{"title":"Strategies of Blaming on Social Media: An Experimental Study of Linguistic Framing and Retweetability","authors":"Sten Hansson, Matteo Fuoli, Ruth Page","doi":"10.1177/00936502231211363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231211363","url":null,"abstract":"This article introduces an original theoretical model for understanding how the linguistic framing of political protest messages influences how blame spreads in social media. Our model of blame retweetability posits that the way in which the basis and focus of blame are linguistically construed affects people’s perception of the strength of criticism in the message and its likelihood to be reposted. Two online experiments provide empirical support for the model. We find that attacks on a person’s character are perceived as more critical than blaming focused on the negative outcomes of their actions, and that negative judgements of social sanction have a greater impact than those of social esteem. The study also uncovers a “retweetability paradox”—in contrast to earlier studies, we find that blame messages that are perceived as more critical are not more likely to be reposted.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139237912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Bleakley, Erin K. Maloney, D. Young, Michael Hennessy, John P. Crowley, K. Silk, Jessica B. S. Langbaum
{"title":"Spillover Effects of COVID-19 News Coverage on Willingness to Participate in Medical Research in a Diverse Sample of US Older Adults","authors":"A. Bleakley, Erin K. Maloney, D. Young, Michael Hennessy, John P. Crowley, K. Silk, Jessica B. S. Langbaum","doi":"10.1177/00936502231210416","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231210416","url":null,"abstract":"COVID-19 has dominated news coverage since the beginning of the pandemic. The extent to which exposure to such news affected perceptions of medical research and other health issues is not clear, especially among older adults who are more susceptible to infection and experience more COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality. This study uses a two-wave national panel of U.S. adults ages 50 years and older ( n = 1,240) to examine the mechanism through which exposure to source-specific news outlets (e.g., national network broadcasts, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC) affected willingness to participate in medical research for COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), both of which afflicts millions of older adults. We hypothesized that spillover from COVID-19 information exposure influenced potential research participation in AD research through attitudes toward science and COVID-19 misperceptions. Path analysis results provide empirical support for spillover effects which vary by news outlet.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2023-11-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139259994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xingyu Liu, Li Qi, Laurent Wang, Miriam J. Metzger
{"title":"Checking the Fact-Checkers: The Role of Source Type, Perceived Credibility, and Individual Differences in Fact-Checking Effectiveness","authors":"Xingyu Liu, Li Qi, Laurent Wang, Miriam J. Metzger","doi":"10.1177/00936502231206419","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231206419","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates fact-checking effectiveness in reducing belief in misinformation across various types of fact-check sources (i.e., professional fact-checkers, mainstream news outlets, social media platforms, artificial intelligence, and crowdsourcing). We examine fact-checker credibility perceptions as a mechanism to explain variance in fact-checking effectiveness across sources, while taking individual differences into account (i.e., analytic thinking and alignment with the fact-check verdict). An experiment with 859 participants revealed few differences in effectiveness across fact-checking sources but found that sources perceived as more credible are more effective. Indeed, the data show that perceived credibility of fact-check sources mediates the relationship between exposure to fact-checking messages and their effectiveness for some source types. Moreover, fact-checker credibility moderates the effect of alignment on effectiveness, while analytic thinking is unrelated to fact-checker credibility perceptions, alignment, and effectiveness. Other theoretical contributions include extending the scope of the credibility-persuasion association and the MAIN model to the fact-checking context, and empirically verifying a critical component of the two-step motivated reasoning model of misinformation correction.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136262031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intraparty and Interparty Political Disagreement as Predictors of Affective Polarization and Willingness to Engage in Interparty Contact: The Moderating Role of Political Difference Management Styles","authors":"Tatsuya Suzuki, Alcides Velasquez, Yan Bing Zhang","doi":"10.1177/00936502231207447","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231207447","url":null,"abstract":"Interpersonal political discussion is a normatively valued practice in a democracy, shaping polarizing attitudes and influencing future contact intentions in divided political landscapes. Applying social identity, intergroup contact, and conflict management styles theories, in this article, we investigate the associations between political disagreement with in-party and out-party members, affective polarization, and willingness to engage in interparty contact. Additionally, we examine how these associations are contingent upon individuals’ styles for managing political disagreement. Using cross-sectional survey data ( N = 732), we found that better quality of disagreement with out-party members and more frequent disagreement with in-party members are related to improved intergroup attitudes. Furthermore, these relationships vary depending on the competing disagreement management style.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135413036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cancer Fatalism in the Information Age: A Meta-Analysis of Communicative and Behavioral Correlates","authors":"Minyi Chen, Hye Kyung Kim","doi":"10.1177/00936502231205735","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231205735","url":null,"abstract":"Cancer information in the media often contains ambiguous, conflicting, or contestable knowledge, which may lead to the cultivation of cancer fatalism. Many believe cancer fatalism poses a significant barrier to cancer prevention and detection behaviors in the population. This meta-analysis synthesized empirical results from 100 studies regarding the associations between cancer fatalism and four categories of communicative and behavioral correlates: (a) media exposure, (b) cancer beliefs, (c) cancer prevention and detection engagement, and (d) cancer information management. Our findings show that cancer fatalism is positively linked to TV exposure and negatively linked to radio or Internet exposure. Cancer fatalism is also positively associated with information avoidance and negatively associated with cancer detection behaviors. This study demonstrates the nature and magnitude of the relationships between cancer fatalism and its antecedents or outcomes and offers useful insights for future investigation and theoretical development in understanding the role of cancer fatalism in communication.