Religion and Science in America: Populism versus Elitism

Historian James Gilbert argues that the dialogue between science and religion is an important dynamic in the creation of contemporary American culture. He traces the dialogue not only in the confines of the academic world but also in popular culture. The science-religion dialogue reveals a basic tension between the material and the spiritual that helps define the core of the American psyche: fascination with material progress yet commitment to traditional religious beliefs. Gilbert's cultural narrative traces the dialogue in a unique way because of the attention given to popular renditions of science and religion in evangelical films used by the military, in televised science programs, in science-fiction literature, and at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962. Gilbert suggests that the discussion between science and religion is significant because it is part of the process of creating new cultural structures necessitated by social, scientific, and technological developments. The tensions between religiously informed commonsense science and professional science work to create new cultural forms in a democratic society. Religion and science in dialogue are part of the process of cultural creation. Dogmatism on the part of either scientists or religionists is countered by the democratic process itself.     

Social Media Use and Creativity: Exploring the Influences on Ideational Behavior and Creative Activity

This study explored the relationship between social media (SM) use and creativity. The data collected from 407 participants included indicators such as time spent using SM, frequency of SM use, purposes for using SM, and the nature of SM use. The data involved two aspects of creativity: ideational behavior and creative activity and accomplishment. Correlational analyses indicate that SM use is positively related to both creativity measures. Overall, the active use of SM (e.g., sending a post) is more related to creativity than the passive use (e.g., reading others’ posts); and the link between creativity and SM use is more evident for certain platforms (i.e., Twitter) than others (e.g., Instagram). Ideational behavior and creative activity were also found to be higher among those who use SM primarily for expressing their ideas and opinions, gleaning information on topics to discuss and self‐education and learning compared with those who use it primarily for entertainment or relaxation. None of the creativity measures used was related to extraversion and excessive use of SM. Our findings indicate that SM is not necessarily a negative factor for creativity; it may even be a useful platform to support new ideas and projects.     

Infant screen media usage and social-emotional functioning

There has been little research on whether and how screen media usage affects social-emotional (SE) function prior to two years of age, even though early SE development is understood to be nurtured through interpersonal experience, mainly withthe primary caregiver. This study sought to characterise infant screen media usage and understand how it may link with concurrent SE function by testing associated effects on reducing parent-infant interaction and of parent psychological factors. Questionnaire responses from 327 UK-based parents of infants aged 6–24 months showed diverse usage in the amount of time spent on screen media (‘screen time’) and amount of parental involvement (co-sharing and co-referencing). Infants with possible SE delay experienced more screen time than those at low risk. The study tested three mediation models and found support for the displacement and not distancing hypothesis based on this community sample. While screen time predicted both SE competence and SE problems, reduced parent-infant play partially mediated the effect on SE competence. Parent depressed mood was positively linked with infant SE problems, but there was little evidence that increased screen time mediated this effect. Also, parent reflective function and attitudes toward parent-infant play were unrelated to screen time. Though longitudinal study is warranted, the findings implicate screen media usage as potentially directly and indirectly relevant when addressing infant mental health.     

To boldly go where no relationship has gone before: Commentary on interpersonal relationships in the digital age

Individuals have a need to maintain positive social interactions, and with the advent of new-media technologies, there are a myriad ways individuals can satisfy this need by engaging socially in mediated (non-face-to-face) communication, hence the need for a special issue on “Relationships in the Digital Age.” The articles in this special issue reflect the need to answer theoretical questions brought forth by the increased tendency for individuals to create and maintain interpersonal relationships through mediated forms of communication. The commentary highlights the need for increased research on mediated interpersonal relationships by psychologists and discusses how the articles in the issue can be used to answer theoretical questions about mediated interpersonal communication. The article ends with speculation on how media may create social spaces that may be advantageous for some individuals.     

Profiling: The Efficacy of Using Social Networking Sites for Job Screening

Social networking sites (SNS) are a rich source of extractive information about job applicants. Human resources (HR) professionals now use SNS to gather additional information about job applicants; consequently, job applicants begin interviewing even before the actual interview. The authors examine SNS in the context of hiring decisions, using uncertainty reduction theory as a framework of analysis to explain how individuals obtain and process information about interpersonal relationships to reduce uncertainty before a face‐to‐face meeting. The authors recommend mandatory training for HR professionals, recruiters, and applicants in the strategic use and placement of SNS profiles in the public domain.     

