Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD, ABPP
President
American Psychological Association
750 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002-4242
August 8, 2018
Dear Dr. Daniel,
We are writing to the American Psychological Association (APA) to call attention to the unethical practice of psychologists using hidden manipulation techniques to hook children on social media and video games. These techniques—employed without children’s or their parents’ knowledge or consent—increase kids’ overuse of digital devices, resulting in risks to their health and well-being. In recent months, leading tech executives have spoken out against these practices, focusing their concern on the exploitation of human psychological vulnerabilities for profit. However, the APA, which is tasked with protecting children and families from harmful psychological practices, has not yet made a statement on the matter.
In this letter, we describe how psychologists and other user experience (UX) researchers working for the consumer tech industry utilize persuasive technology (also called persuasive design or behavior design) to increase children’s use of social media and video games, how this fosters children’s overuse of screens, and how research demonstrates a connection between children’s screen overuse and two problems afflicting this generation of kids: mental health struggles and poor academic performance. The letter will conclude with a call to APA leadership to take strong actions that protect children and families from psychologists’ development of persuasive technologies that pose risks to children’s health and welfare.
We acknowledge that psychologists can and do work to make screen media products that are developmentally appropriate and even help advance academic and socio-emotional skills of children. This letter is primarily concerned with the use of persuasive design practices that encourage children’s excessive use of social media, video games, and smartphones for entertainment.
Persuasive technology is the design of digital devices and apps to influence human thoughts and behavior. While these techniques are used for positive purposes (e.g., more efficient website navigation), they are also employed with the guidance of psychologists and other behavior experts working in the tech industry to persuade users, many of whom are children, to spend long periods of time using social media and video game sites. As Ramsay Brown, neuroscientist and co-founder of the artificial intelligence/machine learning company Boundless Mind, says in a recent Time article, “Your kid is not weak-willed because he can’t get off his phone… Your kid’s brain is being engineered to get him to stay on his phone.”
One significant concern about psychologists’ role in the development of persuasive design for social media and video game products is that such design capitalizes on children’s developmental vulnerabilities. For example, the desire for social acceptance and the fear of social rejection are exploited by psychologists and other behavior change experts to pull users into social media sites and keep them there for long periods of time. Yet, as psychologists are well aware, children—especially preteens and teens—have particular developmental sensitivities to being socially accepted or rejected.
Likewise, psychologists working for the video game industry take advantage of the inherent developmental drive in preteen and teen boys to gain competencies, or abilities that have helped them throughout history become evolutionarily successful. Psychologists and other UX researchers create video games with powerful rewards doled out on intermittent schedules that convince kids, especially adolescent boys, that they are mastering important competencies through game play. This is contributing to a generation of boys and young men who are overusing video games at the expense of obtaining real-world competencies, including a college education or job.
Another concern about psychologists’ role in developing persuasive technologies is that this contributes to health risks associated with kids’ overuse of digital devices. The typical U.S. teen now spends 6 hours, 40 minutes a day using screens for entertainment. Less advantaged kids are even more immersed in screens, as lower-income teens spend 8 hours, 7 minutes a day using screens for entertainment, compared to 5 hours, 42 minutes for their higher-income peers, and black teens spend 8 hours, 26 minutes compared to 6 hours, 18 minutes for white teenagers.
Unfortunately, the heavy screen- and phone-based lives of this generation of children are putting their emotional well-being and academic success at risk. Recent research shows that teen girls who spend more time using social media or smartphones and other devices are at greater risk for depression and suicide-related behaviors compared with teen girls who spend less.
Similarly, since boys game more than girls, and gaming is associated with lower academic performance, it’s no surprise to see this generation of boys struggling to make it to college: 56% of college admissions are granted to young women compared with only 44% to young men. Moreover, as boys transition to adulthood, they can’t shake their gaming habits. Economists working with the National Bureau of Economic Research recently demonstrated how many young U.S. young men are choosing to play video games rather than join the workforce.
The profound amount of time kids spend using digital devices for entertainment is also putting tremendous stress on families. A recent APA poll found that almost half of
parents “say that regulating their child’s screen time is a constant battle,” and more than half of parents “report feeling like their child is attached to their phone or tablet.”
Leading tech executives are speaking out against the use of persuasive design in children’s digital products. Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, said of consumer tech businesses, “The job of these companies is to hook people, and they do that by hijacking our psychological vulnerabilities.” Sean Parker, former Facebook president, stated that social media companies exploit “vulnerability in human psychology” and remarked, “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.” And Marc Benioff, CEO of the cloud computing company Salesforce, said of social media that “product designers are working to make those products more addictive” and that such technologies are not “understood by parents,” which gives social media firms an “unfair advantage.”
