Just One More Episode: Predictors of Procrastination with Television and Implications for Sleep Quality

Sleep experts have raised concern over the effects of electronic media use on sleep. To date, few studies have looked beyond the effects of duration and frequency of media exposure or examined the underlying mechanisms of this association. As procrastinatory media use has been related to lower well-being, we used data from two survey studies (N₁ = 821, N₂ = 584) to investigate (a) predictors of procrastinatory TV viewing and (b) the link between procrastinatory TV viewing and sleep quality. Findings from both studies indicate that those with a stronger viewing habit, higher TV involvement, and an eveningness preference reported more procrastinatory TV viewing. Procrastinatory TV viewing was related to subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep efficiency, and daytime dysfunction. This association was fully mediated by perceived stress. As sleep is key for the replenishment of self-control, procrastinators may be setting themselves up to fail at self-regulating, a situation exacerbated by the omnipresence of media in today’s society.     

Influence of Television Viewing and Sensation Seeking on Adolescents' Unrealistic Perceptions about Smoking and Smokers: Evidence From a National Survey

This study investigates the influence of TV viewing and sensation seeking on adolescents' estimates of smoking prevalence and perceptions about smokers. Analysis of a nationally representative sample of adolescents (N = 6,792) indicates that more TV viewing is associated with higher estimates of smoking prevalence. Heavier TV consumption and higher sensation-seeking tendency both predict more favorable perceptions about smokers. Sensation seeking moderates the relationship between TV viewing and perceptions about smokers such that the relationship holds stronger for high- versus low-sensation seekers.     

Does TV Viewing Cultivate Meritocratic Beliefs? Implications for Life Satisfaction

The purpose of this article was to explore the cultivation effects of television viewing on meritocratic belief systems (particularly, system justification) and ultimately on perceived life satisfaction. Results of a cross-sectional survey (N = 276) reveal that genre-specific TV viewing cultivates system-justifying beliefs. More specifically, findings suggest that heavy viewing of competition-based reality TV viewing shapes viewers' economic system-justifying beliefs (i.e., the belief that the economic system is fair and legitimate, rewarding those who put in the effort and hard work). Economic system justifying beliefs, in turn, were shown to enhance viewers' perceived life satisfaction.     

A Network Perspective on European Union News: Explaining Relationships of Horizontal Reporting Across EU Member States

Due to the increased importance of transnational governance, individual states become increasingly interdependent. This is also reflected in the news media coverage and media attention to foreign affairs. The European Union (EU) represents a case of advanced globalization. This study investigates news media attention to fellow EU member states. The main objective of this study is to explain what factors determine whether EU member states report about each other. The analysis is based on large-scale content analysis data of TV news and newspaper articles of 27 EU member states gathered during the 2009 European Parliament election campaign (N = 19,106) and employs network analysis to explain differences in media attention. The findings show that there are indicators at the national level that are independent of EU governance, as well as factors related to the European integration that determine whether two states report about each other. As such, countries that are neighbors, and where the same language is spoken, are more likely to report about each other. Furthermore, smaller, older, and EU member states that are more supportive of the European integration report more on fellow states.     

Face[book] Management: Self-Presentation of Political Views on Social Media

This study explores Facebook users’ management behaviors related to their—and their friends'—political communication via social media, utilizing the concepts of context collapse and self-presentation. A new two-factor measure of Facebook management was developed, pilot tested (N = 139) and implemented in a survey utilizing a national sample (N = 352) of individuals aged 18–29. Results indicated Facebook users are not generally engaging in the strategic management of political disclosures or the political content to which they are exposed. However, as network sizes increase, participants engage in more disclosure behaviors and make greater efforts to manage content exposure. Additionally, participants with strong political beliefs engage in more Facebook management behaviors, possibly indicating an effort to limit cognitive dissonance.     

A Unified Measure of Media Brand Personality: Developing A Media Brand Personality Scale for Multiple Media

The macro versus micro debate in the brand personality literature has yielded a variety of micro approach brand personality scales for different media, with both differences and parallels in personality dimensions uncovered. The observed parallels in media brand personality dimensions and the varying media contexts under which empirical tests of selective exposure theories have been conducted suggest some common ground in the way that media product brands of different formats are perceived by individuals prior to selection and that the optimal method of measuring brand personality for media products may be neither broad macro inventories nor highly context-specific micro measures but somewhere in between. This article discusses the construction of a unified scale of media brand personality that can measure the personality of movie, TV show, pop song, news, and video game brands. The results of a two-step study consisting of free-association task (N = 1,440) and factor structure formation survey of selected items (N = 4,967) suggest a three-factor structure consisting of aggression, heroism, and warmth. Communication, media management, and marketing ramifications of this scale and potential directions of future research are discussed.     

