Showing papers in "Journal of Communication in 2006"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show the relevance of behavioral theory for developing communications designed to promote healthy and/or to prevent or alter unhealthy behaviors, using data from a study on smoker's intentions to continue smoking and to quit, showing how the theory helps identify the critical beliefs underlying these or other intentions.
Abstract: This study attempts to show the relevance of behavioral theory for developing communications designed to promote healthy and/or to prevent or alter unhealthy behaviors. After describing an integrative model of behavioral prediction, the model’s implications for designing persuasive communications are considered. Using data from a study on smoker’s intentions to continue smoking and to quit, it is shown how the theory helps identify the critical beliefs underlying these or other intentions. Finally, it is argued that although behavioral theory can help identify the beliefs that should be targeted in a persuasive communication, our ability to change these beliefs will ultimately rest on communication theory.
805 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review the state of research and theory on message framing (Rothman & Salovey, 1997), and how it can inform efforts to enhance health practices throughout the cancer care continuum and identify the need to understand better the processes that shape how people construe health behaviors.
Abstract: Message framing provides a theoretically grounded approach to the development of effective health messages. In this study, we review the state of research and theory on message framing (Rothman & Salovey, 1997), and how it can inform efforts to enhance health practices throughout the cancer care continuum. Gain-framed appeals are more effective when targeting behaviors that prevent the onset of disease, whereas loss-framed appeals are more effective when targeting behaviors that detect the presence of a disease. In light of these findings, we consider how message frames may affect other types of health behaviors and identify the need to understand better the processes that shape how people construe health behaviors.
657 citations
TL;DR: The paper concludes that cancer is a motivationally relevant topic that will elicit aversive activation and should be targeted to optimize cancer messages for specific target audiences using specific media.
Abstract: This paper applies the limited capacity model of motivated mediated messages (LC4MP) to the problem of creating effective messages about cancer. A general description of the model is presented and then applied specifically to the task of creating effective cancer communication messages by asking the following questions about cancer communication: (a) What is the goal of the message? (b) Who is in the target market? (c) What medium will carry the message? and (d) What is the motivational and personal relevance of the main information in the message for the majority of people in the target market? The paper concludes that cancer is a motivationally relevant topic that will elicit aversive activation. Target markets for various types of cancer-related messages (e.g., smokers or people of a certain age) will process mediated messages in predictably different ways making certain design decisions better for certain target markets. Both structural and content elements of messages interact with the limited capacity information processing system to impact resource allocation, which in turn determines how well messages are encoded, stored, and retrieved at a decision point. Individual differences in peoples’ motivational activation influence both their tendencies to engage in risky behaviors that increase the probabilities of getting cancer and their processing of health-related messages. Future research from this perspective should be done to optimize cancer messages for specific target audiences using specific media.
568 citations
TL;DR: The authors analytically confronts the often contradictory results of the available evidence and sketches the broad outline of a preliminary theory on the relationship between the media and the political agenda, which is contingent upon a number of conditions.
Abstract: Recently the study of the relationship between the media and the political agenda has received growing attention of both media and political science scholars. However, these research efforts have not led to a general discussion or a real theory on the media’s political agenda setting power. This article first analytically confronts the often contradictory results of the available evidence. Then, it sketches the broad outline of a preliminary theory. Political agenda setting by the media is contingent upon a number of conditions. The input variables of the model are the kind of issues covered, the specific media outlet, and the sort of coverage. Political context variables, the features of the political actors at stake, are at the heart of the model. The model proposes five sorts of output ranging from no political adoption to fast substantial adoption of media issues.
559 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Green et al. describe the use of narratives for communicating cancer-related information, which can both change beliefs and motivate action, and may be particularly useful for conveying cancer information because they reduce counterarguments.
Abstract: Narratives can be an effective means of communicating cancer-related information. Transportation into narrative worlds, or immersion into a story, is a primary mechanism of narrative persuasion (Green & Brock, 2000, 2002). Transportation theory extends the domain of traditional message effects theories, as well as providing mechanisms for behavior change. Transporting narratives can both change beliefs and motivate action, and may be particularly useful for conveying cancer information because they reduce counterarguments (and thus help individuals overcome barriers to treatment seeking); facilitate the mental simulation of unknown, difficult, or frightening procedures (e.g., screening); provide role models for behavior change; and create strong attitudes that are based on both cognition and emotion.