In contrast, the APA has not yet addressed how psychologists and their behavior change tools are used by the tech industry to manipulate children for profit. This is in opposition to APA Ethical Principles and Standards, including the essential tenet to “take care to do no harm.”
Altering children’s behavior without their own or their parents’ consent also runs counter to the APA Ethical Principle of Integrity, which states, “Psychologists seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness” in the science and practice of psychology and do not engage in “subterfuge.” The great majority of parents have no idea that the social media and video games used by children are developed by psychologists and other experts who use advanced behavior change techniques to pull kids into these platforms and keep them there as long as possible. Moreover, such ethical transgressions are amplified because it’s children who are being influenced. The APA’s Ethics Code provides special protection to kids because their developmental “vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making.”
The APA states that its primary vision is “to excel as a valuable, effective and influential organization advancing psychology as a science.” This vision can only be achieved if psychology is viewed as a positive rather than exploitive practice. We therefore recommend that the APA take these actions:
- Call on psychologists and the tech industry to disclose their use of psychological persuasion techniques, especially those in digital products used by children.
- Issue a formal public statement condemning psychologists’ role in designing persuasive technologies that increase children's time spent on digital devices, as kids’ screen overuse poses risks to their emotional wellbeing and academic success
- Take strong actions to educate parents, schools, and child advocates about the use of psychological persuasion in social media and video games; and inform the public of the harms of children’s overuse of screens.
Through these actions, the APA can fulfill its duty to protect children and families, while also sending a clear message that psychologists and their powerful tools are devoted to advancing, not detracting from, children’s health and well-being.
Sincerely,
(affiliations are listed for identification purposes only)
Craig A. Anderson, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Iowa State University
Claire Azron, LCSW
Mary Anne Beach, PhD, psychologist
Faith Boninger, PhD, Research Associate and Co-Director of the National Education Policy Center's Commercialism in Education Research Unit, University of Colorado Boulder; co-author of Sold Out: How Marketing in School Threatens Children's Well-Being and Undermines their Education
Joanne Broder Sumerson, PhD, MEd, co-founding Associate Editor, Psychology of Popular Media Culture; Affiliate Professor, Saint Joseph’s University; author of Finish Your Dissertation, Don’t Let It Finish You!
Elisa Brunelle, PsyD
Whitney Buckley, PsyD, Clinical Child Psychologist, School Psychologist
Brad J. Bushman, PhD, Professor of Communication and Psychology, and Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication, The Ohio State University
Hilarie Cash, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of reSTART Life, PLLC
Jay Cozen, PsyD, psychologist
JoAnn Deak, PhD
Sarah E. Domoff, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University
Doug Fagen, PhD, Director, Reservoir Psychology Group
Lorena Flores, PsyD, psychologist
Dr. Amy Fortney-Parks, LPC, ACS, Child & Adolescent Psychologist and Parent Consultant
Blaine J. Fowers, Professor, University of Miami
Richard Freed, PhD, psychologist and author of Wired Child: Reclaiming Childhood in a Digital Age
Virginia Fundora, PhD
Douglas A. Gentile, PhD, Professor, Psychology, Iowa State University
Don Grant, CCDC, MA, MFA, PhD, Chair of The American Psychological (Div. 46) Device Management Committee; Co-Founder/Executive Director, Resolutions Teen Center
David N. Greenfield, PhD, MS, Medical and Prescribing Psychologist; Founder, The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction; Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, School of Medicine
Professor Patricia M. Greenfield, PhD
Martha P. Harris, PhD, Developmental and Clinical Psychologist, Lafayette, California
Erin M. Johnson, PsyD, Associate Teaching Professor, Applied Psychology, Penn State University Berks
Cindy Kaplan, MA, Certified Parent Coach
Deborah Kaplan, PhD, psychologist
