Communicating Science, Health, Environment, and Risk 2019 Abstracts
Exploring attitudes and perceptions of young adults towards e-cigarette exposure in social media • Jordan Alpert; Huan Chen, University of Florida; Kelsy-Ann Adams • Electronic devices that deliver nicotine, e-cigarettes (e-cigs), can be addictive and dangerous. Young adults have the highest prevalence of e-cig usage and are among the most frequent users of social media. Although the FDA has recently imposed restrictions on the promotion of flavors and messages that claim e-cigs are healthier than cigarettes, there are no regulations in the social media space. Our objective was to understand how exposure to e-cigs on social media might influence attitudes and perceptions towards e-cigs among young adults. Thirty-one 18-24 year olds participated in four focus groups in which they responded to examples of social media posts about e-cigs. A thematic analysis was conducted, which revealed three primary themes: 1) social media normalizes e-cigs, in which young adults stated that they are frequently exposed to e-cig content on social media through news organizations and interpersonal relationships; 2) visual appeals are influential, including how depictions of aspirational lifestyles and appealing flavor associations enticed participants; 3) constantly seeing e-cig related messages on social media may encourage trial. The promotion of e-cigs within social media platforms should be closely monitored, to prevent the current epidemic from reaching even larger proportions.
Repeat After Me, This Pill Will Make You Smarter: Exploring the Truth Effect in Websites Promoting Herbal Supplements • Nicholas Boehm; Gayathri Sivakumar • This study examined if repeated exposure to websites promoting herbal supplements increased the perceived truth of health claims as well as beliefs in the efficacy of herbal supplements. Participants saw websites and rated the truth of health claims associated with the websites and beliefs in herbal supplements. Increased exposure to websites led to a truth effect and an increase in beliefs. Findings call for a closer look into the advertising practices of the supplement industry.
Liking and Physical Attraction offer Promising Pathways to Policy Persuasion despite Potentially Negative Narrative Influence • Julie Cannon, Cornell University • Extant research indicates that narrative messages can be effective across many contexts, but there are boundaries left to explore. When promoting policy to help groups that experience social hostility, like people with obesity, the message source and point-of-view may be particularly salient. The present study tested the influence of point-of-view and source body type on obesity-related policy support and anti-fat attitudes among women in the United States. A pre-test, ten days prior to exposure, provided covariate data on baseline policy support, attitudes toward and experience with weight and income, as well as demographics and political party. The women viewed a social media post with either an obese or not obese profile image, and either a first-person narrative, second-person narrative, or informational post content. Then participants completed a questionnaire included liking, physical attractions, identification, reactance, anti-fat attitudes, and policy support. Findings indicate that second-person narratives from obese sources negatively impact support, whereas narrative point-of-view does not significantly influence policy support when the source is not obese. This experiment also explored the reactance pathway predicted by the entertainment overcoming resistance model (Moyer-Gusé, 2008). The informational condition predicted higher liking, which in turn predicted less reactance. Obese source condition was associated with higher liking, a pleasant departure from most of the literature. The obese source condition predicts lower physical attraction, which in turn predicts reactance. However, source body type does not predict reactance independent of this mechanism suggesting promoting attraction might make representation and parasocial contact more effective and less prone to reactance.
Advancing the EPPM through Inclusion of Social Threat for Smoking Cessation Promotion • Minyi Chen; Liang Chen • This study explored effective strategies to promote Chinese smokers’ cessation intention using the EPPM. Specifically, this study developed the EPPM with social threat to examine the effectiveness of different types of fear appeal messages on behavioral intention. Results revealed that there were significant main effects of individual threat, social threat and efficacy on the cessation intention. Moreover, the significant interaction effect between social threat and efficacy was detected.
Coping with Mental Health Issues via Communicative Action in the Digital Age: Testing the Cybercoping Model with Anxiety and Depression Issues • Myounggi Chon; Stephanie Lambert • This study aimed to examine the effects of individuals’ communicative actions on their affective and physical coping outcomes by using the cybercoping model. This study applied the cybercoping model into anxiety and depression issues. The finding of this research revealed that information seeking was strongly associated with affective coping and physical coping outcomes, whereas information forwarding was not associated with coping outcomes. Two coping processes exist simultaneously and fully mediate between information seeking and cybercoping outcomes.
Desirable or feasible? How psychological distance influences climate change engagement • Haoran Chu; Janet Yang • Based on construal level theory, we propose that psychological distance influences the effect of risk and efficacy framing in promoting climate change engagement. Results from an experimental survey based on a nationally representative sample (N = 1,282) indicate that at closer spatial distance, perceived efficacy boosted by efficacy information increased intention to perform climate mitigation behaviors. In contrast, at farther distance, risk information increased behavioral intention through heightened risk perception of climate change.
Effects of Reported Hurricane Behaviors and Outcomes on Efficacy, Threat Perceptions and Future Evacuation Behavior • Moritz Cleve, University of Florida, Gainseville Florida; Zhaoying Li • In an experimental setting, evacuation behavior and outcomes affected efficacy beliefs to evacuate or stay home, as well as threat perceptions, and intentions to evacuate during a hypothetical hurricane. Regression and parallel mediation models were proposed, and their implications to include efficacy beliefs about the non-recommended response in the EPPM (Witte, 1992) and risk communications, as well as new measures of prior hurricane experience are discussed.
How Narrative Engagement with Young Adult Literature Influences Perceptions of Anorexia Nervosa • Meredith Collins, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Allison Lazard, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Narratives have been shown to alter health beliefs through a process called narrative engagement; however, this process has yet to be empirically investigated for how increasingly popular young adult (YA) illness literature impact health beliefs among emerging adults. Using an experimental design, we found that YA illness literature fosters narrative engagement, which leads to more endorsement of prosocial beliefs articulated in the narrative compared to an informational brochure. The narrative was more relevant when a “supportive peer” main character was featured, as opposed to a main character experiencing the illness herself. Results suggest narratives may be viable tools to educate individuals serving in an illness support role.
The Impact of Source Credibility and Topic Relevance on Audience Responses to Health Podcasts • Ciera Dockter, University of Missouri; Sungkyoung Lee • “Podcasting is an increasingly popular medium for communicating health information, but little research has examined how podcast message characteristics influence listeners’ processing of the content. This experiment (N = 113) examined how information source and topic relevance can affect source credibility, perceived message effectiveness, health behavioral intentions, and podcast download intentions. Results showed relevant topics and credible sources (expert and experienced) improved information processing, which, in turn, increased health behavioral intentions and podcast download intentions.