515 citations
TL;DR: Tailored health communication (THC) is any combination of information and behavior change strategies intended to reach one specific person based on information unique to that person, related to the outcome of interest, and derived from an individual assessment.
Abstract: Tailored health communication (THC) is any combination of information and behavior change strategies intended to reach one specific person based on information unique to that person, related to the outcome of interest, and derived from an individual assessment. THCs have been studied as a means to facilitate behavior change by influencing some key intermediate steps that precede the behavioral outcome. These include the extent to which people attend to communications, think about them, find them relevant and salient, and intend to take action. Evidence shows that THCs have achieved modest success in changing a number of cancer-related behaviors, including smoking, diet, exercise, and cancer screening. However, it is likely that THCs could be more effective if they were developed with a greater understanding of message effects and what we refer to as the behavioral pathway. Instead of using unidimensional approaches to influence behavior change, a message effects approach would help researchers identify key leverage points for impact on such intermediate outcomes as persuasion and yielding. Such a strategy also might be used to determine when THCs are the preferred approach and when generic, targeted, or combinations of THCs and targeted communications might be appropriate. Viewing THCs from the perspective of the behavioral pathway might indicate use of different messages, sources, and formats to influence different people at different points on the pathway. We provide a brief history of THCs and suggest how integrating a broader perspective of health behavior and health communication theories could enrich THCs.
469 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the issue of personality in enhanced human-robot interaction (HRI) using AIBO, a social robotic pet developed by Sony, and found that participants could accurately recognize a robot's personality based on its verbal and nonverbal behaviors.
Abstract: Personality is an essential feature for creating socially interactive robots. Studies on this dimension will facilitate enhanced human–robot interaction (HRI). Using AIBO, a social robotic pet developed by Sony, we examined the issue of personality in HRI. In this gender-balanced 2 (AIBO personality: introvert vs. extrovert) by 2 (participant personality: introvert vs. extrovert) between-subject experiment (N = 48), we found that participants could accurately recognize a robot’s personality based on its verbal and nonverbal behaviors. In addition, various complementarity attraction effects were found in HRI. Participants enjoyed interacting with a robot more when the robot’s personality was complementary to their own personalities than when the robot’s personality was similar to their own personalities. The same complementarity attraction effect was found in participants’ evaluation of the robot’s intelligence and social attraction. Participants’ feelings of social presence during the interaction were a significant mediator for the complementarity attraction effects observed. Practical and theoretical implications of the current study for the design of social robots and the study of HRI were discussed.
450 citations
408 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a between-subjects experiment (N = 60) with three levels of customization (low, medium, high) was designed to examine whether greater levels of personalized content engender more positive attitudes.
Abstract: Internet technology has made possible the widespread dissemination of individualized media messages, but we know very little about their psychological import. A between-subjects experiment (N =60) with three levels of customization (low, medium, high) was designed to examine whether greater levels of personalized content engender more positive attitudes. The results not only confirm this hypothesis but also reveal the mediating role played by users’ perceptions of relevance, involvement, interactivity, and novelty of portal content. In addition, customization has behavioral effects in that it affects users’ browsing activity.
383 citations
TL;DR: This paper examined the theoretical gap in the literature regarding the relationship between advertising literacy and advertising effects and found that different processes of persuasion are effective at different ages, precisely because literacy levels vary with age.
Abstract: It is widely assumed in academic and policy circles that younger children are more influenced by advertising than are older children. By reviewing empirical findings in relation to advertising and children’s food choice, it is argued that this assumption is unwarranted. The findings do not suggest that young children are more affected by advertising than are teenagers, even though the latter are more media literate. This article critically examines the theoretical gap in the literature regarding the relationship between advertising literacy and advertising effects. By applying a dual process model of cognitive persuasion, it is shown that the evidence is more consistent with the argument that different processes of persuasion are effective at different ages, precisely because literacy levels vary with age. Recommendations for future research on the effects of advertising on children, together with the implications for policies of regulating advertising to young children and of media literacy interventions, are identified.
349 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of parenting styles and level of Internet access in the home have on parenting mediation of online content and time spent on the Internet (N =520) was investigated.
