Psychology in the 21st Century Essay

Total Length: 607 words ( 2 double-spaced pages)

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Personal Reflection

The 21st century is an interesting period to study human behavior from a psychological perspective including certain aspects such as their environment and their social interactions. Since the begin of this century there have been many trends that have exploded that heavily influence peoples' lifestyles. The rapid advancement in technology is such a factor that has changed a great deal about how humans live and interact with each other. The scope of one's reality can now even include virtual realities which have become more realistic. You can communicate with virtually anyone in the world through a plethora of different mediums which has greatly expanded each individual's sphere of influence.

Not all changes are these changes are likely to be positive however and many of the new lifestyle changes have many negative aspects associated to them. While on one hand, health technologies have greatly expanded the average lifespan, conditions such as obesity and cancer have seemingly reached epidemic proportions. There is more information about creating healthier lifestyles, but at the same time there is so much information available that many people become overwhelmed and do not know which information sources to trust. Technology has created many paradoxes that humans are again facing and in a new environment in which their psychologies are facing many new pressures and their adaptation to this environment seems largely mixed in many regards.


Much of the research in psychology is rooted in the brain leading an adaptation to the external environment. The interesting situation that has arisen in the twenty-first century in which it will be interesting to see how the new lifestyle changes will influence things such as cognitive development. For example, if a child is exposed to new mediums and virtual realities at an early age then they could potentially experience a different path through the stages of cognitive development.

With the quickly developing capabilities of social networking, it will also be interesting to see how social interactions and social development will change with access to these digital technologies. From my experience, it seems that in many cases a person can have a nearly limitless number of social connections, however many of these connections can be more superficial and without any meaningful substance. For hundreds or thousands of years, humans had a relatively static social environment that included friends and family. However, today the potential for other forms of social connections are virtually limitless and it will be interesting to consider how these factors will impact a person's psychology on a long-term basis. For example, will virtual social attachments be able to substitute actual physical interaction and prevent such things as the deprivation of attachment issues.

Understanding the role of the brain in dictating behavior is….....

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"Psychology In The 21st Century", 15 February 2016, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/psychology-21st-century-2160896