76%
People feel they spend
too much time on their phones
Understand digital wellbeing through cyberpsychology
Screen Sense explores how gaming, social media and digital technology influence attention, habits, wellbeing and everyday life.
Discover clear, accessible information about digital behaviour, practical tools for understanding digital habits and self-paced courses that explore the psychology behind the way we use technology.
Drawing on cyberpsychology, health psychology and behavioural science, Screen Sense translates research into meaningful insights that help adults and young people (16+) understand the relationship between people and technology.
Thanks for visiting Screen Sense! I’m Neal, a former professional gamer known as Mirage. I competed internationally, spending thousands of hours in digital environments where focus, performance and screen time were everything.
That experience gave me a front-row view of how powerful digital systems are and how difficult it can be to disengage from them once they become part of daily life.
If you’ve ever felt pulled too far into the screen or wondered why this happens, this is a place to understand the psychology behind it and what can be done next.
Neal Thompson
Digital Psychology Specialist
MSc Health Psychology
Former professional gamer (Mirage)
Founder of Screen Sense
MSc Health Psychology, University of Auckland
Digital Psychology Specialist
Certified Health and Wellness Coach
25 years in digital product leadership
Former professional gamer (Mirage)
Cyberpsychology focuses on how human behaviour, thoughts and emotions are influenced by digital technology including interactions with the internet, social media, online gaming, virtual reality and AI. It explores online identity, cyberbullying, digital addiction and the psychological impact of immersive technology, bridging traditional psychology with the digital world. These insights inform practical strategies and tools to help people manage their digital habits and wellbeing.
We all have our favourite ways to scroll, game or watch online content. Over time, these habits can quietly drain your energy, scatter your focus and affect your wellbeing.
Recent New Zealand research found that 22% of teens surveyed met criteria for problematic social media use, characterised by addiction-like patterns such as preoccupation, loss of control and conflict around social media use.
Public Health Communication Centre Aotearoa76% of people believe they spend “too much” time on their phones. Of all the adults surveyed, 40% are spending five or more hours on their phone each day and 20% are spending seven or more. Average screen time is five hours. 74% of people who have tried to reduce their screen time struggle to do so.
BePresentThe amount of time kids’ spend online worried 75% of parents and is the number one worry. Yet, 50% (of parents) said they spent too much time on their own devices, and 66% admit to relying on screens as a bargaining chip to distract children.
nib SurveyWe find that 15% of 15 year olds report using the internet for more than 6 hours per day on a weekday outside of school. Once daily internet use (on weekdays outside of school) exceeds about two hours, we find no positive association of internet use and wellbeing.
Motu Economic and Public Research Policy
In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison and perfectionism.
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Australians must prove they are over 18 before they can access adult content such as porn, R-rated video games and sexually explicit AI chatbots under new laws. The changes will protect children from harmful content, with platforms fined for breaches, Australia's online safety regulator said.
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Older teenagers in the UK will face an overnight social media curfew, the government has announced - though they will be able to opt out of it by changing their account settings. It would mean apps such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube being set to be unavailable by default to 16 and 17-year-olds between midnight and 06:00.
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This pre-post study recruited 50 adult gamers from New Zealand to test the feasibility of a brief internet-delivered intervention. Completers (n = 35) reported a significant increase in well-being and reduction in severity, intensity, and time spent gaming, which reduced from an average of 29 to 11 hours per week.
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The Under the Influence series is a six-part NZ Herald documentary that investigates how today's digital technologies - particularly social media, algorithms and AI - are shaping the lives of young New Zealanders. Rather than focusing solely on screen time, it explores the psychological design of digital platforms, the attention economy, online harms, mental health, body image, addictive design and the emerging influence of AI companions.
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Psychologist Adam Alter provides insight into why we have addiction to technology, explains the science behind why we can't seem to stop such behaviour and offers practical advice for using technology differently, in order to lead a happier life, and to set yourself free.
Read MoreScreen Sense offers personalised one-to-one support to help you better understand your digital habits and make practical, lasting changes to the way you use technology.
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