Abstract: Telephone surveys of single and married mothers of teenagers in public schools, mothers of teenagers in religious schools, and mothers of homeschooled teenagers examined the influence that parenting styles and level of Internet access in the home have on parenting mediation of online content and time spent on the Internet (N =520). Specifically, how authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful parenting styles as well as home and bedroom Internet access influence the evaluative and restrictive mediation techniques used by parents was investigated. Results indicate that parenting style has a significant effect on almost all mediation techniques studied, whereas increased access only influences time online. Additionally, technological blocking as a restrictive mediation technique was found to be highest among authoritative parents, followed by authoritarian and neglectful.
TL;DR: This paper examined the extent to which leading news organizations use independent documentation to build interpretations of events that challenge official framing, and found that despite available evidence and sources to support a counter-framing of the Abu Ghraib prison story in terms of a policy of torture, the leading national news organizations did not produce a frame that strongly challenged the Bush administration's claim that AbuGhraib was an isolated case of appalling abuse perpetrated by low-level soldiers.
Abstract: This paper considers the extent to which leading news organizations use independent documentation to build interpretations of events that challenge official framing. The data presented in this study show that despite available evidence and sources to support a counterframing of the Abu Ghraib prison story in terms of a policy of torture, the leading national news organizations did not produce a frame that strongly challenged the Bush administration's claim that Abu Ghraib was an isolated case of appalling abuse perpetrated by low-level soldiers. The press struggled briefly, and in limited fashion with the question of whether events at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere reflected an administration policy of torture, but "abuse" was by far the predominant news frame. The case of Abu Ghraib offers a critical test of agreement and differences among theories of event-driven news, cascading activation, and indexing. Although all the 3 models were implicated in this case, the data, drawn from a content analysis of the Washington Post, CBS Evening News, and a sample of national newspapers, fit most closely with the predictions of the indexing model.
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of exemplification on the formation and modification of beliefs about safety and health, as well as on the consequences of these beliefs for self-protective behavior, are summarized.
Abstract: After explicating essentials of exemplification theory, research demonstrations of the effects of exemplar presentations on the formation and modification of beliefs about safety and health, as well as on the consequences of these beliefs for self-protective behavior, are summarized. Affective reactivity connected with exemplifications, especially with exemplifications presented in pictorial formats, is given special consideration. The implications of theory and research for the promotion of safety and health via the media of communication are then enumerated. The influence of exemplifications on matters of personal welfare is further considered in concert with the influence projected by complementary theoretical approaches that focus on strategic decision making.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used objectification theory to predict that the media's insidious practice of objectifying bodies socializes individuals to take an outsider's perspective on the physical self and to habitually monitor their appearance (i.e., engage in body surveillance).
Abstract: This study used objectification theory (B. L. Fredrickson & T.-A. Roberts, 1997) to predict that the media’s insidious practice of objectifying bodies socializes individuals to take an outsider’s perspective on the physical self (i.e., self-objectify) and to habitually monitor their appearance (i.e., engage in body surveillance). To test these hypotheses, a 2-year panel study using an undergraduate sample was conducted. Cross-lagged path models showed that exposure to sexually objectifying television measured during Year 1 increased trait self-objectification (trait SO) during Year 2 for both women and men. At the same time, trait SO during Year 1 decreased exposure to sexually objectifying television during Year 2, suggesting that both male and female participants selectively avoided sexually objectifying television based on antecedent trait SO. Moreover, exposure to sexually objectifying television and magazines increased body surveillance for men only. The discussion focuses on the process by which the media create body-focused perceptions.
TL;DR: The authors investigated how voters select, process, are affected by, and recall political information in a dynamic campaign environment and found that voters' information selection, processing and recall are subject to a negativity bias, a congruency bias, and a candidate bias.
Abstract: This research investigated how voters select, process, are affected by, and recall political information in a dynamic campaign environment. It was hypothesized that voters' information selection, processing, and recall are subject to a negativity bias (i.e., negative information dominates over positive information), a congruency bias (i.e., positive information about the preferred candidate and negative information about the opponent candidate dominate over negative information about the preferred candidate and positive information about the opponent), and a candidate bias (i.e., information about the preferred candidate dominates over information about the opponent). Motivated by an initial candidate preference, participants were also expected to develop more polarized candidate evaluations over time. Participants were exposed to quickly changing information in the form of newspaper-style headlines on a dynamic, computer-based information board. The results generally supported negativity bias and candidate bias, whereas congruency bias was only found during information recall. At the information selection and processing stages, participants with a strong initial candidate preference showed a disproportionate preference for negative information about the preferred candidate. However, they developed more positive attitudes at the evaluation and recall stage. This finding suggests that participants were engaged in motivated information processing by counterarguing negative information about their preferred candidate.
