Does Watching Smoking in Movies Promote Teenage Smoking?

ABSTRACT— Compared to adolescents with low exposure to smoking in movies, those with high exposure are about three times as likely to try smoking or become smokers. We have observed this effect in nationally representative samples using cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. This effect remains statistically significant after controlling for numerous other traditional risk factors, such as personality, parenting style, and sociodemographics. Indeed, the movie-smoking exposure effect on adolescent smoking initiation is greatest among those traditionally considered at lower risk for smoking, such as those low in sensation seeking and those whose parents do not smoke. In this article, we consider possible moderators and mediators of this important media effect as well as health-policy implications. The take-home message is that eliminating smoking in movies may prevent a substantial number of adolescents from smoking.     

暴力电子游戏对攻击行为及相关变量的影响

文章综述了暴力电子游戏对攻击行为及相关变量影响的测量方法和实证研究结果,分析了这种影响的心理机制和特点,文章认为对这种心理机制的理论探讨经历了四个阶段,元分析表明暴力电子游戏增加了游戏者的攻击行为、攻击认知、攻击情感、生理唤醒,最后文章指出以往研究中存在的问题和未来可能的发展方向     

Childhood obesity stigma: association with television, videogame, and magazine exposure

Although the stigmatization of obesity among children is highly prevalent, its origins and relationship to mass media exposure are largely unknown. Ninety boys and 171 girls aged 10–13 years (mean BMI = 19.84) were asked to rank, in order of liking, 12 figures of peers depicted both with and without various disabilities or obesity, and to rate their attitudes towards the obese child on visual analogue scales. Weekly time spent watching television, watching videogames, and reading magazines on weekdays and weekends was assessed. Total media use, magazine use, and videogame use were significantly correlated with more negative reactions to obese girls and boys. Regression analyses revealed that greater dislike of obese children relative to their non-overweight peers was uniquely predicted by magazine reading time. Thus, media exposure was associated with stigmatizing attitudes towards obese children. Mass media sources may lead children to devalue and stigmatize peers with above-average body weights.     

改革开放以来我国媒介伦理的研究及其反思

改革开放以来,随着传播学研究的深入开展,媒介伦理学的研究也取得了相当的成就。学者们重点研究了传媒伦理的基本理论、实践中的问题与冲突、以及提高传媒伦理建设水平的措施等问题,也有少数学者就媒介伦理的功能、媒介伦理与和谐社会建构、媒介伦理的研究历史作了尝试性的探讨。但也应该看到较之医学伦理等其他分支伦理学的研究,媒介伦理学的研究依然处于起步阶段,还存在诸多的研究空白。     

Measuring Tactical Innovation in Terrorist Attacks

Terrorism provides a unique context for examining innovation, as the generation of novel, effective, and complex ideas are essential for survival in destructive and malevolent groups. Despite this, innovation remains an underdeveloped concept in terrorism research, at least from the creativity scholars. One reason for this is the limited empirical data about this phenomenon, making it unclear which tenets of creativity research hold versus which do not translate in the domain of terrorism. This two-part study explores this rich domain by examining the dimensions of innovation in a robust sample of terrorist attacks. Findings indicated that three dimensions of innovation (i.e., novelty, relevance, and elegance) emerged from the attack data and that these dimensions were related to different attack characteristics. This article expands our understanding of terrorist innovation by drawing from established theory and methods from creativity research and highlights their manifestations in this understudied domain.     

Creating a qualitative typology of electric vehicle driving: EV journey-making mapped in a chronological framework

‘Range anxiety’ is considered a barrier to market acceptance of electric vehicles (EVs), but perceptions of inadequate recharging infrastructure and limited battery range may be part of a more complex set of consumer concerns; experiences and practices of existing EV drivers – with reference to wider transport and energy systems – need to be understood in greater detail. Qualitative material from semi-structured interviews [n = 88] is used to formulate a chronological Typology of Electric Vehicle Driving which synthesises drivers’ decisions, actions and dynamic considerations before, during and after a journey. The typology outlines and tabulates spatio-temporal elements specific to driving an EV; describes adaptations and compromises in household routines and travel habits; draws out how or when drivers engage with external digital information sources – i.e. smartphone apps, social media – during journey-making; plots their intervention in behavioural changes; and could inform development of infrastructure, tools or services, policy or interventions to support EV uptake.     

游戏暴力合理性对攻击性的影响:一个有中介的调节模型

本研究基于道德推脱和道德自我调节理论,以62名大学生为被试,通过实验探讨了游戏暴力合理性对个体攻击性的影响,并考察了内疚感的中介作用以及游戏经验的调节作用。结果表明：游戏经验调节了游戏暴力合理性对内疚感和攻击性的影响。对无经验的被试来说,不合理暴力条件下的内疚感显著高于合理暴力条件,攻击性显著低于合理暴力条件;而对有经验的被试来说,合理与不合理暴力条件下的内疚感和攻击性均无显著差异。同时,研究还发现了有中介的调节作用模型,内疚感在暴力合理性对攻击性的影响中发挥中介作用,而游戏经验是有中介的调节变量。     

Trusting the Media? TV News as a Source of Knowledge

Abstract

Why do we trust TV news? What reasons might support a recipient’s assessment of the trustworthiness of this kind of information? This paper presents a veritistic analysis of the epistemic practice of news production and communication. The topic is approached by discussing a detailed case study, namely the characteristics of the most popular German news programme, called the ‘Tagesschau’. It will be shown that a veritistic analysis can indeed provide a recipient with relevant reasons to consider when pondering on the trustworthiness of sources of information. Moreover, it will turn out that these reasons are part of what recipients might gather from media literacy.     

Prevalence of Types of Perpetration: Gender and Patterns of Intimate Partner Violence Within a Prison Sample in Singapore

It has been reported in Western research on intimate partner violence (IPV) that there are similar rates between males and females (Filbert, 2010). The objective of this study was to compare male and female prisoners from Singapore on rates of IPV as well as the Johnson (2006) types of IPV. Women (n = 75) self-reported higher rates of physical IPV perpetration in the past year (64.0%) than (n = 75) did men (46.1%). Women reported similar rates of IPV for themselves and their partners in the past year (64.0%), while men reported slightly more physical IPV for themselves (46.1%) than they did for their female partners (41.3%). In line with Johnson (2006), rates of intimate terrorism were calculated between 5% and 7% for themselves and their partners, with little variation due to gender. Violent resistance (VR) was calculated at between 2.1% and 7%, with more female than male VR reported for women. Much higher rates of situational couple violence was calculated for both males and females, ranging from 53.3% to 66.7% in the past year, while mutual violent control was significantly lower, ranging from between 14.8% to 20.0%, with data being discussed in relation to patriarchal and family violence perspectives. We concluded that the rates of IPV between males and females were very similar as were the types of IPV. Further research with other cultures should be encouraged for comparison with Western samples.     

Holy piracy: Kopimism,the sacralisation of information,and the legitimating power of religion

Kopimism is a new religious movement predicated on, and revolving around, the assertion and belief that information is inherently sacred and needs to be copied and shared. Adherents to this Swedish-born religious movement have persisted in small pockets of devout communities around the world for almost a decade. This paper outlines a rudimentary and general sketch of the Kopimist worldview, its basic aims and its place within the contemporary religious landscape. In the latter part of this analysis, particular attention is given to the movement’s claim that it is not simply a sacralisation of political ideals – pirate politics, in particular – but that it maintains a distinct worldview and ethical system based on the notion that information – the foundation of everything – is itself divine. ‘Religion’ as a legitimating categorical force and the sociocultural conditions that engender new religious movements are also considered alongside the movement’s history and development.