LONELINESS,PARASOCIAL INTERACTION,AND LOCAL TELEVISION NEWS VIEWING

A conceptual model was developed predicting parasocial interaction from both a social interaction need due to loneliness and instrumental television news use. Questionnaires were completed by 329 persons. Pearson and partial correlations supported hypotheses linking loneliness with less interpersonal communication and both loneliness and parasocial interaction with more television reliance. Loneliness and parasocial interaction were not correlated. Canonical correlation analysis supported expectations that instrumental news viewing for information was related to more parasocial interaction and perceived news realism; viewing news for exciting entertainment, news affinity, and news viewing levels correlated positively with this pattern. Ritualized news viewing for time consumption was related to more television viewing, but to less news viewing, duration, and affinity. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis identified news affinity, perceived news realism, and information news viewing motives as salient predictors of parasocial interaction with a favorite local television news personality. Implications of results were discussed in light of uses and gratifications research and communication interaction.     

Reduction of Perceived Social Distance as an Explanation for Media's Influence on Personal Risk Perceptions: A Test of the Risk Convergence Model

The risk convergence model proposes reduction of perceived social distance to a mediated personality as a mechanism through which the mass media can influence audiences' personal risk perceptions. As an initial test of the model, this study examined whether 5 audience variables known to facilitate media effects on personal risk perceptions—identification, parasocial interaction, personal relevance, transportation, and perceived realism—would exert their influences through the reduction of perceived social distance. The results indicate that reduction of perceived social distance fully explained the process of identification and transportation influencing personal risk perceptions, while partially mediating the relationship between personal relevance and personal risk perceptions. Theoretical and practical implications for health risk communication and entertainment education are discussed.     

Involvement with Local Television News Cognitive and Emotional Dimensions

This study considered involvement as audience activity, as an indication that audience members are participating in mass media content. On the basis of previous communication research, involvement is viewed as audience activity with both cognitive and affective dimensions. Cognitive involvement reflects attention to, recognition of, and elaboration on media content. Emotional involvement reflects internal feelings. The purpose of this study was to check the validity of this view of involvement in the context of local television news by (a) testing the relationship between the strength of news viewing motivation and involvement intensity, (b) testing the relationship between the type of news viewing motivation and involvement orientation, and (c) testing the relationship between cognitive and emotional involvement. Adult local news viewers (N = 305) completed pertinent questionnaires. Pearson and canonical correlation partly supported the proposed view of media involvement. Utilitarian viewing motivation was associated with higher cognitive involvement and feelings of anger while watching local news. Diversionary motivation was associated with feeling happy while watching news. There were links between cognitive and emotional involvement with news. The discussion focuses on the importance of involvement and motivation in media effects research.     

Positive‐Themed Suicide Prevention Messages Delivered by Adolescent Peer Leaders: Proximal Impact on Classmates' Coping Attitudes and Perceptions of Adult Support

Developing science‐based communication guidance and positive‐themed messages for suicide prevention are important priorities. Drawing on social learning and elaboration likelihood models, we designed and tested two positive‐focused presentations by high school peer leaders delivered in the context of a suicide prevention program (Sources of Strength). Thirty‐six classrooms in four schools (N = 706 students) were randomized to (1) peer leader modeling of healthy coping, (2) peer leader modeling plus audience involvement to identify trusted adults, or (3) control condition. Students' attitudes and norms were assessed by immediate post‐only assessments. Exposure to either presentation enhanced positive coping attitudes and perceptions of adult support. Students who reported suicide ideation in the past 12 months benefited more than nonsuicidal students. Beyond modeling alone, audience involvement modestly enhanced expectations of adult support, congruent with the elaboration likelihood model. Positive peer modeling is a promising alternative to communications focused on negative consequences and directives and may enhance social–interpersonal factors linked to reduced suicidal behaviors.     

Parasocial Relationships with Media Personae: Why They Matter and How They Differ Among Heterosexual,Lesbian, Gay,and Bisexual Adolescents

Parasocial relationships are social bonds audiences develop with media personae. Parasocial relationships may be particularly meaningful for those who experience obstacles developing real-life social bonds. The objective of this study was to examine parasocial relationships among a relationally vulnerable population by surveying lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents (n = 106). Heterosexual adolescents (n = 321) were surveyed for comparison purposes. Results suggest that LGB adolescents have more other-gender favorite media personae than heterosexual male adolescents. LGB adolescents were more likely to select LGB media personae as their favorites, particularly if they lacked real-life LGB friends. Repeated media exposure, perceived similarity, and attraction were positively correlated with parasocial relationship strength for all adolescents, but loneliness contributed to parasocial relationship strength for LGB adolescents only. LGB adolescents were more likely to report their favorite media personae as important sources of information on a range of issues related to socialization. Though previous research suggests that parasocial relationships supplement real-life social relationships, parasocial relationships may be compensatory for LGB adolescents attempting to fill a relational void left by the absence of real-life LGB peers. Scholars must better dissect parasocial relationships with media characters when considering media’s influence on special populations like LGB adolescents.     

