Research has begun to consider feelings of social connectedness on social networking sites (e.g, ... more Research has begun to consider feelings of social connectedness on social networking sites (e.g, Riedl, Köbler, Goswami, & Krcmar, 2013). Previous work has suggested that social presence, or perceptions of the presence of others, and social awareness, or awareness of the actions of others, are mechanisms that explain the accrual of online social connectedness. We apply this model to Facebook, a popular social networking site, and use a sample of adolescents. We use adolescents given the importance of friendships and social connectedness to this age group (Moore, 1987). Using survey data collected from 381 Dutch adolescents and young adults, results generally replicate the findings of Riedl and colleagues (2013). Specifically, social presence and social awareness are related to one another; both are positively related to social connectedness. Additionally, usage frequency is related to social connectedness, although network size is not. Further, usage frequency moderated the relationship between social presence and social connectedness, such that individuals high in both social presence and usage frequency had higher levels of social connectedness than those low in both variables. These results have important implications. Practically, social presence, social awareness, and social connectedness are important concepts that adolescents learn during development; online spaces may serve as an area for adolescents to learn and practice these skills. Theoretically, these results suggest potential differences in the outcomes of network size based on social networking site; future work should consider how network sizes operate differently on different social networking sites.
Annals of the International Communication Association, 2020
Theorizing posits that moral judgment and reasoning stem from intuitions from at least one of six... more Theorizing posits that moral judgment and reasoning stem from intuitions from at least one of six cognitive moral modules. Research has examined how media exposure influences aspects of moral development among children and adolescents. These lines of research remain largely unintegrated, however, and extant theories lack an explicit developmental perspective. We argue that Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) is a useful tool for contextualizing past findings and thus review the extant literature in this area. Secondly, we integrate developmental theory with MFT and the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars. This paper will help researchers to understand how human development and media use interact to influence moral module salience, with implications for understanding effects of exposure on children and adolescents.
Children’s prosocial television shows include moral lessons in their narratives, but research sug... more Children’s prosocial television shows include moral lessons in their narratives, but research suggests that children struggle to comprehend and transfer these lessons to other situations. The social intuitionist model of moral judgment, however, argues that dimensions of morality can be made more salient through environmental exposure. Using data collected from 101 parent-child dyads (children ages 4.5-6.5), we explore if children’s existing moral intuitions about fairness and care may be made salient following exposure to moral lessons in a children’s television show, and if parent presence and mediation aid this process. Results demonstrate that, compared with children in the control group, children who viewed the moral message either alone or with a parent experienced improvements in perspective-taking, which in turn influenced their moral judgments and moral reasoning. Thus, children’s morality can be positively influenced by prosocial television exposure via promoting perspecti...
This study replicates and extends work by Buijzen and Valkenburg. We observed and coded purchase-... more This study replicates and extends work by Buijzen and Valkenburg. We observed and coded purchase-related interactions of parent-child dyads in stores in the US, collected questionnaire data from them and collected questionnaire data from parents visiting stores without their children in order to assess external validity. The current study found key differences between families who bring their child to the store and those who do not. Observation and coding, which examined parentchild dyads with children between the ages of 2-12, also revealed that younger children exhibited more coercive behaviors than older children by begging, crying, and negative tone use; parent television viewing was related to child requests; and parent communication and control orientation as measured by the Buijzen Consumer Communication scale were linked to child consumer behavior. Recent reports indicate that marketing targeting children is now at a staggering $17 billion dollars annually (Horovitz, 2005) and children in the US, either in direct purchase or influencing parent purchase, have approximately $1.7 trillion in buying power in a year (White, 2013). The influence of children on family purchase decisions seems only to continue to grow. In fact, McNeal (1999) found that children influence not only small family purchases such as snacks and other food items, but also play a role with major family purchases (e.g., vacations, cars). Buijzen and Valkenburg (2008) conducted a study in which parent-child pairs were observed in either a grocery or toy store in the Netherlands and found that indeed, both hours of television viewed by the child and child age affected the frequency and kind of influence attempts engaged in by children aged 0-12. Despite these compelling findings, there are several reasons why a replication and extension of these findings are warranted. First, Buijzen and Valkenburg (2008) found no evidence that family communication patterns (FCP) influenced parent-child purchase-related interactions. Although they suggest that low reliabilities may have accounted for these null results, another possibility is that the instrument they used, the FCP Inventory (Chaffee, McLeod, & Atkin, 1971), measures parents' general attitudes toward interacting with their child (e.g., "I appreciate hearing my child's
