Television Viewing,Racial Attitudes,and Policy Preferences: Exploring the Role of Social Identity and Intergroup Emotions in Influencing Support for Affirmative Action

This paper explores how White viewers' perceived portrayals of African-Americans and Latino-Americans on TV influence their real-world feelings and beliefs about these outgroups, which in turn affect their support for race-targeted policies. A computer-based survey (N=323) included measures relating to perceptions about racial/ethnic groups on television, real-world stereotypical beliefs, prejudicial feelings, and support for affirmative action policies. The affective-cognitive model of policy reasoning presented in this paper extends and improves upon prior research in several ways. It considers intergroup emotions as an important mediator by including prejudicial feelings toward racial/ethnic outgroups in the path analyses. Unlike past research that typically grouped all negative stereotypes into one global measure, this study explores how specific types of stereotypes such as criminality and laziness work independently and simultaneously to influence policy preferences. Finally, this integrated cognitive-affective model of policy reasoning is applied to both perceptions of African-Americans and of Latino-Americans, which provides greater confidence in the applicability of the model. Implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.     

Dynamics of Individual Television Viewing Behavior: Models,Empirical Evidence,and a Research Program

Television viewing often is a sequence of a multitude of activities that can vary tremendously from the moment the TV set is turned on until it is turned off again. Previous models of individual viewing behavior as well as empirical studies have focused on isolated aspects of viewing only, such as the frequency and duration of viewing or patterns of selecting a specific program. This paper draws attention to the complete process of TV viewing. We develop a process model to describe whole viewing sessions. Furthermore, a review of the empirical evidence on viewing behavior and a typology of factors influencing the viewing process are presented, concluded by a research program.     

试论体育电视专业主义指标框架的三个维度——基于奥运会国际公用电视信号制作的理论探索

本文以专业主义研究的社会、认知和伦理三个维度为分析框架,以奥运会国际公用电视信号制作者群体与制作理念为分析对象,探索性地分析了体育电视专业主义指标框架的三个维度,识别出体育电视专业群体、强调体育精神的传播理念、保持角色中立,为体育精神服务等三个维度的11个指标。     

Television realism measures: The influence of program salience on global judgments

Five versions (four experimental and one control) of a questionnaire were randomly distributed to 190 participants as part of an experiment investigating whether judgments of global television realism are influence by the salience of program genre. Questionnaires contained items asking respondents how often they watch either 1) news programs, 2) reality‐based crime programs, 3) crime drama programs, or 4) day and evening soap operas, followed by perceived realism and demographic items.

Global measures of television realism were influenced by the viewing questions that preceded them, such that questions about more realistic programming prompted judgments that television programming in general is more realistic. Except for one condition, questions measuring the perceived realism of a specific genre, rather than television in general, were not influenced by the salience manipulation. These results call into question the utility of global television realism items.     

Television in the Workplace: Ford and FCN TV

Television is increasingly creeping into non-traditional spaces such as workplaces. As part of that movement, Ford Motor Company of Europe uses television as a key component of communication between top management and subordinates. The company broadcasts over its internal television system various Ford-related video and news stories to its plants in five countries—UK, France, Belgium, Spain, and Germany. As an employee in Ford of Europe's internal-communications team based in Cologne, I witnessed first-hand the inner dynamics of the deployment of television in a pan-European setting. Through television, the company is crafting a transnational corporate identity among its multi-national workforce, interpellating viewers in the various local sites within a larger “Ford family.” While television can act as a unifying force, the deployment of the technology also exacerbates tensions within the transnational entity as inflected by site-specific concerns—white collar/blue collar, international/national, management/union, labor/leisure, and public/private. Layered on top of this multitude of tensions remains the inherently propagandistic nature of developing news for a captive audience. For myself and others at the company, irony became a necessary tactic, to use DeCerteau's terms, to cope with the presence of a potentially monolithic technology in the prototypical transnational corporation.     

Family Television Viewing and Its Alternatives: Associations with Closeness within and between Generations

Audience research on family television viewing flourished in the 1980s and 1990s. These studies highlighted watching television as a family as a valuable family routine, structuring the rhythm of daily life and generating family harmony. Ever since, we have witnessed changes in both family structures and media structures, which have affected the ways television is consumed within the household. This begs the question whether earlier findings considering family closeness still hold up. Therefore, this study conducted a cross-sectional survey among a sample of 691 Belgian individuals, nested in 288 families. Drawing upon insights from literature on family rituals and media generations, the results of this study indicate that despite a robust prevalence of family viewing, alternative social patterns emerge coinciding with the appropriation of screen technologies beyond living room television. Further analysis reveals that deviations from family viewing are associated with lower closeness between generations. However, younger generations watching together do report higher levels of closeness with their generational counterparts.     

