The “madness” of market logic: mental illness and late capitalism in The Double and Nightcrawler

This paper examines representations of mental illness in popular film, particularly Richard Ayoade’s The Double and Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler. As I argue, both films trouble typical Hollywood narratives of mental illness by situating schizophrenia and psychopathy, for instance, within a socioeconomic context, specifically relations of production under late capitalism and the unfettered self-interest of neoliberalism. If mental illness is a product of the postindustrial workplace in The Double, it becomes a prerequisite for success in Nightcrawler, providing a cinematic depiction of mental illness at odds with the “personal pathology” paradigm that dominates the current neoliberal landscape.     

The value of goodness‐of‐fit indices in meta‐analysis: A comment on Hall and Rosenthal

In a useful article regarding testing for moderator variables in meta‐analysis, Hall and Rosenthal (1991) suggest, among other things, that when the sample of studies is large enough, it is acceptable to use ordinary inferential statistics such as the analysis of variance to test for moderator variables. However, because meta‐analytic data points (effect sizes) differ in important ways from those for which ordinary inferential statistics were designed, we recommend that analysts use conventional meta‐analytic statistics, which are at least potentially more informative about the literature in question. Hall and Rosenthal also suggest that tests of effect size variability should play a minimal role in meta‐analytic model tests. We concur that these tests of homogeneity cannot alone test for moderator variables and that at least tests between mean effect sizes should be performed. However, consistent with Hedges and Olkin's (1985) meta‐analytic framework, we show how homogeneity tests provide additional and valuable information regarding how completely a moderator (or set of moderators) explains the variation of effect sizes. Therefore, these goodness‐of‐fit statistics may prove quite valuable, especially in meta‐analyses of highly variable study outcomes. We further recommend that in meta‐analyses for which study outcomes are already consistent, analysts should continue to perform model tests if they have theoretical expectations about moderators. We discuss these and other meta‐analytic model testing concerns.     

The experience and expression of romantic jealousy in same‐sex and opposite‐sex romantic relationships

This study examines and compares how males and females in same‐sex and opposite‐sex romantic relationships experience and express romantic jealousy. Undergraduates at a large, southern university and visitors at a metropolitan Pride Celebration (N = 149) completed measures assessing cognitive and emotional jealousy experience, jealousy expression, and demographic information. The reported usage of two of Guerrero, Andersen, Jorgensen, Spitzberg, and Eloy's (1995) communicative responses to jealousy typology significantly varied by sexual orientation and sex. Specifically, gay males were significantly more likely to use violent communication/ threats than were heterosexual males. Further, lesbians reported using manipulation attempts to a significantly lesser degree than did heterosexual participants and gay males. In contrast, levels of cognitive and emotional jealousy experience did not significantly differ by sexual orientation or sex. Implications for these findings are presented in light of the broader study of close opposite‐sex and same‐sex romantic relationships.     

Library 2.0: The New E‐World Order

This article explains why Library 2.0 is nothing less than a new world order. The author, who is the manager of the Strategic Planning Office of the National Library of Singapore, argues that libraries must stop trying to change the behavior of their users. Instead they must give up control and make use of collaborative tools and technology to engage and share information rather than just provide it. He highlights three areas where change is imperative if libraries are to have a bright future.     

The media and the crisis of democracy in the age of Bush‐2

In this study, I demonstrate the consequences of the triumph of neoliberalism and media deregulation for democracy. I argue that the tremendous concentration of power in the hands of corporate groups who control powerful media conglomerates has intensified a crisis of democracy in the United States and elsewhere. Providing case studies of how mainstream media in the United States have become tools of conservative and corporate interests since the 1980s, I discuss how the corporate media helped forge a conservative hegemony, failed to address key social problems, and promoted the candidacy of George W. Bush in the 2000 US presidential election.     

The persuasive effects of delaying identification of high‐and low‐credibility communicators: A meta‐analytic review

A review of extant research evidence indicates that when source identification is delayed until after the message has been presented, the differential effectiveness of high‐ and low‐credibility communicators is reduced. In particular, those combinations of credibility level and advocated position that are ordinarily (i.e., with pre‐message identification) relatively advantageous (a low‐credibility source with a proattitudinal position, or a high‐credibility source with a non‐proattitudinal position) have persuasive effectiveness reduced by delayed identification, whereas those combinations that are ordinarily relatively disadvantageous (a high‐credibility source with a proattitudinal position, or a low‐credibility source with a non‐proattitudinal position) enjoy enhanced effectiveness with delayed identification. The magnitude of the effects associated with identification‐timing variations is quite large (mean absolute value of d = .753), at least by comparison to other factors for which quantitative estimates of persuasive effect are available. The observed effects place constraints on explanations of credibility's effects; in particular, credibility's effects cannot be explained through the mere association of a given communicator with a particular position.     

