Memorable messages as guides to self‐assessment of behavior: a replication and extension diary study

An investigation of memorable messages as guides to self‐assessment of daily behavior was conducted. Respondents were asked to keep diaries for five days. Each day participants were asked to recall one behavior that violated and one behavior that exceeded their personal expectations for themselves. After recalling the situation, participants were asked to recall the memorable messages, if any, which came to mind when self‐assessing these behaviors. This method used the self‐assessment of prior behavior as the entry point to a feedback loop. Control theory predicts that within the feedback loop behaviors are compared with internal principles that come from memorable messages. This comparison is predicted to result in either a positively or negatively valenced evaluation of the behavior if it either exceeds or violates personal standards represented as internal principles. The findings include the categories of behaviors that exceeded or violated personal expectations, the memorable messages, and the primary sources of the memorable messages that were recalled during the comparison process. In addition, comparisons were made between this research effort and a previous study that asked participants to self‐assess more extreme cases of behavior and the memorable messages associated with that process.     

An exploration of female offenders’ memorable messages from probation and parole officers on the self-assessment of behavior from a control theory perspective

Guided by control theory, this study examines memorable messages that women on probation and parole receive from their probation and parole agents. Women interviewed for the study were asked to report a memorable message they received from an agent, and to describe situations if/when the message came to mind in three contexts likely to emerge from a control theory perspective: when they did something of which they were proud, when they stopped themselves from doing something they would later regret, and when they did something of which they were not proud. The types of memorable messages and the reactions to these messages within the three contexts were coded, and differences between women on probation versus parole were examined. Overall, a greater proportion of women on parole recalled memorable messages, and the most frequently reported type of memorable message was behavioral advice. Women reported that the message helped them do things of which they were proud, such as engaging in routine activities and fulfilling goals; helped them to not give into urges that could lead to further negative sanctions or feelings of regret; and came to mind when they relapsed. Practical implications of the findings for training are presented.     

Moderating effects of collectivism on customized communication: a test with tailored and targeted messages

A growing body of research has shown that customized messages have certain advantages over non-customized ones such as being more memorable and more persuasive. However, most prior studies tested customization effects with American participants only. It remains a mystery in the literature how people from other cultures may process customized messages. The current article examined the effects of two types of customized information, tailored and targeted, through two studies. Thirty Chinese working professionals and students in the US participated in study 1 and 56 Asian students in Hong Kong participated in study 2. In both studies, participants' tendencies toward collectivistic and individualistic cultures were measured. It was found that more collectivism-oriented participants generated higher recall and more favorable attitudes toward targeted messages, whereas less collectivism-oriented participants generated higher recall and more favorable attitudes toward tailored messages.     

Rural Farmers' Exposure to Radio Messages about Sun Protection: Implications for Skin Cancer Prevention

Radio affords the means to reach large audiences with reinforcing messages about health. To date, research-has seldom considered the effects of radio messages on rural or farming populations' health practices. The present study evaluated the impact of exposure to radio messages about sun protection on farmers' (N = 172) perceived knowledge about sun protection, perceptions regarding their families' expectations for farmers to practice sun protection, and farmers' sense of self-efficacy when it comes to practicing sun protection. Farmers' own efforts to promote sun protection, to purchase products to support their own sun protection, and their actual sun protection behaviors were also considered with regard to exposure to radio messages about sun protection. Findings revealed that farmers who recalled having heard a message about sun protection during the previous 12 months were more likely to perceive themselves as knowledgeable about sun protection, to perceive their families as expecting them to practice sun protection, and to believe that sun protection is a relatively easy thing to do. Farmers exposed to radio messages about sun protection were also more likely to promote sun protection to others and to purchase products to support their own sun protection practices. These results suggest that radio is a channel with great potential for achieving health promotion aims among rural farming populations.     

Esteem Support Messages Received during the Job Search: A Test of the CETESM

The current study extends research on the Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Esteem Support Messages (CETESM) and examines the role of esteem support during the job search. Unemployed, underemployed, and/or displaced job seekers (N=197) recalled an esteem support message they had received during their job search. Messages were coded using a scheme derived from the CETESM. Results indicate that helpful messages (i.e., those that enhanced state self-esteem related to the job search) were significantly more likely than unhelpful messages to contain message features predicted by the CETESM. Helpful messages were also associated with greater job search activity than were unhelpful messages. Theoretical implications, as well as pragmatic implications for those who wish to support job seekers, are discussed.     

Visual Agenda-Setting,Emotion, and the BP Oil Disaster

This study seeks to identify the most memorable visual imagery of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill by comparing a content analysis of television images and a survey of the most-remembered images. The study compared visuals from weeks 1 and 6 of the disaster to a survey conducted a year later that asked respondents to freely recall the most memorable images of the disaster. The comparison showed respondents did indeed choose as the most memorable images the visuals coded with greatest frequency in the content analysis. However, the emotions evoked by the oil-soaked animals elevated that set of images to the most memorable—chosen by almost half of respondents. This set of images was number one with the respondents yet number eight in frequency in the content analysis. This study shows a visual agenda-setting effect heightened by emotion.     