论城市社会学对电视研究的空间拓展

城市与电视,都是重要的社会空间。通过这种空间属性的交互,城市社会学可以拓展电视研究的空间视野。对于城市现象与城市过程理解不同的四个流派(古典城市理论、人文主义城市理论、城市政治经济学理论、全球化城市理论),在研究态度、生态观念、生活方式、人文思考、时空观念、知识生产以及从社会功能等维度,对于电视研究的空间有所拓展。     

Persuasive Self-Efficacy: Dispositional and Situational Correlates

People vary in their self-efficacy as persuaders. After devising a brief measure of persuasive self-efficacy, we find that the construct correlates positively with a number of variables relevant to social interaction, including self-esteem, self-monitoring, extroversion, and openness to new experiences, and negatively with other variables, including communication apprehension and neuroticism. Social self-efficacy had a modest but significant relationship with persuasive self-efficacy. Drawing from research on contextual self-efficacy, we also examine some of the social situations where persuasive self-efficacy may matter and find that people vary in their self-efficacy as a persuader as a function of the context.     

In Defense of Gaydar: Reality Television and the Politics of the Glance

The reality dating programs Boy Meets Boy and Playing It Straight purported to illustrate the elusiveness of performing sexual orientation in a culture that increasingly understands sexuality as fluid. By highlighting stereotypes typically associated with both gay and straight men, the shows exposed the difficulties of determining sexual orientation with “gaydar”. Both gay and straight participants were represented as equally incapacitated to identify sexual orientation. In doing so, the programs sought to advance liberal democratic conceptions of tolerance and equality. Employing Foucault's conception of the “glance,” I explore the problems inherent in relocating “gaydar” to the small screen.     

娱乐节目与快乐哲学——韩国电视娱乐节目分析

本文通过对韩国电视娱乐节目的分析,探讨娱乐节目在韩国公共文化生活中的意义。韩国娱乐节目以快乐主义为价值取向,以娱乐为本位,显示了后现代文化的某些美学旨趣。作为在传播中生产的文本形式,娱乐节目的价值应置于传播情景中理解。     

Mea Maxima Culpa: John Reith and the Advent of Television

There is no doubting the influence and impact of (Lord) John Reith on the shape of British broadcasting, both radio and television. As one cultural historian argues: ‘he occupies an important place in the social and cultural history of twentieth-century Britain.’ The most commonly-accepted view in television histories is that John Reith disliked television, would have nothing to do with the medium, viewed those involved with establishing and running the BBC's television service with contempt, and refused to watch television programmes. However, drawing on both archival and secondary resources, together with Trine Syvertsen's notion of ‘media resistance’, I argue that Reith's relationship with television was far more complex than has been understood thus far and that his attitude towards the new technology was shaped by a combination of personal and professional factors.     

Exploring the Effects of Television Viewing on Perceived Life Quality: A Combined Perspective of Material Value and Upward Social Comparison

American television programs have been criticized for being filled with images endorsing capitalist consumerism and for being weighted toward the upper middle classes. This study proposed that heavy viewing of these distorted representations may culminate in decreases in viewers' life satisfaction. A path model investigated this supposition, based on material value and social comparison perspectives. Surveys were administered to 225 adults in a northeastern town in the United States, and the data were subjected to path analysis. The findings of this study suggest that heavy television viewing may be associated with material value, estimates of other people's affluence, and perceived gaps between the self and others in material affluence. Of importance, the findings also suggest that the perceived gaps between the self and others may be associated both with dissatisfaction with personal life and dissatisfaction with current social equality, whereas material value may be associated only with dissatisfaction with personal life.     

(Re)Viewing Reviews: Effects of Emotionality and Valence on Credibility Perceptions in Online Consumer Reviews

This study examines credibility perceptions in online consumer reviews. Specifically, this work investigates the effects of review emotionality (high vs. low), review valence (positive vs. negative), and individuals’ need for affect on source credibility and information credibility. In an online experiment, U.S. adults (N = 327) viewed a product review from Amazon.com varied across four experimental conditions. Results indicate that high-emotionality reviews are perceived as lower in source and information credibility compared to low-emotionality reviews. A moderated mediation model was tested with the source credibility dimensions as possible mediators of information credibility and need for affect as a moderator for the effects of review emotionality. The effects of emotionality on information credibility were significantly mediated by source trustworthiness, and this mediation was moderated by participants’ need for affect, with the credibility-hampering effects of emotionality found only among participants with low and moderate levels of need for affect.     

