Race and Gender as Peripheral Cues on Political Campaign Web Sites

This study examines the roles candidate race and gender may play in the evaluation of candidates presented via campaign Web sites. Apparent race and gender of a candidate were manipulated while issue information was held constant on a campaign Web site. The candidate's gender was shown to affect evaluations of the candidate (positively for female candidates) after controlling for participant political ideology, political knowledge, and political self-efficacy. The candidate's race did not affect evaluations of the candidate. Findings are discussed in the context of peripheral bias of central processing.     

A moderated mediation model of political collective action in Hong Kong: examining the roles of social media consumption and social identity

Adopting a communication mediation approach, this study explores the role of overall social networking service (SNS) use in facilitating people’s participation in collective political action through the mediation of online and offline political discussions. The study also underscores the moderating effect on the mediation process of both social identity and geographical origin. Moderated mediation analyses reveal that the positive impact of overall SNS use on participation mediated by offline discussion is stronger for people with higher Hong Kong identity and for people from Hong Kong. This moderated mediation model specifies the socio-psychological mechanism of participation in collective political action in an immigrant society such as Hong Kong.     

Partisan Media Selectivity and Partisan Identity Threat: The Role of Social and Geographic Context

There is growing concern about the polarizing impact of citizens primarily choosing sources of political information consistent with their existing partisan perspective. Although research has begun providing answers about the consequences, questions remain about what factors drive such selective use of political media. This study conceptualizes partisanship as a social identity and the decision to selectively use like-minded political media as a method for maintenance of that identity. Using the logic of the reinforcing spirals model (Slater, 2007, 2015), we investigated partisan media selectivity as a response to identity threat. We argue the partisan composition of one’s geographic locale and the presence of partisan difference in one’s interpersonal network are common causes of identity threat, which we predict will be associated with compensatory use of partisan media. Results from national survey data generally provide support for the assertion that greater partisan media selectivity is associated with the presence of various forms of identity threat, especially for strong partisans.     

酷儿理论视角下档案与性别身份认同的冲突与和解

酷儿理论是后现代主义思想中有关性与性别的代表性理论,认为性与性别非自然形成,而是一种文化与社会建构的结果,该理论已成为性少数群体甚至所有边缘群体“正名”的重要凭借。在酷儿理论视角之下,性别身份具有流动性、交叉性与多样性等特征,而档案的历史记录属性与信息相对固化特点及其背后蕴含的权力与权利相互作用,常常使性别身份认同在档案中的实现陷入困境。从酷儿理论视角出发,一方面,档案与性别身份认同之间的冲突表现在固化的档案与流动的性别身份、档案助于不同性别身份间理解的同时亦加深隔阂、档案中权力与权利对性别身份的不同作用等;另一方面,档案又为性别身份认同提供了融合与常态化机制,助于个体及群体性别形象的积极重塑与性别身份认同的实现。     

Feminism and social change: women's place in Taiwanese newspapers and public opinion

This study used a content analysis of editorial articles to explore the portrayal of gender in women's pages of Taiwanese newspapers between 1975 and 2009. In addition to topical themes and editorial format, we focused on how women's pages present political messages in terms of the topics addressed, style of argumentation, methods of challenging traditional gender roles, and the promotion of provocative actions. We compared the content analysis data with social development indicators and public opinion polls in the contexts of the evolution of the market and the women's movement in Taiwan. We found that in the early stages of the women's movement, the women's pages mainly played the role of shaping a collective identity among the female public. During the postfeminist period, the women's pages mainly address social problems rooted in the domestic realm and provide self-development advice.     

The Role of Political Identity and Media Selection on Perceptions of Hostile Media Bias During the 2012 Presidential Campaign

Viewing a hostile media bias against one’s group (e.g., political party) is a perceptual effect of media use. When it comes to the portrayal of political parties in the United States, prior research suggests that both Democrats and Republicans see mainstream media coverage as favoring the other side, regardless of the orientation of the political news coverage. Although prior research has not identified all factors that make this perceptual bias more likely, or at explaining how or why this perceptual effect occurs, we do know that it is related to one’s group identity. In this study, we examined salient predictors of hostile media bias during the 2012 presidential campaign. Individual (i.e., political cynicism) and group identity related (i.e., group status, intergroup bias, political ideology) differences of media users predicted such perceptions. But, the medium selected for political information about the campaign also mattered. The use of two media in particular—TV and social networking sites—appear to have blunted hostile media bias perceptions, whereas the use of two other media—radio and video sharing sites—appear to have accentuated perceptions that the media were biased against one’s party     

What happened to those fans several years later?: empowerment from Super Girls’ Voice for girls in China (2007–2015)

