The Indirect Association Between Television Exposure and Self-Protective Behavior as a Result of Worry About Crime: The Moderating Role of Gender

Persistent fear of crime can have serious consequences for one’s social behavior. Previous research has shown that people who fear crime are more likely to engage in self-protective behavior. Although a substantial amount of research has examined the relationship between television exposure and fear of crime, research on the association between television exposure and self-protective behavior is scarce. Based on cultivation theory and the mediated fear model, the current study aimed to examine whether news and crime drama television viewing are indirectly related to self-protective behavior via fear of crime. Structural equation modeling of data from 392 undergraduate students showed that news viewing and crime drama viewing is indirectly associated with self-protective behavior. The current study provided evidence for the importance of accounting for gender when investigating the complex issue of media effects on fear of crime and self-protective behavior.     

Patterns of Nonverbal Adaptation in Supportive Interactions

This study seeks initial evidence for the patterns of nonverbal adaptation predictive of emotional improvement after a troubles talk conversation. A total of 128 dyads composed of two unacquainted individuals engaged in a 5-minute conversation about a stressful event, and the nonverbal behaviors of both the supportive listener and discloser were coded for immediacy. We detected a general pattern of matching between interlocutors, which was positively associated with disclosers’ reported emotional improvement above and beyond listener immediacy. Importantly, we found primary support for a discloser-matching model whereby emotional improvement is a function of disclosers matching highly immediate listeners but no support for a listener-matching model whereby emotional improvement is a function of listeners matching disclosers to signal empathy.     

A focus on quality--the library's role in occurrence screening

One of the highest priorities in today's hospitals is the provision of quality care to patients. The medical librarian has an increased responsibility to furnish quality information to the medical staff. Traditional methods of reference service continue to work well, but it is increasingly important for librarians to become more directly involved in hospital quality assurance (QA) activities. Occurrence screening is one system of QA where the librarian can make a difference.     

A study of color in dissertations and theses

This study examined the occurrence of color in dissertations and theses produced at the Pennsylvania State University over a nine year period. Since the most common preservation method for dissertations and theses is monochromatic microfilming, traditional treatment may result in a loss of information encoded in color in these resources. Results indicate a significant increase in the use of color over the time period studied. Variations in the amount of color use by discipline were also observed. Implications related to monochromatic microfilming and recommendations for long term preservation are discussed.