TL;DR: This article examined the effect of television dramas on support for controversial public policies (e.g., gay marriage and the death penalty) and explored mechanisms that may explain the effects of such effects.
Abstract: In this experiment, we examine effects of television dramas on support for controversial public policies (gay marriage and the death penalty) and explore mechanisms that may explain such effects. The dramas influenced support for death penalty but not gay marriage. As predicted, exposure to the relevant drama eliminated the relationship between prior ideology (conceptualized as a continuous variable) and death penalty support. Moreover, the valence of the relationship between prior (increasingly liberal) ideology and salience of a relevant value (perceived importance of a safe and crime-free society) went from negative in the comparison condition to positive after exposure to the relevant drama. These and other results suggest that a television narrative can influence policy support by reframing the dramatic situation to reduce the effect of prior ideology and values and by minimizing processing of the story as intentionally persuasive discourse.
TL;DR: This article summarized the literature on the relationship between emotion and persuasion as it bears on the production of cancer prevention and detection messages, and presented a series of propositions that serve to illustrate the intricacies of the emotion-persuasion relationship.
Abstract: This paper reviews and summarizes the literature on the relationship between emotion and persuasion as it bears on the production of cancer prevention and detection messages. A series of propositions are presented that serve to illustrate the intricacies of the emotion–persuasion relationship. These propositions deal with the necessary conditions for emotional arousal, individual differences in emotional reactivity to cancer messages, the potential for emotion-inducing messages to produce persuasive and counterpersuasive effects, the conditions that circumscribe the influence of emotions on persuasion, and the mechanisms by which that influence is achieved. To the extent that the literature permits, advice on message design is offered. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00286.x Among its many responsibilities, the National Cancer Institute produces messages that encourage individuals to (a) behave in ways that lessen their risk of cancer and (b) recommend actions to detect cancer in its earliest stages. Given the inherently threatening nature of cancer, it may be impossible for such messages to achieve these goals without intentionally or unintentionally arousing their audiences’ emotions. Although emotions can overwhelm individuals, they may also motivate behaviors that are psychologically difficult to enact. The effective use of emotions as persuasive devices, however, requires an understanding of not only principles related to emotional arousal but also the processes that allow emotional arousal to be translated into an effective action. This article is intended to speak to these two overarching issues. Although there is scant literature linking persuasive effects of emotion and cancer-related issues, we illustrate our claims with cancer-related research whenever possible, including previously unpublished data on individuals’ reactions to an antitobacco public service announcement (PSA). However, we augment these data with hypothetical message scenarios to further illuminate our points, which we outline in the eight propositions that follow.
TL;DR: This article explored the direct and indirect links between structural heterogeneity, network heterogeneity, and political participation and found positive links between both structural and network heterogeneity that are mediated through various communication processes, and developed a path model linking structure, context, and networks into an integrated pathway to evaluate the indirect effects of heterogeneity on political participation.
Abstract: This study explores the direct and indirect links between structural heterogeneity, network heterogeneity, and political participation. We review the often conflicting scholarship on discussion network heterogeneity and political participation and place it within a multilevel conceptual framework of heterogeneity. Based on this integrated theoretical model, our study uses a combination of macro-level and individual-level survey data from various sources. First, we use a cross-sectional national data set, based on a telephone survey with a probability sample of almost 800 adults. Second, we combine these individual-level data with county-level data on religious, political, and racial heterogeneity. Based on these data sets, we develop a path model linking structure, context, and networks into an integrated pathway to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of heterogeneity on political participation. Our results show positive links between structural and network heterogeneity that are both direct and indirect, that is, mediated through various communication processes.
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that experienced affect influences information processes, judgments, and decisions in the area of cancer screening and treatment decision making.
Abstract: We examine potential roles of 4 functions of affect in health communication and the construction of health preferences. The roles of these 4 functions (affect as information, as a spotlight, as a motivator, and as common currency) are illustrated in the area of cancer screening and treatment decision making. We demonstrate that experienced affect influences information processes, judgments, and decisions. We relate the functions to a self-regulation approach and examine factors that may influence the weight of cognitive versus affective processing of information. Affect’s role in health communication is likely to be nuanced, and it deserves careful empirical study of its effects on patients’ well-being.
