Prof. Dr. Joseph Bayer

About
Joseph Bayer is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Translational Data Analytics Institute (TDAI) at The Ohio State University. He directs the Mobile Social Cognition Lab, which combines digital trace and ecological survey methods to study the mental processes underlying social connection in daily life.
His research teams seek to clarify the psychological processes that shape how people balance the challenges of constant connectivity, along with the implications for digital well-being and addictive behaviour. In turn, his research grapples with how our minds are changing due to smartphone habits, garnering publications in cross-disciplinary scientific journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Annual Review of Psychology, and Communication Theory.
His work with the Weizenbaum Institute leverages his expertise on mobile sensing methods and media psychology to study the implications of constant connectivity for digital well-being. Most centrally, his collaborations aim to advance the measurement of digital habits – i.e., behaviors performed automatically with minimal conscious awareness. Bayer's prior work has highlighted how habitual processes are central to understanding social connection and digital addiction – yet the objective measurement of real-world habits is surprisingly difficult. More broadly, this work seeks to reflect on the future of digital habits and mobile methods, including their implications for user-centered design and public policy across the world.
Positions
Associate Researcher since December 2024
Research Unit: Methods Lab
Former Research Fellow
Research Group: Well-being in the Digital World
20.08.2024 - 06.10.2024
Research Group: Digital News Dynamics and Methods Lab
20.08.2024 - 06.10.2024
Fields of Research
- Digital Habits and Well-being
- Smartphones
- Social Media
- Mobile Methods