This longitudinal study explored the popularity and social significance of the 2005 season of the prominent Chinese television show Super Girls’ Voice (a talent show similar to Pop Idol in the UK) regarding gender issues. Based on three focus group studies of the show’s young female audience conducted in 2007, 2010, and 2015, we contend that tomboyish contestants, specifically Li Yuchun, were designated androgynous by most participants. Androgyny was largely perceived as a flexible gender identity that integrated the favorable appearance and personality traits of femininity and masculinity, a view that challenges normative femininity. Most participants also applied this meaning of the term to their own social lives, while some of the participants who were of school age in 2005 applied it to both their social lives and their construction of gender identity by copying the androgynous style. From a time-related perspective, however, we suggest that those participants who had copied the androgynous style were more willing to conform their appearance to the standards of normative femininity several years later, and renegotiated their gender identity in alignment with traditional patriarchal norms.     

Contractualism,Committalism, and Covenantalism: A Worldview Dimensional Analysis of Human Relating

Throughout the literature much of the research on political campaign debates has focused on presidential debates and has largely ignored non‐presidential debates, particularly those featuring candidates competing in mixed‐gender races. The purpose of this study is to draw attention to these non‐presidential debates and particularly those in which gender may play a pivotal role. Through our analysis of four debates—two gubernatorial and two U.S. Senate debates—we advance the notion of debatestyle as a useful analytic scheme to examine the verbal content of female and male candidate debate dialogue. While few differences in female and male debatestyles ultimately emerged, results of the current study indicate that female and male political candidates, when engaged in debate, adopt a strategy of gendered adaptiveness that offers important contributions to both research on political debates as well as research on gender and politics.     

Readability and Basic Course Hybrid Textbooks in Human Communication: A Disparity of Reading Difficulty

Parents play a pivotal role in the gender development and sex-typing of children. It is important to discover whether gender role communication differences exist based on the sex of the child or parent. The present study aimed to discover differences in gender role messages communicated between mother-daughter, mother-son, father-daughter, and father-son dyads. Participants (n = 630) completed a modified version of Bem's Sex Role Inventory. Two key results were discovered: mothers communicate significantly more feminine messages to children, regardless of child sex; and the modified BSRI identifies respondents as weak vs. strong gender identity rather than masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated.     

Between Neoliberalism and Identity Politics: Academic Librarianship,Democracy and November 8, 2016

Recent calls for papers (CFPs) in academic librarianship have drawn heavily on the language of identity politics. This presents a number of problems: 1) the confusions between identity politics and its close allies like diversity or professional identity; 2) the confusions within identity politics; 3) the backlash to identity politics represented by November 8, 2016; and 4) controversies over the concept within its allies - personified by Mark Lilla. This paper seeks to chart a path among these ideas to formulate a practical political response to these developments.     

What is likable about Gloria Pritchett in Modern Family? A viewer-character analysis through social identity and intersectionality

This survey-based study explored the mediated social attraction that a sample of Modern Family viewers had for Gloria Pritchett. Statistically speaking, viewers generally liked Gloria Pritchett, but her intersected social identity characterizations (e.g., harlot-spitfire prototype) guided her likability. Moreover, how viewers felt toward their ethnic, gender, and social class (not their membership in these groups) predicted viewer-character likability. Discussed are implications regarding the liking of Othered television characters and group identity, notions of intersectionality, and challenges associated with mainstream Latinidad.     

“When I Ask a Question,They Look at me Strangely”

This study uses qualitative interviews with 66 women journalists from print, broadcast, and online media in India, to understand how women political reporters assigned to the political beat negotiate gender issues and organizational and news routines while being effective journalists entrusted to cover matters of policy and enhance political awareness among audiences. Using Shoemaker and Reese’s hierarchy-of-influences model that introduces five levels of influence on news content, this study explores how institutional, news gathering, societal procedures, and professional practices influence the functions of women journalists on the political beat and percolate into the content they produce. The results show that in India’s growing media market, organizational and news routines, as well as the contentious issue of gender, control access to beats, especially the political beat, and percolate into news content produced by women political reporters.     

An uninformed electorate: identity-motivated elaboration,partisan cues,and learning

ABSTRACT

A deliberative democracy is reliant on an informed electorate discussing issues and presenting persuasive arguments. Individuals acquire information from exposure to political messages. Partisan cues, however, undermine learning outcomes. The current study experimentally examines the social cognitive processes that underlie this learning process. Integrating the social identity theory, elaboration likelihood model, and the theory of motivated reasoning to construct the theoretical concept of identity-motivated elaboration, the results indicate that partisan social identities motivate biased processing of new information, which subsequently influences the valence of elaboration. Positively and negatively valenced elaboration are situated as mediating variables in the structural model, which predicts learning from a persuasive political message. The current study extends the partisan social identity hypothesis to the elaborative and learning outcomes of political messages.     