TL;DR: In this paper, the impact of mobile communications on interpersonal relationships in daily life was examined based on a nationwide survey in Japan, and the results indicated that young, nonfamily-related pairs of friends, living close to each other with frequent faceto-face contact were more likely to use mobile media.
Abstract: This study examined the impact of mobile communications on interpersonal relationships in daily life. Based on a nationwide survey in Japan, landline phone, mobile voice phone, mobile mail (text messaging), and PC e-mail were compared to assess their usage in terms of social network and psychological factors. The results indicated that young, nonfamily-related pairs of friends, living close to each other with frequent faceto-face contact were more likely to use mobile media. Social skill levels are negatively correlated with relative preference for mobile mail in comparison with mobile voice phone. These findings suggest that mobile mail is preferable for Japanese young people who tend to avoid direct communication and that its use maintains existing bonds rather than create new ones. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00023.x Since their rapid growth in popularity in the late 1990s, mobile phones have become an almost essential part of daily life. Currently, mobile phones are also used for purposes other than voice communication. In some countries, there has been a trend for young people to create their own unique subcultures in which they communicate predominantly through SMS (short message service), or by e-mail over their mobile phones (Ishii, 2004; Kasesniemi & Rautiainen, 2002; Skog, 2002). To explore the implications of media mobility, this study compared the impact of four types of personal communication media—landline phone, mobile voice phone, mobile mail, and PC e-mail—on interpersonal relationships, based on a representative survey. More specifically, egocentric network data were analyzed to examine the factors affecting the use of these media in daily life. In this study, empirical data were collected in Japan where cutting-edge mobile technologies (e.g., ‘‘i-mode’’ and 3-G phones) are widely used and where a unique mobile communication culture is prevalent among the youth. Henceforth, the term ‘‘mobile mail’’ will be used to refer to both SMS and e-mail via mobile phones because in Japan, SMS and e-mail
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present an analysis of actual, recorded social interactions between close familiars with the goal to describe discursive practices involved in showing engagement with the other party, or otherattentiveness.
Abstract: The article presents an analysis of actual, recorded social interactions between close familiars with the goal to describe discursive practices involved in showing engagement with the other party, or other-attentiveness. Focusing on the deployment of the discourse markers ‘‘so’’ and ‘‘oh’’ in utterances that launch new conversational topics, the article demonstrates that ‘‘so’’ overwhelmingly prefaces other-attentive topics, whereas ‘‘oh’’ prefaces self-attentive topics. We consider the interactional implications of this distribution and how the basic meanings of these linguistic objects are employed in the service of communicating interpersonal involvement.
TL;DR: This article found that exposure to sexually explicit online material is related to more recreational attitudes toward sex, but this relationship is influenced by adolescents' gender and mediated by the extent to which they perceive online sexual material as realistic.
Abstract: Previous research has largely ignored the implications of adolescents’ exposure to sexually explicit online material for their sexual attitude formation. To study whether adolescents’ exposure to sexually explicit material on the Internet is related to recreational attitudes toward sex, we conducted an online survey among 471 Dutch adolescents aged 13–18. In line with an orientation 1 – stimulus – orientation 2 – response (O1-S-O2R) model, we found a pattern of multiple mediated relationships. Male adolescents (O1) used sexually explicit online material (S) more than female adolescents, which led to a greater perceived realism of such material (O2). Perceived realism (O2), in turn, mediated the relationship between exposure to sexually explicit online material (S) and recreational attitudes toward sex (R). Exposure to sexually explicit online material, then, is related to more recreational attitudes toward sex, but this relationship is influenced by adolescents’ gender and mediated by the extent to which they perceive online sexual material as realistic.
TL;DR: This paper found that both pro-and ant-smoking messages indirectly influenced smoking susceptibility through their perceived effect on peers, and this indirect effect was significantly stronger for pro smoking messages than for antismoking messages, an outcome that most likely increases adolescents' susceptibility to cigarettes.