Keywords: health behavioral intentions, health communication, information processing, podcasting, source credibility”
The 21st Birthday, 2.0: Exploring the Role of Social Media, Relationships, and Online Image Maintenance within a College Binge Drinking Ritual • Nathan Gilkerson, Marquette University; Joyce Wolburg, Marquette University; Katelyn Mills-Erickson, Marquette University • This qualitative study utilized in-depth interviews with college student binge drinkers, to explore aspects of the 21st birthday as a highly anticipated and often high-risk drinking occasion. The research examined perceptions of what comprises a typical 21st birthday experience, while also revealing complex dynamics related to social relationship, self-portrayals of drinking behavior on social media, and a perceived need to live up to expectations and use the event as an opportunity for online image maintenance.
A Picture of Health: How News Stories’ Terminology Correlates with Mental Illness Stigma • Emily Goldstein, University of Texas • “‘A very sick man … a very demented person’” (Johnson & Parker, 2017, para. 2). “Mentally disturbed” (Trump, 2018). These are the words — said to news reporters and written on Twitter — that the president of the United States used to describe mass shooters in Las Vegas and in Parkland, Florida, respectively. Wahl (1999) found that despite evidence to the contrary, “dangerousness is a key element of public beliefs about mental illness” (p. 14). With more than 44 million adults in America experiencing mental illness — and more than half of them going without treatment (Mental Health America, 2018b) — it is important to research how the media can frame news stories about mental health in a more precise, less stigmatizing manner. This content analysis (N = 158) shows that journalists’ use of the phrase “mental illness” correlates positively with stigmatizing frames in stories about mental disorders. It also corroborates findings associating news values such as conflict and timeliness with a skewed portrayal of mental disorders by showing a positive relationship between articles categorized as news (rather than business, sports, lifestyle, etc.) and use of stigmatizing frames. This calls for journalists to examine their practices and priorities regarding coverage of mental disorders. This research works toward balanced, accurate, and thoughtful news coverage of mental disorders.
Tweeting the #flushot: Beliefs, barriers, and perceived threat at different points of the flu season • Jeanine Guidry, Virginia Commonwealth University; Ioana Coman, Texas Tech University; Lucinda Austin, School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Nicole O’Donnell, Virginia Commonwealth University; Alessandro Lovari, Università degli studi di Cagliari; Marcus Messner, Virginia Commonwealth University • Influenza epidemics happen every year, and the World Health Organization estimates that the virus contributes to between 290,000 – 650,000 annual deaths. The most effective way to prevent seasonal influenza is vaccination. In recent years, misinformation regarding vaccines abounds on social media, but the flu vaccine is relatively understudied in this area, and the current study is the first one to explore the content and nature of influenza information that is shared on Twitter, comparing tweets published in the early flu season with those posted in peak flu season. Using a quantitative content analysis, 1,000 tweets from both parts of the flu season were analyzed for use of Health Belief Model (HBM) variables, engagement, and flu vaccine specific variables. Findings show promising opportunities for health organizations and professionals: HBM constructs were present more frequently than in previous, related studies, and fewer vaccine-hesitant tweets appear to be present.
Constructing and Influencing Perceived Authenticity in Science Communication: Experimenting with Narrative • Lise Saffran, University of Missouri, School of Health Professions; Sisi Hu, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Amanda Hinnant, University of Missouri, School of Journalism; Susan Nagel, University of Missouri, School of Medicine; Laura Scherer, University of Colorado Denver • This study develops a measure of perceived authenticity in science communication and then explores communication strategies to improve the perceived authenticity of a scientific message. The findings are consistent with literature around trust and credibility, but indicate that authenticity—the perception that the scientist is a unique individual with qualities beyond institutional affiliations or a role in the production of the research—may add a potentially important dimension to accepted categories of integrity and benevolence.
Why Do Users Stick with Fitness Mobile Apps? Linking Technological Functions with Continuance Usage Intention among Chinese Users • Guanxiong Huang, City University of Hong Kong; Yuchen Ren • To understand how to increase user retention rates of fitness mobile apps in China, the present study draws from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and investigates the role of exercise self-efficacy along with the original TAM constructs in predicting current users’ intention to continue using the apps. Moreover, this study extends TAM from a human-technology interaction perspective by elucidating the antecedents of perceived usefulness in terms of specific functions of fitness apps.
Smartphone Addiction on Bullying in Schools in Early Adolescence in South Korea • Jaeyop Kim, dept. of social welfare of Yonsei university; Daeyeon Jang, Graduate school of social welfare in Yonsei university; Sookyung Park; Namkee Park; Yujin Lee • Background: Smartphone addiction(SA) is one of most serious problems for affecting bullying in schools(BS) among early adolescence that has been largely overlooked in research attention. Studies on smartphone addiction and bullying in schools indicate aggression as a mediator and parent attachment as a moderator. Smartphone addiction may affect Bullying in schools (in)directly through the mediator. And parent attachment may moderate between smartphone addiction and aggression. Methods: A sample of early adolescents (N=1,292) completed an offline survey, consisting of modified version of Internet Addiction Test, revised version of the Conflict tactics scales, revised version(K-YSR) of the Youth self-report, the scale of Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA). Frequency, bivariate correlation, and mediated moderation analyses were conducted to assess the effects of smartphone addiction on bullying in schools, mediated via aggression and moderated via parent attachment. Results: SA, aggression and BS were positively related to each other in bivariate analyses. In mediated moderation analyses, SA was found to be a significant predictor of higher levels of aggression, which, in turn, were associated with greater BS, and parent attachment moderates between SA and aggression. Limitations: Study limitations included the use of cross-sectional data with the use of retrospective self-report. Conclusion: SA was positively related to BS, aggression mediated the effect of SA on BS, and parent attachment moderated the effect of SA on aggression. Findings suggest that reducing smartphone addiction and clinical intervention for aggression should be focused upon, and implemented for bullying prevention in the early adolescence context.