Tim Kasser, PhD, Professor & Chair of Psychology, Knox College; author of The High Price of Materialism (MIT Press) and co-editor of Psychology & Consumer Culture: The Struggle for a Good Life in a Materialistic World (APA)
Brett P. Kennedy, PsyD, Co-Director, Digital Media treatment and Education Center
Laurie Kleen, owner of A Growing Place Montessori School, Missouri
Velma LaPoint, PhD, Professor, Child Development, Department of Human Development and Psychoeducational Studies, School of Education, Howard University
Diane Levin, PhD, Clinical Professor of Education & Human Development, Wheelock College of Boston University
Jennifer Ruh Linder, PhD, Chair and Professor of Psychology, Linfield College
Susan Linn, EdD, Research Associate, Boston Children’s Hospital; author of Consuming Kids: The Hostile Takeover of Childhood
Jeff Lough, LEP, Nationally Certified School Psychologist
Roxana Marachi, PhD, Associate Professor of Education, San José State University; Education Chair, San José Silicon Valley NAACP; EduResearcher
Tracy Markle, MA, Clinical Director of Therapeutic Services, Markle Solutions, LLC
Sharon Maxwell, PhD, author of The Talk: A Breakthrough Guide to Raising Healthy Kids in an Oversexualized, Online, In-your-face World
Kate Klein McGoldrick, PhD
Lucina Miranda, PsyD, psychologist
Joel M. Moskowitz, PhD, Director, Center for Family and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley; editor of Electromagnetic Radiation Safety; advisor to the International EMF Scientist Appeal and Physicians for Safe Technology
Meghan Owenz, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State University, Berks, and creator of ScreenFreeParenting.com
Rob Park, PsyD, psychologist
Tedora Pavkovic, MA
Fred J. Piazza, PhD, psychologist
Mary Pipher, psychologist and author
Larry D. Rosen, PhD, co-author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World; Professor Emeritus, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Neil Rosen, PsyD, PC
David Rouslin, PhD, psychologist
Leonard Sax, MD, PhD, FAAFP, author of four books for parents including Boys Adrift and The Collapse of Parenting
Barbara Schecter, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Sarah Lawrence College
Heather L. Silvestri, PhD
Joni Siani, MEd, author and filmmaker of Celling Your Soul, No App for Life
Jennifer M. Smith, PhD
Patricia A. Snyder, PhD, Professor Emerita of Psychology, Albright College
Catherine Steiner-Adair, EdD, clinical psychologist and author of The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age
Jim Taylor, PhD, author of Raising Generation Tech: Preparing Your Children for a Media-fueled World
Sherry Turkle, PhD, Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology, MIT
Jean M. Twenge, PhD, author of iGen and Professor of Psychology, San Diego State University
David Walsh, PhD, author of Why Do They Act That Way? A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and Your Teen
Kimberly Young, PsyD, Funder & Director, Center for Internet Addiction and Recovery and Netaddiction.com; author of Internet Addiction in Children and Adolescents
The following signatories were added after this letter was sent on August 8:
Brandon T. McDaniel, PhD, clinical psychologist
Dawn Brown, MS, doctoral candidate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Trudy Helge, PsyD, Kaiser Permanente
Claudia Rodriguez, doctoral candidate, Argosy University
Kathleen Chwalisz, PhD, Professor and Program Director, Southern Illinois University
Julia Wright, PhD, research psychologist
Robert Perez, PhD, clinical psychologist
Rosemary Saidu, PhD, guidance counselor, National Open University of Nigeria
Chunyan Yang, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling, University of California Santa Barbara
Patrick McNicholas, MS candidate, University of Memphis
Nichole Kuck, doctoral candidate, Wright State University
Abigail Ngayan, PsyM candidate, Wright State University
Erin Deneke, PhD, LPC, Director of Research, Caron Treatment Centers
Wendy Smith, PhD, psychologist
Allison Straus, PsyD, Kaiser Permanente
Anne Wheeler, PhD, Research Public Health Analyst, RTI International
Nicholas Hoeh, PhD, ADHB
Katherine Lacasse, PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, Rhode Island College
Theresa Jackson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Bridgewater State University
Helene Cohen, PsyD, Plantation Psychological Associates
Robert Flahive, MS
Marek Kopacz, MD, PhD, VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Veterans Affairs
John Peggau, PsyD, clinical psychologist, Psychology Consultants P.C.
