Medical Dramas and Viewer Perception of Health: Testing Cultivation Effects

By using a national representative sample (N = 11,555), the current study tested cultivation theory and aimed at understanding the relationship between medical drama watching and viewer perception and beliefs related to health. Findings suggest that heavy viewers of medical dramas tend to underestimate the gravity of chronic illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular disease and undermine the importance of tackling these issues. Heavier viewers of medical dramas, compared to lighter viewers, also tend to take a more fatalistic perspective about cancer. Theoretical implications for cultivation theory and practical implications for health policy makers and drama producers are discussed.     

Creative Reappropriation: Barth's Use of Calvin in the Münster Ethics (1928/29)

This article demonstrates Calvin's impact upon Barth's ethics through a close reading of Barth's MÏnster lectures on ethics. Already in these early lectures Barth insisted on the coherence of dogmatic and ethical reflection, and developed the basic structure and some characteristic themes of his mature ethical reflection in the Church Dogmatics . By showing the ways in which Barth was influenced by Calvin in these formative first ethics lectures the case is made that a thorough understanding of Calvin's theology is necessary for a correct appreciation of Barth's ethics and of his theology as a whole.     

Cognitive processing of corporate social responsibility campaign messages: the effects of emotional visuals on memory

ABSTRACT

This study explored the effects of visual strategies on consumers’ memory of corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaign messages. Using the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP), we examined how emotional CSR messages are cognitively processed—specifically, how emotional visuals in CSR messages affect two subprocesses of information processing: encoding and storage. We conducted a 2 (valence: positive vs. negative) × 2 (arousal: moderately arousing vs. highly arousing) within-subjects experiment across four different CSR issues. The results showed that recognition accuracy and sensitivity (d′) of company logos were best for moderately arousing negative images, whereas for recognition accuracy and sensitivity (d′) of company names, there were no significant differences across the emotional conditions. For cued recall of companies associated with CSR issues, the pattern was different—highly arousing negative images with aversive cues were the most effective. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.     

Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Links to Sociocultural Factors and School‐Age Children's Psychological Adjustment

Research suggests that parent–child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent–child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school‐age children (N = 239; age = 7.5–11 years). Latent profile analyses identified three parent‐rated conflict profiles and four child‐rated conflict profiles. Parent and child conflict profiles were unrelated to each other and differentially related to family sociocultural factors and children's psychological adjustment. Parents' moderate conflict profile scored highest on parent‐rated child behavior problems and had the highest household density and lower parent Chinese orientation. Children's moderate‐specific and high conflict profiles scored higher on child‐reported behavior problems than the low conflict profile. These results highlight the need to assess family conflict from both parents' and children's perspectives and target parent–child conflict communication as a pathway to prevent or reduce behavioral problems in Chinese American children of immigrant families.     

A Nondegenerate Penalized Likelihood Estimator for Variance Parameters in Multilevel Models

Group-level variance estimates of zero often arise when fitting multilevel or hierarchical linear models, especially when the number of groups is small. For situations where zero variances are implausible a priori, we propose a maximum penalized likelihood approach to avoid such boundary estimates. This approach is equivalent to estimating variance parameters by their posterior mode, given a weakly informative prior distribution. By choosing the penalty from the log-gamma family with shape parameter greater than 1, we ensure that the estimated variance will be positive. We suggest a default log-gamma(2,λ) penalty with λ→0, which ensures that the maximum penalized likelihood estimate is approximately one standard error from zero when the maximum likelihood estimate is zero, thus remaining consistent with the data while being nondegenerate. We also show that the maximum penalized likelihood estimator with this default penalty is a good approximation to the posterior median obtained under a noninformative prior. Our default method provides better estimates of model parameters and standard errors than the maximum likelihood or the restricted maximum likelihood estimators. The log-gamma family can also be used to convey substantive prior information. In either case—pure penalization or prior information—our recommended procedure gives nondegenerate estimates and in the limit coincides with maximum likelihood as the number of groups increases.     