E-cigarette Communication on College Websites: The Risk, Campus Policy, and Cessation Support • Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina; Joon Kyoung Kim, University of South Carolina • We analyzed websites of 118, four-year public/private universities that adopted a policy to prohibit e-cigarette use on campus. We aim to provide an overview of colleges and universities’ current practices to communicate e-cigarette issues in terms of the risk, campus policy, and cessation support. Our results indicate that there is a lack of risk information on college websites. Health and other risks involved in e-cigarette use, which are proven to affect young adults were rarely or never mentioned. More than 20% of our sample colleges did not specify e-cigarettes as a tobacco product prohibited on campus, and more than 10% of colleges labeled their policy as “smoke-free” even though these schools adopted a vape-free policy. While the majority of colleges were promoting the health benefit, and other financial and professional benefits of tobacco-free policy were rarely mentioned. Less than half of colleges appeared to provide a resource supporting campus member to quit tobacco use. No website mentioned on-campus access to nicotine replacement therapy and a program assisting former e-cigarette users or helping those who wish to quit e-cigarettes. Our findings suggest the need for colleges to better inform the risk, policy, and cessation support related with e-cigarettes for successful adoption of complete tobacco-free policies on their campus.
Fighting the tide: How U.S. health organizations use Twitter to address the opioid crisis • Hyoyeun Jun, University of Georgia; YOUNGJI SEO; Andrea Briscoe; Charan Ramachandran, University of Georgia; Bartosz Wojdynski, University of Georgia • This content analysis evaluated tweets about the opioid epidemic published in 2018 by U.S. federal and state health organizations to find out what components of both textual and visual of tweets can achieve the most effective communication for opioid epidemic including text characteristics, perceived discrete emotion and visual components of images. This study found out that compared to fear, inducing sadness and hope can be more effective in motivating more public engagement.
Coping Strategies for Postpartum Depression in an Online Community for Korean Mothers • Hyang-Sook Kim, Towson University; Mun-Young Chung, Bloomsburg University; Eun Soo Rhee, Towson University; Youjeong Kim, New York Institute of Technology • The proliferation of online health communities creates opportunities to exchange social support. Given the growing need to investigate the ways and extent to which social support helps mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) and psychological distress, we examined the exchange of coping strategies in an online community for PPD among Korean mothers. Based on the dual social support model, we focused on how users sought and provided social support as well as the content of that support (i.e., problem-focused or emotion-focused coping strategies). Through a content analysis of 3,073 posts, including both original posts and replies, from a PPD-related message board in a prominent online community for Korean mothers, we discovered a tendency to provide rather than seek support, indicating strong reciprocity in the community. However, emotion-focused coping strategies were overwhelmingly more prevalent than problem-focused coping strategies, indicating how Korean mothers perceived and used the online community. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Who Is Responsible for Campus Sexual Assaults? Attributions of Responsibility and College Students’ Perceived Risk and Willingness to Engage in Preventive Behaviors • Sei-Hill Kim, University of South Carolina; Soobum Lee, Incheon National University; Jungmi Jun, University of South Carolina • Analyzing data from an online survey of college students in the US, this study examines whether the way students attribute responsibility is associated with their perceived risk of campus sexual assaults and willingness to engage in preventive behaviors. We found that attributing responsibility to victims was correlated with a reduced level of perceived risk, while finding attackers or colleges largely responsible was related with perceiving a greater risk. Attributions of responsibility were also associated, in one way or another, with students’ willingness to help victims, take protective measures, and seek information, suggesting that who they blame primarily for the crime can affect not only their risk perception but also their willingness to engage in a variety of preventive behaviors. Finally, we found that that students’ gender could moderate the relationships between responsibility attributions, risk perceptions, and preventive behaviors. By assessing the role of responsibility attribution in understanding the issue of campus sexual assault, our study can add a new and likely helpful discovery regarding the dynamics of risk perceptions and preventive behaviors.
Food science decision: Scientific consensus, perceived health benefits, and healthy eating interest on making decisions • Jiyoun Kim, University of Maryland; Sumin Fang, University of Maryland • This study explores the effects of food science perception on food decisions in the controversial case of genetically modified (GM) foods. We examine (1) how scientific consensus and scientific deference affect the perceived health effects of GM foods; and (2) how perception and healthy eating interest influence people’s actual food decisions. We divided our samples into four segments with different perceptions of foods science: tradeoff, relaxed, skeptical, and uninterested in the process of data analysis.
Moderating Roles of Self-Construal, Risk Perception, and Direct Experience in the Theory of Planned Behavior • Hye Kyung Kim, Nanyang Technological University; Yungwook Kim • In the context of particulate air pollution in South Korea, this study examined moderators within the theory of planned behavior based on a survey of 1,245 South Koreans. For those who construe the self as independent and perceive higher risk, perceived behavioral control becomes a more important determinant for protective intentions. For those who were impacted by the risk, perceived behavioral control exerts less influence on forming behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Public’s Responses to High Rate of Suicides among Native American Youths: The Roles of Attributions and Exemplification • Soojung Kim, University of North Dakota; Jenna Peneueta-Snyder, University of North Dakota • As an attempt to address the high rate of suicides among Native American youths, this study tested the effects of video public service announcements (PSAs) promoting support for them. Guided by the attribution and exemplification theories, this study found that external message attributions led audience’s external attributions, societal responsibility judgments, and helping behaviors, and that this linear path model fit well with data when PSAs included exemplars only. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Overcoming the Fear of Death: Applying Terror Management Theory in An Organ Donation Campaign • Sining Kong, Ms. • Drawing on interdisciplinary insights from terror management theory (TMT), this study examined how death defense mechanism (worldview value) reduces fear of death caused by organ donation campaign and changes people’s perceptions and behavioral intentions of organ donation. A 2 (worldview: enhanced worldview vs. non-enhanced worldview) X 2 (mortality salient condition vs. control) online experiment (N=487) was conducted. Results showed that when people were exposed to an organ donation campaign, increased worldview value generated higher level of trust of organ donation medical system than non-worldview increased condition. When people were not exposed to an organ donation campaign, increased world value enhanced people’s intention of promoting organ donation related information than non-worldview increased condition. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed in this paper.
Effects of Message Presentation Type on GM food Risk Perception, Similarity Judgement, and Attitude • Namyeon Lee, University of Missouri; Ciera Dockter, University of Missouri; Sungkyoung Lee • Media play an important role in communicating scientific and health-related information, in turn, influencing audience risk perception. This study examined how message presentation types—text only, addition of photographs, or addition of infographics—can affect risk perception and attitude towards GM foods. Audience characteristics were treated as moderators. Results showed infographics lowered risk perception and led individuals to perceive GM and non-GM foods more similarly in their safety on allergy, genetic changes, and organ toxicity.