Parasocial Interaction and Parasocial Relationship: Conceptual Clarification and a Critical Assessment of Measures

Parasocial interaction and parasocial relationship are often conflated conceptually and methodologically, leaving researchers unclear as to which concept is being tapped. This research clarifies these concepts and experimentally compares the most common measure of parasocial interaction, the Parasocial Interaction Scale (PSI‐Scale), with a newer measure, the Experience of Parasocial Interaction Scale (EPSI‐Scale). Participants (N = 383) viewed a brief videorecording of a woman who either bodily addressed the viewer or not, then completed a questionnaire. The EPSI‐Scale was a better measure of parasocial interaction, understood as a within‐viewing experience of mutual awareness, whereas the PSI‐Scale may measure short‐ or long‐term liking, or something else. To avoid conceptual and empirical confusion, researchers must choose measures with greater care.     

Sex on the Shore: Wishful Identification and Parasocial Relationships as Mediators in the Relationship Between Jersey Shore Exposure and Emerging Adults' Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors

Exposure to highly sexualized television programs has been correlated with emerging adults' sexual attitudes and behaviors. However, little is known about the variables that may mediate these relationships. The studies presented here investigated wishful identification and parasocial relationships withJersey Shore cast members as mediators in the relationship between exposure to Jersey Shore and permissive sexual attitudes. In Study 1, a secondary examination of content analysis data suggested that sex was pervasive on Jersey Shore. Analyses revealed that, on average, one sexual instance occurred every minute on Jersey Shore. The frequency of sexual instances on Jersey Shore was significantly higher than the frequency of sexual instances in other popular primetime television programs. In Study 2, data collected from a sample of emerging adults revealed a positive relationship between Jersey Shore exposure and permissive sexual attitudes mediated by participants' wishful identification and parasocial relationships with Jersey Shore cast members. Permissive sexual attitudes were positively correlated with sexual activity. Results are consistent with predictions made by cultivation and social cognitive theory. The relationships between television exposure, wishful identification, parasocial relationships, and emerging adults' sexual attitudes and behaviors are the focus of the discussion.     

Examining the Intertextuality of Fictional Political Comedy and Real-World Political News

This study examines the intertextuality of a fictional political comedy and a political news article. In an experiment, participants watched the political comedy Man of the Year or a control film, read a politically relevant news article on electronic voting, and were asked their discussion intention about the political issue featured in the news article. Beyond direct effects, the mediating influence of elaboration about the politically relevant news article on discussion intent was analyzed. Results revealed no main effect of political comedy viewing on discussion intent, and no mediating effect of elaboration either. However, viewing the fictional political comedy was associated with higher levels of elaboration about the related news article, which shows evidence of intertextuality among media texts. Moreover, perceived external realism of the fictional political comedy was a significant positive predictor of discussion intent about the news article. Results also showed perceived external realism about the fictional political comedy to be a nearly significant moderator of the elaboration and discussion intent relationship. A broader discussion regarding the theoretical and practical implications of the findings is included.     

Hiding effort to gain a competitive advantage: Evidence from China

Previous studies with Western populations have shown that adolescents' tendency to downplay their academic effort is affected by two kinds of motives: ability‐related motives (e.g., to appear competent) and social approval motives (e.g., to be popular). In this research, we test for the presence of additional competition‐related motives in China, a culture placing strong emphasis on academic competition. Study 1 (N = 150) showed that, in response to a scenario in which a hard‐working high‐school junior hid effort from classmates, the most highly endorsed explanation was “to influence others to work less hard to maintain a competitive advantage.” Study 2 (N = 174) revealed that competition‐related explanations were endorsed relatively more often when the speaker and audience had similar academic rankings. This tendency was most evident when both speaker and audience were top performers, and when this was the case, participants' desire to demonstrate superiority over others was a positive predictor of endorsement of competition‐related motives. Study 3 (N = 137) verified that competition‐related motives were more strongly endorsed among Chinese participants than U.S. participants. These results suggest that at least in cultures that emphasize academic competition and in contexts where competition is salient, hiding effort is often about attempting to gain strategic advantage.     

