A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Organizational Dissent and Workplace Freedom in Five European Economies

Individuals in five European countries—Finland, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom (n = 1184)—completed a survey exploring the relationship between organizational dissent and workplace freedom of speech. Results revealed workplace freedom of speech is positively correlated with dissent among the entire sample in France and in Germany. Results in Spain were nonsignificant. In the United Kingdom, there was a negative relationship between workplace freedom of speech and dissent. There was a negative relationship between workplace freedom of speech and articulated dissent and a positive relationship with latent dissent in Finland. Moreover, MANCOVA testing showed nationality to have a significant effect on organizational dissent and workplace freedom of speech. Germans scored the highest on dissent and workplace freedom with Spain scoring the lowest.     

A rejoinder

Triandis' (1986) refined conceptualization of individualism‐collectivism suggests that this dimension of culture influences individuals’ behavior with members of their ingroups and outgroups. Drawing on his analysis, predictions were made regarding the influence of individualism‐collectivism on the degree of personalization, synchronization, and difficulty that occurs in ingroup and outgroup relationships. The predictions were tested using data on perceptions of communication in relationships with strangers (outgroup) and classmates (ingroup) in Japan, Korea, and the United States. The results indicated that individualism‐collectivism was related systematically to perceptions of communication in ingroup relationships, but its relationship to perceptions of communication in outgroup relationships was more complicated. To explain the link between individualism‐collectivism and perceptions of personalization, synchronization and difficulty in communication with members of outgroups, it appears that it is necessary to draw a distinction between contextual and simple collectivism.     

The Effects of Sports Media Exposure on College Students' Rape Myth Beliefs and Intentions to Intervene in a Sexual Assault

An online survey was fielded to freshmen living in residence halls at a northwestern university in the United States. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the structure of relationships among exposure to mainstream sports media, rape myth acceptance, and intentions to intervene in sexual assault situations while controlling for gender traits. Given that prior research suggests men and women differ in their beliefs about sexual assault, analyses were performed on male (n = 111) and female (n = 241) respondents separately. Among women, exposure to sports media was positively associated with rape myth acceptance, which in turn was negatively associated with intentions to intervene in sexual assault situations. Among men, consuming sports media was negatively associated with intentions to intervene in a sexual assault. The findings suggest that exposure to some sports media may be negatively associated to individuals' intentions to intervene in a sexual assault.     

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.     

Topic Avoidance,Everyday Talk,and Stress in Romantic Military and Non-Military Couples

Relationships are increasingly impacted by military involvement, necessitating a deeper understanding of communication within these couples. This study examined perceptions of everyday talk, topic avoidance, and stress of participants romantically involved with (a) a military partner (n = 118) or (b) a non-military partner (n = 94). Couple types avoided similar topics, but non-military partners avoided these topics more frequently than military partners. Both couple types engaged in everyday talk, but military partners found this communicative exchange to be more important. Non-military partners experienced greater stress than military partners, and communication was predictive of the stress experienced. The results of this study highlight similarities and differences in romantic couples and reveal areas in which relationship education can address these communicative nuances of military couples.     

The Lived Experience and Training Needs of Librarians Serving at the Clinical Point-of-Care

This study examines the emotional experiences and perceptions of librarians embedded into clinical care teams and how those perceptions affect their training and preparation needs. Qualitative research methodologies were applied to textual data drawn from focus groups (n = 21), interviews (n = 2), and an online survey (n = 167), supplemented by quantitative survey data. Phenomenological results show librarians experience strongly affective responses to clinical rounding. Important factors include personal confidence; relationships with team members, patients, and families; and the stressful environment. Analysis of librarians’ perceived educational needs indicates that training must address specialized subjects including medical knowledge, clinical culture, and institutional politics.     