Reassessing the Variables Used to Measure Public Perceptions of Scientists • John Besley; Nicole Lee, North Carolina State University; Geah Pressgrove • Both academics and science communication practitioners have long been interested in the public’s perceptions of scientists and the impacts of those perceptions. Despite this interest, perceptual variables (e.g., trustworthiness, credibility, and fairness) are inconsistently conceptualized and operationalized within the literature. Through an examination of existing scales, feedback from science communication scholars, and a national survey (N = 605), this study suggests four distinct dimensions underlying perceptual measures. We label these competence, integrity, benevolence, and openness.
Effects of Intergroup Comparison and Online Comments on the Promotion of Bone Marrow Donation for African Americans: The Mediating Role of Discrete Emotions and the Moderating Role of Group Identification • Roselyn Lee-Won, The Ohio State University; Sung Gwan Park, Seoul National University • We conducted an online experiment to investigate the effects of intergroup comparison and online reader comments on the mobilization of intragroup support in the context of bone marrow donation for African Americans, considering the role of group identification and discrete emotions. Results showed that intergroup comparison led to greater behavioral intentions to join a bone marrow registry in the presence of supportive reader comments through elicitation of hope particularly among those low in group identification.
To disclose or not? Understanding employees’ uncertainty and behavior regarding health disclosure in the workplace: A modified socio-ecological approach • Jo-Yun Li, University of Miami; Yeunjae Lee • Employees’ health disclosure may facilitate organizations’ effective workplace health programs and policy design and implementation. Given the complexity of the decision-making process of health disclosure, the present study seeks to understand employees’ health disclosure behavior from an interdisciplinary perspective. We incorporated the socio-ecological model of disclosure (SEM) from the health communication field, uncertainty reduction theory (URT) from the interpersonal communication discipline, and some organizational relationship concepts from the public relations area. Guided by the above theoretical frameworks, a survey of 409 full-time employees at a company/organization with more than 300 employees found that individual (perceived risks and benefits), interpersonal (bonding and bridging ties), and organizational-level factors (negative norms and organizational culture) were significantly associated with employees’ perceived uncertainty—a perquisite variable that predominates individuals’ decision-making process. In addition, engaging in different communication behaviors will help employees reduce uncertainty about health disclosure in the workplace. The findings contribute to the existing literature by expanding possible range of programs to encourage workplace health disclosure and imploring health communicators and organizations to implement interventions targeting multiple levels of the SEM framework to reduce employees’ perceived uncertainty, which in turn may facilitate their disclosure decision-making process.
Effects of Self-Persuasion and Referencing on Attitudes Towards Smoking: A Cross-Cultural Examination • Xuan Jim Liu; Charmaine Lee Jia Le; Muhammad Syafiq Bin Muhammad Shahiddin; Kai Xing Lim • This study investigates the effectiveness of self-persuasion and referencing in reducing smokers’ favourable attitudes towards smoking. The study adopted a 2 (persuasion: self-persuasion vs direct persuasion) by 2 (referencing: self-referencing vs other-referencing) between-subjects experimental study design. This is conducted across two cultural contexts to examine the role culture may play on message persuasiveness. Smokers were recruited from both collectivistic and individualistic societies, Singapore (SG, N=161) and America (US, N=163) respectively. While self-persuasion led to more counterattitudinal thoughts, its effects on smoking attitudes was not significant. Self-referencing was found to induce less favourable attitudes towards smoking than other-referencing, mediated by reactance. Results also found an interaction between Self-Persuasion x Referencing. Under self-persuasion, participants exhibited less favourable attitudes towards smoking in self-referencing than other-referencing. An interaction was also found for Self-Persuasion x Cultural Orientation. Self-persuasion worked better in US than SG, although this did not reach significance. Two-way interaction between Referencing x Cultural Orientation was insignificant. Study findings provide initial direction for anti-smoking campaigns and potentially other resistive behaviours. Future research can replicate this study in different health contexts and populations to increase generalisability of results.
Pro-Environmental Behavior Predicted by Media Exposure, SNS Involvement, and Cognitive and Normative Factors • YIMING LIU, City University of Hong Kong; Xigen Li, Shanghai University; City University of Hong Kong • This study investigates the effect of mass media exposure and social networking sites (SNS) involvement on environmental concern and perceived personal responsibility for environment and the consequent behaviors. Based on the norm activation theory and the theory of planned behavior, a model was built to investigate the mediator and moderator between the environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. The results show that mass media exposure to environmental-related messages positively predicts environmental concern and perceived personal responsibility, while SNS involvement shows a negative effect on environmental concern and insignificant influence on perceived personal responsibility. For behavior prediction, perceived personal responsibility mediates the relationship between environmental concern and pro-environmental behavior. Subjective norm is found to weaken the effect of environmental concern on both behavior intention and self-reported behavior. Self-efficacy and collective efficacy do not moderate the effect of environmental concern on behavior intention, while collective efficacy weakly moderates the effect on self-reported behavior.
Acquisition and Processing of Health Enhancement Advice and Behavioral Outcomes • Yang LIU, School of Communication and Design, Sun Yat-Sen University; Xigen Li, Shanghai University; City University of Hong Kong • The study explores how people acquire and process health enhancement information and the underlying mechanism of their effects on consequent behavioral outcomes. Need for cognition and media belief significantly predict information acquisition and processing. The effect of information processing on behavioral outcomes is mediated by perceived efficacy and health consciousness. Information sufficiency mediates the effect of information acquisition on perceived efficacy. Health consciousness mediates the effect of perceived efficacy on behavioral outcomes.
“Why would I choose to live less?”: Millennial cancer clinical trial message frame preference • Brandon Nutting, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Monique Luisi, Missouri School of Journalism • This study assessed a millennial age cohort’s preference of cancer clinical trials message frames, comparing the preferences to a baseline group. Four types of message frames (altruistic gain, altruistic loss, individualistic gain, and individualistic loss), were tested among participants (n = 435). The millennial cohort preferred the individualistic loss cancer clinical trial message frames. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between message frame preference and age. The results of this study, along with their implications for recruiting millennials to participate in cancer clinical trials and reducing the cancer burden, are also addressed.