Interpreting relational meanings: The influence of sex and gender‐role

This study addresses three types of sex differences in relational communication. Male and female respondents completed an assessment of gender‐role measuring agency and communion and read four scenarios with messages attributed to male and female sources. Respondents rated the relational dimensions of affiliation and dominance. Female sources are judged higher in affiliation. Sex and agency interact with situation for perceptions of affiliation. Situation and communion affect judgments of dominance. Individuals higher in communion perceive less dominance. The results provide insight into dominance and affiliation as competing frames for interpreting situations.     

Male/female language differences and effects in same‐sex and mixed‐sex dyads: The gender‐linked language effect

Ninety‐six university students (48 males, 48 females) were randomly assigned a partner (whom they did not know well), forming two dyad conditions: (a) same‐sex, and (b) mixed‐sex. The 48 dyads were audiotape‐recorded in 20‐minute problem solving interactions, from which 300‐word language samples were transcribed for analysis. In Study 1, 9 trained observers coded 12 language variables previously shown to distinguish male from female language use. Discriminant analysis results demonstrated that a weighted combination of 8 variables could differentiate male from female interactants: male indicators—interruptions, directives, and conjunctions/ fillers begin sentence; female indicators—questions, justifiers, intensive adverbs, personal pronouns, and adverbials begin sentence. An analysis of variance of individuals’ gender discriminant function scores showed greater differences in gender‐linked language behavior in same‐sex than in mixed‐sex dyads. In Study 2, 231 naive observers rated the 96 interactants, using the Speech Dialect Attitudinal Scale. MANOVA results showed that in same‐sex dyads, female interactants were rated higher on Socio‐Intellectual Status and Aesthetic Quality, but no gender difference was found on Dynamism. However, in mixed‐sex dyads, men were rated higher on Aesthetic Quality, whereas women were rated higher on Dynamism. Taken together, the analyses of the objective language data and the subjective attributional data provide partial support for the Gender‐Linked Language Effect in same‐sex dyads and for the attenuation of that effect in mixed‐sex dyads.     

The radio‐television curricula in American colleges and universities

This article is based on the information provided by seventynine of the approximately ninety colleges and universities offering a degree or major emphasis in broadcasting. The original data was collected in the Fourth Annual Survey of Colleges and Universities Offering Course Work in Radio and Television, 1958–1959 (published in the Fall 1959 issue of the Journal of Broadcasting).

Detailed tables, listing all of the broadcasting courses of each of the seventy‐nine schools, are available in limited supply from the author.     

Dictamen: The medieval rhetoric of letter‐writing

Dictamen was one of the two major directions of medieval rhetoric theory. Beginning as a series of rules for church letters based on classical antecedents, the art was spread widely through the use of formularies.     

The four‐day workweek and media use: A glimpse of the future

The Medium and Message of the Introductory Mass Communication Course

Introduction to Mass Communications, Jay Black and Frederick G Whitney (Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown, 1983), 473 pp., $18.50.

Mass Media in America, Don R. Pember (Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1983), 441 pp., $16.95.

Mediamerica, Edward Jay Whetmore (Belmont, CA: Wads‐worth, 1982), 365 pp., $15.95.

Free But Regulated: Conflicting Traditions in Media Law, Daniel L. Brenner and William L. Rivers (Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1982), 283 pp., $24.95.

The First Amendment Reconsidered: New Perspectives on the Meaning of Freedom of Speech and Press, Bill F. Chamberlin and Charlene J. Brown (New York: Longman, Inc., 1982), 218 pp., $27.95.

Terrorism, the Media and the Law, Abraham H. Miller (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Transnational Publishers, Inc., 1982), 221 pp., $25.00.

Readings in Mass Communication: Concepts and Issues in the Mass Media, 5th ed., eds. Michael Emery and Ted Curtis Smythe (Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown, 1983), 549 pp., $17.95.

Perspectives on Mass Communications, eds. Warren K. Agee, Phillip H. Ault and Edwin Emery (New York: Harper and Row, 1982), 476 pp., $13.50.

Mass Media III: An Introduction to Modern Communication, Ray Eldon Hiebert, Donald F. Ungurait and Thomas W. Bohn (New York: Longman, 1982), 643 pp., $17.95.     

An association of soviet‐sphere broadcasters: The international radio and television organization

Although American broadcasters are conscious of the role of the North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement, it may well be that few realize the existence of other regional broadcasting agreements and bodies, with different functions, and cast into a different mold. One such body is the International Radio and Television Organization (OIRT) which coordinates the broadcast activities of nations within or allied in varying degree to the sphere of influence of the USSR.     

