances of SMO are more likely to engage in greater rumination and decrease psychological safety. The constant exposure to social media interactions, where exclusion or negative feedback is prevalent, may contribute to a heightened focus on negative experiences, leading to an increase in psychological rumination and a decrease in psychological safety. When individuals repeatedly encounter ostracism on social media, it may erode their sense of belonging, acceptance, and value in their online communities. This can result in heightened feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and a lower sense of psychological safety. The fear of further SMO may prevent individuals from freely expressing themselves or fully engaging in online enterprise social interactions [ 63 ], limiting their participation and potentially negatively impacting their mental health [ 64 ], it may lead to a decrease in their level of psychological safety. Humans have a fundamental need for social belonging and inclusion. According to ego depletion theory [ 65 ], When individuals are excluded on social media platforms, it can lead to negative psychological consequences including feelings of sadness, anger, loss of self-control, and lower self-esteem decrease in psychological safety. Hence, SMO have psychological effect on employees. Thus, we propose that.

Social media ostracism is positively associated with the psychological rumination of social media users.

Social media ostracism is negatively associated with the psychological safety of social media users.

Linking psychological rumination, psychological safety to creativity

SMO spoils individuals’ valuable psychological and self-control resources, thereby rooting psychological rumination and decreasing psychological safety. Ego depletion theory predicts employees whose self-control and self-regulatory resources have been depleted, lead to inappropriate behavior [ 66 ], self-control requires mental effort. When individual employees’ limited self-control resources are depleting they get psychological pressure. Accordingly, this study argues that psychological rumination and a decrease in psychological safety caused by SMO affect employees’ creativity.

According to [ 67 ], Creativity is stated as providing novel, valuable ideas and solutions for any problem. It is influenced by various factors such as psychological processes and the external environment. Furthermore, cognitive processes involve creative thinking. Hence, various mental processes (i.e. problem framing, analogical reasoning, flexibility, and divergent thinking) arise in creativity [ 35 , 68 ]. Moreover, social factors such as cultural norms, social interactions, and environmental conditions (organizational environment) foster creativity. Creative ideas emerge through employee interactions, brainstorming, collaborations, and exposure to diverse perspectives and ideas [ 8 ]. Consequently, it is noted that creativity is an emergent property of complex systems, that arises from interaction of different social, environmental, and cognitive factors. When an individual is psychologically, mentally, socially, and environmentally stable, can be a creative thinker and generate novel ideas, and solutions for problems. In this current perspective, we use ego-depletion theory to enlighten employees’ creativity.

Employees’ psychological and emotional resources are affected by SMO, thereby stimulating psychological rumination and affecting individuals’ psychological safety. Ego depletion theory indicates that individuals whose resources are depleted are less likely to feel confident, relaxed, and happy [ 69 ] therefore, Employees always have negative thoughts and insecurity. Hence, individuals who engage in persistent rumination are more likely to experience cognitive and emotional burdens that could hinder their creative abilities. The excessive focus on negative thoughts and emotions may restrict cognitive flexibility. Furthermore, when individuals feel psychologically safe, they are expected to take risks, share ideas, and think innovatively. Thus, SMO drags employees into a depressing psychological and emotional situation, thereby messing up their cognitive creative approach. Hence we proposed the following hypothesis.

Psychological rumination is negatively associated with the creativity of social media users.

Psychological safety is positively associated with the creativity of social media users.

Psychological rumination and psychological safety will mediate the association between social media ostracism and employees’ creativity.

Moderating role of emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the aptitude to identify, understand, and deal with one’s own emotions as well as the emotions of others [ 21 ]. It is crucial in regulating individuals’ responses to various social situations [ 70 ] such as SMO. Individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence may be better equipped to regulate their emotions and engage in adaptive coping strategies when faced with negative thoughts and emotions. Emotional intelligence influences how individuals greet, and consider any event that takes place in their routine lives [ 71 ]. This includes staying calm under pressure, managing stress, and handling conflicts or difficult conversations with emotional maturity. Conversely, individuals having weak emotional intelligence will bear high pressure.

