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Cho MJ, Reeves B, Ram N, Robinson TN. Balancing media selections over time: Emotional valence, informational content, and time intervals of use. Heliyon 2023; 9:e22816. [PMID: 38125545 PMCID: PMC10731070 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The sequencing of information in media can influence processing of content via mechanisms like framing, mood management, and emotion regulation. This study examined three kinds of media sequences on smartphones: (1) balancing positive and negative emotional content; (2) balancing emotional content with informational content; and (3) balancing time spent on and off the media device. Actual media use was measured in natural settings using the Screenomics framework which gathers screenshots from smartphones every 5 s when devices are on. Time-series analyses of 223,531 smartphone sessions recorded from 94 participants showed that emotionally positive content was more likely to follow negative content, and that emotionally negative content was more likely to follow positive content; emotional content was more likely to follow informational content, and informational content was more likely to follow emotional content; and longer smartphone sessions were more likely to follow longer periods of non-use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mu-Jung Cho
- Research Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
| | - Byron Reeves
- Department of Communication, Stanford University, USA
| | - Nilam Ram
- Department of Communication, Stanford University, USA
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, USA
| | - Thomas N. Robinson
- Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, USA
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University, USA
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2
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Banks LM, Brannon LA. Does Considering the Consequences of Selective Exposure Help Reduce Selective Exposure Behaviors? Psychol Rep 2023:332941231189214. [PMID: 37449741 DOI: 10.1177/00332941231189214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Selective exposure (the tendency to avoid information one disagrees with) is particularly easy to do and leads to problematic outcomes. This study investigated if personally relevant message frames would increase participant engagement and agreement when reading a counterattitudinal message. Participants (N = 180) were randomly assigned into one of three message frames: the idea attack frame asked participants to recall a time their ideas were attacked or summarily dismissed; the unable to defend position frame asked participants to recall a time they were vulnerable due to a lack of knowledge; and an irrelevant-frame control. Participants then read a counterattitudinal message about increasing internet service taxes. Next, participants rated their message agreement, and self-perceived engagement level. Although the messages did not influence agreement, the unable to defend position and the idea attack frames influenced participants to be more engaged with the message. This suggests that people are motivated to engage more with a counterattitudinal message when they are reminded of a time in which they were vulnerable due to a lack of knowledge or when others were summarily dismissive of their own ideas. Overall, both frames showed some promise and should be explored further.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lane M Banks
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
| | - Laura A Brannon
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA
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Wright PJ. Pornography Consumption and Extramarital Sex Attitudes Among Married U.S. Adults: Longitudinal Replication. Arch Sex Behav 2023:10.1007/s10508-023-02612-8. [PMID: 37165286 PMCID: PMC10171172 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-023-02612-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Social scientific interest in pornography use and effects dates back to at least the mid-twentieth century. Despite this, recent meta-analyses reveal a need for additional longitudinal studies, in general; a need for attitudinal studies, specifically; and a need for studies of U.S. consumers, in particular. In response to these needs and recent calls for the fields of communication and psychological science to prioritize replication, the present study probed whether Wright et al. (Psychol Pop Media 3(2):97-109, 2014) novel longitudinal findings on pornography consumption and extramarital sex attitudes among married U.S. adults were replicable. As in Wright et al., a distal assessment of extramarital sex attitudes did not predict interindividual increases in the likelihood of pornography consumption. Contrary to Wright et al., a distal assessment of pornography consumption also failed to predict interindividual increases in positive attitudes toward extramarital sex. However, more proximal measures of extramarital sex attitudes and pornography consumption did predict over time interindividual change in pornography use and attitudinal positivity, respectively, even after adjusting for participants' age, divorce history, education, race, sex, general unhappiness, martial unhappiness, liberal-conservative political orientation, and religiosity. These results are consistent with prior panel studies in the pornography literature in the macro, but also highlight a need for theoretical development (and testing) on the duration and time-course of selection and socialization effects in the context of pornography use and sexual attitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Wright
- The Media School at Indiana University, Bloomington, 601 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
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Haque A, Ajmeri N, Singh MP. Understanding dynamics of polarization via multiagent social simulation. AI Soc 2023; 38:1-17. [PMID: 36710998 PMCID: PMC9859750 DOI: 10.1007/s00146-022-01626-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
It is widely recognized that the Web contributes to user polarization, and such polarization affects not just politics but also peoples' stances about public health, such as vaccination. Understanding polarization in social networks is challenging because it depends not only on user attitudes but also their interactions and exposure to information. We adopt Social Judgment Theory to operationalize attitude shift and model user behavior based on empirical evidence from past studies. We design a social simulation to analyze how content sharing affects user satisfaction and polarization in a social network. We investigate the influence of varying tolerance in users and selectively exposing users to congenial views. We find that (1) higher user tolerance slows down polarization and leads to lower user satisfaction; (2) higher selective exposure leads to higher polarization and lower user reach; and (3) both higher tolerance and higher selective exposure lead to a more homophilic social network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanul Haque
- Department of Computer Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC USA
| | - Nirav Ajmeri
- Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Munindar P. Singh
- Department of Computer Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC USA