The rhetoric of a lobbyist: Benjamin Franklin in England, 1765‐1775

During his ten‐year stay in England as a colonial representative, Benjamin Franklin exhibited the qualities of a skillful lobbyist. He was committed to, and accurately represented, American interests; he urged moderation on British leaders and moderate resistance on his own clients; he based his major appeal to the British Government on the grounds of practical self‐interest.     

The disguise of self‐disclosure: The relationship ruse of a Soviet Spy

The verbal disclosures of a Soviet spy masquerading as a university student are compared to those of three other group members involved in a semester‐long project. Audio‐tapes of six group meetings provide a unique opportunity to assess the relationship deception of this proficient deceiver. His communication is characterized by strategic disclosures designed to create a false impression and, thereby, to divert attention from his secret role. His conversation reveals more frequent control disclosures, attitude disclosures, personal disclosures, and dramatic disclosures than other group members. The spy also verbalized significantly more knowledge disclosures than all but one other peer. The frequency and content of his disclosures identify, in part, the communicative strategy of his disguise, whereby he drew considerable attention to himself and, thus, appeared transparent. The results underscore the importance of looking beyond the appearance of disclosures when attempting to identify relationship deception.     

Culture and information manipulation theory: The effects of self‐construal and locus of benefit on information manipulation

This paper offers a preliminary exploration into how culture and cultural orientation influence the perception of deceptive messages. Information manipulation theory (IMF) posits that covert violations of Grice's four conversational maxims give rise to messages that are functionally deceptive. This study (N = 323) attempted to replicate previous IMT results regarding the perceptions of information manipulation in an academic situation, and with a culturally diverse sample. Locus of benefit (self and other) was manipulated, and the respondents’ self‐construal was assessed. Previous IMT findings were replicated, and the effects for self‐construal on honesty ratings varied considerably by manipulation type. Explanations for these findings are provided, as are suggestions for future research.     

Bookselling—book buying: The European perspective of the online market

The book market in European countries is different than the U.S. market for various political, geographical, and cultural reasons. The authors outline these differences and provide background on the move to electronic commerce and future. The article includes many electronic and print sources of and bibliographic tools for locating books in the European market.     

An assessment of the convergent validity of the checklist of behavior alteration techniques: The association between teachers’ likelihood‐of‐use ratings and informants’ frequency‐of‐use ratings

An important area of applied communication research is teachers’ use of classroom discipline and management strategies which have become known as Behavior Alteration Techniques (BATs). The instrument commonly used to measure teachers’ use of BATs is the checklist of Behavior Alteration Techniques. The purpose of the present research was to assess the convergent validity of the checklist of Behavior Alteration Techniques. Thus, this research attempted to assess the extent to which teachers’ likelihood‐of‐use ratings converge with other measures of teacher BAT use. It was hypothesized that the correlation between students’ and student teachers’ ratings of the frequency of teacher BAT use would be significantly higher than the correlation of either index with teachers’ likelihood‐of‐use ratings. This hypothesis was not supported: The BATs checklist did not fail this test of convergent validity. However, the results do not support the claim that the BATs checklist passed this test of convergent validity. Explanations for these results are offered and their implications are discussed. In brief, the present results suggest important considerations in the study of this important area of applied communication.     

The theory of reasoned action and self‐construal in predicting intention of studying among Korean college students

The study tested the Theory of Reasoned Action in Korea. Questionnaires measuring behavioral intention to study for final exams were distributed to 144 Korean college students. The findings indicated that attitude toward behavior and subjective norm predicted behavioral intention. When attitude toward behavior was divided into social and personal attitudes toward behavior based on the types of outcomes that behavior brings about, it was only social attitude toward behavior had a significant weight in predicting behavioral intention among the Korean students. Positive correlations were observed between the strength of interdependent self‐construal and the normative component and between the strength of independent self‐construal and the attitudinal component. Self‐construals, however, did not influence the relative weights of the two components in predicting behavioral intention.     

Student perceptions of instructor verbal aggressiveness: The influence of student verbal aggressiveness and self‐esteem

This study explored the effects of student levels of trait verbal aggressiveness (VA) and self‐esteem on student perceptions of instructor verbal aggressiveness in the college classroom. Participants included 228 undergraduate students who completed a series of instruments measuring self‐reported levels of VA and self‐esteem, as well as instructor levels of VA in the classroom. Results indicated that students who reported moderate to high levels of trait VA rated their instructors as being more verbally aggressive than those students who reported low levels of trait VA. Likewise, students who reported low to moderate levels of self‐esteem rated their instructors as being more verbally aggressive than those students who reported high levels of self‐esteem. When combined, student VA and self‐esteem accounted for 7% of the shared variance in student perceptions of instructor VA.