Teaching assistant communication apprehension,willingness to communicate,and state communication anxiety in the classroom

This study investigated the nature of teaching assistant communication apprehension in the university classroom. Teaching assistants were given a survey assessing their general level of communication apprehension and their general willingness to communicate. Additionally, teaching assistant state anxiety specifically associated with teaching in the classroom was assessed. Analyses revealed significant negative correlations between teaching assistant communication apprehension and teaching experience, training in content, and training in teaching. Teaching assistant willingness to communicate was positively correlated with teaching experience and training in content. Teaching assistant state anxiety in the classroom was negatively correlated with training in content and training in teaching.     

Television Viewing Preferences: Programs,Schedules, and the Structure of Viewing Choices Made by Israeli Adults

Using analysis of program content and programming features, this study identifies patterns of television viewing preferences that explain why certain shows are frequently watched with certain other shows. Principal components analysis (PCA) of data collected from a sample of 750 Israeli adults was used to identify groups of shows often watched by the same viewers. A further analysis was conducted to uncover common features of these shows. The results replicate earlier findings indicating that program viewing preferences are explained by channel loyalty and genre loyalty, but the study adds a focus on the importance of programming language in non-English-speaking television markets.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Computer-Mediated Communication,Sexual Identity Commitment,and Well-Being Among Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are avid users of computer-mediated communication (CMC), but few empirical studies have investigated the function of CMC in the lives of LGB youth. Grounded in the media practice model, the present study explored the relationships among CMC, sexual identity commitment, and well-being by surveying LGB adolescents (N = 570). Results indicated that a positive relationship existed between time spent on social network sites and well-being that was mediated by sexual identity commitment. Time spent instant messaging, sending/receiving e-mail, or in chat rooms was not related to sexual identity commitment or well-being. Social network sites may aid LGB youth in understanding their sexual identities in ways that other CMC modalities cannot.     

The Push and Pull of Stepfamily Life: The Contribution of Stepchildren's Autonomy and Connection-Seeking Behaviors to Role Development in Stepfamilies

Role negotiation in stepfamilies is an important process that involves and affects all family members. Although researchers have focused on stepparent role development and the influence of stepparents' behaviors, less attention has been given to the influence and experience of stepchildren in role development. This investigation examined the contribution of stepchildren to the type of stepparent roles developed in stepfamilies, as well as stepchildren's experience of role ambiguity and the impact of stepchildren's role content and clarity on relational quality. Fifty-two stepchildren completed questionnaires about their relationships and interaction with their stepparent during adolescence. Findings indicate that stepchildren's autonomy and connection-seeking behaviors predict stepchildren's reports of stepparent role types, stepchildren's reports of stepparents' warmth displays predict stepchildren's role ambiguity, and stepchildren's behavior and role ambiguity relate to their relational satisfaction. Suggestions for future research in this area are proposed.     

加强广播电视声像档案规范化管理势在必行

随着当今社会文化的繁荣和发展,特别是广播影视行业的飞速发展,广播电影电视系统中产生了大量的音像资料。由于人员素质、管理方式等方面的种种不足,声像档案在管理过程中存在着许多问题,这些问题直接影响了档案的完整存放和日后的利用。所以,我们必须采取有效措施,做好声像档案的管理工作,研究管理的发展趋势,实现规范化管理。     

公共产品提供与生产理论对电视媒介体制改革的启示

本文根据西方公共产品提供与生产理论,对电视产品的生产和提供进行规范分析,提出了我国电视媒介体制改革的一些设想。     

Cultivation and the Elaboration Likelihood Model: A Test of the Learning and Construction and Availability Heuristic Models

An analysis of 19 care-provider interviews demonstrates four different orientations toward spirituality: exclusive spirituality, inclusive spirituality, conflicted spirituality, and spirituality as separate from care. Two prominent ethical dilemmas experienced by care providers are discussed. Care providers face an internal dilemma presented by competing discourses that suggest different ways to incorporate spirituality into care. Care providers also face an interactional dilemma as they seek to balance their own spiritual needs with the needs of care recipients.