The present studies explored how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk b... more The present studies explored how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk behavior. We studied two developmental aspects of adolescent egocentrism: personal fable (a sense of invulnerability) and imaginary audience (focus on others), along with individual difference variables (sensation seeking, selfesteem, and peer pressure). The studies investigated the effects of a message variable, elaboration demand, which is driven by a developmental view of adolescents' cognitive processing. Results of 3 studies indicated the deep elaboration message was partially effective in changing message perceptions and adolescents' intentions to behave in ways to reduce risks. The message type interacted with developmental indicators (age and cognitive development), gender, and topic to explain behavioral intentions, message perceptions and retention. Adolescents are statistically overrepresented in most categories of risk taking (Arnett, 1992, p. 339). Most adolescents have the knowledge to perceive risk accurately, yet do not incorporate these risks in their decision making (Arnett, 1992). Risk-taking behavior in adolescence is associated with cognitive-social immaturity, but previous health promotion efforts have largely ignored developmental aspects of adolescent information processing. One wave of popular health education programs focused on the social context of risk-taking decisions. For
This study used a 2 x 2 X 2 design to examine the effects of warning labels, bleeping, and gender... more This study used a 2 x 2 X 2 design to examine the effects of warning labels, bleeping, and gender on viewers' perceptions and enjoyment of a docudrama. We also examined the individual difference variable of verbal aggressiveness to test for possible interactions. Overall, the warning labels increased enjoyment of the program containing profanity among college students. Bleeping had no effect on either program liking or perceptions of realism; however, bleeping decreased perceptions of the program's offensiveness, and increased viewers' perceptions of profanity frequently estimates. Lastly, verbally aggressive participants perceived the program as more realistic, and the language as less offensive
Purpose This paper aims to revise an earlier version of a measure used to assess parent–child con... more Purpose This paper aims to revise an earlier version of a measure used to assess parent–child consumer-based communication to better capture how parents talk with their children about consumer matters. Design/methodology/approach Three separate studies were used to revise the measure. The first tested the original measure with parents and children in a supermarket to determine its predictive validity. The second utilized focus groups with parents to refine the measure. The final study sampled 503 parents via MTurk to test the performance of the revised measure regarding reliability and validity. Findings The first study found that the original scale did not perform well as it relates to predicting child consumer behavior. The second study used parents to describe in their own words how they talk to their own children about consumer issues. Using these insights, the final study used the redesigned scale and identified four dimensions to the consumer-related family communication patte...
This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender an... more This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender and sensation seeking, in predicting media choice (examined through hypothetical descriptions of films that participants anticipated they would view). This study used a 2 (Positive mood/negative mood) × 2 (High arousal/low arousal) within-subject design with 544 undergraduate students recruited from a large northeastern university in the United States. Results showed that happy films and high arousal films were preferred over sad films and low-arousal films, respectively. In terms of gender differences, female viewers reported a greater preference than male viewers for happy-mood films. Also, male viewers reported a greater preference for high-arousal films compared to female viewers, and female viewers reported a greater preference for low-arousal films compared to male viewers. Finally, high sensation seekers reported a preference for high-arousal films. Implications for research design ...
A television-use questionnaire was completed by undergraduate college students (N = 773). Based o... more A television-use questionnaire was completed by undergraduate college students (N = 773). Based on results from the television-use survey, respondents’ popular television programs (33 shows) were content-analyzed for amounts of verbal aggression. A measure called the Verbal Aggression Television Consumption Index (VATCI) was calculated for each individual by combining the results of the content analysis with participants’ reported viewing levels. We examined the effects of various personality factors on the VATCI (both overall and by genre). Additionally, the relationship between the VATCI and risk behaviors was evaluated. Both sensation seeking and viewer aggression positively predicted overall VATCI and, in particular, VATCI for animated sitcoms and political satires. Overall VATCI was positively associated with risky driving, fighting, delinquency, alcohol drinking, and drug use. Implications of findings are discussed.