拟社会互动在年幼儿童视频学习中的作用

本研究采用表征理解任务和规则学习任务,通过比较真人互动、视频拟互动和视频非互动三种条件下年幼儿童的学习效果,考察拟互动在2-5岁儿童视频学习中的作用。结果表明,2岁儿童的视频学习存在视频缺陷现象,2.5岁到5岁儿童的拟社会互动视频学习效果明显,优于非互动视频学习,与真人互动学习相当。2.5岁至4.5岁是拟互动视频学习的最佳年龄。     

The self in self-handicapping: Differential effects of public and private internal audiences

People self-handicap to satisfy both self-presentational and self-protective motives. The cognitive salience of a public or private audience, as well as the objective public or private situation, determines when each motive dominates. To show this, we manipulated the objective situation separately from the cognitive salience of public and private internal audiences. We hypothesized that in the objectively public situation, people would self-handicap more when focused on a public audience than when focused on a private audience; whereas in the objectively private situation, the reverse would occur. Two studies using different manipulations of audience salience supported the hypothesis. For self-presentational motives to foster self-handicapping, then, the person must not only be in public but must be cognitively focused on the public audience; and for self-protective motives to foster self-handicapping, the person must both be in private and cognitively focused on the private audience.     

The Influence of Chronically Accessible Autonomous and Controlling Motives on Physical Activity Within an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior

An extended theory of planned behavior ( Ajzen, 1991 ), incorporating the post‐decisional phase of behavior and constructs from self‐determination theory ( Deci & Ryan, 1985 ), was tested for physical activity using a prospective survey design. Participants (N = 172) completed measures of intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC), self‐determined motivation, continuation intentions, and chronically accessible physical activity motives. Participants completed a self‐report measure of physical activity 3 weeks later. Path analysis supported the predictive utility of the proposed model. Importantly, the effect of continuation intentions of success on physical activity behavior was moderated by chronically accessible physical activity motives. Findings underscore the importance of taking into account continuation intentions, self‐determined motivation, and individuals' chronically accessible motives when developing physical‐activity‐promoting interventions.     

Modeling the Gratification-Seeking Process of Television Viewing

This study attempted to establish the audience activity construct as an intervening factor in the gratification-seeking process, by taking into account the expanded viewing options in the emerging multichannel environment. It examined the viewing motives, activities, and satisfaction of adolescents—the first generation to grow up in that environment. The major theoretical assumption tested was whether more strongly motivated viewers would more actively engage in various audience activities throughout the viewing process and receive greater viewing satisfaction afterwards. Findings from testing the path model generally support this assumption. However, the role of media exposure in the gratification-seeking process comes into question due to its lack of causal linkage to several model components. A revised theoretical model is proposed to help inform future research.     

Is it Seeing or Believing? Exposure,Perceived Realism,and Emerging Adults' Perceptions of Their Own and Others' Attitudes About Relationships

The differential impact hypothesis predicts that media exposure is more likely to influence social-level than personal-level judgments unless individuals identify with media content. An important factor in determining identification is perceived realism. Research in other areas has found, however, that individuals engage in motivated differential perceptions (MDPs) of self and others and that the extent and nature of these MDPs are determined by both motivational and cognitive factors. This study found that emerging adults (N = 282) in both within-subjects and between-subjects conditions engaged in MDPs—rating peers as more likely to endorse recreational attitudes and less likely to endorse relational attitudes than themselves. Exposure was significantly related to social-level perceptions of peers, but not to personal attitudes. Perceived realism reduced MDPs and was significantly related to personal-level attitudes, but not to social-level perceptions. There were important gender differences in the nature of these relationships. For females, increased exposure was related to higher perceptions of peers' agreement with recreational attitudes, but for males exposure was associated with higher perceptions of other's agreement with relational attitudes. A range of entertainment media formats (television, magazines, radio, and Internet sites) were examined.     

The Effects of Television on Large-Scale Attitude Change: Viewing “The Day After”1

To examine the effects of viewing the television film, “The Day After”, a questionnaire designed to measure attitudes, cognitions, and feelings about the threat of nuclear war was administered to 537 subjects before and after the airing of the film. A factor analysis of pre-viewing test responses yielded a seven-factor solution. Pre–post factor scores indicated increased worry and concern about nuclear war, decreased belief that nuclear war could be survived, increased concern about the occurrence of nuclear war, and increased agreement with views espoused by the nuclear-freeze movement only among subjects who had viewed the film. Subjects who chose not to view the film differed from those who did watch it in terms of greater denial and less involvement in nuclear related activities. The efficacy of the film as an agent of attitude change and the utility of the present questionnaire were discussed.     