According to ego depletion theory, the depletion of self-control, willpower, and decision-making resources differs from person to person [ 72 ]. Individuals having different traits, respond differently to their loss of limited recourses [ 11 ]. However, in our context Employee suffering from SMO may identify different degrees of psychological rumination and psychological safety because of their different level of emotional intelligence [ 73 ]. Therefore SMO plays a vital role in diminishing employees ' control over resource loss, employees who have high emotional intelligence are less likely to welcome ostracism effects or immediate recovery from resource loss. However, workers with high emotional intelligence are well equipped to handle the adverse effects of SMO, are more likely to prevent themselves from leading to rumination, and maintain their sense of psychological safety. On the other hand, workers with low levels of emotional intelligence are more susceptible to the negative shock of SMO. Indeed, emotional intelligence overcomes stressful conditions like SMO [ 74 ].

Based on a previous study, employees face negative behavior and events on social media [ 14 ]. Besides personality traits, every social media user faces psychological frustration encountered by SMO, including stressful situations and negative emotions [ 75 ]. However, individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence can be better equipped to regulate their emotions and engage in adaptive coping strategies when faced with negative emotions and stressful situations [ 74 ]. As a result, they are more resilient to the harmful effects of rumination and psychological well-being. For that reason, when individuals have strong self-control over emotions, a sense of psychological frustration cannot lead to psychological rumination and a decrease in psychological safety. Based on ego depletion theory this study argues that emotional intelligence enhances workers’ capability to deal with SMO. Consequently, we assert that individuals with high emotional intelligence are better prepared to navigate and minimize the negative effects of SMO. Moreover, experience low psychological frustration, thereby decreasing the adverse consequence of SMO on psychological rumination and psychological safety. So, we proposed.

Emotional intelligence moderates the positive association between social media ostracism and psychological rumination, such that when the emotional intelligence level is high, the positive relation is weaker and when the emotional intelligence level is low, the positive relation becomes strong.

Emotional intelligence moderates the negative relationship between SMO and psychological safety, such that when the emotional intelligence level is high, the negative relation is weaker and when the emotional intelligence level is low, the negative relation becomes strong.

Conceptual and hypothesized model

Methodology

Sample and data collection.

To evaluate our hypothesis for this study, we created a questionnaire. We took up an online survey methodology to achieve a maximum and diverse sample response rate. China is rich in using social media so we conducted this study in China. According to a foremost professional consulting company, Towers Watson’s report states ESM is widely used by Chinese employees, accordingly 49% of respondents claimed ESM provides a platform to establish a sense of belonging, interaction, and communication because of its cost-effectiveness [ 76 ].

We further collaborated and contacted several companies’ HR managers. The backbone of every company is the HR department and HR managers are much more familiar with the company’s routines, and policies and also have employees’ personal and performance records. Initially, we chose 15 companies and explained our research purpose (i.e. creative performance of employees using ESM ). As such, among these 15 companies, 9 companies are willing to participate in our research work. Further, we made a promise to share the final report of our research and provide them with suggestions once we finished our research. We further, conducted random interviews of several selected companies’ employees before distributing the questionnaire. The purpose of the interview is to investigate whether or not employees of these companies utilize social media to interact and converse with their coworkers. Therefore, it is been confirmed that employees employ social media to be in touch with both internal employees and external customers.

We designed and generated an online survey link and distributed it to the targeted sample companies’ workers with the help of the HR department. HR department’s collaborative attitude generally increased the response rate. After three weeks, 301 responses were received, out of them 57 responses were incomplete and inaccurate so, discarded, finally we got 244 useful responses. By employing a chi-square test to match the first and last 25% of respondents on all variables, we were able to evaluate potential non-response bias [ 77 ]. No significant difference has been reported, signifying that non-response bias for this research was not a serious concern. Nevertheless, it’s very important to note that the cooperative behavior of the HR department may have direct to optimistic bias towards social media use amongst respondents. To address this issue we took three initiatives. Firstly, we established our study ambition with HR executives, as we would like them to understand our intention for this study was to find out whether and how social media usage manipulates employees’ creativity, rather than give support to the significant effects of social media. All of them agreed and verified similar goals. Secondly, managers only helped to regulate our online survey link within the organization and identified it as a university research project. Thirdly, we mentioned at the start instant of a questionnaire for better understanding that this questionnaire was established to familiarize how ESM users perform creatively. Furthermore, the secrecy of this survey was highlighted. Table  1 shows the sample’s demographic information.