Uncertainty Salience in Prospect Theory: Assessing the Persuasive Effect of Goal Framing and Response Efficacy on the Elderly’s Influenza Vaccination Decisions • Meiyin Luo • Suboptimal influenza vaccination increases pandemic risks and adds burdens to public healthcare systems. Applications of goal framing to the vaccine advocacy have captured mixed findings and brought challenges to its rationale – prospect theory. Given debates on the concept explications of risk in the framing literature, the notion of vaccine risk has been further refined from a novel perspective. This research examined how goal framing and response-efficacy salience interacted to yield optimal persuasiveness in influenza vaccine messages. A 2 (goal framing) × 3 (salience of response-efficacy difference) between-factorial experiment was conducted in Singapore. Results showed that weak persuasiveness of framing could be optimized when introducing the difference of response-efficacy. Theoretically, this research improves the applicability of prospect theory in the health persuasion by redefining vaccine risks as the salience of efficacy difference between action and inaction. Practically, for Singapore government and public healthcare industry, present findings shed light on the alternative message designs to promote influenza vaccine engagement in the senior population.
Does Bringing Climate Change Closer Work? Examining the Impact of Proximizing Climate Change on Risk Perception • Kate Luong, The Ohio State University • The current study examined the impact of portraying climate change impacts as proximal vs. distal on environmental behavioral intention and policy support, mediated via risk perception. Competing hypotheses were derived from construal level theory and self-affirmation theory and tested in an online experiment. The results showed that proximizing climate change actually decreased risk perception and environmental outcomes for people who held more negative attitude towards climate change mitigation, providing support for self-affirmation theory’s predictions. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.
Role of Self-Affirmation Order and Narrative Perspective in a Narrative-Based Self-Affirmation Message • Zexin “Marsha” Ma, Oakland University; Xuan Zhu • This study investigates (1) the relative effectiveness of integrated pre-message self-affirmation (SA) and post-message SA manipulations and (2) the persuasiveness of first-person and second-person perspective in narrative-based self-affirmation messages. Two parallel studies were conducted, with one focusing on e-cigarette prevention (N = 80) and the other on nutrition promotion (N = 242). Results from both data sets demonstrated that SA order did not significantly affect defensiveness nor persuasiveness. In the nutrition context, narrative perspective had a significant impact, such that the second-person (vs. first-person) perspective narrative led to higher levels of identification and self-efficacy. This effect was further strengthened in the pre-message SA conditions. Specifically, when the integrated SA manipulation was introduced before the health risk information, second-person (vs. first-person) perspective was more effective at improving identification and self-appraisal in the nutrition context, and at reducing defensiveness and promoting persuasion in the e-cigarette context. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Gun violence as a public health issue: Where do we go from here in terms of media advocacy? • Brooke McKeever; Minhee Choi, University of South Carolina; Denetra Walker; Robert McKeever, University of South Carolina • Recently there has been a push to reframe gun violence as a public health issue. An online survey (N=510) helped study media advocacy, frame salience, and frame adoption. Findings revealed gun control and gun rights are salient, and television and social media are popular sources of gun violence information. Individuals are being held responsible, the NRA is the most recognized organization, and background checks were the most prominent solution. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The silencing effect of balanced comments • Jessica McKnight, The Ohio State University; Graham Dixon, Ohio State University • In an experiment, we assessed the silencing effects of online comments for a topic rife with scientific misinformation – the autism-vaccine controversy. Exposure to comments representing both sides of the controversy produced silencing effects, but only for individuals whose views align with the scientific community. Instead of affecting one’s perceived opinion climate, “falsely balanced” comment sections might signal the likelihood of uncivil debate in face-to-face contexts, which people holding dominant views may want to avoid.
Social Capital, Stakeholder Perceptions, and Environmental Policy Support: Focusing on Carbon Capture and Storage in Texas • Won-Ki Moon, University of Texas at Austin; Lee Ann Kahlor; Hilary Olson • As new technologies emerge, the governmental organizations developing these technologies are tasked with communicating with the public important information about the benefits these technologies can bring to society, and the risks that may accompany those benefits. The hope is that such public relations efforts will facilitate a balanced understanding of the attendant risks and benefits of a given technology so that people can form opinions as to whether they support the technology’s continued development (or not). In some contexts, the emerging technology is of particular relevance to a specific community, and thus support for the technology is likely to be impacted by social-level variables as well as individual perceptions and attitudes. The current study focuses on public support for one specific emerging technology, carbon capture and storage (CCS), in an area of the U.S. where such technology is likely to have the biggest impact, the oil and gas industry-reliant communities of southeast Texas. Specifically, this study explores relationships between CCS policy support and several stakeholder-focused variables – social capital, risk/benefit perceptions, and perceptions about CCS stakeholders. The results suggest important relationships between perceived risks and benefits, community-focused perceptions (social capital), perceptions about stakeholders (trust in stakeholders and expected role of stakeholders in CCS policy making), and CCS policy support – both individual support and perceived community-level support. Implications for public relations practice are discussed.
Untangling the Contribution of Training on Scientists’ Willingness to Participate in Public Engagement: A Test of Parallel Multiple Mediation • Jacob Copple, University of Texas at Austin; Nichole Bennett; Won-Ki Moon, University of Texas at Austin; Anthony Dudo; Todd Newman; Nicole Leavey; Laura Lindenfeld, Stony Brook University; Chris Volpe, ScienceCounts • This paper investigates the impact communication training has on engagement intentions through a parallel multiple mediation model. Theory of Planned Behavior variables for internal efficacy, response efficacy, and attitudes are examined as potential mediators. Based on a survey of randomly selected scientists from universities in the Association of American Universities (AAU), results indicate indirect effects for internal efficacy and attitude. This research represents a first step into understanding communication training’s role in scientists’ public engagement.
Predictors of HPV Awareness: Data from Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) • Yuanfeixue Nan • Aiming to clarify the public’s awareness of and knowledge about HPV and HPV vaccine in the U.S., as well as the possible factors that contribute to HPV awareness, a secondary data analysis was conducted using national data from National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s HINTS 5 Cycle 1. The results indicated that there is no progress in raising the awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine in past 4 years. Further efforts need be made in order to reach the remainings. Adults who are relatively younger, with higher education level and economic status were more likely to be aware of HPV and HPV vaccine. Females had higher awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine comparing to males. Adults who lived in northeast of U.S. were more aware of HPV than those in midwest. Non-Hispanic White are much more aware of HPV vaccine than other races, while the non-Hispanic Asian is the ethnic group with least awareness of both HPV and HPV vaccine. Cancer history and electronic health information seeking behavior also could explain part of the disparities of HPV awareness.