Hector Chands, PsyD, psychologist
Anthony Benigno, PsyD, psychologist
Jessica Flermoen, PsyD
Ashley Doss, MA, doctoral candidate, Stephen F. Austin State University
Chelsea Wymer, MS candidate, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Taylor Hutson, MS candidate, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Jack Sawyer, PhD, former Associate Professor of Psychology and Sociology, Northwestern University; President, Parker Street Foundation
Paul Hettich, PhD, Professor Emeritus, DePaul University
George Hu, PsyD, clinical psychologist, United Family Healthcare
Cynthia Wagner, MA, Psychiatric/Psychological Services, Oaklawn Hospital
Peggy Nave, PsyD, clinical psychologist, Jefferson Day Report Center
Priya Pandit, PsyD, staff counselor, Sacred Heart University
Ryne Pulido, PhD, psychologist, Baylor Scott & White McLane Children's Specialty Clinic
Kimberly Lopez, doctoral candidate, Albizu University
Stephanie Vega, doctoral candidate, Albizu University
Haitisha Mehta, MA, student affiliate, APA
Melanie Munroe, MA, doctoral candidate, University of Toronto
Kristine Futa, PhD, psychologist, Kaiser Permanente Redwood City Medical Center
Jeanette Joyce, PhD, researcher, Marzano Research
Lara Barbir, MS, San Diego VA
Margaret Wallace, PhD, psychologist, Sage Psychological Consulting
Robert Dindinger, PhD, Utah Valley Psychology
Tiadora Kim, MA, doctoral candidate, Argosy University
Jennifer Hoover, PsyD, Children's Health
Adrienne Hunnicutt, PsyD, Children's Health
Sherrilyn Westbrook, PhD, Kaiser Permanente
Alex Sims, PhD, Tulane University
Dom DeSantis, PsyD, Orange Regional Medical Center
Marianne Arieux, PhD, SUNY Empire State College
Kathleen Charters, PhD, Henry M. Jackson Foundation
Kathryn Kominars, PhD, psychologist, Florida International University
Preet Sabharwal, PsyD, The Hume Center
Nina Kaur, PsyD, The Hume Center
Lynne Unikel, PhD, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network
Tony Scioli, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Keene State College
Sharon Chirban, PhD, Founder of Amplify Wellness + Performance
Raquel Smith, PhD, Former President, Santa Clara Association of School Psychologists
Jennifer Cartinella, PsyD, Kaiser Permanente, APA
Sheila Young, PhD, psychologist, VA Sierra Nevada Medical Clinic
Beth Longergan, PsyD, Director of Behavioral Health, UW Health
Krista Johnston, MA, doctoral candidate, BC Children's Hospital, Pacific Family Autism Network
Steven Tulkin, PhD, psychologist
Andris Skuja, PhD, Kaiser Permanente
Cheng Qian, doctoral candidate, Palo Alto University
Violeta Jaure, doctoral candidate, New Mexico State University
Thalia Goldstein, PhD, Assistant Professor of Applied Developmental Psychology, George Mason University
Gwendolyn Barnhart, doctoral candidate, Antioch University
Patricia DeBruhl, PhD, Banner Health
Annette Clarke, PhD, Palo Alto University, Marin County Behavioral Health
Artesia Williams, doctoral candidate, Georgia State University
Jennifer Kasey, PsyD
Kate Ekman, PsyD, Kaiser Permanente
Bob McPherson, PhD, Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology and Director of Training of Counseling Psychology, University of Houston
Seneca Erwin, doctoral candidate, University of Northern Colorado
Megan Solberg, doctoral candidate, University of Denver
Shannon Caramiello, PsyD, Psychology Resident, Clinical Psychology Associates of North Central Florida
Dina Schwam, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology & Human Services, Mercer University
Carole Woolford-Hunt, PhD, Chair, Professor, Counseling Psychology Program Coordinator, Andrews University
Stephanie Dodge, PhD, West Hawaii Community Health Center
Lea Theodore, PhD, Adelphi University
Shweta Ghosh, MS, MetroHealth
Lisa Hardesty, PhD, Mayo Clinic
Marie Gehle, PsyD
Destiny Singleton, MA, University of South Florida
Patricia Hanson, MA, doctoral candidate, University of South Florida
Maureen Gonzales-Burris, PhD, psychologist
Margaret Robinson, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University
Peiwen Ma, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, William Paterson University
Anne Kubal, PhD, psychologist, Director of Clinical Training, Eating Recovery Center
Carolyn O'Keefe, PsyD, California State University, San Bernardino
Shelley Alonso-Marsden, PhD, APA MHSAS Postdoctoral Fellow
Robert Moody, PhD, Santa Clara County Department of Behavioral Health
Alexis Hahn, doctoral student in counseling psychology, Chatham University
Paul Thomlinson, PhD, Executive Director, Compass Health Network
Bill Heusler, PsyD, Spectrum Psychological Associates
Susan Thomas, MA, DeAnza College
Jennifer Jackson, PhD, psychologist
Jennifer Geiman, doctoral student, University of Northern Colorado
Comfort Asanbe, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, The College of Staten Island/CUNY
Kee Straits, PhD, psychologist, TLC Transformations, LLC
Jeff Nerney, PsyD, Redwood Coast Medical Services
Ann Steel, MD, MA, LMHC Steel Counseling PLLC
Mark Griffiths, PhD, Director, International Gaming Research Unite, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Kristen Wortman, PhD, Research Fellow, VA Palo Alto
Kathy Conde, doctoral candidate, University of San Francisco
Ashley Geerts, MS, doctoral candidate, University of North Texas
Clare Mehta, PhD, Associate Professor, Emmanuel College
Kacie Yost, doctoral student, Chatham University
Rebecca Gaines, doctoral candidate, University of Denver
David Boninger, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Denver
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Director, Quality of Life Research Center, Claremont Graduate University
Maynard Anthony Johnston, MD FAAP, retired pediatrician
Alexis Menken, PhD, clinical psychologist, co-founder, Media Aware Events
Margo Adams Larsen, PhD, licensed psychologist, Research Director, Virtually Better, Inc.