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135413170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An Experimental Test of Mediated Supportive Communication and Resulting Outcomes","authors":"Lucas J. Youngvorst, Susanne M. Jones","doi":"10.1177/00936502231206028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231206028","url":null,"abstract":"The present study integrates theories of mediated and supportive communication to investigate the influence of communication context (i.e., channel) and content (i.e., quality) on support outcomes. 162 friend-dyads participated in an experiment by engaging in a supportive conversation that occurred either face-to-face, via video chat, or via text messaging and was manipulated to reflect either low- or high-quality support. Results showed channel richness, as operationalized by perceived synchronicity and bandwidth, varied across all three channels, and significantly predicted support receivers’ cognitive reappraisal and emotional improvement. Moderation analyses offered support consistent with the dual process theory of supportive message outcomes, such that the positive relationship between perceived bandwidth and support outcomes diminished as support quality increased. As one of the few experimental studies of enacted support reflecting varying quality levels across three distinct communication channels in the context of established friendships, implications for mediated supportive communication are discussed.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135618219","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Meta-Analysis Examining the Role of Character-Recipient Similarity in Narrative Persuasion","authors":"Meng Chen, Yujie Dong, Jilong Wang","doi":"10.1177/00936502231204834","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231204834","url":null,"abstract":"This meta-analysis synthesized 19 empirical articles reporting 123 effect sizes of character-recipient similarity on narrative processing and persuasion outcomes across different contexts, including health, environmental, and social issues. We also aimed to investigate whether the effect magnitude varies depending on how the similarity is operationalized, which perspective is adopted, and what context the narrative persuasion is placed in. The results indicated that, compared to a dissimilar counterpart, a similar character leads to stronger identification ( k = 34, d = 0.14, p < .01) and self-referencing ( k = 12, d = 0.16, p < .01). The effects on transportation ( k = 22, d = 0.13, p = .05) and resistance ( k = 12, d = −0.16, p = .05) were marginally significant. It was also found that the similarity manipulated on chosen demographic and biographic variables like occupation and living place yields the strongest impact among other variables (i.e., innate demographic and biographic variables like age and sex, psychological and behavioral variables like beliefs and behaviors). Furthermore, the similarity effect in narrative persuasion becomes intensified when combined with a first-person perspective and placed in a social issue context. By presenting a synthesis of the existing research, this meta-analytical study sought to identify areas in need of further refinement and outline future investigation directions for narrative persuasion.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136142366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sexual Minorities’ Uncertainty About Their Romantic Partner’s Communication With Their Family: Applying the Theory of Motivated Information Management","authors":"Paul Schrodt, Andrew M. Ledbetter, Austyn Markham","doi":"10.1177/00936502231203159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231203159","url":null,"abstract":"Using the theory of motivated information management (TMIM), this study tested the degree to which sexual minorities’ uncertainty discrepancy about their partner’s communication about their relationship to their family of origin predicted their information management strategies and relational quality (i.e., closeness and satisfaction). Participants included 111 sexual minorities involved in a monogamous romantic relationship. Results supported the theoretic logic of the TMIM, as uncertainty discrepancy positively predicted negative emotions, which in turn negatively predicted SMs’ outcome expectancies and efficacy assessments but positively predicted direct and indirect information seeking. Indirect effects emerged for uncertainty discrepancy on direct information seeking and information avoidance, as well as for relational closeness and satisfaction, via the mechanisms specified by the TMIM. Importantly, this study reveals relational ambivalence that sexual minorities may experience as a result of managing their uncertainty about their partner’s relationship disclosures to their partner’s family-of-origin.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135695890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Svenja Schäfer, Isabella Rebasso, Ming Manuel Boyer, Anna Maria Planitzer
{"title":"Can We Counteract Hate? Effects of Online Hate Speech and Counter Speech on the Perception of Social Groups","authors":"Svenja Schäfer, Isabella Rebasso, Ming Manuel Boyer, Anna Maria Planitzer","doi":"10.1177/00936502231201091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231201091","url":null,"abstract":"Hate speech can increase stereotyped thinking and social distancing in a society. However, there is still a lack of variety in the social groups under study and research into possible solutions to the problem. Thus, our aim is to (1) study effects of hate speech against Chinese people and transgender people and (2) to investigate if counter speech can offset the detrimental effects of hate speech. We conducted a pre-registered online experiment with a 2 × 3 between-subject design, varying the attacked group (Chinese people/transgender people) and the type of comments (neutral/hate speech/hate speech and counter speech) for an Austrian sample ( n = 1285). Findings reveal no effect of hate speech on the dependent variables, indicating that citizens might not be as vulnerable to hate speech after all. However, counter speech has a polarizing effect: attitudinal gaps and differences for social distancing increase between left-wing and right-wing participants if hate speech is countered.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135344578","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Person-Centered Messages, Parallel Disclosures, and Reactance When Communicating Support for Parental Death","authors":"Xi Tian, Denise Haunani Solomon","doi":"10.1177/00936502231200554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502231200554","url":null,"abstract":"This article evaluates communicative strategies to reduce reactance and enhance outcomes when people receive supportive messages about the death of their parent. Two experiments, a laboratory study and an online survey, manipulated person-centeredness and the presence and timing of parallel bereavement disclosures by the support provider. In both studies, moderately person-centered messages produced less reactance and better support quality, compared to low person-centered messages, and were perceived to be as effective as highly person-centered messages. The inclusion of support providers’ parallel disclosures produced different outcomes depending on person-centeredness and the timing of disclosures. A perceived threat to freedom and reactance serially mediated the associations between person-centered messages and outcomes, including emotional improvement, support quality, and source derogation, but not the interactive effects of parallel disclosures and person-centered messages on outcomes. The discussion highlights the challenges of communicating support for major life stressors.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136061355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}