Difficult Conversations and Para-Social Relationships in Medical Shows: Analysis of Real-Time Tweets from Viewers of New Amsterdam Medical Drama • James Ndone, University of Missouri • Television medical dramas have been a subject of research among health communication researchers. These television dramas influence health behavior of the viewers. The purpose of this media analysis study was to analyze live-tweets for four consecutive weeks related to New Amsterdam, a television medical drama looking at how audiences perceive and respond to the difficult conversations they see on the drama by tweeting about the show. Thus, the study positions television medium as a powerful way to normalize and generate social dialogue on difficult medical topics. In addition, the study sought to explore how audiences build para-social relationships and identify with the characters portrayed in the show by live-tweeting when the show is airing. The researcher collected 21,457 tweets, with 75% of the tweets occurring during the central time (CT) airing of the program. A total of 2,178 tweets were used for analysis in this study as they fit in the six broad categories the researcher identified in relation to difficult conversations in New Amsterdam. These themes were: Para-social interactions, tense topics, accuracy, empathy, emotional response and behavioral intention, and identification. Implications for health communication practitioners and medical television dramas’ producers on how to leverage on Twitter for health-related messages are discussed.
The effects of social media on risk perception and preventive behaviors during infectious disease outbreaks: The mediating role of self-relevant emotions • Sang-Hwa Oh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Seo Yoon Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Changhyun Han • While there has been increasing attention to the role of social media during infectious disease outbreaks, relatively little is known about the underlying mechanisms by which social media use affects risk perception and preventive behaviors during such outbreaks. Using data collected during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, this study explores the relationships among social media use, risk perception, and preventive behaviors by examining the mediating role of two self-relevant emotions: fear and anger. The findings demonstrate that social media use is positively related to both of these emotions, which are also positively related to the public’s risk perception. The findings also indicate that social media use can significantly increase preventive behaviors via the two self-relevant emotions and the public’s risk perception.
A Meta-analysis on mHealth Physical Activity Interventions for Weight Loss: Technology Use, Behavior Change Theories and Techniques • Yan Qin; Xiaojing Wang; Kang Namkoong • Overweight and obesity represent a significant public health problem in an increasing number of countries. Mobile technologies offer potential for efficacious and cost-effective interventions capable of reaching many individuals. The purposes of the current meta-analysis study were to (1) compare the effectiveness of mHealth physical activity (PA) interventions for weight loss to non-technology/usual care/minimal interventions; (2) determine whether technologies used in the interventions affected weight loss results; and (3) examine whether the use of behavior change theories/techniques influenced intervention results. A meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines was conducted. Weight loss was the primary outcome. Intervention content was independently coded by two coders for technology type, behavior change theory/technique, and other intervention characteristics. A total of 24 studies were identified with 23 RCTs and one matched comparison design. The results showed a medium significant effect size (d=0.400; 95% confidence interval=0.241, 0.558; Z=4.951, P<0.001; N=5146) such that participating in mHealth PA interventions led to more weight loss than control conditions. Interventions were significantly more effective when they used wearable devices as a component of the interventions (QB=3.931, DF=1, P<0.05). However, theory use, the use of smartphone applications and text messages did not have significant moderating effects on intervention effectiveness. This meta-analysis suggests that mHealth PA interventions have the potential to facilitate weight loss among various population groups, especial for overweight and obese populations. However, the inclusion of behavior change theories and techniques needs to be considered with the characteristics of mobile technologies to generate optimal results.
Of nature, trust, and health: Understanding public risk perceptions of genetically engineered foods • Kathleen Rose, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dominique Brossard, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dietram Scheufele, University of Wisconsin-Madison • Gene editing technology advances continue to shape agriculture. Past research on GMO attitudes focuses on media coverage and various moral considerations, including “unnaturalness.” Using a representative survey of a North American Midwestern state, we examine how potential outcomes, or consequences, of GE crops impacts risk perceptions. Controlling for established predictors, we find alignment with potential consequences has a significant and substantial impact on GMO risk perceptions, with negative consequences playing a relatively greater role.
The influence of motivationally-relevant appeals on memory for pronutritional health communication messages promoting healthy foods • Lelia Samson, Radboud University; Annemarie Nanne • Motivationally-relevant appeals activate motivational processing, which contributes to memorable messages influencing choices post exposure. Memory formation (recognition and free recall) was recorded in 169 Preteens (aged 7 to 12) and 119 Teenagers (aged 13 to 18) who watched 24 health-related messages varying in Social Visual and Sensory Textual Appeals. Results revealed that pronutritional messages featuring social appeals are better remembered, especially those featuring large groups. The paper makes recommendations for designing effective health-related messages.
Formative Research on Promoting Car-Free Youth Transportation • Autumn Shafer, University of Oregon; Jared Macary, University of Oregon • Car accidents are the leading cause of death among U.S. 10-24 year olds (CDC, 2018). Motivating youth to drive less by choosing car-free mobility may reduce fatalities (Litman, 2016). Results from youth focus groups analyzed through the lens of the theory of planned behavior along with perceived effectiveness feedback on sample messages are presented. This study contributes to our understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of an important and understudied area of health and environmental communication.
Users’ Responses to Public Discourse of HPV Vaccination on YouTube • Yanqing Sun; Fangcao LU, City University of Hong Kong; Stella Chia • This study examines the relationship between characteristics of YouTube videos and audiences’ responses through a content analysis of 186 HPV vaccination-related videos and 4,087 viewers’ comments. In particular, this study used the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior as a reference to identify six content constructs in videos, including the benefits and barriers of HPV vaccination, susceptibility to HPV, severity of HPV, subjective norms and behavioral control of HPV vaccination. We found that a substantial number of videos portrayed HPV vaccines in a negative tone. Videos from anti-vaccination advocacy groups such as Regret and Vaxxed TV were more popular than videos from other sources. Almost half of the videos framed HPV vaccines as female-specific vaccines. Moreover, videos highlighting subjective norms of getting HPV vaccination received more positive comments and in contrast, videos posted by governmental agencies and videos displaying barriers acquired more negative responses.
Truck turnovers and train derailments: How the U.S. freight industry downplays toxic spills • Kristen Swain, University of Mississippi • Social amplification of risk framework highlighted how freight companies communicate about truck and train spills. A newspaper analysis and survey of journalists and state transportation officials showed that almost none of the most serious 5,555 spills in a decade received any press. The 267 stories in 87 papers reported only 54 spills. While journalists provided inadequate coverage of preparedness and lacked knowledge about spills, freight companies blocked reporter access to information, citing homeland security concerns.
