Improving Public Perception of Behavior Analysis

The potential impact of behavior analysis is limited by the public’s dim awareness of the field. The mass media rarely cover behavior analysis, other than to echo inaccurate negative stereotypes about control and punishment. The media instead play up appealing but less-evidence-based approaches to problems, a key example being the touting of dubious diets over behavioral approaches to losing excess weight. These sorts of claims distort or skirt scientific evidence, undercutting the fidelity of behavior analysis to scientific rigor. Strategies for better connecting behavior analysis with the public might include reframing the field’s techniques and principles in friendlier, more resonant form; pushing direct outcome comparisons between behavior analysis and its rivals in simple terms; and playing up the “warm and fuzzy” side of behavior analysis.     

Out of Sight,out of Mind? Controversy over Offshore Wind Energy in Norway's News Media

News media are important reference points for public sense-making of emerging technology. In Norway, offshore wind can be considered an emerging technology. Siting renewable energy technology offshore is commonly regarded as a solution to onshore implementation problems, as development happens ‘out of sight, out of mind’ of the public. However, does moving renewable energy technology offshore really prevent controversy? How is emerging offshore wind technology made comprehensible in Norwegian news media? The dominance of supporting actors and arguments in the Norwegian news media discourse on offshore wind energy technology and the high prevalence of the argument that offshore wind should be non-controversial due to its placement ‘out of sight’ suggest that the expectation that such technology will prevent controversy has been partly met. Still, the emerging technology has been accompanied by an evolving controversy, though with a different extent and focus than the controversy over onshore wind. Both supporting and opposing actors have made offshore wind energy technology comprehensible by employing economic, environmental and moral arguments. Economics has appeared as a privileged frame of interpretation used by both supporters and opponents. Environmental arguments have shifted their focus to biodiversity and global aspects such as sustainability and climate change, and lost their dominance relative to their role in onshore controversies.     

Cultural differences in body dissatisfaction: Japanese adolescents compared with adolescents from China,Malaysia, Australia,Tonga, and Fiji

Cultural influences on the body image of 133 female and 99 male Japanese adolescents aged 12–18 years (M = 15.9, SD = 1.2) were compared to those of a databank of 1233 female and 1149 male adolescents also aged 12–18 years (M = 14.9, SD = 1.5) from five cultures – Chinese, Malaysian, Australian, Tongan, and indigenous Fijian – surveyed previously using identical body image measures (Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz et al., 2012). Japanese adolescents reported the highest levels of body dissatisfaction despite possessing among the lowest body mass index (BMI) and also reported among the highest levels of media influence on their body image. Subsequent path analyses revealed that for Japanese adolescents cultural identification with modern Japanese values were associated with increased body dissatisfaction, and that this association was mediated by level of media influence. These results highlight the importance of cultural influences, as well as individual differences in cultural values, in shaping Japanese adolescents' body image.     

Are you ‘woman enough’ to control your leading cause of death?: an ethnographic content analysis of women’s cardiovascular disease and identities in media narratives

The Heart Truth^® campaign was implemented in the United States by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 2002 to increase women’s awareness of heart disease and encourage risk reduction of cardiovascular disease. The present study explored representations of women’s cardiovascular disease, the meanings generated, and the implications for identity construction within one prominent corporate media partner of the campaign. The inaugural 2003 October issue of Glamour magazine was the focus of an ethnographic content analysis. Women’s cardiovascular disease was constructed within an overarching theme of a culture of consumerism, with meanings of cardiovascular disease emerging within two subthemes: (a) the oblivious, unknowledgeable, dependent woman at risk and (b) attaining a particular version of a healthy, feminine woman. Women’s identities were constructed as dependent on experts, purchasing fashion and fitness merchandise, and heteronormative roles for health management. These findings extend health psychology research that has called for more critical explorations of media to extend understandings of disease meanings and the implications for identity and women’s health.     

Prevalence and Predictors of Background Television Among Infants and Toddlers from Low-Income Homes

TV use could be detrimental to children’s development because it may displace enriching activities like shared reading and caregiver-child interaction or disrupt children’s interactions with the adults in their lives by distracting both parties. Some prior research has shown that demographic factors (maternal education, siblings) and maternal mental health (depression risk and parenting stress) may predict household TV, but findings are mixed. Household TV is defined here as whether or how much the TV is on in the home. In the current study, we examine the following research questions: (a) what is the prevalence of household TV (i.e., whether or how much the TV is on) in the homes of infants and toddlers in a sample of families from low-income homes? and (b) do demographic characteristics (i.e., maternal education level and presence of siblings in the home), and maternal mental health (i.e., depression risk and parenting stress) predict household TV (i.e., whether or how much the TV is on)? Mothers (N = 220) reported on their household TV, education level, siblings in the home, depression risk, and parenting stress when children were four to seven months of age and again at 15–19 months of age. Results showed a high level of household TV, especially during infancy. Furthermore, education level, but not siblings, depression risk, or parenting stress, was related to household TV during infancy and toddlerhood. These findings are discussed in relation to prior research and the potential for informing future interventions or education efforts.     

社交媒体自我控制失败影响硕士生主观幸福感的心理机制

为探讨社交媒体自我控制失败、时间效能感和消极完美主义对硕士生主观幸福感的作用机制,采用问卷法对广东省408名硕士研究生进行施测。结果发现：（1）社交媒体自我控制失败显著负向预测主观幸福感;（2）时间效能感在社交媒体自控失败和主观幸福感间起部分中介作用;（3）消极完美主义在社交媒体自控失败和时间效能感的关系中起调节作用,具体表现为对于高消极完美主义者,社交媒体自控失败对时间效能感的负向影响更大。     

Do masks matter? Consumer perceptions of social media influencers who wear face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic

The rapid spread of COVID-19 brought about an increased use of face masks among the general public. Focusing on disposable surgical masks in particular, this article examines consumer perceptions of and intentions toward social media influencers who wear such masks amid the pandemic. Drawing on the theory of product symbolism, this research experimentally demonstrates that masked (vs. unmasked) influencers remind consumers of highly competent healthcare professionals, leading in turn to greater competence inferences about and more favorable behavioral intentions toward these influencers. Additional analysis demonstrates that this effect might not hold for other groups of professionals who are considered relatively competent at the outset and/or whose profession is less reliant on external cues. Overall, this research suggests that apart from curtailing the spread of the pandemic, mask wearing might prove beneficial to certain groups of professionals, such as social media influencers, who have traditionally struggled to establish credibility. In a broader context, this research establishes mask wearing as a new form of nonverbal communication that warrants further examination.     

社交媒体使用对执行功能的影响：有益还是有害?

社交媒体使用对执行功能的影响尚存争议, 这与社交媒体使用强度起到的调节作用有关。中等强度的社交媒体使用会产生社交媒体心流体验, 使注意集中于目标信息, 并为个体提供了持续不断的社会奖励和情感支持, 对执行功能有益, 但高、低强度社交媒体使用则会损害执行功能。今后该领域的研究应该探讨社交媒体使用影响执行功能的“剂量效应”以及社交媒体使用类型对执行功能的具体影响, 还应关注不同认知水平的个体, 以进一步明确社交媒体使用与执行功能发展的关系。