All of the construct items were taken and measured from the existing literature to increase the reliability of empirical findings [ 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 ]. All the respondents of this study were Chinese, so to cope with the language barrier we were required to translate our English questionnaire into Chinese. Finally, we requested two Chinese native speakers, proficient in English, but they are not a part of our study but to help us translate our English questionnaire into Chinese language. To check the accuracy of the translation we further invited two experts, unfamiliar with the original English version questionnaire and they translated the questionnaire back into English. No systematic error was found between the original and English-translated versions. Hence, we considered the Chinese questionnaire an accurate reflection of the original English questionnaire to test our constructs. Furthermore, for a better understanding of respondents, all the possible descriptions of constructs were briefly explained in the questionnaire. We used a 5-point Likert scale arranged from 1 " strongly agree " to 7 " strongly disagree " to measure all items, except one item used a 4-point Likert scale arranged from 1 “never” to 4 “always”.

Measurement items for SMO were adopted by the ostracism scale established by [ 11 ]. Scholars already adopted this scale in the Chinese context [ 11 , 84 ]. The scale was initially designed to measure ostracism at the workplace, this current study demands to modify workplace ostracism items in a social media context. Respondent rated ten items under SMO. A psychological safety measurement five-item scale was adopted from [ 79 ]. We modified the items by just changing “team” to “organization”. Psychological rumination was measured by a 5-item Ruminative response scale. It is a rating scale developed to evaluate people’s behavior and thoughts when they are depressed [ 82 , 83 ]. To measure emotional intelligence, measurement sixteen-item items scale was adopted from [ 85 ]. Four-item scale from [ 81 ] was used to measure employees’ creativity. The related literature for survey items is précised in Appendix A . Several variables have been controlled that can affect this study’s results. This is followed by previous social media studies to control various variables that are demographic traits (i.e. age, gender, and education ) [ 11 , 86 , 87 ], usage frequency (i.e. hourly, daily, or weekly ) [ 87 ], users familiarity and several friends also affects employees behavior ( below 5 years, 5–10 years, 11–15 years, 16 years or above) [ 87 ], several contacts on ESM ( under 100, 101–200, 201–300, 301–400, 401 or above) [ 88 ], Nature of job may impact on workers social media usage, for instance, accounting professional use less social media than sales and marketing professionals [ 89 ].

Data analysis and results

Common method bias.

The entire data collected for the in-progress study is self-reported, resulting there might be a chance for common method bias. Checking the possible severity of common method bias we used several methods. First, Harman’s single-factor test was carried out. Results showed that common method bias was not an issue for our data, neither a single nor a general factor reports the variance < 50%. Secondly, confirmatory factor analysis pointed out that five-factor model suggests better fit [(X2 (714) = 1552.921, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.94, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.94, and root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.07)] than a single factor (X2 (724) = 5392.758, TLI = 0.65, CFI = 0.68, and RMSEA = 0.16). These results indicate that no possibility of common method bias was found in our data. Third, significant moderating effects of emotional intelligence, indicated that data is free from common method bias. Collectively, the result shows that in our data common method bias is not a significant issue and also strengthens the legality of our findings.

Measurement model

The scale’s convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. The satisfactory fit between the measurement model and date base was declared in the CFA result (χ2 = 1552.921, d.f. = 714, TLI = 0.94, CFI = 0.94, and RMSEA = 0.07). Table  2 shows that all the item loading is higher than the suggested benchmark of 0.50. To test the convergent validity and composite reliability of constructs, Cronbach’s alpha and average variance reliability (AVE) are been assessed. The table shows that the values of composite reliability and Cronbach alpha for each construct are higher than the benchmark value of 0.70 and the AVE score is also ranged from 0.57 to 0.81. Thus, the result indicates that the convergent validity is satisfactory.

Discriminant validity is appraised by comparing the square root AVE and correlation for each construct [ 1 , 90 ]. Discriminant validity requirements were also satisfactory. Table  2 illustrates that the square root of AVE is greater than the correlation between each construct. Therefore, the measurement model is obsessed with adequate reliability, convergent validity and discriminate validity.

We further conducted additional tests followed by previous studies [ 40 , 76 ] to address the potential effect of multicollinearity among all the constructs. In this test, we found the value of variance inflation factor (VIF) range between 1.10 and 1.21 is less than the threshold of 5 [ 91 ] there is no significant concern of multicollinearity in our dataset.

Structural model

The tables illustrate the outcome of regression analysis, conducted to test our hypothesis. Our research suggests that SMO, psychological rumination, psychological safety, and emotional intelligence have a significant impact on employees’ creativity.

