Educational identity and maternal helicopter parenting: Moderation by the perceptions of environmental threat

This four-wave study examined longitudinal associations between maternal helicopter parenting and college students' educational identity processes over 1 year, as well as the moderating effects of mothers' perceived environmental threats (i.e., uncertainty and competition). Participants were 349 first-year university students (39.8% male, M_age = 18.20) and their mothers (M_age = 49.10) in Hong Kong. Latent class growth analysis identified two subgroups based on levels of mothers' threat perceptions (i.e., lower vs. higher). Multi-group random-intercept cross-lagged models found that, at the within-person level, students' reconsideration of educational commitments positively predicted helicopter parenting only for mothers with higher threat perceptions. These findings mainly support youth-driven effects on overbearing parenting behaviors. Mothers' threat perceptions might exacerbate these excessive responses to youth's academic turbulence.     

Communal Goals,Campus Racial Climate Perceptions,and Cultural Differences in Perceived Academic Satisfaction

Although some research has examined Latino collectivism and Latino students' campus climate perceptions, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the interactive effects of these two constructs. Therefore, the authors examined the moderating effect that perceptions of campus racial climate may have on the relationship between communal goals and academic major satisfaction for Latino students in comparison with European American students. Contrary to prediction, perceptions of a positive university campus racial climate moderated the relationship between communal goals and academic satisfaction for European American students but not Latino students. Specifically, European Americans endorsing higher communal goals were more likely to report higher academic satisfaction when holding a positive perception of the university's racial climate. However, a main effect was observed whereby communal goals were a significant positive predictor of academic satisfaction for Latino students. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Healthy Dating: A Mixed-Gender Date Rape Workshop

Abstract

College communities are increasingly being called upon to institute date rape prevention programs. This article describes a mixed-gender workshop sponsored by a university's Program for Rape Education and Prevention that was given to more than 1,400 undergraduate students in more than 80 presentations. In order to guide modifications of the workshop, formative evaluation data collected from 330 male (mean age 20.3 years) and 314 female (mean age 20.5 years) university students were collected. Results were largely positive. Despite the sensitive nature of the topic, only 10.2% of the men and 8.2% of the women reported being uncomfortable discussing date rape in mixed-gender groups. Furthermore, students were virtually unanimous in their agreement that date rape is a topic worthy of a workshop.     

Effects of crisis efficacy on intentions to follow directives during crisis

Self-efficacy has consistently been a useful predictor of behavioral intentions as a construct in many theories; yet, its role in audience adherence to instructing information during crisis is relatively unexplored. A national survey (N = 454) examines self-efficacy in public response to crisis directives and develops the concept of crisis efficacy as an important area for future research. In three crisis contexts (food-borne illness, weather emergency, and public health disease threat), crisis efficacy, along with several demographics, significantly predicted public response to instructing information. Crisis efficacy emerges as a construct with great potential to inform message design in crisis communication.     

Restoring reputations in times of crisis: An experimental study of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory and the moderating effects of locus of control

This study attempts to provide empirical evidence for Coombs’ (2007) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), which provides guidelines for matching crisis response strategies to crisis types to best restore organizational reputations in times of crisis. The impact of crisis type and crisis response strategies on perceptions of corporate reputation is measured for 316 consumers participating in a 3 (crisis type: victim crisis, accidental crisis, preventable crisis) × 3 (crisis response: deny strategy, diminish strategy, rebuild strategy) between-subjects experimental design. The results show that preventable crises have the most negative effects on organizational reputation and that the rebuild strategy leads to the most positive reputational restoration. Moreover, the more severe people judge a crisis to be, the more negative are their perceptions of the organization's reputation. The interaction effect between crisis type and crisis response strategies on corporate reputation is not significant. However, a person's locus of control has a moderating impact on the relationship between crisis response strategy and organizational reputation. Specifically, the results show that people with an external locus of control prefer the use of deny strategies more than people with an internal locus of control.     