Abstract: In the context of adolescent smoking adoption, this study examined the presumed influence hypothesis, a theoretical model suggesting that smoking-related media content may have a significant indirect influence on adolescent smoking via its effect on perceived peer norms. That is, adolescents may assume that smoking-related messages in the mass media will influence the attitudes and behaviors of their peers and these perceptions in turn can influence adolescents’ own smoking behaviors. Analyzing data from a sample of 818 middle school students, we found that both pro- and antismoking messages indirectly influenced smoking susceptibility through their perceived effect on peers. However, this indirect effect was significantly stronger for prosmoking messages than for antismoking messages, an outcome that most likely increases adolescents’ susceptibility to cigarettes. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00002.x People who perceive that mass media can powerfully influence others may, often quite sensibly, react to that perception themselves. These reactions to presumed influence on others fall into two general categories. One category is prevention: Assuming, for example, that sexual content in media will corrupt the morals of others, people may support censorship of such content in an effort to thwart the undesirable outcome. The other reaction is accommodation: Assuming, in this alternative scenario, that advertising is going to influence public opinion about what is fashionable and attractive, people may adopt these new fashions themselves. In both cases, regardless of any actual direct effect, media may be exerting a very real indirect effect on individuals—an indirect effect via presumed influence on others. This general indirect effects model has been called the presumed influence hypothesis (Gunther & Storey, 2003). Prevention reactions have been repeatedly documented over the past 10 years, largely in the context of third-person-effect research (see, e.g., Gunther, 1995;
TL;DR: The first longitudinal, controlled experiment of a video game explored the presence of cultivation effects due to play as discussed by the authors and found that participants in an online game changed their perceptions of real-world dangers.
Abstract: The first longitudinal, controlled experiment of a video game explored the presence of cultivation effects due to play. Over the course of 1 month, participants in an online game changed their perceptions of real-world dangers. However, these dangers only corresponded to events and situations found in the game world, not other real-world crimes. This targeted finding is at odds with the broader spreading activation postulated by some cultivation researchers. The results, their implications for theory, and the study of games are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors examined theoretical questions surrounding the hostile media effect, the tendency of partisans on a controversial issue to see news coverage of that issue as biased in favor of the other side, using opposing groups of partisans in the debate over genetically modified organisms.
Abstract: This experiment examined theoretical questions surrounding the hostile media effect-the tendency of partisans on a controversial issue to see news coverage of that issue as biased in favor of the other side. Using opposing groups of partisans in the debate over genetically modified- organisms, we tested the influence of source (journalist vs. college student) and reach (mass media vs. classroom composition) on perceptions of bias. The data revealed effects for both factors. Earlier research supported several processing mechanisms underlying the hostile media effect, but using stringent tests, we found evidence only for a categorization bias.
TL;DR: This article examined the ideological implications of racial stereotypes in comedy through a textual and audience analysis of Rush Hour 2 and found that most participants found the film's racial jokes inoffensive, regardless of race.
Abstract: In this paper, we examine the ideological implications of racial stereotypes in comedy through a textual and audience analysis of Rush Hour 2. Although Asian, Black, and White focus group participants differentially engaged with racial stereotypes in the film, most participants, regardless of race, found the film's racial jokes inoffensive. Many Asian and Black participants found a positive source of pleasure in the negative portrayals of their own race and did not produce oppositional discourse. Our study suggests that the generic conventions and textual devices of comedy encourage the audience to naturalize racial differences rather than to challenge racial stereotypes.
TL;DR: This article explored how major message effects may moderate and mediate the role of social determinants of health on cancer control, specifically cancer-related health disparities, through a selective review of literatures in communication and social epidemiology.
Abstract: Recent work on message effects theories offers a fruitful way to systematically explore how features, formats, structures of messages may attract audience attention and influence the audience and is of great relevance to public health communications. Much of this work, however, has been pursued primarily at the individual level of analysis. It is our contention that message effects on health outcomes could potentially be moderated and mediated by social contextual factors in public health such as social class, social organizations and neighborhoods among others, leading to differential effects among different audience sub-groups. This essay, through a selective review of literatures in communication and social epidemiology, will explore how major message effects may moderate and mediate the role of social determinants of health on cancer control, specifically cancer-related health disparities.
TL;DR: This paper extended existing research on political discussion's influence on political knowledge in two ways: first, they expanded the measures of discussion-related cognition to include discussion elaboration and perspective taking, and second, they employed panel data, which permit stronger causal inferences than cross-sectional studies.
Abstract: This study extends existing research on political discussion’s influence on political knowledge in two ways. First, it expands the measures of discussion-related cognition to include discussion elaboration and perspective taking. Second, it employs panel data, which permit stronger causal inferences than cross-sectional studies. Our findings indicate that, even controlling for prior knowledge, interest, news use, and news elaboration, political discussion frequency and discussion elaboration are positively related to political knowledge. However, perspective taking is unrelated to political knowledge.