More Than Just Cat Pictures: Reddit as a Curated News Source

Uncritical acceptance of many occult and paranormal belief systems has become more and more common in modern Western society in the past decade. Until recently few professionals have taken the time to respond to these beliefs. However, within the past few years several journals and books have appeared which contain detailed refutations of numerous occult and paranormal beliefs. This article presents an annotated bibliography of such journals and books that are currently in print.     

Understanding the underlying motives: Motivation beliefs in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL)

Much can be learned from examining what leaders and followers believe motivates their work and the work of their colleagues. Research indicates a person's actions are inseparable from their beliefs and, given the many workplace decisions made on a daily basis, studying the motivational beliefs that underlie those decisions could reveal a great deal about workplace dynamics. The Motivation Beliefs Inventory (MBI) is a validated survey instrument designed to measure motivation beliefs along four theoretical lines: Reinforcement Theory, Expectancy-Valence Theory, Achievement Motivation Theory, and Self-Determination Theory. While this instrument has been used to measure motivation beliefs in such disparate industries as global consulting and the U.S. military, it has never been applied in an academic or library setting.Thus, this article discusses the results of a study which investigated the motivation beliefs of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic librarians in the United States. This study utilized a cross-sectional survey design with a stratified random sample of academic librarians employed by the 102 U.S. ARL member libraries. The findings indicate that ARL librarians' gender identity, race/ethnicity, faculty status, manager/non-manager job duties, educational attainment, and years of experience in academic libraries impact the motivation theories with which their beliefs align.     

Children's and Parents' Fright Reactions to Kidnapping Stories in the News

We conducted a random telephone survey of 182 parents to assess their reactions as well as their children's reactions to child kidnapping stories in the news. Children below age 13 experienced more fright-related feelings and more concern for their personal safety than adolescents did. Children who were heavy viewers of TV news also were more frightened. Parents rated themselves as more upset by the stories than their children were. Parents' fright responses and coping strategies were more prevalent among those who paid close attention to the high-profile news stories and those who regularly viewed TV series about missing persons. The findings are discussed in terms of cultivation theory and developmental differences in how children process information.     

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.     

Understanding the Nature,Uses, and Gratifications of Social Television: Implications for Developing Viewer Engagement and Network Loyalty

This study employed an online survey (N = 310) to explore how viewers’ motivations for social TV participation influence their involvement in social TV activities, their program commitment, and network loyalty. Findings show that social infotainment and social companionship are the primary motivations of social TV participation. However, only social infotainment significantly predicts the intensity of viewers’ social TV usage, which has a positive influence on program commitment and network loyalty. Additionally, the relationship between social TV usage and network loyalty is partially mediated by program commitment. These findings demonstrate the value of social TV to broadcasters and provide directions for initiating and maintaining long-term relationships with viewers.     

Extrovert and Lonely Individuals’ Social TV Viewing Experiences: A Mediating and Moderating Role of Social Presence

Social TV viewing is generally understood as a simultaneous act of watching TV and engaging in communication about the TV program with other TV viewers connected online. In response to the increasing popularity of this new TV viewing practice, the current study examined how individuals’ extrovert personality and loneliness influence social TV viewing experiences through the theoretical notion of social presence. An online survey was completed by 330 individuals. Results demonstrated that extrovert personality positively influenced social TV viewing experiences; it is important to note that this relationship was mediated by social presence. Loneliness itself was negatively related to social TV viewing experiences; however, this relationship was moderated by social presence. Specifically, when lonely people felt strong social presence, they enjoyed social TV viewing experiences. The findings provide theoretical implications for social TV research, the dynamic role of social presence, social enhancement model, and social compensation model.     

Prosocial effects of entertainment television in India

The study examines the prosocial effects of Hum Log (We People), India's 1st long running television soap opera. Hum Log was a prosocial TV program that was designed to promote women's status in Indian society. Regression analysis was used to measure the degree to which exposure to Hum Log affected viewers' (1) awareness of certain prosocial beliefs promoted by the series, (2) level of TV dependency, (3) involvement with the characters of Hum Log, and (4) adherence to 3 prosocial beliefs promoted by Hum Log. Exposure to Hum Log was positively associated with viewer's awareness of the program's prosocial messages, TV dependency, and involvement with TV characters in the series. Viewers who were more exposed to Hum Log were also more likely to believe in women's equality and women's freedom of choice, but not in family planning. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of present and future research on the use of prosocial TV programs for development in Asia.     