The Power of Emotional Appeal in Motivating Behaviors to Mitigate Climate Change • Weiting Tao, University of Miami; Shiyun Tian, University of Miami; Wanhsiu Tsai, University of Miami; Michelle Seelig, University of Miami • This study examines how emotionally evocative viral videos on climate change may promote Generation Z’s actions addressing climate change. Through an online survey of 837 participants, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the conceptual framework incorporating problem recognition, involvement recognition, and motivation mediators to understand the mechanism underlying the effects of emotions on advocacy behaviors from passive information seeking, to proactive willingness to speak out, and willingness to alter behavior to mitigate climate change.
Knowledge and risk perceptions following an an infectious disease outbreak • Esi Thompson, Indiana University • Comparing knowledge and risk perceptions about Ebola from different contexts is critical in designing communication campaigns. Using a comparative case study approach, this exploratory study compare knowledge, risk perception, and information sources between residents in Ghana (an unaffected country) and Liberia (an affected country). Findings show that Liberians had higher knowledge than Ghanaians. But there was no association between knowledge and self-efficacy. The findings suggest that increasing knowledge may not be sufficient in raising self-efficacy levels.
Science Fiction, God, and Nature: A Textual and Frequency Analysis of Facebook Comments about Environmental Applications of Gene Editing • Brittany Walker, University of Georgia • Gene editing holds the potential to address pressing agricultural and environmental challenges. To explore public discussions on this topic, this study performed a thematic analysis of 107 Facebook comments and a frequency analysis of 1,290 Facebook comments. Several themes emerged: pro-science arguments, fears involving higher powers, conflation with genetically modified organisms, and humorous science fiction interpretations. These findings have implications for science communicators and policy makers, as they demonstrate the multipronged reactions gene editing evokes.
Informing the Prescription Drug Cost Debate: What Consumers Want From Journalists Covering Prescription Drug Policy • Kim Walsh-Childers, University of Florida; Diane Ezeh Aruah, University of Florida, Gainseville Florida • Americans pay more for prescription drugs than citizens of any other country in the world. Recent public opinion polls show that large majorities of Americans, across party lines, consider prescription drug costs “unreasonable” and want Congress to take action to reduce prescription drug prices. These poll results demonstrate that the public has substantial interest in government policy related to prescription drug costs. However, the literature provides little information about where, specifically, people obtain information about drug policy (or, for that matter, most other health policies) or what type of information they want journalists to provide in their coverage of drug policy proposals. This paper describes the results of a national survey intended to begin to fill that gap in the research. Drawing on the arguments of Patterson, Donsbach and others that journalists should adopt a new role as society’s “knowledge profession,” the study explored the questions of which media and interpersonal sources consumers use to obtain information about prescription drug policy and what types of information they want journalists to include in their stories about policies meant to help reduce prescription drug prices.
Fear and Hope, Bitter and Sweet: Emotion Sharing of Cancer Community on Twitter • Jinping Wang, Pennsylvania State University; Lewen Wei, Pennsylvania State University • Using a deep learning model and social network analysis, we investigated emotions expressed in a large collection of cancer-related tweets. Joy was the most commonly shared emotion, followed by sadness and fear, with anger, hope, and bittersweet being less shared. In addition, both the gatekeepers and influencers were more likely to post content with positive emotions. Last, tweets with joy, sadness and hope received more likes, whereas tweets with joy and anger were more retweeted.
Predictors of Organ Donation-Related Cognitions and Intentions in China: Communication Variables and Cultural Values • Xiao Wang, Rochester Institute of Technology • China is in the process of establishing a more regulated organ procurement and distribution system. Previous media reports stated that misperceptions toward organ donation created by the media and value-expressive attitudes (e.g., helping others) were two important reasons that prevented or facilitated donor registration in China. Based on a sample of 472 Chinese non-registered donors, the present analysis found that misperceptions toward organ donation in China were a weak predictor of donor registration, compared with subjective norms, self-efficacy, and anticipated guilt, whereas value-expressive attitudes did not predict donor registration. Interpersonal communication, but not media use, was weakly correlated with misperceptions. Neither were related to value-expressive attitudes. Lastly, values (i.e., communitarianism and egalitarianism) were generally related to misperceptions, value-expressive attitudes, and subjective norms, but were not related to efficacy and anticipated guilt. Overall, results indicate that for internalized beliefs, media and interpersonal communication may exert less influence.
Users, Topics and Content Strategies: Content Analysis of Twelve Climate Change Event Spikes on Twitter • Luping Wang, Cornell University • The increasing media coverage on climate change calls for more research attention on that issue. Reviewing previous studies, we find a focus on understanding the advocacy organizations, as well as how actors connect with other in the activist network. Yet few studies looked at the content, especially the content strategies people used in climate change online discussion.Thus, this work examines in twelve Twitter spike events, who are the most prolific users, what are the types of content people discuss, as well as specific content strategies people used in crafting tweets. The findings suggest prolific users in climate change discussion are activists and bots; users frequently broadcast the news, express personal thoughts and share others’ opinions; and hashtags, hyperlinks and mentions are often used in the content. These results suggest more interaction between elite and non-elite users will be helpful to sustain the momentum climate change activism.
Framing Environmental Risks: Thematic and Episodic Framing, Need for Cognition, and Public Engagement • YAJUN WEN; JIEWEN CHEN; NAINAN WEN • “This research examined the influence of framing of environmental risk news (i.e.,thematic vs. episodic) and individuals’ need for cognition (i.e., NFC) on message attitude, risk perception, and public engagement. We conducted a controlled experiment of 250 college and senior high school students who were asked to read either a thematic-framed or episodic-framed news article on a chemical leak accident in China. Results showed that message framing had direct and indirect influence on risk perception. The indirect relationship was mediated by message attitude. In addition, message framing and NFC worked together to directly influence public engagement with the risk issue. The interaction between message framing and NFC also indirectly influenced risk perception and public engagement, which were mediated by negative emotions. Implications of the findings were also discussed.
From snaps to sun? Young women’s social media use, emotions, and outdoor tanning behaviors • Jessica Willoughby; Jessica Myrick, Pennsylvania State University; Stephanie Gibbons; Clark Kogan, Center for Interdisciplinary Statistical Education and Research • There is a connection between social media use, emotions and tanning behavior, but work is needed to parse out the relationships. We used ecological momentary assessment to collect data from 197 women three times a day for seven days in July 2018. Boredom was associated with increased time on visual social media (VSM). Increased use of VSM was associated with tanning. VSM may be an important channel for skin cancer prevention efforts targeting young women.