Processing of Sexual Media Messages Improves Due to Media Literacy Effects on Perceived Message Desirability

This study tested the double-edged desirability hypothesis to investigate whether a lack of reduction in desirability perceptions signified failure of a media literacy intervention to reduce the appeal of sexual portrayals or whether it instead represented an improved awareness of message-design techniques and, therefore, a successful intervention. Data from two media literacy curriculum evaluations, both pretest–posttest quasi-experiments with control groups (N₁ = 922, M = 14.13, SD = 1.07; N₂ = 1,098, M = 14.26, SD = 1.06) showed that the media literacy treatment in both studies eliminated the effect of desirability on participants’ attitudes, reduced the effect of message desirability on participants’ expectancies, and reduced the effect of message desirability on participants’ efficacy in one of the evaluations. The results supported the double-edged desirability hypothesis, which holds that media literacy education can diminish the influence of desirable but unrealistic sexual media messages on adolescents’ decision making concerning sex, regardless of whether it decreases their affinity for the messages. This approach appears to represent a more effective alternative to demonizing media messages teens find desirable.     

Do We Need to Go Cellular? Assessing Political Media Consumption Using a Single-Frame Landline/Cellular Survey Design

Much research has been published on cellular phone only households and the challenges posed by cellular phones to traditional survey methodologies that attempt to generate representative samples using only landline telecommunications. This study reports analyses comparing two separate survey strata (N _landline = 152, N _cellular = 153) collected simultaneously and nested within a single-frame survey of a state in the American Midwest for differences in demographics, political orientations, individual differences, and a variety of political media consumption variables. Focus is also given to differences among audience variables that predict various forms of political media use across the two survey strata.     

Communicating About Chronic Caregiving in the Workplace: Employees’ Disclosure Preferences,Intentions, and Behaviors

A growing number of Americans are living with chronic health conditions that require informal, ongoing care from family members who are also in the paid labor force. In this exploratory study, communication privacy management is used to make sense of chronic caregiving (N = 48–64) and noncaregiving (N = 174–178) employees’ disclosure preferences, intentions, and behaviors in the workplace. We find that workers in general anticipate that they would disclose to many individuals at work about their caregiving, but employees actually disclose much less information to far fewer people at work when they occupy the chronic caregiver role. For chronic caregivers, positive perceptions about coworker supportiveness predict increased disclosure behaviors. Finally, future research directions as employers, workers, and policy makers prepare for the complex challenges associated with negotiating paid work and unpaid chronic caregiving are provided.     

“I’m Demi and I Have Bipolar Disorder”: Effect of Parasocial Contact on Reducing Stigma Toward People With Bipolar Disorder

Examining celebrity influence, participants (N = 594) completed an experiment to see if negative stereotypes toward bipolar disorder could be reduced as a function of mode of disease disclosure from a celebrity (Demi Lovato) diagnosed with the condition. Respondents were randomly assigned to view one of three conditions where the celebrity discusses her battle with bipolar disorder (or a comparison message). Measures assessing parasocial relationship (PSR), level of parasocial interaction (PSI), transportation, social distance towards, and negative stereotypes about people with bipolar disorder were used. Social distance and negative stereotypes toward people with bipolar disorder reduced significantly following exposure to Demi Lovato’s disclosure about the disease via either TV/magazine interview. Implications of results for how celebrity disease disclosures may help reduce stigma toward bipolar condition are discussed.     

Communicatively Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS) II: Development and Validation of the CROS-14

In this article, we operationalize Communicatively Restricted Organizational Stress (CROS). CROS is a new variable previously conceptualized as a perceived inability to communicate about a particular stressor within an organizational context and operationalized as having two dimensions of prevalence and distress. The present investigation presents data from two studies (total N = 918) aimed at developing and validating a measure of CROS. In Study 1, we generated and tested a series of items intended to tap into the dual dimensions of CROS with currently employed organizational members (n = 373). In Study 2, we collected a second sample (n = 545) and confirmed the factor structure of the measure identified in Study 1. We present evidence of reliability, content validity, and construct validity. The final result is a two-dimensional measure of CROS we call the CROS-14. Our discussion includes information on implementation, scoring, and potential future applications of the CROS-14.     

