Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Respectful Technologies - Technology Design In Line With Positive Social Interaction And Social Norms (#402)

Sarah Diefenbach 1 , Daniel Ullrich 1 , Lyle Ungar 2
  1. Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, -- BITTE AUSWäHLEN (NUR FüR USA / KAN. / AUS.), Germany
  2. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Smart technology has entered all areas of life. However, besides a primary practical function, the gradual development of routines around technology use may induce unwanted side effects and break up established social norms, particularly in the field of communication technology. A typical example is the commitment to fixed appointments (old norm) versus the nowadays-convenient last minute cancellation or delay of a date via WhatsApp. Likewise, in contrast to "full attention for the conversation partner" (old norm), "digital communication comes first" seems to have become a new norm, especially among younger users.

From the perspective of positive psychology, engaged with the support of human flourishing and wellbeing, an import question is how technology design might address such issues, can avoid (often unwanted) mutual perceptions of disrespectful behavior and, beyond this, create a basis for new, meaningful experiences. This is what we term "respectful technologies" – in contrast to "disrespectful technologies" provoking social norm conflicts (Diefenbach & Ullrich, 2018). In our presentation we will discuss different distinct types of such conflicts (e.g., norm erosion, norm fragmentation, norm confusion, i.e., people being split about the appropriate way of technology use) and possible starting points for design to support positive social interaction.