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Wong SHW, Liang J. Attraction or Distraction? Impacts of Pro-regime Social Media Comments on Chinese Netizens. Polit Behav 2021; 45:1-25. [PMID: 34511677 PMCID: PMC8417687 DOI: 10.1007/s11109-021-09744-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Despite heavy Internet regulations, government critics and political satires are not completely absent in the cyberspace of most authoritarian regimes. Some argue that these regimes deliberately tolerate somewhat critical online comments as a way to monitor mass sentiments. To counterbalance critics' influences, they often mobilize and amplify pro-regime voices. We empirically examine whether such pro-regime voices succeed in changing public opinions in favor of the authorities. Based on two online surveys and an embedded survey experiment that we implemented in China, we find that when given a choice, our Chinese respondents self-select to expose themselves to comments that deviate from the official discourses. In addition, exposure to diverse comments undermines individuals' policy support. The findings call into question the effectiveness of the "soft propaganda" that authoritarian regimes orchestrate in cyberspace. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-021-09744-4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stan Hok-Wui Wong
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HJ435, Stanley Ho Building, Hung Hom, Hong Kong
| | - Jiachen Liang
- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HJ435, Stanley Ho Building, Hung Hom, Hong Kong
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Enders AM, Uscinski JE, Seelig MI, Klofstad CA, Wuchty S, Funchion JR, Murthi MN, Premaratne K, Stoler J. The Relationship Between Social Media Use and Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation. Polit Behav 2021; 45:781-804. [PMID: 34248238 PMCID: PMC8262430 DOI: 10.1007/s11109-021-09734-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/30/2021] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Numerous studies find associations between social media use and beliefs in conspiracy theories and misinformation. While such findings are often interpreted as evidence that social media causally promotes conspiracy beliefs, we theorize that this relationship is conditional on other individual-level predispositions. Across two studies, we examine the relationship between beliefs in conspiracy theories and media use, finding that individuals who get their news from social media and use social media frequently express more beliefs in some types of conspiracy theories and misinformation. However, we also find that these relationships are conditional on conspiracy thinking--the predisposition to interpret salient events as products of conspiracies--such that social media use becomes more strongly associated with conspiracy beliefs as conspiracy thinking intensifies. This pattern, which we observe across many beliefs from two studies, clarifies the relationship between social media use and beliefs in dubious ideas. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11109-021-09734-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam M. Enders
- Dept. of Political Science, Univ. of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292 USA
| | | | - Michelle I. Seelig
- Dept. of Cinema and Interactive Media, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
| | - Casey A. Klofstad
- Dept. of Political Science, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
| | - Stefan Wuchty
- Dept. of Computer Science and Miami Institute of Data Science and Computing, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
| | | | - Manohar N. Murthi
- Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
| | - Kamal Premaratne
- Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
| | - Justin Stoler
- Dept. of Geography, Univ. of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 USA
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Dorison CA, Minson JA, Rogers T. Selective exposure partly relies on faulty affective forecasts. Cognition 2019; 188:98-107. [PMID: 30833010 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2019.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Revised: 02/15/2019] [Accepted: 02/15/2019] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
People preferentially consume information that aligns with their prior beliefs, contributing to polarization and undermining democracy. Five studies (collective N = 2455) demonstrate that such "selective exposure" partly stems from faulty affective forecasts. Specifically, political partisans systematically overestimate the strength of negative affect that results from exposure to opposing views. In turn, these incorrect forecasts drive information consumption choices. Clinton voters overestimated the negative affect they would experience from watching President Trump's Inaugural Address (Study 1) and from reading statements written by Trump voters (Study 2). Democrats and Republicans overestimated the negative affect they would experience from listening to speeches by opposing-party senators (Study 3). People's tendency to underestimate the extent to which they agree with opponents' views drove the affective forecasting error. Finally, correcting biased affective forecasts reduced selective exposure by 24-34% (Studies 4 and 5).
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Julia A Minson
- Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, United States
| | - Todd Rogers
- Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, United States
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Scherer AM, Taber-Thomas BC, Tranel D. A neuropsychological investigation of decisional certainty. Neuropsychologia 2015; 70:206-13. [PMID: 25725416 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.02.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2014] [Revised: 02/10/2015] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The certainty that one feels following a decision increases decision-making efficiency, but can also result in decreased decision accuracy. In the current study, a neuropsychological approach was used to examine the impact of damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) on core psychological processes promoting decision certainty: selective exposure, overconfidence, and decisiveness. Given previous research demonstrating that vmPFC damage disrupts the generation of negative emotional (somatic) states that have been associated with selective exposure and overconfidence, it was hypothesized that damage to the vmPFC would disrupt engagement in selective exposure, decrease overconfidence, and increase indecision. Individuals with vmPFC damage exhibited increased indecision, but contrary to our hypothesis, engaged in similar levels of selective exposure and overconfidence as the comparison groups. These results indicate that indecision may be an important psychological mechanism involved in decision-making impairments associated with vmPFC injury. The results also suggest that the vmPFC may not be critical for selective exposure or overconfidence, which provides support for a recent "desirability" account of selective exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron M Scherer
- Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
| | - Bradley C Taber-Thomas
- Department of Psychology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Daniel Tranel
- Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
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