Profiling the Audience for Self-Transcendent Media: A National Survey

This article reports the findings from a national survey of self-transcendent (or inspiring) media audience members in the United States. Exposure to self-transcendent content is socially significant because, theoretically, it can orient users toward matters beyond themselves, ultimately promoting connections with others and altruistic behaviors. However, to date, little is known about the daily audiences for such fare. Four primary questions guided the investigation: (a) What are the media sources and contents identified as “inspiring” by the audience? (b) Who makes up the current U.S. audience for self-transcendent media content? (c) What personality traits and viewer characteristics are associated with self-transcendent media consumption? and (d) What prosocial and altruistic behaviors are associated with self-transcendent media consumption? To address these questions, a nationally representative survey (n = 3,006) was conducted. The findings are discussed in relation to the growing body of scholarship on positive media psychology.     

Teaching assistant argumentativeness and perceptions of power use in the classroom

This study explored the relationship between TA argumentativeness and self reports of power use in the classroom. Results indicated that TA argumentativeness was positively correlated with overall TA power use. Specifically, use of referent and expert power were positively correlated with TA argumentativeness. Significant differences existed between high and low argumentatives for overall power use. Significant differences between argumentativeness levels were also found for referent and expert power.     

Objective Vitality as Moderator of Ethnolinguistic Identity Gratifications

This article examines the role of subjective and objective determinants of ethnolinguistic identity gratifications among Swedish speakers in Finland (N = 703) and French speakers in Canada (N = 4969). As expected, in both settings, the results demonstrated that ethnolinguistic identity as well as ethnolinguistic vitality significantly predicted the linguistic patterns of TV use; furthermore, a significant interaction between identity and vitality indicated that the effect of identity on TV is greater in areas where objective vitality is higher and the TV access in the given ethnic language is greater. Findings and implications are discussed.     

Challenges to Selective Exposure: Selective Seeking and Avoidance in a Multitasking Media Environment

The present research investigated selective exposure online, treating selective seeking and selective avoidance as independent phenomena. A behavior tracking measure was employed. Study 1 used an online quasi-experiment with voluntary national samples (n = 271). Consistent with early reviews on selective exposure, participants sought out attitude consonant information but did not systematically avoid attitude dissonant information compared to neutral information. Study 2 involved an experiment with student samples (n = 185) to examine the impact of cognitive load on selective behavior. The results revealed that those who were asked to multitask during an information search did not exercise any selectivity in information selection. The implications of information selection behavior in a multitasking media environment are discussed.     

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.     

eHealth literacy and the motivators for HPV prevention among young adults in Kenya

ABSTRACT

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common but preventable sexually transmitted infections that affect males and females but knowledge about it and vaccine uptake remain low. As organizations adopt eHealth communication strategies to communicate about HPV, this study examines the association between eHealth literacy (and related elements) and the motivators for HPV prevention that are based on the protection motivation theory. A survey was conducted among 472 young adults in Kenya and results show moderate eHealth literacy (M = 3.21, SD = 1.03) and online information seeking (M = 3.57, SD = 1.08) but low HPV knowledge and risk perception. eHealth literacy was correlated with HPV knowledge, perceived risk, self-efficacy, and response efficacy whereas online health information seeking were correlated with perceived seriousness of HPV infection. This study suggests examining the discrepancy between online information seeking and knowledge and the disparities in eHealth literacy among young adults in HPV communication.     

Reaching Out: Newspaper Credibility Among Young Adult Readers

The researchers examined student perceptions of campus and community newspaper credibility at the University of Florida using a Web survey (n = 1,906) of those enrolled in a general education class. A moderate correlation (r = .28) existed between college newspaper credibility and community newspaper credibility. Using hierarchical linear regression, the researchers found interest in news content to be a statistically significant predictor of credibility for both local newspapers and college newspapers. In addition, students whose parents encouraged them to read a newspaper found both newspapers more credible than did their peers, and exposure to a newspaper was found to be a strong predictor of credibility for that newspaper. Finally, the results of this case study also suggest White respondents find local newspapers more credible than other races. Implications for researchers and practitioners were discussed.     

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.     

Argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness: Testing for conceptual and measurement equivalence across cultures

Research in the United States has identified argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness as, respectively, constructive and counterproductive forms of communication predispositions. The present study tests the conceptual equivalence of the two constructs and the measurement equivalence of the Argumentativeness Scale (Infante & Rancer, 1982) and the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (Infante & Wigley, 1986) across cultures. College students from the United States (N = 755) and Japan (N = 716) responded to a questionnaire. The results indicated that: (a) the two—factor solution of the Argumentativeness Scale and the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale was a reasonable overall fit to both samples, with some culture‐specific unreliable items; (b) orthogonality of the two constructs held for both samples; (c) the factor structures (factor loading patterns and factor variance‐covariance structures) of the two scales were partially variant across the samples; and (d) the two scales had satisfactory construct validity for the Japanese sample. Implications for research on aggressive communication in connection with Hall's (1981) theory of cultural variation, cross‐cultural conflict management, and measurement in cross‐cultural communication research are discussed.     

Adopting an Integrated Behavioral Model Approach to the Study of News Media Exposure: A Focus on Experiential and Instrumental Attitudes Toward Politics

Stepping beyond traditional mass communication and political communication frameworks, this study utilizes the integrated behavioral model to predict traditional broadcast and print news media exposure. Specific focus is given to experiential (Is politics interesting?) and instrumental (Is politics important?) attitudes. A secondary analysis is performed on 2010–2014 World Values Survey data (N = 6,961) consisting of representative samples collected from the United States, Germany, Australia, and Sweden. Interest is a statistically significant predictor of both types of news media exposure, but importance and Interest × Importance are statistically significant for broadcast only. The positive predictive value of political interest for broadcast is isolated to only those individuals who perceive politics to be of low personal importance. Discussion focuses on task difficulty when comparing broadcast and print news media exposure and the theoretical implications of the study’s findings. In addition, a research agenda based on the integrated behavioral model is proposed for the study of news media engagement.     

Students' perceptions of their information literacy skills: the confidence gap between male and female international graduate students

In the 2015 Summer Session I, the information literacy team combined two instruments, the Information Literacy Assessment (ILA) and the Students' Perceptions of Their Information Literacy Skills Questionnaire (SPIL-Q), into one survey and distributed it to the college's international graduate students through a Google Form. It was distributed to 932 international graduate students, and 172 valid respondents completed the survey. The purpose of this research was to compare the confidence gap in information literacy skills between men and women, particularly in international graduate students. Data collected illustrated that female international business students (n = 70) tended to be slightly more confident than their male counterparts (n = 102) regarding their perceived information literacy skills as evidenced by their SPIL-Q average score across all six IL topics, 3.78, vs. male student's average score of 3.58.     

Information and culture: Cultural differences in the perception and recall of information

Culture is found to play an important role in the perception and recall of information. Hypotheses based on the two cultural models (individualism and context) were tested using a 2 × 2 factorial between-subject experimental design: individualism/collectivism and high/low-context conditions. The subjects consisted of 82 American students and 82 Korean students. The cultural tests confirm that the American culture represents individualism, whereas the Korean culture represents collectivism. The results indicate that Koreans tend to be more comfortable with a high-context culture that uses indirect and ambiguous messages. The Korean subjects show higher ratings for perceptions of information in a high-context design compared to the American subjects. There was no statistically significant difference in recall of information from high- and low-context conditions between the American and the Korean subjects. The findings of this study may benefit information professionals who are looking for effective ways of conveying information to intended audiences.     

A cross‐cultural comparison of self‐monitoring

This study examined the goodness of fit of three alternative models of self‐monitoring to data collected in five cultures (two individualistic and three collectivistic cultures) and the influence of individualism‐collectivism on self‐monitoring. It was predicted that the 18‐item unidimensional self‐monitoring scale is the best fit among the three and individualistic cultures exhibit higher self‐monitoring than collectivistic cultures. Data were collected from respondents in the United States, Australia (individualistic cultures) and Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (collectivistic cultures). Results supported the predictions. The data suggest, however, that it is necessary to develop self‐monitoring measures which are sensitive across cultures.