To analyze hypothesis relationships, we employed the AMOS version 24. The findings presented in Table  3 reveal the results of the hypothesis testing. Both Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 posit that SMO has a favorable impact on psychological rumination and negativity about the psychological safety experienced by users of social media. The outcomes displayed in Table  3 confirm these hypotheses, as they demonstrate a positive correlation between SMO and psychological rumination among social media users (β = 0.19, P  < 0.001). Furthermore, our Hypothesis 2 is also sustained, indicating a negative association between SMO and the psychological safety of social media users (β = -0.21, P  < 0.001). Consequently, both Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 are validated. In addition, the results also uphold Hypothesis 3 and Hypothesis 4, showing a negative relationship between psychological rumination and creativity (β = -0.18, P  < 0.001)., as well as a positive connection between psychological safety and creativity among social media users (β = 0.24, P  < 0.001).

Table  4 shows, that Hypothesis 5 suggests that the link between SMO and employee creativity is mediated by psychological rumination and psychological safety. According to Baron and Kenny [ 92 ] following conditions must be fulfilled for mediation. First, the Mediator must be significantly affected by the independent variable. Second, the significant effect of the independent variable must be visible on the dependent variable. Third, the influence of the mediator on dependent variables must be significant. When all three conditions are fulfilled, the independent variable has less effect on the dependent variable in the presence of a mediator. The findings demonstrate significant relation between SMO and psychological rumination and psychological safety respectively (β = 0.19, P  < 0.001, β = -0.21, P  < 0.001). therefore, the first condition of mediation is fulfilled. SMO has a significant relation with employee creativity which fulfills the second condition (β = -0.16, P  < 0.001). Psychological rumination and psychological safety significantly affect employee creativity (β = -0.20, P  < 0.001, β = 0.22, P  < 0.001), thereby supporting the third condition. The results indicate that psychological rumination and psychological safety partially mediate the link between SMO and employee creativity. Consequently, Hypothesis 5 is confirmed.

According to Hypothesis 6 & 7, the presence of emotional intelligence influences the connection between SMO and psychological rumination, as well as psychological safety. Specifically, with a high level of emotional intelligence, this relationship is weakened, while at a low level of emotional intelligence, it becomes stronger. This hypothesis is supported by the significant interaction term between SMO and emotional intelligence (β = -0.12, P  < 0.01 & β = 0.11, P  < 0.05) respectively.

To provide additional support for the moderation of hypotheses 6 and 7, the outcome of the post-hoc analysis following the approach outlined by [ 93 ] exposes the following: employees’ emotional intelligence, dampen the positive relationship between SMO psychological rumination of social media users (effect = 0.43, SE = 0.08, [0.26, 0.60], effect = 0.17, SE = 0.06, [0.03, 0.30]). Conversely, when social media users possess a high level of emotional intelligence, the negative relationship between SMO and psychological safety is relatively weak then those having low emotional intelligence level (effect = -0.39, SE = 0.09, [-0.57, -0.21], effect = -0.17, SE = 0.07, [-0.31, -0.03]). These findings are visually depicted in Fig.  2 and Fig. 3 , reinforcing the post-hoc analysis’s contribution to providing auxiliary support for Hypotheses 6 and 7. Fig. 4 also shows hypothesis results.

 Interactive effect of SMO and emotional intelligence on psychological rumination

 Interactive effect of SMO and emotional intelligence on psychological safety

Results of AMOS analysis

Discussion, implications, and limitations

The study attempts to find the effect of social media ostracism on employees’ creative performance, considering the mediating role of psychological rumination and psychological safety, and the moderating role of emotional intelligence with the support of ego depletion theory. We aspire to identify the narrative perspective of SMO and explore its effect on employees’ creativity. SMO decreases employees’ interaction with other employees and exerts psychological pressure and insecurity. Based on ego depletion theory, our study presents psychological rumination and psychological safety as mediators between SMO and creativity. Findings indicate that SMO depletes self-regulatory resources, leading to psychological rumination and psychological safety which impairs individual ability to perform creatively. It significantly affects organizations and social media users’ psychological condition. The findings of this study indicate that such critical feelings of ostracism enhance employees’ psychological rumination and decrease their psychological safety, thereby impacting their creativity. The novel aspect of this study lies in its timely approach to examining the complex relationship between SMO, employee psychology, and their creative performance. Furthermore, the ongoing research proposes that emotional intelligence in this relationship is particularly insightful. Previous studies have primarily investigated the effect of general social ostracism on individual psychology and performance [ 94 , 95 ]. This study contributes to covering the existing gaps by groping the specific consequences of SMO on creativity, providing appreciated knowledge for organizations in managing the challenges associated with online interactions.

