Communication Research current issue

Assimilation and Contrast in a Test of the Hostile Media Effect

Gunther, A. C., Miller, N., Liebhart, J. L. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:16:41 PST

Recent empirical research has vividly demonstrated the hostile media effect—the tendency for individuals highly involved in a controversial issue to see media coverage of that issue as hostile to their own point of view. This type of contrast bias—along with its assimilation counterpart—is hypothesized to stem from preexisting partisan attitudes coupled with other explanatory factors, including perceived reach of the message and characteristics of the source. To test these predictions, we recruited partisan respondents who were either Native American or sympathetic to native issues. Participants (N = 152) read information, varying in apparent circulation (low, medium and high reach) and source (friendly vs. not friendly) characteristics, on the issue of genetically modified wild rice, a controversial topic for native people in the upper Midwest. Variations in reach produced a linear trend in judgments of bias in the predicted direction. However, overall evaluations tended toward assimilation rather than contrast effects, and two distinct dimensions of partisanship produced surprising and provocative results.

Examining Reactance and Reactance Restoration With South Korean Adolescents: A Test of Psychological Reactance Within a Collectivist Culture

Quick, B. L., Kim, D. K. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:16:41 PST

The purpose of this study is to extend the recent operationalization of reactance to a non-Western culture, namely, South Korea.The study uses structural equation modeling, and the findings reveal a significant positive association between controlling language and perceived threat to freedom. Consistent with extant research, a significant positive association emerged between a perceived freedom threat and reactance for South Korean adolescents. Findings from this study support treating reactance as a latent variable comprised of unfavorable cognitions and anger. In addition, in line with psychological reactance theory predictions, reactance arousal is significantly associated with a host of boomerang effects. Results are discussed with an emphasis on the role of psychology reactance theory among adolescents within a collectivist culture.

Don't Expect Too Much! Learning From Late-Night Comedy and Knowledge Item Difficulty

Baek, Y. M., Wojcieszak, M. E. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:16:41 PST

The debate on late night comedy has been inconclusive, with some scholars arguing that this genre increases political knowledge, and others seeing late night comedy as harmful to effective citizenry. We add to the debate and to the research on media effects more generally, by proposing a model that measures political knowledge. The model utilizes item response theory (IRT) to account for individual characteristics, knowledge item difficulty, and response format that influences the likelihood of providing a correct response. Drawing on the 2004 National Annenberg Election Study, we employ this model to test knowledge gain from late night comedy. Using a meta-analysis across 35 political knowledge items, we show that late night comedy increases knowledge, but primarily on easy political items that have fewer correct response options, and mainly among the inattentive citizens. We discuss theoretical implications and provide practical suggestions for scholarship on media effects.

Transformational Leadership in Distributed Work Groups: The Moderating Role of Follower Regulatory Focus and Goal Orientation

Whitford, T., Moss, S. A. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:16:41 PST

This study addressed the question of whether the benefits of transformational leadership extend to virtual environments. Furthermore, whether regulatory focus or goal orientation moderate the extent to which these benefits apply to virtual environments was also explored. A total of 165 employees completed a survey that assessed the leadership style of their supervisors as well their own regulatory focus, goal orientation, work engagement, and job satisfaction. When followers and leaders worked at different locations, visionary leadership was positively related to work attitudes, provided that promotion focus was sufficiently high or prevention focus was sufficiently low. Furthermore, when followers and leaders worked in the same location, personal recognition was positively associated with work engagement, especially if prevention focus or performance goal orientation was high. These findings align with the proposition, derived from construal level theory, that leadership advice and support in which only the essence needs to be extracted apply to virtual environments.

The Priming Effects of Avatars in Virtual Settings

Pena, J., Hancock, J. T., Merola, N. A. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:16:41 PST

The study extends research on the Proteus effect by demonstrating that avatars can prime negative attitudes and cognition in desktop virtual settings. Experiment 1 shows that, after virtual group discussions, participants using black-cloaked avatars developed more aggressive intentions and attitudes but less group cohesion than those using white-cloaked avatars. In Experiment 2, individual participants using a Ku Klux Klan (KKK)-associated avatar created more aggressive Thematic Apperception Test stories in comparison to a control group. Participants using the KKK avatar also wrote less affiliative stories in comparison to those employing avatars dressed as doctors. Overall, the resulting pattern of activation of negative thoughts (i.e., aggression) coupled with the inhibition of inconsistent thoughts (i.e., cohesion, affiliation) is consistent with principles of current priming models and provides initial evidence for automatic cognitive priming in virtual settings.

The Effects of Confidence and Advisor Motives on Advice Utilization

Van Swol, L. M. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:16:41 PST

This article examined the premises of interpersonal deception theory (IDT) within an advice-giving context. Advisors with quality and persuasion goals provided advice concerning stock rankings to decision makers either primed or not primed to be suspicious of advisors’ motives. Two competing hypotheses were proposed. First, suspicious decision makers were predicted to accept less advice from all advisors and be no more likely to detect advisors’ motives than nonsuspicious decision makers. Second, suspicious decision makers were predicted to be better able to detect the motives of advisors and accept less advice from the advisor with the persuasive motive than nonsuspicious decision makers. The first hypothesis was supported. The persuasive advisor had significantly higher confidence than the quality advisor on the rankings used to give advice, although not on private rankings. Advisors’ confidence on these rankings fully mediated their influence on the decision maker.