Research has begun to consider feelings of social connectedness on social networking sites (e.g, ... more Research has begun to consider feelings of social connectedness on social networking sites (e.g, Riedl, Köbler, Goswami, & Krcmar, 2013). Previous work has suggested that social presence, or perceptions of the presence of others, and social awareness, or awareness of the actions of others, are mechanisms that explain the accrual of online social connectedness. We apply this model to Facebook, a popular social networking site, and use a sample of adolescents. We use adolescents given the importance of friendships and social connectedness to this age group (Moore, 1987). Using survey data collected from 381 Dutch adolescents and young adults, results generally replicate the findings of Riedl and colleagues (2013). Specifically, social presence and social awareness are related to one another; both are positively related to social connectedness. Additionally, usage frequency is related to social connectedness, although network size is not. Further, usage frequency moderated the relationship between social presence and social connectedness, such that individuals high in both social presence and usage frequency had higher levels of social connectedness than those low in both variables. These results have important implications. Practically, social presence, social awareness, and social connectedness are important concepts that adolescents learn during development; online spaces may serve as an area for adolescents to learn and practice these skills. Theoretically, these results suggest potential differences in the outcomes of network size based on social networking site; future work should consider how network sizes operate differently on different social networking sites.
Annals of the International Communication Association, 2020
Theorizing posits that moral judgment and reasoning stem from intuitions from at least one of six... more Theorizing posits that moral judgment and reasoning stem from intuitions from at least one of six cognitive moral modules. Research has examined how media exposure influences aspects of moral development among children and adolescents. These lines of research remain largely unintegrated, however, and extant theories lack an explicit developmental perspective. We argue that Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) is a useful tool for contextualizing past findings and thus review the extant literature in this area. Secondly, we integrate developmental theory with MFT and the Model of Intuitive Morality and Exemplars. This paper will help researchers to understand how human development and media use interact to influence moral module salience, with implications for understanding effects of exposure on children and adolescents.
Children’s prosocial television shows include moral lessons in their narratives, but research sug... more Children’s prosocial television shows include moral lessons in their narratives, but research suggests that children struggle to comprehend and transfer these lessons to other situations. The social intuitionist model of moral judgment, however, argues that dimensions of morality can be made more salient through environmental exposure. Using data collected from 101 parent-child dyads (children ages 4.5-6.5), we explore if children’s existing moral intuitions about fairness and care may be made salient following exposure to moral lessons in a children’s television show, and if parent presence and mediation aid this process. Results demonstrate that, compared with children in the control group, children who viewed the moral message either alone or with a parent experienced improvements in perspective-taking, which in turn influenced their moral judgments and moral reasoning. Thus, children’s morality can be positively influenced by prosocial television exposure via promoting perspecti...
This study replicates and extends work by Buijzen and Valkenburg. We observed and coded purchase-... more This study replicates and extends work by Buijzen and Valkenburg. We observed and coded purchase-related interactions of parent-child dyads in stores in the US, collected questionnaire data from them and collected questionnaire data from parents visiting stores without their children in order to assess external validity. The current study found key differences between families who bring their child to the store and those who do not. Observation and coding, which examined parentchild dyads with children between the ages of 2-12, also revealed that younger children exhibited more coercive behaviors than older children by begging, crying, and negative tone use; parent television viewing was related to child requests; and parent communication and control orientation as measured by the Buijzen Consumer Communication scale were linked to child consumer behavior. Recent reports indicate that marketing targeting children is now at a staggering $17 billion dollars annually (Horovitz, 2005) and children in the US, either in direct purchase or influencing parent purchase, have approximately $1.7 trillion in buying power in a year (White, 2013). The influence of children on family purchase decisions seems only to continue to grow. In fact, McNeal (1999) found that children influence not only small family purchases such as snacks and other food items, but also play a role with major family purchases (e.g., vacations, cars). Buijzen and Valkenburg (2008) conducted a study in which parent-child pairs were observed in either a grocery or toy store in the Netherlands and found that indeed, both hours of television viewed by the child and child age affected the frequency and kind of influence attempts engaged in by children aged 0-12. Despite these compelling findings, there are several reasons why a replication and extension of these findings are warranted. First, Buijzen and Valkenburg (2008) found no evidence that family communication patterns (FCP) influenced parent-child purchase-related interactions. Although they suggest that low reliabilities may have accounted for these null results, another possibility is that the instrument they used, the FCP Inventory (Chaffee, McLeod, & Atkin, 1971), measures parents' general attitudes toward interacting with their child (e.g., "I appreciate hearing my child's