Theoretical implication

Numerous theoretical support for social media literature is a part of this study. This research significantly contributes to the existing literature on social media by addressing a research gap related to the understanding of stressors in the context of social media. While previous studies have predominantly concentrated on exploring the various stressors in social media and their effects on workers and students [ 96 , 97 ], the important stressor of ostracism has often been overlooked, with only a few studies considering its influence. However, it has been argued that exclusion is a prevalent phenomenon in various social settings, together with the realm of social media. Therefore, our research provides a platform for understanding social media stressors by specifically examining the impact of SMO on organizational creativity.

Our study builds upon earlier research that has explored the adverse effects of social media stressors by specifically investigating the impact of SMO on employee creativity. While existing literature has identified various stressors in the realm of social media [ 98 , 99 ], it has often overlooked the crucial stressor of ostracism and its potential implications for employee attitudes and cognitive behavior. Particularly within the organizational context, the implications of SMO have been disregarded. By addressing these gaps, our research contributes to the expanding body of study on social media stressors and broadens the understanding of its consequences on employee creativity. By examining the experiences of employees who feel excluded, ignored, or rejected by their coworkers on ESM platforms, we uncover valuable empirical insights. These findings reveal that SMO prompts employees to adopt passive behaviors, leading them to refrain from sharing information, share ideas, contribute to team projects contributing content, and finally, they are less likely to actively participate in discussions. This lack of collaboration can impede the flow of information, limit knowledge sharing, and hinder problem-solving efforts.

This study builds on the framework of ego depletion theory [ 33 ] and identifies and confirms a significant pathway through which SMO influences cognitive outcomes, specifically concerning employees’ creativity. The research findings highlight two key factors, namely psychological rumination and psychological safety, as mediating variables in this process. The study reveals that SMO impacts employees’ creativity by depleting their self-control and well-being resources, as suggested by ego-depletion theory. This depletion of resources subsequently leads to increased psychological rumination and a decrease in psychological safety. Consequently, employees are less willing to engage in cognitive activities such as sharing ideas and actively participating in discussions. The outcomes of our study provide valuable empirical evidence that supports the mediation of psychological rumination and psychological safety in linking SMO to employees’ creativity. By establishing this link, our research contributes a fresh perspective on understanding the influence of SMO on employees’ creativity.

In our study, we not only identify a critical moderator that alleviates the adverse effects of SMO but also provide empirical evidence to support our findings. Furthermore, we found that individuals with high emotional intelligence are less likely to perceive SMO and experience fewer resource losses. This reduced impact on resource loss, in turn, diminishes the direct influence of SMO on psychological rumination and psychological safety, ultimately leading to a lesser impact on employees’ creativity. By investigating the moderating role of emotional intelligence, our study contributes to the existing literature by expanding our understanding of the moderating conditions that mitigate the effects of SMO on social media users. These findings shed light on the complex dynamics and provide deeper insights into the influence of SMO on individuals’ psychological and cognitive behavior.

Our study makes a valuable contribution to the existing framework of ego depletion theory. This theory has been widely employed in organizational behavior research to elucidate the impact of workplace-related factors on individual resources, and their subsequent influence on employees’ behavior and work performance [ 55 , 69 , 100 , 101 , 102 ]. However, we extended prior research on ego depletion theory by demonstrating that resource depletion is a crucial factor not only in traditional workplace settings but also among information system users [ 101 ]. Our findings indicate that self-regulatory resource depletion plays a significant role in the relationship between SMO and employees’ creativity. In other words, when resources are depleted, SMO negatively affects employees’ creative output.

With the implementation of a moderated mediation model, our study provides empirical evidence that aligns with the core principles of ego depletion theory. These findings strengthen the inclusivity of this theory and highlight its relevance in comprehending the dynamics of SMO and its impact on employees’ creativity.