Social norms and expectancy violation theories: assessing the effectiveness of health communication campaigns

College students' processing of alcohol, smoking, and exercise social norms messages, and related effects on judgments, attitudes toward one's own behaviors, and attitudes toward undergraduates' behaviors were examined using social norms marketing and Expectancy Violation Theory (EVT) (N=393). Receiving statistical social norms messages led to an expectancy violation of the perceived social norm (i.e., a discrepancy between the expected and actual statistic conveyed with a message). Consistent with Boster et al. (), the effect of the message discrepancy on attitudes was mediated by judgments. In accordance with social norms, when participants were provided with a statistic, the majority moved their judgments (but not their attitudes) toward the provided statistic, a result only consistent with EVT in the case of positive violations. The results have multiple implications: (1) social norms messages may work to change judgments, but do not result in consistent attitude change; (2) the process of judgment change functions similarly across message topics, as well as message types (i.e., attitudinal versus behavioral); (3) judgment change does not appear to be the main cause for attitude change upon receipt of a social norms message; and (4) a message‐based expectancy violation does not function in the same way as a violated behavioral expectation.     

基于内容的图像检索反馈技术概述

在对现有的相关反馈算法进行总结的基础上，介绍一些有所改进的反馈算法，同时展示各种算法的基本原理和检索效果。通过对比各种算法的查全率与查准率，展示各种算法的优缺点、应用范围;介绍现有的几个使用相关反馈技术的基于内容的图像检索系统，并针对相关反馈领域的研究预测其有挑战性的发展方向。     

Social Comparisons and Need Fulfillment: Interpreting Video Game Enjoyment in the Context of Leaderboards

This study examines how social comparison information provided by video game leaderboards may influence players’ retrospective judgments of autonomy, competence, and relatedness need fulfillment. Participants played a video game and were randomly assigned to receive no postgame feedback or were shown a leaderboard that placed them in the top or bottom quartile of players. Results indicate downward social comparisons increase enjoyment by increasing competence and relatedness perceptions. However, upward comparisons did not have an opposite effect, nor did either type of social comparison influence players’ autonomy perceptions. Implications for applying Self-Determination Theory to video game enjoyment in the context of social comparison feedback is discussed.     

An experimental study of the vibration of the bones of the head and chest during sustained vowel sounds∗

This experiment was designed to test the hypothesis that an individual's preference for and valuation of relatively unavailable communicative messages compared to more readily available messages is a function of and will become more pronounced as his personal sense of “self‐uniqueness” is decreased. Greater preferences for and more favorable valuations of unavailable messages relative to available messages were also expected, independent of subjects’ anticipated familiarity or unfamiliarity with arguments contained in the messages. Experimental subjects received fictitious test results describing them as extremely high, high, or low in personal uniqueness compared with their peers. They then received information about four different messages; the messages being described as either available or unavailable to them and to others, and as containing either familiar or unfamiliar arguments. Subjects indicated their preferences for and valuations of each of the four different messages. The hypothesized effects were obtained.     

Students' perceptions of teachers' nonverbal behavior: Comparison of American and international students' classroom response

For some international students, teachers' nonverbal immediacy may constitute a violation of expectations in classroom behavior. Using Expectancy Violation Theory framework, this study investigated differences in students ‘perceptions of teachers’ nonverbal immediacy by comparing American and international students studying in the U.S. The findings confirmed that (1) teachers' nonverbal immediacy is perceived as more appropriate by American students than by international students, (2) there are differences in evaluations of specific nonverbal immediacy behaviors by American students and international students, and (3) perceptions depended on student gender for some behaviors, but not teacher's gender. Learning was more positively related to perceived immediacy behaviors for international students than their American counterparts.     

Gendered Expectations for “Agreeableness” in Response to Requests and Opinions

To address the need for more direct assessment of gendered expectations for communication behaviors, we devised a novel experimental approach that tests whether expectations for “agreeableness” are more salient when evaluating male or female speakers in their affirmative responses to a friend’s request or expression of opinion. Briefly, as lag times are introduced, it appears that females are expected to be more agreeable (or male delay is more tolerated), particularly when alignment with opinion is at stake or when a female is responding to another female. Findings are discussed in the context of Expectation Violations Theory.     