Dr. Joseph D. White, clinical child psychologist in private practice
Kathleen Ervin, MA, licensed marriage and family therapist
Davina Muse, Masters in Counseling, LMHC private practice; Trainings Director, Simplicity Parenting
Cara deVries, Masters in Counseling Psychology, LMFT
Tracy Markle, MA Counseling Psychology; Founder & Co-Director; Digital Media Treatment & Education Center
J Duerr, MPH, President, California Public Health Association-North
Jessica Simon, PsyD, psychologist, art therapist, Healthy Foundations Group
Jan Beauregard, PhD, Clinical Director, Integrative Psychotherapy Institute of Virginia
Malcolm Gaines, PsyD, licensed psychologist
Alissa Glickman, PhD, psychologist, Rowan University SOM
Melissa Farley, PhD, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Pantelis Proios, MA, Community Psychology, Coordinator of the ACT/MMME-Bias of the Association of Greek Psychologists, in cooperation with the American Psychological Association
Margaret Austin, PhD, clinical psychologist
Khadija Attarwala, MA in Career and Development Counseling, Counselor, NPS International School
Suanne Kowal-Connelly, MD Director of Pediatric Clinical Quality, LIFQHC
Christopher Willard, PsyD
Anne Sebanc, PhD, Associate Professor of Education & Child Development, Whittier College
Julie Bemerer, PsyD, Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Mary Jo Lee, MA, school psychologist
Julie Frechette, PhD, professor, Department of Communication, Worcester State University
Anastasia Fiandaca, MS, counselor, City College of San Francisco
Catherine Barber, PhD, Associate Professor, University of St. Thomas
Anne Lefebvre, DESS, Child/Adolescent Psychiatric Services, CHI de Créteil
Wayne Warburton, PhD, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University
Christopher Germer, PhD, Lecturer on Psychiatry (part-time), Harvard Medical School
Beth Klein, PhD, psychologist
Paul Fulton, EdD, MA, psychologist, Lecturer (part-time), Harvard Medical School
Ronald Siegel, PsyD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School
Kristen Gleason, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Southern Maine
Yosef Brody, PhD, Past-President, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Lori Markuson, PhD, Member, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Geraldine Palmer, PhD., Co-founder, Center for Educational
Opportunities for Descendants of the African Diaspora (CEODAD)
Kelsey Deane, PhD, University of Auckland
Marie Evans Schmidt, PhD
Michele Schlehofer, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, Salisbury University
Jessica Goodkind, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of New Mexico
Jancis Long, Phd, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Jean Maria Arrigo, PhD, member, APA
Ian Hansen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences, York College, CUNY
Carolyn Tompsett, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, Bowling Green State University
Luisa M. Saffiotti, PhD, Past President, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
John M. Majer, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Harry S. Truman College
Kristen Abraham, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Detroit Mercy
Martha Davis, PhD, Psychologist
Nancy Arvold, PhD, Psychologists for Social Responsibility
Noe Chavez, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
Annie Reiner, Ph.D., Psy.D., LCSW; member and training analyst, The Psychoanalytic Center of California, Los Angeles
Deana Stevens, PsyD, clinical psychologist; member, APA
Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra, DO, Founder and President, Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development; Clinical Assistant Professor of Health Care Policy and Management, School of Health Technology and Management, Stony Brook Medicine