Managerial implication

This section of our study provides several practical implications for practitioners. The findings of our study expose that SMO is a key factor for employees to enthusiastically intermingle, make conversation, and share information using social media. Unluckily, this part has been neglected in the prior literature, in that way, managers are not much more aware of this situation that this social media stressor can diminish the value of social media acceptance in organizations. Particularly organizations approve social media (ESM) to communicate, interact, and share knowledge with internal and external members [ 5 , 23 , 41 ], our results drew attention toward the importance of SMO to enlighten its impact on employees’ psychological well-being and creativity. Hence, we advocate that organizations should flourish strategies to evade SMO by workers. A prior study recommended a series of trainings for social media users [ 103 ] and escalating workers’ face-to-face interaction to enlighten their understanding of social media usage [ 104 , 105 ]. This practice is expected to hold back workers from SMO, thus normally mounting the efficacy of ESM, and ultimately increasing their creativity. Based on our findings workers who experience SMO are likely to encounter psychological pressure, consequentially declining their cognitive capability.

Results of our research also point out that employees who perceive SMO are likely to encounter a shrinking of their self-control and willpower resources, resulting in psychological rumination and decreasing their psychological safety, consequently affecting their creativity. Given our result of the mediating effect of psychological rumination and psychological safety linking SMO with employees’ creativity, we advocate that organizations reduce psychological rumination and enhance psychological safety. One possible suggestion for organizations is to create a general atmosphere, offer supplementary social resources, and provide opportunities to individuals with high emotional intelligence to help workers achieve the required job resources.

In addition, our results disclose that workers with high-level emotional intelligence are less susceptible to SMO. Our results recommend that the HR department consider emotional intelligence in hiring procedures to facilitate employees handling stressors. Therefore, we auxiliary recommend that organizations consider interference during employment and work (e.g. enrollment tests, training programs, and social support).

Limitations

It is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study, as they provide opportunities for future research. Firstly, our data collection was conducted exclusively in China. While China serves as a representative example of an emerging economy, it possesses distinct cultural, behavioral, and value-related characteristics that may introduce biases to our findings. For instance, Chinese organizations often rely heavily on personal relationships for task completion, which may differ from Western contexts in terms of instrumental value. Consequently, the impact of ostracism may be more obvious in the Chinese context. Therefore, it is recommended that future studies apply the conceptual framework utilized in this study to other countries with diverse economic, political, and cultural environments to examine the generalizability of our findings.

Second, one important limitation of our study is the potential for common method bias due to the data collection method. We acknowledge that collecting data from the same source for all variables can introduce the possibility of common method bias [ 106 ]. Addressing this concern, we employed multiple methods and conducted rigorous tests to comprehensively evaluate the effect of common method bias in our study. We aimed to mitigate the impact of common method bias on our results. In summary, while we made efforts to address common method bias, the data collection method used in this study has limitations. Future research should employ alternative data collection methods to further mitigate the potential influence of common method bias and enhance the generalizability of the findings. For instance, gathering data from colleagues, subordinates, and co-workers in addition to the original data source would be advantageous when examining creativity.

Third, future research can also investigate the role of individual-level variables, such as personality traits or cultural orientations, in moderating the effects of SMO. Understanding how individual differences interact with contextual factors can enhance our understanding of the complex dynamics involved in SMO.

Lastly, another important limitation to consider is that while our theoretical model suggests that SMO is associated with creative performance through psychological rumination and psychological safety, there may be alternative theoretical mechanisms that explain this relationship. For instance, previous studies have highlighted the concept of social media stressors leading to social media fatigue and anxiety [ 11 , 107 ]. Therefore, it is recommended that future studies explore and examine our theoretical model using alternative variables and mechanisms.

This study investigates how SMO influences employees’ creativity. The mediating role of psychological rumination and psychological safety were investigated based on ego depletion theory. All hypotheses were supported, showing that the psychological condition of employees is very important in transmitting the consequence of SMO on employees’ creativity. Furthermore, the moderation effect of emotional intelligence plays a vital role in handling social media stressors and ultimately leads to employees’ creativity. This study adds value to SMO literature by integrating ego-depletion theory, using the mediation moderation model to discuss the outcome of SMO on employees’ creativity. Additionally, managers are advised to check employees’ psychological conditions and train them to handle stressors that would not affect on their creativity.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author Muhammad Waqas Amin. The data are not publicly available because it contains information that could compromise the privacy of the research participants.

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Amin, M.W., Wang, J. Social media ostracism and creativity: moderating role of emotional intelligence. BMC Psychol 12 , 484 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01985-2

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Received : 20 February 2024

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01985-2

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