Exploring the Influence of Parasocial Relationships and Experiences on Radio Listeners’ Consumer Behaviors

The purpose of the present study was to explore the influence of radio listener experiences on radio listening behaviors, consumer perceptions and behaviors, and social media involvement. A national sample of listeners (N = 2,700) from a variety of small, medium, and large designated market areas (N = 9) throughout the United States revealed the presence of parasocial relationships (PSRs) and experiences of parasocial interaction (EPSI) with local and nationally syndicated radio personalities. Both PSRs and EPSI predicted radio listening, positive perceptions about, recall of, and purchasing of the brands, products, and services recommended by listeners’ favorite radio personalities. Results also show that PSRs and EPSI predicted listeners’ involvement with social media platforms.     

Does E-mail Facilitate Negative Performance Feedback Giving?: Supervisor and Subordinate Responses Compared via the Concept of Social Accountability

With full- or part-time employees in Hong Kong as subjects, two studies examined how supervisors (n = 113) and subordinates (n = 145) reacted to a feedback scenario under the social accountability conditions depicted by a 2 (Valence: Positive or Negative) × 2 (Medium: FTF or e-mail) factorial design. Message valence explained greater variance than did medium, and e-mail was viable in mitigating both accountability-related reactions. Negative feedback, compared to positive feedback, created higher accountability that led participants in the role of a manager to feel greater anxiety and pressure, to perceive less effective message delivery and image and relationship management, and more likely to anticipate accountable behaviors. The perceptions by subordinate-subjects largely mirrored those by supervisor-subjects.     

Assessing the Relationship Between Perceived Message Sensation Value and Perceived Message Effectiveness: Analysis of PSAs From an Effective Campaign

The current study is an analysis of public service announcements (PSAs) from an effective safer sex campaign that utilized a sensation-seeking targeting (SENTAR) approach. Two random samples of heterosexually active young adults (sample one N = 1,463, sample two N = 895) viewed different sets of safer sex PSAs on a laptop computer and answered questions about their perceived sensation value and perceived effectiveness. Multiple regression analyses examined the impact of (a) demographic, (b) individual difference, (c) sexual context, and (d) message variables including perceived message sensation value (PMSV) on the perceived message effectiveness (PME) of the PSAs. Results indicated that females, African Americans, condom users, and those with less education viewed the PSAs as slightly more effective than males, Caucasians, non-condom users, and those with more education. PMSV and personal utility emerged as the strongest predictors of PME, even after controlling for all of the aforementioned variables. Implications for further research on PMSV and perceived and actual effectiveness of PSAs are offered.     

Conversation Orientation and Conformity Orientation Are Inversely Related: A Meta-Analysis

The two central constructs of family communication patterns theory—conversation orientation and conformity orientation—have been studied in their relation to a host of outcomes. In measuring these orientations, researchers often acknowledge that the empirical relationship between the two constructs tends to be negative. A meta-analytic review was conducted (k = 32, N = 8,171) to assess the magnitude of this relationship. In addition, respondent type (i.e., child versus parent respondents) was tested as a moderator. The weighted mean effect size was –.33 (95% CI [–.35, –.31]). The findings gave preliminary evidence that the relationship was weaker for parent respondents compared to child respondents. The findings hold implications for future work, such as by suggesting certain analytic decisions.     

Apps and Autonomy: Perceived Interactivity and Autonomous Regulation in mHealth Applications

Thousands of smartphone apps geared toward monitoring health behaviors are released regularly. Even as developers flood the market with mHealth apps, consumers seem overwhelmed with choices and report lack of sustained use, which raises questions about their efficacy. An online survey (N = 513) found that perceived interactivity not only has a direct effect but also exerts an indirect effect via greater autonomous regulation on users’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward mHealth apps. Frequency of tracking and updating personal data showed significant effects on behavioral intentions. Theoretical and practical suggestions for the design and evaluation of mHealth apps are discussed.     

Making Compliance Seem More Important: The “Just-One-More” Technique of Gaining Compliance

A new compliance-gaining technique is introduced called the “just-one-more” (JOM) technique that increases compliance rates by including the phrase “I just need one more person to help.” Two studies are reported (N = 160 in each). The first established the effectiveness of the technique as compared to a direct request. The second tested the hypothesis that goal difficulty moderates the technique's effectiveness in a 2 (JOM or direct request) × 2 (requester needs five surveys or 100). Results indicate that the JOM was substantially more effective than a direct request in the 100 surveys condition but not the five.