Follow the Heart or the Mind? Examining Cognitive and Affective Attitude on HPV Vaccination Intention • XIZHU XIAO • Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with various serious diseases including cervical cancer and genital warts. Although HPV vaccine has been commended as a breakthrough for preventing HPV and HPV-related diseases, the uptake rate remains inadequate and lagging. This dissatisfaction is possibly attributed to a component of interventions that is insufficiently related to individuals’ intentions to get vaccinated against HPV—attitude. With a sample of 430 participants, this study examined which attitudinal component (cognitive vs. affective) is a stronger influencer on the intention to get the HPV vaccine. This study also investigated the influence of risk perceptions of HPV on the attitude and intention of getting the vaccine. Results revealed that cognitive attitude is the sole predictor of intention and mediates the relationship between perceived susceptibility to HPV and the intention to get the vaccine. Theoretical and practical contributions to the field of health communication and HPV vaccine promotion are further discussed.
The Role of Social Distance in Narrative Persuasion for Risk Prevention • Yiwei Xu, Cornell University • This research was designed to examine how narrative messages can influence favorable persuasive outcomes related to driving without cell phone use based on the entertainment overcoming resistance model (EORM) and construal level theory (CLT). An experiment was conducted through using different versions of news stories as the stimuli to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that the low social distance narrative actually increased persuasive resistance. It was also found that one form of persuasive resistance was a significant mediator in the relationship between social distance and persuasive outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in the paper.
Young Adults’ (Mis)use of Prescription Opioid Drugs: An Exploratory Study • Jie Xu; Xiaoxia Cao • Based on Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) Framework, this study used a survey to examine various factors affecting the risk perception and behavior related to prescription opioid drug (POD) misuse among college students. The results showed that trait reactance, helicopter parenting, and peer pressure were negatively associated with risk perception and positively correlated with POD misuse. Self-efficacy, on the other hand, was positively linked with risk perception and negatively connected with POD misuse. Risk perception was negatively correlated with POD misuse. In addition, self-efficacy moderated the relationship between risk perception and the misuse. This study extends the purview of both SCT and the RPA by testing their central predictions among a sample of a demographic group most vulnerable to the opioid epidemic. It also sheds light on the development of more effective prevention and intervention efforts to counter this burgeoning crisis. Limitations and directions for future research were outlined.
The Leverage Power of Risk Framing in Physician and Patient Communication: A Study of Shared Decision Making Perception • Ellie Yang, University of Wisconsin Madison; Dhavan Shah, UW Madison; Elizabeth Burnside; Terry Little • Risk framing prevails in physician and patient communication where loss versus gain, relative versus absolute presentation intertwine with each other. Current study observed the effect of risk framing on patient perception of shared decision making when discussing breast cancer screening with their primary care provider during the clinical visit. Patients’ awareness of cancer risk is operated as a major condition to moderate the risk framing effect. Multilevel mixed effect models suggest that less risk framing is preferred by patients with high factual risk of breast cancer. Theoretical and social implication for the prospect and regulatory fit theories are discussed.
Online Media Use and HPV Vaccination Intentions in Mainland China: Integrating a Market Perspective with Media and Behavioral Theories • Guolan Yang, Pennsylvania State University; Jessica Myrick, Pennsylvania State University • This study investigates the role of media in shaping HPV vaccination intentions in mainland China from a marketing standpoint. An online survey (N = 359) revealed direct effects of online information consumption on perceived scarcity of the vaccine, as well as an indirect effect via perceived influence of media on others. Scarcity perceptions, in turn, predicted vaccine attitudes and behavioral intentions. Additionally, gender differences emerged in the data. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
FEMA, media, or search engine? Rumor validation on social media • Janet Yang; Haoran Chu; Sixiao Liu; Jun Zhuang • Based on data from a nationally representative sample, this study explored social cognitive variables that influenced the U.S. public’s motivations to validate rumors about Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma on social media. Risk perception and negative emotions influenced systematic processing of relevant risk information. While systematic processing was significantly related to validation through search engine, trust in information, as a form of heuristic processing, was significantly related to validation through official sources and news outlet.
Cautionary Tales: Social Representation of Risk in News Coverage of Cyberbullying Victims • Rachel Young; Li Chen; Ge Zhu; Roma Subramanian • A mixed-methods analysis of 610 cyberbullying news stories found that exemplar narratives frequently mention suicide and that extreme risks are qualified by creating victim characteristics. Textual analysis shows how exemplars blame technology for making bullying worse and how deaths by suicide became cautionary tales that also create distance as a form of social coping. Overall, cyberbullying exemplars represent harm and attribute responsibility in ways that suggest how risks can be understood and avoided.
“It’s Global Warming, Stupid”: Aggressive Communication Styles and Political Ideology in Science Blog Debates about Climate Change • Shupei Yuan, Northern Illinois University; Hang Lu, University of Pennsylvania • Science blogs, as a competing channel to science news reports, play a role in informing and influencing individuals’ science decision-making. The current study examined the effects of a particular communication style – aggressive communication, which is often seen in blogs about climate change debates, on individuals’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions. In addition, two underlying mechanisms – psychological reactance and violation of expectation, as well as the moderating role played by political ideology were investigated. A between-subjects factorial experiment (N = 423) was conducted manipulating aggressive vs. non-aggressive styles in blog articles communicating climate change. The results showed that aggressive style was more likely to trigger psychological reactance and violation of what audience members expected from the writer, which further reduced the audiences’ intentions to act more pro-environmentally. Moreover, liberals responded more negatively to aggressive messages than conservatives. The findings provide plausible explanations for how communication styles affect individuals’ information processing and offer practical implications for science communicators regarding how to select communication styles strategically.
Breaking the Stigma of Depression: The Underlying Mechanisms of the Persuasiveness of Narrative Health Messages • Nanlan Zhang, University of South Carolina; Taylor Jing Wen, University of South Carolina • This paper examined how the message type and the attribute effect on responses to health messages in the context of depression. In addition, this study also investigated the underlying mechanisms of narrative persuasion. A 2 (narrative vs. non-narrative) 2 (attribution to others: presence or absence) factorial between-subject experiment was conducted online recruiting a national sample of 188 American adults. The results showed narrative messages caused changes on the intention to help depression patients through transportation, identification, and the feeling of pity in a serial mediation process. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Print friendly