Tan and thin? Associations between attitudes toward thinness,motives to tan and tanning behaviors in adolescent girls

Tanning during adolescence increases skin cancer risk. Relatively few studies have examined the association between thinness attitudes and tanning attitudes and behaviors. The purpose of the current study was to examine psychosocial predictors of sunbathing and tanning bed use, specifically thin ideal internalization (TII) and motives for tanning among high school girls. Adolescent girls (N = 229) completed a 10-minute questionnaire designed to assess sunbathing and indoor tanning, TII and motives to tan (appearance, social and well-being). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that TII, β = .05, p < .05, appearance motives, β = .11, p < .01 and well-being motives, β = .11, p < .01 were all independently positively associated with sunbathing. Social motives were negatively associated with sunbathing, β = ?.07, p < .05. A three-way interaction was found between the three types of motives on indoor tanning, in that appearance and well-being motives interacted to increase indoor tanning levels, especially among those who strongly endorsed social motives for tanning, β = .22, p < .05. Motives for tanning, specifically those associated with appearance and well-being, can interact to increase tanning bed use. When designing tailored interventions for skin cancer prevention in young people, researchers should consider tailoring based on motivation. Researchers and healthcare professionals who work with adolescents should attend to tanners who are motivated for both appearance and mood-related reasons, as they may be most at risk for tanning dependence and skin cancer.     

Are Traditional Gender Role Attitudes Associated With Risky Sexual Behavior and Condom-related Beliefs?

Traditional gender role attitudes, which emphasize an unequal distribution of power in the family and stereotypical norms about masculinity, may be associated with unsafe sexual behavior and beliefs in young men and women. This study was designed to examine associations between gender role attitudes including gender-based family role attitudes and masculinity ideology, sexual behaviors, and condom-related beliefs in a sample of sexually active college students (N = 154). Family role attitudes were related to risky condom-related beliefs but not to risky sexual behavior. Masculinity ideology was related to both sexual behaviors and condom-related beliefs but, in some cases, in a direction opposite to that predicted. These unexpected findings and the utility of examining masculinity ideology among women are discussed.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2002 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, Louisiana.     

Communication and consistency: AIDS talk and AIDS attitudes

The main hypothesis tested in this study is that the frequency of talk about a particular domain is related to the consistency of attitudes in that domain. This hypothesis was developed by viewing talk as one of the ways in which people express their identities and by exploring the interpersonal processes involved in the construction of consistency. The hypothesis was tested with a questionnaire completed by 73 students at Oxford University. The first part of the questionnaire consisted of items related to attitude, and the second part contained questions about respondents' conversations about AIDS and related topics. Strong support was found for the hypothesis relating frequency of talk with consistency of attitudes. Data about who the respondents talked to about AIDS and the perceived agreement between them and their discussion partners demonstrated the homogeneity of the discussion environment. The implications for understanding attitude formation and change in everyday social contexts are considered.     

Understanding the Relationship Between Mothers’ Attitudes Toward Television and Children’s Television Exposure: A Longitudinal Study of Reciprocal Patterns and the Moderating Role of Maternal Stress

This two-wave panel study among mothers (N = 508) of children between ages six months and six years investigated a) the possibility of a reciprocal relationship between mothers’ attitudes toward television and children’s television viewing, and b) the conditional probability of this reciprocal relationship. Two-wave multigroup cross-lagged analyses provided evidence for reciprocal patterns that depend on the level of maternal stress. The findings indicated that mothers’ attitudes toward television predicted children’s subsequent television viewing among non-stressed mothers, but not among stressed mothers. Children’s television viewing predicted mothers’ subsequent negative attitudes toward television among stressed mothers, but not among non-stressed mothers. Implications for the role of parents’ attitudes regarding children’s television viewing are discussed.     

On attributing negative motives to others who disagree with our opinions

The research explores the tendency for people to attribute negative motives to others who hold an attitude position that is discrepant from their own. In Studies 1 and 2, American and Canadian respondents indicated their perceptions of U.S. President Bush's motives for initiating war in Iraq. Consistent with the proposed bias, respondents who disagreed with the war attributed more selfish motivations than did those who supported the war. Study 3 revealed a similar bias when respondents rated the motives of the general citizenry concerning their attitudes about the war, and Study 4 provided evidence of the bias on different attitudinal issues (e.g., abortion and gay marriage). Study 4 also indicated that biased attributions of motive were primarily confined to respondents who were highly involved in the attitude issue. Discussion centers on na?ve realism, social identity concerns, and attitude justification as relevant underlying theoretical factors.