Digit ratios and preferences for aggressive content in entertainment

Digit ratios (2D:4D) contain information concerning an individual’s propensity towards aggression. Our study adds the first clue to better understanding the relationship between 2D:4D and exposure to aggressive contents in entertainment products. Our findings suggest that individuals with low 2D:4D prefer aggressive contents such as action films, sports telecast, killing and achieving games, hip-hop music, and erotic video clips rather than do individuals with high 2D:4D. Also individuals with low 2D:4D tend to demonstrate less preference for romance films than individuals with high 2D:4D. In addition, we found that low 2D:4D was associated with a preference for sports instead of other genres of entertainment products. Therefore, 2D:4D (a putative correlate of prenatal sex steroids) helps us to better understand the rationale of individuals’ preferences for media violence.     

The effect of viewing ultra-fit images on college women's body dissatisfaction

Modern ideals of female attractiveness include an extremely toned and fit appearance in addition to extreme thinness. Although viewing thin models has a negative effect on women's body image, research has not tested the effect of exposure to the ultra-fit physique separate from the thin-ideal. This randomized, posttest-only experiment tested the effects of the athletic aspect of the current ideal by exposing 138 undergraduate women to thin and athletic models, normal weight athletic models, or a control condition consisting of neutral objects. The study also tested the moderating effects of thin-ideal and athletic-ideal internalization. Exposure to thin ultra-fit models, but not normal weight ultra-fit models, produced an increase in body dissatisfaction and neither internalization variable moderated this effect. Findings suggest that interventions that focus on the benefits of fitness while challenging the desirability of thinness may offer promising results.     

Constructing content and delimiting choice: International coverage of KAL Flight 007

For more than two decades, international debate over a New World Communication and Information Order has called attention to the question of whether or not newspapers around the world are limited by the alleged dominance of the international news flow by the Western media. Looking at how six newspapers from around the world covered the 1983 downing of KAL Flight 007 by the Soviet Union, we find that papers are in fact able to shape their coverage of major international events through their choice of providers, their selection and interpretation of subjects and facts, and their use of headlines to emphasize and frame information. Thus, newspapers can delimit choice to suit their own needs and goals.     

Media Violence and Freedom of Speech: How to Use Empirical Data

Susan Hurley has argued against a well known argument for freedom of speech, the argument from autonomy, on the basis of two hypotheses about violence in the media and aggressive behaviour. The first hypothesis says that exposure to media violence causes aggressive behaviour; the second, that humans have an innate tendency to copy behaviour in ways that bypass conscious deliberation. I argue, first, that Hurley is not successful in setting aside the argument from autonomy. Second, I show that the empirical data are irrelevant to statutory regulation of media violence. They do not yield a sufficiently strong correlation between exposure to media violence and non-autonomously copied criminal violence, and they do not yield a way ex ante to individuate the viewers who will be affected by media violence.

Endangered Girls and Incendiary Objects: Unpacking the Discourse on Sexualization

In this article, we deconstruct the epistemological framework underlying recent discussions on the sexualization of girls. Conducting a close textual analysis of scholarly and activist writings and their media coverage in Australia, Britain and the United States we examine the foundational assumptions of the argument against sexualization and explore its potential social and political implications. It is our contention that the conceptualization of sexualization as both a process and outcome relies on an ambivalent and overly deterministic model which makes the danger of sexualizing materials uniform, but their outcome gender specific. The unintended consequence of this discourse is that girls are framed as passive recipients and their sexuality becomes the result of and reduced to sexualization.

Thin-Ideal Media and Women’s Body Dissatisfaction: Prevention using Downward Social Comparisons on Non-Appearance Dimensions

Exposure to thin-ideal media has adverse effects on the body satisfaction of women with higher levels of body image disturbance. In a study involving 109 UCLA female undergraduates, we examined the effectiveness of an intervention that was based on downward social comparison theory and the selection of alternative comparison dimensions. All participants had higher levels of body dissatisfaction and viewed pictures of fashion models; the intervention group compared downward with the models on non-appearance dimensions in writing, whereas the control group described the models in writing. We hypothesized that the intervention group would experience more positive shifts in body and weight satisfaction, anxiety about appearance, and desire to lose weight than would the control group. The results supported our hypotheses.     

Hidden Sexism: Facial Prominence and Its Connections to Gender and Occupational Status in Popular Print Media

A total of 779 article-embedded photographs from six popular US magazines during 2004 (Newsweek, Time, Fortune, Money, People, and Sports Illustrated) were examined assessing the relationship between occupational status and gender and the depiction of men and women in print media. Results show individuals depicted in intellectually focused occupations had higher face-to-body ratios than individuals depicted in physically focused occupations. Gender differences in facial prominence did not reach significance. A gender by occupation interaction indicated men in intellectually focused occupations had higher face-to-body ratios than women in similar professions, whereas women in physical occupations had higher face-to-body ratios than men in similar occupations. This suggests a disparity in the media with regard to displaying men and women equally in similar occupational roles.     

情绪智力:多维度构思背后的信息

情绪智力作为影响个人发展与领导能力的关键变量已经得到许多关注。虽然许多研究都认为情绪智力更适合从一个多维度变量角度来探讨,但更多研究主要关注情绪智力的整体效应和差异,比较少从情绪智力的单一维度方面来进行研究。本研究以公务员群体来进行分析,运用多元方差分析和结构方程技术来分析人口统计特征对情绪智力多维度构思的影响,并特别关注情绪智力及各维度对个体绩效的影响。最后根据研究结果对与情绪智力相关的理论研究和管理实践提供一些建议。