Asian Couples in Negotiation: A Mixed‐Method Observational Study of Cultural Variations Across Five Asian Regions

The purpose of this study was to explore variations in how contemporary couples from five different Asian regions negotiate disagreements. Video recordings of 50 couples (10 each from Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong) discussing unresolved disagreements provided raw data for quantitative and qualitative analyses. First, teams of coders from each region used a common protocol to make quantitative ratings of content themes and interaction patterns for couples from their own region. An interregional panel of investigators then performed in‐depth qualitative reviews for half of these cases, noting cultural differences not only in observed patterns of couple behavior but also in their own perceptions of these patterns. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed clear regional differences on dimensions such as overt negativity, demand‐withdraw interaction, and collaboration. The qualitative results also provided a richer, more nuanced view of other (e.g., gender‐linked) conflict management patterns that the quantitative analyses did not capture. Inconsistencies between qualitative and quantitative data and between the qualitative observations of investigators from different regions were most pronounced for couples from Korea and Japan, whose conflict styles were subtler and less direct than those of couples from the other regions.     

Relationship of Recalled Parenting Style to Self-Perception in Korean American College Students

The authors examined the relationship of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles and the number of years in the United States with self-perception (academic competence, morality, and self-reliance) as recalled by Korean American college students (N = 144). Authoritative parenting behaviors were most common in Korean American families, followed by authoritarian behaviors, with permissive behaviors a distant 3rd. Authoritative parenting styles and the number of years lived in the United States were predictive of higher academic competence. Authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were predictive of lower self-reliance, whereas number of years lived in the United States was related to higher self-reliance. Those findings provide partial support for generalizing D. Baumrind's (1971) model of parenting styles to Korean American families, and the findings demonstrate the importance of considering acculturation issues in parenting studies.     

Abnormal diurnal pattern of cortisol secretion in patients after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

Substantial evidence suggests that impairment of the hypothalamus?pituitary system can occur following an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Given that the diurnal cortisol rhythm is primarily controlled by the hypothalamus?pituitary system, this study examined whether changes in diurnal cortisol rhythm occurred after aSAH. Cortisol concentrations were measured in the saliva samples collected from patients after aSAH and other types of cerebral hemorrhage (non-aSAH) in the post-awakening period and at night (21:00?h), and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) and diurnal cortisol decline were determined. The area under the cortisol curve from immediately after to 45?min after awakening (CARauc) in the aSAH patient group was comparable to that in the non-aSAH or healthy control groups. However, an obvious cortisol peak was not found after the awakening period, and the morning/nighttime cortisol ratio in the aSAH patient group was significantly lower than that in other examined groups due to higher nighttime cortisol concentrations. In aSAH patients, the CARauc and nighttime cortisol concentrations were negatively correlated with the Fisher CT grade. These results indicate that the diurnal cortisol rhythm is not regulated normally after aSAH, and cortisol secretory activity decreases as the volume of subarachnoid bleeding increases. Our findings will be helpful to understand altered hypothalamus?pituitary?adrenal axis function after aSAH.     

Development and validation of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale for Black individuals

This article describes the development and validation of the Internalized Racial Oppression Scale (IROS) for Black individuals in 2 studies using a total sample of 468 Black college students. The IROS is intended to measure the degree to which racial oppression is internalized and replicated by Black individuals in the United States. An exploratory factor analysis suggested a five-factor solution: Belief in the Biased Representation of History (BRH), Devaluation of the African Worldview and Motifs (DAW), Alteration of Physical Appearance (APA), Internalization of Negative Stereotypes (INS), and Hair Change (HC). Confirmatory factory analysis supported an adequate model fit of a four-factor model: BRH, APA, INS, and HC. All factors of the IROS were positively correlated with the Pre-Encounter subscale of the Racial Identity Attitude Scale (RIAS-B; J. E. Helms & T. A. Parham, 1996), and 4 of the factors were negatively correlated with the Immersion/Emersion subscale of the RIAS-B. Four factors of the IROS were negatively correlated with all subscales and total scores of the African Self-Consciousness Scale (J. A. Baldwin & Y. R. Bell, 1985). These results provide some support of the validity of the IROS.