Feeling Caught: Adult Children's Experiences with Parental Infidelity

The purpose of this study was to understand what, if any, messages adult children recalled receiving from family members following the discovery of their parents’ infidelity that either discouraged or encouraged feeling caught. Thirty-eight individuals were interviewed. Findings suggested that adult children received messages about parental conflict being between their parents, no one being the good/bad guy, and speaking favorably about change, all of which discouraged feeling caught. Messages that encouraged feeling caught involved urging the child to uncover information, serve as a mediator, and field other family members’ opinions. These findings are compared to previous research.     

Researchers emotions after information retrieval from databases available through the Egyptian Knowledge Bank: Impacts of perceived self-efficacy

Information search and retrieval are feeling experiences that are characterized by affirmative or negative feelings that affect awareness, memory, performance, and judgment. Feelings and other environmental and personal factors play a significant role in defining the success or failure of a search. The study was based on Bandura's four main sources of self-efficacy information, i.e., Personal self-assessment and mastery experience, social persuasion, indirect experience and comparison with others, and physiological states, on researchers' feelings after research articles retrieval. A questionnaire was managed, and 254 responses were accurate, valid, and applicable for data analysis and interpretation. Multiple linear regression test was conducted to evaluate the effect of the four main sources of self-efficacy research articles on researchers' feelings after articles retrieval. Additionally, the relationships between the sources of researchers' self-efficacy and feelings after retrieving research articles were examined considering several demographic variables and individual characteristics. The results suggested that social feedback had a major impact on researchers' feelings after articles retrieval and that Personal self-assessment and affective arousal also had impacts. The data analysis revealed that older and more proficient researchers mentioned being more influenced by their Personal self-assessment and their physiological arousal and their feelings. The study applied a quantitative research method using multiple linear regression test, which provided salutary experimental insights and a comprehensive perception for knowledge bank managers of the factors that have important impacts on researchers' feelings after articles retrieval. The results contribute a modern perspective to past studies on researchers' feelings after research articles retrieval, which has not previously been researched in the Egyptian context.     

Examining the dimensionality of performance feedback messages: Source and recipient perceptions of influence attempts

Performance feedback is considered an effective means of influencing organizational members. Nevertheless, recipient perceptions regarding such attempts to motivate, change, and/or reinforce certain behaviors and attitudes will determine the eventual response. Often these responses are unexpected and less than desirable. Efforts to better understand the performance feedback construct have produced conceptions emphasizing its complexity and multidimensionality. However, a recent challenge to the usefulness and /or validity of such conceptualizations has prompted the research reported here. This study explores feedback recipients’ and sources’ perceptions of the underlying dimensionality or “hidden structure” of performance feedback messages.     

Norms,expectations, and deception: A norm violation model of veracity judgments

Violations of expectations have been advanced as an explanation for how people make veracity judgments, and previous research has found that unexpected weird behavior is rated as less honest than expected normal behavior. The current experiment (N = 128) varied norms and expectations independently to test four alternative models of veracity judgments. The models included a normative expectation model, an expectancy violation sufficient model, a model based on Expectancy Violation Theory, and a norm violation model. The data were consistent with a norm violation model. Aberrant behavior, whether expected or unexpected, was rated as less honest than normative behavior. Neither expectation violation nor actual message veracity affected deception judgments. These data provide additional evidence of the primacy of behavior over prior expectations in the evaluation of face to face communication.     

基于“接受理论”的图书馆系统中读者地位和作用研究

“接受理论”是研究读者在文学创作过程中的地位和作用的理论。从“接受理论”角度看 ,读者是图书馆系统中不可分割的要素 ;读者对图书馆“系统质”特征有重要制约作用 ;读者在图书馆系统中的主要功能是信息的接受、反馈、求新和开拓 ;读者的期待值应作为图书馆系统的重要调控依据。参考文献 3。     

“I Said What?” Partner Familiarity,Resistance, and the Accuracy of Conversational Recall

We examined the influence of two structural parameters on the content and valence of conversational recall. 144 females had two conversations defined by relationship type (close friend or stranger) and partner resistance (resistance or none). Conversational recall statements were coded for accuracy of content (self, partner, or neutral) and valence (positive, negative, or neutral). Overall, respondents were less accurate in recalling the content of stranger conversations than friend exchanges, and when partners were agreeable compared to resistant. However, those who experienced little partner resistance more accurately recalled positively valenced information than respondents who encountered resistance. When partners resisted, friend interactions were recalled less accurately in terms of positivity, but more accurately for negative information, compared to the recall of stranger conversations.     

Economic News and Personal Economic Expectations

Personal economic evaluations are a component of consumer confidence and predict political behavior. However, very few studies have examined the link between mediated information and personal economic evaluations. This research examines the conditions under which exposure to media content influences personal economic expectations as well as which sources of information impact personal economic expectations. Results are based on an integration of a four-wave national panel survey and media content data. Findings show that exposure to unemployment news in tabloid outlets was a significant predictor of personal economic expectations. The implications of these results are further discussed.