The present studies explored how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk b... more The present studies explored how adolescents process information in making decisions about risk behavior. We studied two developmental aspects of adolescent egocentrism: personal fable (a sense of invulnerability) and imaginary audience (focus on others), along with individual difference variables (sensation seeking, selfesteem, and peer pressure). The studies investigated the effects of a message variable, elaboration demand, which is driven by a developmental view of adolescents' cognitive processing. Results of 3 studies indicated the deep elaboration message was partially effective in changing message perceptions and adolescents' intentions to behave in ways to reduce risks. The message type interacted with developmental indicators (age and cognitive development), gender, and topic to explain behavioral intentions, message perceptions and retention. Adolescents are statistically overrepresented in most categories of risk taking (Arnett, 1992, p. 339). Most adolescents have the knowledge to perceive risk accurately, yet do not incorporate these risks in their decision making (Arnett, 1992). Risk-taking behavior in adolescence is associated with cognitive-social immaturity, but previous health promotion efforts have largely ignored developmental aspects of adolescent information processing. One wave of popular health education programs focused on the social context of risk-taking decisions. For
This study used a 2 x 2 X 2 design to examine the effects of warning labels, bleeping, and gender... more This study used a 2 x 2 X 2 design to examine the effects of warning labels, bleeping, and gender on viewers' perceptions and enjoyment of a docudrama. We also examined the individual difference variable of verbal aggressiveness to test for possible interactions. Overall, the warning labels increased enjoyment of the program containing profanity among college students. Bleeping had no effect on either program liking or perceptions of realism; however, bleeping decreased perceptions of the program's offensiveness, and increased viewers' perceptions of profanity frequently estimates. Lastly, verbally aggressive participants perceived the program as more realistic, and the language as less offensive
Purpose This paper aims to revise an earlier version of a measure used to assess parent–child con... more Purpose This paper aims to revise an earlier version of a measure used to assess parent–child consumer-based communication to better capture how parents talk with their children about consumer matters. Design/methodology/approach Three separate studies were used to revise the measure. The first tested the original measure with parents and children in a supermarket to determine its predictive validity. The second utilized focus groups with parents to refine the measure. The final study sampled 503 parents via MTurk to test the performance of the revised measure regarding reliability and validity. Findings The first study found that the original scale did not perform well as it relates to predicting child consumer behavior. The second study used parents to describe in their own words how they talk to their own children about consumer issues. Using these insights, the final study used the redesigned scale and identified four dimensions to the consumer-related family communication patte...
This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender an... more This study demonstrates the significance of individual difference factors, particularly gender and sensation seeking, in predicting media choice (examined through hypothetical descriptions of films that participants anticipated they would view). This study used a 2 (Positive mood/negative mood) × 2 (High arousal/low arousal) within-subject design with 544 undergraduate students recruited from a large northeastern university in the United States. Results showed that happy films and high arousal films were preferred over sad films and low-arousal films, respectively. In terms of gender differences, female viewers reported a greater preference than male viewers for happy-mood films. Also, male viewers reported a greater preference for high-arousal films compared to female viewers, and female viewers reported a greater preference for low-arousal films compared to male viewers. Finally, high sensation seekers reported a preference for high-arousal films. Implications for research design ...
A television-use questionnaire was completed by undergraduate college students (N = 773). Based o... more A television-use questionnaire was completed by undergraduate college students (N = 773). Based on results from the television-use survey, respondents’ popular television programs (33 shows) were content-analyzed for amounts of verbal aggression. A measure called the Verbal Aggression Television Consumption Index (VATCI) was calculated for each individual by combining the results of the content analysis with participants’ reported viewing levels. We examined the effects of various personality factors on the VATCI (both overall and by genre). Additionally, the relationship between the VATCI and risk behaviors was evaluated. Both sensation seeking and viewer aggression positively predicted overall VATCI and, in particular, VATCI for animated sitcoms and political satires. Overall VATCI was positively associated with risky driving, fighting, delinquency, alcohol drinking, and drug use. Implications of findings are discussed.
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Papers by Marina Krcmar