Where Is My Issue? The Influence of News Coverage and Personal Issue Importance on Subsequent Information Selection on the Web

Researchers believe that the Web functions to supplement traditional news media. Little is known, however, about how traditional news media consumption influences Web use patterns. This study investigates how prior TV news exposure influences individuals' subsequent Web use by testing 3 theories that may explain individuals' information selection patterns—accessibility, instrumental utility, and personal issue importance. The results of this study reveal the strong effects of personal issue importance when selecting information on the Web, regardless of news coverage in traditional media. The findings also indicate higher levels of information selection when there is no prior exposure to news coverage.     

Do Users Experience Real Sociability Through Social TV? Analyzing Parasocial Behavior in Relation to Social TV

The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which users build parasocial relationships via social TV, and the implications for sociability and usability in future media. Focusing on parasocial behavior, this study examines how sociability and usability influence the attitudes and intentions of social TV (STV) users. The findings from experiments and a user survey indicate mediating and moderating roles of parasociability in the effect of performance on intention. The results showed that STV viewing and interaction were positively associated with parasocial experience. Parasocial relationships and interaction, in turn, were positively associated with the viewers’ perception of usability and sociability, and intentions. This study reveals the links among an emerging media experience, social TV, and users’ interaction with mediated realities.     

Shop 'til We Drop? Television,Materialism and Attitudes About the Natural Environment

Cultivation theory research exploring the links between television viewing and attitudes about the natural environment has found evidence that heavier viewers of television are more apathetic about environmental issues than their lighter viewing counterparts. Why this relationship occurs has not, however, been explored. The current research, based on a mail survey sent to a 1,000-person national random sample and a 1,000-person random sample of a national environmental organization, finds that the explanation for the relationship between television and a lack of concern for the natural environmental may be explained by materialism. Materialism is found to mediate the relationship between television viewing and attitudes about the natural environment. This finding offers important insights not only into our understanding of cultivation theory but also into our understanding of our relationship with the natural environment at a time when such information has perhaps never been more essential.     

Perceived party polarization,news attentiveness,and political participation: a mediated moderation model

Perception of party polarization has a positive impact on political participation. While past research suggests that such impact depends upon people’s information use, empirical evidence is lacking. We used a mediated moderation model to test the multiplicative effect between polarization perception and media use on political participation. The data for analysis came from a survey of 625 representative Hong Kong residents in 2015. Findings show that the impact of perceived party polarization on political participation is contingent upon one’s news attentiveness, and that internal political efficacy serves as a mediator that partially explains the interaction effect. Narrowed gaps in political knowledge, efficacy, and participation were observed between light and heavy news users as perceived party polarization rises. The implications of the findings with respect to political participation, role of news media use, and the formation of efficacy beliefs in the context of party polarization are discussed.     

Second Screening Donald Trump: Conditional Indirect Effects on Political Participation

As second screening becomes more widespread, this study addresses its mediating role on the impact of TV news in political participation online and offline, and how this impact varies across groups. We expand the existing line of research by assessing the moderating role of support for Donald Trump on the established mediated model. Through a cross-lagged autoregressive panel survey design applied to the communication mediation model, our results support the link between second screening and political participation—but the mediating role of second screening is contingent upon attitudes towards Trump. For those who do not view Trump favorably, second screening during news leads to a decrease in political participation, both online and offline. As such, this article adds to the communication mediation model by suggesting that discussion and elaboration may not always be positive antecedents to political participation. When individuals disagree with the message dominating TV news and social media, deliberation via second screening leads to political disengagement.     