“Transformation Tuesday”: Temporal context and post valence influence the provision of social support on social media

Social network sites (SNSs) such as Facebook have become integral in the development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships. Users of SNSs seek social support and validation, often using posts that illustrate how they have changed over time. The purpose of the present research is to examine how the valence and temporal context of an SNS post affect the likelihood of other users providing social support. Participants viewed hypothetical SNS posts and reported their intentions to provide social support to the users. Results revealed that participants were more likely to provide social support for posts that were positive and included temporal context (i.e., depicted improvement over time; Study 1). Furthermore, this research suggests that visual representations of change over time are needed to elicit social support (Study 2). Results are discussed in terms of their practical implications for SNS users and theoretical implications for the literature on social support and social media.     

The Contribution of Attachment and Social Media Practices to Relationship Development

This study tested the hypothesized directional relationship that college students (N = 717; 10.1% response rate to an online survey) who score higher on measures of insecure attachment and social media practices would have lower relationship development quality scores. Structural equation modeling results indicated that participants with greater insecure attachment had lower relationship development quality (large effect size), whereas individuals with greater social media practices had higher relationship development quality scores. Implications for counselors are presented.     

Desensitization to media violence over a short period of time

This study investigated the desensitization to violence over a short period of time. Participants watched nine violent movie scenes and nine comedy scenes, and reported whether they enjoyed the violent or comedy scenes and whether they felt sympathetic toward the victim of violence. Using latent growth modeling, analyses were carried out to investigate how participants responded to the different scenes across time. The findings of this study suggested that repeated exposure to media violence reduces the psychological impact of media violence in the short term, therefore desensitizing viewers to media violence. As a result, viewers tended to feel less sympathetic toward the victims of violence and actually enjoy more the violence portrayed in the media. Additionally, desensitization to media violence was better represented by a curvilinear pattern, whereas desensitization to comedy scenes was better represented by a linear pattern. Finally, trait aggression was not related to the pattern of change over time, although significant effects were found for initial reports of enjoyment and sympathy. Aggr. Behav. 35:179–187, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

浪漫媒介内容接触对大学生浪漫信念的影响:感知真实性和社会比较倾向的作用

为探讨浪漫媒介内容接触对大学生浪漫信念的影响及其作用机制,采用浪漫媒介内容接触问卷、感知真实性量表、社会比较倾向量表和浪漫信念量表对614名无恋爱经验的大学生进行调查,结果发现：（1）浪漫媒介内容接触与感知真实性和浪漫信念都呈显著正相关,感知真实性和浪漫信念也呈显著正相关;（2）感知真实性在浪漫媒介内容接触对浪漫信念的影响中起中介作用;（3）浪漫媒介内容接触对浪漫信念影响的直接效应,以及感知真实性的中介效应均受到社会比较倾向的调节,且在高社会比较倾向群体中,这两种效应都更显著。     

Use of social networking sites and associations with skin tone dissatisfaction,sun exposure,and sun protection in a sample of Australian adolescents

Objective: Previous research has indicated that greater exposure to traditional media (i.e. television, film, and print) predicted skin cancer risk factors in adolescents; however, the relationship between social media usage and these outcomes remains unexplored. We examined whether social networking site (SNS) usage, and the particular manner of this use, was associated with skin tone dissatisfaction, sun exposure and sun protection among Australian adolescents. We also explored sex differences in SNS usage related to tanning.

Method: A total of 1856 South Australian secondary school students completed the Australian School Students Alcohol and Drug 2014 survey. SNS usage related to tanning comprised posting pictures, posting text, viewing pictures, viewing text and liking or sharing posts.

Results: Adolescents spent 214.56 minutes, on average, per day using SNSs. Behaviours related to tanning that involved pictures (i.e. viewing pictures, posting pictures, and liking or sharing content) were significantly associated with more skin tone dissatisfaction, more sun exposure and less sun protection. Females performed all SNS-linked behaviours more frequently than did males, with the exception of posting text.

Conclusion: Australian adolescents spend a considerable amount of time using SNSs, and their behaviours related to tanning on these SNSs are significantly associated with skin cancer risk factors.