Guseltseva M.S. Review of the article by Amy Orben „The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics“

The article by the British experimental psychologist Amy Orben, “The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics”, is an analytical review of the phenomenon of recurring public panics surrounding new technologies, especially digital ones. Amy Orben demonstrates that the emergence of new technologies – from the mass spread of printed materials and radio to the invention of smartphones – repeatedly gives rise to considerable public anxiety. However, this ultimately leads to only limited research and political outcomes. Each new generation of scholars begins studying the problem anew, without relying on prior experience. The absence of theoretical continuity renders psychological research on technologies fragmented and slows the development of adequate policy capable of guiding technological change for the benefit of society.

Orben argues that scientific and sociopolitical debates about the influence of new technologies (such as radio, television, the internet, smartphones, and video games) unfold according to a recurring cycle of technological panic, which she metaphorically terms the “Sisyphean cycle.” Much like the mythological Sisyphus, endlessly pushing a boulder uphill, contemporary society continually returns to the same anxieties: only the object provoking them – a new technology – changes.

In her study, Orben identifies four stages of the “Sisyphean cycle” of technological panics: (1) panic creation; (2) political outsourcing, in which politicians, responding to public concerns, shift the responsibility for addressing the issue onto scientists; (3) wheel reinvention; (4) no progress and a new panic, as the scientific community fails to reach definitive conclusions.

The purpose of the publication is to show that the “Sisyphean cycle” of technological panics hinders the constructive role of psychology in managing technological change.

Amy Orben concludes that the lack of reflection on this recurring process of technological panic and the absence of an integrative theory force society to restart the problem-solving process each time. In this regard, a psychological discipline is needed that would synthesize all technological panics and analyse the Sisyphean cycle they set in motion.

Keywords: methodology, new technologies, technological panics, social media, well-being, adolescents

For citation: Guseltseva, M.S. (2026). Review of the article by Amy Orben „The Sisyphean Cycle of Technology Panics“. New Psychological Research, No. 4, 264–278. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2026_06_02_14

Acknowledgment

The article was prepared within a state task, project FNRE-2024-0016 “Psychological effects of digitalization of the educational environment: opportunities for cognitive and personal development and socialization risks”.