Exposure to HIV/AIDS-Related Media Content and HIV Testing Intention: Applying the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction

Despite considerable evidence of an association between mass communication efforts and HIV testing behavior, the mechanisms through which this association may be established have been less extensively studied. Drawing on the integrative model of behavioral prediction, this study assessed the relationship between exposure to HIV/AIDS-related media content, individual intention to be tested for HIV, and the psychosocial variables mediating the relationship among 986 urban and rural residents of northwest Ethiopia. Structural equation modeling revealed that the relationship between exposure to HIV/AIDS-related media content and HIV testing intention was partially mediated by the three psychosocial variables associated with the integrative model (attitude, normative, and self-efficacy beliefs). However, whereas exposure to HIV/AIDS media content was found to be associated most substantially with attitudes toward HIV testing, intention to be tested was found mainly to be influenced by normative beliefs, which suggests that there is a possible mismatch between mass media programming and the prevailing psychosocial processes within the study population. The relationship between exposure to HIV/AIDS-related media content and HIV testing intention was also found to be mediated differently across urban and rural groups. Thus, it appears that the two groups may require different types of intervention to promote the desired behavior.     

The Relationship Between Exposure to Sexual Music Videos and Young Adults' Sexual Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between exposure to sexual music videos and young people's sexual attitudes (i.e., premarital sexual permissiveness and endorsement of the sexual double standard). Items gauging exposure to 75 music videos ranging in sexual explicitness were used to measure sexual video viewing among a sample of 266 undergraduate students. As expected, exposure to more sexually explicit music videos was associated with more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex and stronger endorsement of the sexual double standard, regardless of gender, overall television viewing, and previous sexual experience. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

An Empirical Study of Factors that Influence the Willingness to Pay for Online News

Drawing on the theory of the economics of information, this study sheds light on the factors that influence willingness to pay for online news, using a telephone survey of 570 US (from the Pew Research Center) adults selected at random. Results of the logistic regression analysis revealed relationships between paying intent and predictor variables such as demographics (age and income), purchase of other digital products (online movies or TV content, software programs, eBooks and applications) and media use (Twitter). However, independent variables such as gender (demographics), video games and music files (purchase of other digital products) were not statistically significant. Future research on the economics of news may take into account these findings focused on studying paying intent.     

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.     

Knowledge Versus Beliefs: How Knowledge and Beliefs Mediate The Influence of Likeminded Media use on Political Polarization and Participation

Using cross-sectional data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey, this study tests 2 models that explicate the relationship between politically likeminded media use and political polarization and participation. The knowledge model suggests that the effects of exposure to likeminded media on individuals’ attitudinal polarization and political participation are mediated by knowledge of candidate issue stances. The belief model proposes that likeminded media use indirectly influences political polarization and participation via political beliefs. The results provide evidence that individuals’ beliefs mediate the influence of likeminded media consumption on attitudinal polarization and participation, but there was no support for the knowledge model. These findings indicate that individuals who consume politically likeminded news tend to develop polarized attitudes and are motivated to participate in political activities by forming biased beliefs associated with candidates rather than by gaining factual issue knowledge.     

Home e‐mail: Relational maintenance and gratification opportunities

This study explored the household use of electronic mail. In a telephone probability sample of 881 adults, 112 adults reported they used electronic mail. This sample provided four superordinate reasons for home e‐mail use: interpersonal relationships; personal gain; business; and gratification opportunities. Overwhelmingly, home e‐mail was reported to be used for interpersonal relationship reasons regardless of user demographics. The findings suggest that e‐mail is used for the maintenance of interpersonal relationships and that gratification opportunities play an important role in home e‐mail use.     

Public trust: a comprehensive investigation on perceived media credibility in China

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive investigation on perceived media credibility in China. In order to assess people's attitudes toward six media formats (television [TV], newspapers, radio, magazines, websites, and mobile devices), a series of surveys were conducted with a random sample of 5807 residents in 10 cities in China. Findings indicated that Chinese respondents perceived TV to be the most credible among all media and that TV was rated as more credible than newspapers. In addition, two official mouthpieces, China Central Television and the People's Daily, were both perceived to be highly credible. But readership in general was a nonfactor in terms of credibility. These findings challenged conventional thinking on media credibility. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.