Cultivating Conceptions of Masculinity: Television and Perceptions of Masculine Gender Role Norms

The potential of television to both reflect and shape cultural understandings of gender roles has long been the subject of social scientific inquiry. The present study employed survey methodology with 420 emerging adult respondents (18–25 years old) in a national U.S. sample to explore associations between amount of time spent viewing television and views about “ideal” masculine gender roles. The viewing of particular television genres was explored in addition to (and controlling for) overall amount of time spent with the medium, using cultivation theory as the theoretical foundation. Results showed significant statistical associations between viewing sitcoms, police and detective programs, sports, and reality television and scores on the Masculine Roles Norms Inventory–Revised scale. Biological sex of respondent (which very closely approximated gender identity in the sample) moderated a number of these relationships, with positive associations between viewing some genres and endorsement of traditional masculine gender roles stronger for biological male compared to biological female respondents.     

Let’s Talk About Men: Some Suggestions on How We Can Include Men in Conversations About Gender Roles in Librarianship

Nine years ago, I did not imagine listing gender issues as one of my core research interests. Now I cannot imagine my research revolving around anything else. The way I study gender though, has taken a rather startling turn away from women to focus (sometimes uncomfortably) on men. What follows is an argument about why studying men and masculinities can make us better librarians. I argue that studying men broadly is important, and librarians should explore methods and strategies for studying a specific type of men: well-educated, white men with established careers in libraries. While my narrative is highly personal, it is based on 9 years of research and reflection about how librarians discuss gender and professional identity.     

Cultural and gender influences on age identification

Age identification plays a significant role in young adults’ mass, interpersonal, intergenerational, and intercultural communication. This research examines cultural and gender influences on young people's age identity by measuring the social age identity of male and female young adult members of five cultures varying in individualism/collectivism (Laos, Thailand, Spain, Australia, and the U.S.A.). We found cultural influences on age identity to be both unexpected in nature and modest in effect. American and Laotian respondents had similar and nominally higher levels of age identity than Australian, Thai, and Spanish respondents, with all having a markedly different age identities than those of Japanese respondents as reported by other researchers. No direct effect for gender on age identity emerged, though American females were more age identified than all other respondents. Across cultures, the social identity scale was found to be a reasonably adequate measure of age identity.     

Capricious opinions: A study of polarization of social media groups

Experts claim that the world is increasingly polarized by emerging social media platforms. The political actors amplify the polarization through their agents' user-generated content. The extreme political ideologies sway the people sitting on the fence on these social media platforms. Using tweets on a recent policy change on identity in India, the present study seeks to perform a scientific analysis of the polarization of the debates within ordinary citizens' groups from a theoretical lens. We further highlight some of the crucial trends that triggered these polarized discussions in general. Through the lens of Echo chambers and Herd behavior, this study provides valuable insights surrounding the influencers and individuals involved in this discussion where the polarization of preferences is witnessed. Proposing a novel design of a root-level influencer, this study establishes them as polarization actors on a social media platform (Twitter). Through various engagement metrics, we also identify the role of targeted communication (hashtags) and similarity in the users' discussion across the political domain as potential behavioral explanations for opinion polarization on Twitter.     

Grieving Gender: Trans-identities,Transition, and Ambiguous Loss

More and more families include a member who is trans-identified, and therefore, may be called to consider how sex and gender matter to identity and relationships. Previous research shows that for some family members this is not a simple matter. Often, family members experience transition as a living death, wherein the trans-identified person is perceived as somehow present and absent, the same and different, at once. The purposes of this study were to understand what it is about the transition of sex/gender that incites this meaning struggle and how meaning-making is connected to ambiguous loss. Relational Dialectics Theory was used to analyze how family members construct meanings for transition through competing discourses related to sex, gender, and personal identity. Findings suggest that family members' meaning making processes position them to endure, overcome, or avoid the feelings of grief related to transition.     

Gender on the box: Self-reflexivity as a starting point

This self-reflexive activity acts as an introduction to how we talk about and express gender identity, as well as the assumptions we may have about gender identity norms and expression. The activity illuminates student’s subconscious behaviors and understandings of gender, pushing them to sit self-reflexively with their own understandings of gender as an identity, expression, binary, and potential locus of shame/freedom.

Courses: Introduction to Women and Gender Studies, Intercultural Communication, Media Studies, Gender and Communication, Performance Studies

Objectives: Designed to introduce students to their own understandings and embodiment of gender, this activity asks students to be honest about their preconceived notions regarding gender that they bring with them into the classroom. The activity utilizes predesigned components that test students’ subconscious knowledge of the gender binary. This is a one-time activity that can be conducted in one 50- or 75-minute class period.