Julie Ancis 
Professor, Informatics | New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ, UNITED STATES
Dr. Julie Ancis explores cyberpsychology, the relationship between technology and human behavior, diversity and gender.
Spotlight
Media
Publications:
Documents:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Biography
Dr. Julie Ancis is an expert in how technology impacts human behavior — particularly in the realm of social media. She brings a cogent perspective that's rooted in her study of cyberpsychology. She's also an independent thinker with a passion for transformative conversations about diversity. Dr. Ancis leads workshops on implicit bias, intercultural and multicultural competence and women's leadership programs and delivers presentations at conferences and forums around the world.
Dr. Ancis is the Founding Director of Cyberpsychology at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to this position, she served as the Associate Vice President for Institute Diversity at Georgia Institute of Technology and faculty member at the School of Psychology. Her extensive scholarly publications include four books, more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports, and hundreds of professional presentations focused on issues of diversity, multicultural competence, and the legal system. Scholarly books include The Complete Women’s Psychotherapy Treatment Planner (Wiley), Culturally Responsive Interventions: Innovative Approaches to Working with Diverse Populations (Routledge), and Promoting Student Learning and Development at a Distance: Student Affairs Concepts and Practices for Televised Instruction and Other Forms of Distance Learning. Her co-edited book with Corinne Datchi entitled Gender, Psychology and Justice: The Mental Health of Women and Girls in the Legal System with NYU press was recently published.
Dr. Ancis is known for her down-to-earth and warm style. She has a firm grounding in science and can work with any audience. She has set herself apart through her academic background combined with her ability to empathize and breakdown barriers.
Areas of Expertise (10)
Technology and Human Behavior
Counseling Psychology
Cyberpsychology
Multicultural Competence
Mental Health of Women
Women's Psychotherapy
intercultural Relations
White Privilege
Leadership
Diversity
Accomplishments (5)
Fellow, Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17, American Psychological Association
2011
Fellow, Psychology of Women, Division 35, American Psychological Association
2015
Cambridge Who’s Who, Listing
2009
Woman of the Year Award, American Psychological Association, Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 17, Section for the Advancement of Women
2010
Outstanding Faculty Research Award, College of Education, Georgia State University
2005
Education (3)
University at Albany - State University of New York: Ph.D., Counseling Psychology 1995
University at Albany - State University of New York: M.A., Counseling 1988
University at Albany - State University of New York: B.A., Psychology 1986
Affiliations (1)
- Member, American Psychological Association, Division 17, Fellows Committee
Links (4)
Media Appearances (6)
The Connection Between Cyberpsychology and the Pandemic
Think Tank with Steve Adubato tv
2021-05-22
Steve Adubato speaks with Julie Ancis, Ph.D., Professor & Cyberpsychology Director, New Jersey Institute of Technology, about the connection between cyberpsychology and the pandemic, the ways children are using social media and technology throughout the crisis and the challenges of managing misinformation online.
Mental - The Podcast to Destigmatise Mental Health
Mental online
2020-12-02
With most of us spending more time in front of a screen than ever before we’re looking at the impact this may be having on our mental health with Dr Julie Ancis. Who also shares some of the psychology behind our ever more complex relationships with our devices and social media.
How to Respond to Aggravating Social Media Posts
Psychology Today
2020-08-22
How are your social media exchanges lately? Are they supportive and comforting? Or are you finding them increasingly contentious and stressful? If you fall into the latter category, you are not alone.
The Fall of ‘Terrace House’
The New York Times
2020-07-17
The cast members’ youth and relative inexperience with relationships and intimate partnerships probably made them even more vulnerable to such judgment, said Dr. Julie Ancis, the director of cyberpsychology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Why You Can’t Stop Looking at Your Face on Zoom
Elemental
2020-06-30
This element of distraction can prevent us from being fully immersed in our online yoga class or work presentation. “Consciously seeing our image, in a way, takes us out of the flow because it makes us disconnected from the other person and also from the task,” says Julie Ancis, PhD, a professor and inaugural director of cyberpsychology at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss speaks at Tech
Technique
2019-03-03
As the associate vice president of the Office of Institute of Diversity Julie Ancis said, it is often difficult to realize the importance of remembering the past when trying to build a better future: why is it important to understand history in a world that champions progress and growth at all costs?
Articles (3)
The Age of Cyberpsychology: An Overview
Technology, Mind and BehaviorJulie R. Ancis
2020-09-18
This article serves as an overview and introduction to the discipline of cyberpsychology. Research and scholarship on the interaction of technology and human behavior through the lens of psychology has exploded, and relatedly the field of cyberpsychology. The internet has transformed social interactions, communication patterns, and even our identities. Research literature and presentations in the area of cyberpsychology have primarily attended to personality variables, perceptual processes, emotional functioning, and behavioral responses. Five major areas identified in the literature as especially relevant to the field are examined, including online behavior and personality; social media use and psychological functioning; games and gaming; telepsychology; and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and applications. In addition, future directions in cyberpsychology as it relates to ethics, clinical work, age and disability, education and training, and research are discussed. As the field of cyberpsychology is relatively in its infancy, psychologists are well positioned to inform this innovative discipline through interdisciplinary collaborations.
Women's Experiences With and Perceptions of Guardians ad Litem in Divorce and Custody Disputes
Family & Intimate Partner Violence QuarterlyThis piece echoes the sentiments of the first article by highlighting one component of the disturbing scenario in which protective mothers are further victimized by family court processes. Previously published in the comprehensive two-volume compendium, Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody, this article, authored by Julie Ancis and Laurel Watson, gives voice to the experiences of 16 protective mothers who speak to the critical importance of the role played, for better or for worse, by guardians ad litem--attorneys who represent the children or claim to speak on behalf of their" best interests." Sadly, these legal agents, like many of the others, tend to fall under the seductive sway of the narcissistic abuser, who turns reality on its head by insisting that it is the protective mother who is the perpetrator and the abuser who is the victim.
Therapist effects, working alliance, and African American women substance users.
Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority PsychologyTelsie A. Davis, Julie R. Ancis, Jeffrey S. Ashby
2015-01-01
African American (AfA) women with substance use disorders experience low rates of treatment retention compared to other groups of substance abusers. This is problematic since substance abuse treatment is effective only to the extent clients are retained. A weak working alliance is a significant barrier to treatment retention for AfA women. Thus, identifying therapist characteristics that facilitate a strong working alliance among this population stands as a promising step toward reducing disparities in treatment retention for this group. Therapist characteristics were explored as predictors of working alliance with AfA women substance users (N = 102). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) Population Sensitive Therapist Characteristics (PSTCs: multicultural competence, egalitarianism, and empowerment) will explain a significant amount of variance in working alliance beyond that explained by general therapist characteristics (GTCs: empathy, regard, and genuineness) and (2) GTCs will partially mediate the effect of each individual PSTC on working alliance. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that PSTCs explained 12% of the variance in working alliance after controlling for GTCs. Bootstrapping analyses demonstrated that GTCs mediated the effect of each PSTC on working alliance. Findings suggest that therapists can facilitate a stronger working alliance with AfA women substance users through demonstration of PSTCs in addition to GTCs, and that PSTCs are facilitative because they increase the likelihood the therapist is perceived as empathic, having unconditional positive regard, and genuine. Clinical and therapist training implications are discussed.
Social