Leveraging Psychology of Virtual Body for Health and Wellness

Information and communication technologies are becoming more present in people’s daily lives. But what is the final purpose of the mass proliferation of digital devices? Are they helpful in fostering personal growth and individual integration in the sociocultural environment, by promoting satisfaction, opportunities for action and self-expression? Recently Riva and colleagues underlined that one of the fundamental objectives for our field - cyberpsychology—in the coming decade will be to create technologies that contribute to enhancement of happiness and psychological well-being (Botella et al., 2012; Riva, Banos, Botella, Wiederhold, & Gaggioli, 2012; Wiederhold & Riva, 2012). In particular, these authors suggested that it is possible to use technology to manipulate the quality of personal experience, with the goal of increasing wellness, and generating strengths and resilience in individuals, organizations, and society.