Children's response to the medical visit for allegations of sexual abuse: maternal perceptions and predicting variables

This study examined maternal perceptions of their child's response to the medical evaluation for alleged sexual abuse. A total of 50 mothers were interviewed 6 months after a visit to a Child Protection Clinic for a medical evaluation of alleged sexual abuse. The mothers answered a questionnaire on their child's reactions to the medical visit. More than 60% of children were perceived as being reassured about physical integrity. The degree of psychological distress was independent of perpetrator's identity and severity of the abuse. Mothers considered that a hypothetical second visit would generate in their child a level of anxiety that increased with perceived intensity of fear of the examination and decreased with perceived kindness of the physician. These results suggest that the physician's behaviour during the medical evaluation for alleged sexual abuse has an influence on the child's degree of distress that is independent of type and severity of abuse. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Group dynamics on multidimensional object threat appraisals

The literature on attitudes toward objects includes seminal research on threat appraisals indicating that individuals locate an object in a multidimensional threat appraisal space defined by the object's perceived degree of being good or bad, weak or strong, and passive or active. We advance this research in three ways. First, we generalize the information integration on an object with the inclusion of other individuals’ displayed appraisals, and posit the existence of a dynamical system of information integration that generates a network of interpersonal influences on group members’ object appraisals. Second, we show that this influence system entails a set of non-obvious and rarely violated constraints on individuals’ settled appraisals. Third, with data collected in experiments on groups’ appraisals of images of nine animals and two nations, Russia and North Korea, we report empirical findings that support the existence of this system and its predicted constraints on individuals’ object appraisals.     

Personal space claims as a function of interpersonal threat: The mediating role of need for control

Previous research suggests that the concept of control is central to understanding spatial regulation. Similarly, control motivation appears to underlie the individual difference variable of Type A behavior. Based on this commonality it was hypothesized that Type A behavior would mediate spatial claims in response to situational threat. Results confirmed this hypothesis. Type A's claimed larger spaces overall, and more space in front of the body in response to threat, than Type B's. Differential results for size and shape of personal space suggest the multidimensional nature of spatial regulation.     

Achieving the Optimal Vaginal State: Using Vaginal Products and Study Gels in Uganda,Zimbabwe, and South Africa

Preferences and practices related to the vaginal condition have implications for the use of vaginal HIV prevention products. The authors used qualitative methods to explore narratives relating to the vaginal state amongst women in South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe who had previously participated in a biomedical HIV prevention trial. They investigated women's behaviors related to optimizing the vaginal state, experiences and perceptions of the gel's effect on the vaginal state and on penile-vaginal intercourse, women's narratives on male partner perceptions, and how preferences relating to the vaginal state may have interfered with gel use.     

Attitude Shifts: A Qualitative Analysis of Students' Awareness and Reaction to the Homeless

Abstract

Perceptions toward homelessness among 23 undergraduates were explored through individual, semi-structured interviews. Several higher-education institutions have incorporated non-traditional learning components to promote altruism and empathy among students toward the poor and homeless. We focused on one Midwestern university's experiential approach that had a “poverty-immersion” experience within a selected course. We explored how the poverty-immersion weekend altered undergraduates' perceptions of the poor and persons in homeless milieu. Students evidenced marked alterations in their understandings of the homeless: dispelling assumptions to consider individuals in light of personal and circumstantial situations that led to their states of homelessness, and the holistic nature of their needs. Students were challenged to reconsider the attitudes towards the homeless as expressed by those in the middle-class socioeconomic status.     

Combating negative blog posts and a negative incident: A case study of the “Mayday” incident between Juneyao Airlines and Qatar Airways

This case analysis examined the image repair strategies used by Juneyao Airlines after an anonymous blog posted information on a Juneyao flight's refusal to yield to a flight that issued an emergency call. This case revealed that addressing the credibility of the blog post and relying a third-party – Civil Aviation Administration of China – to combat the inaccuracies in the blog post was successful and that Juneyao's final announcement to take responsibility for the incident and to apologize was effective as well.     

The ACORN story: An analysis of crisis response strategies in a nonprofit organization

In 2009, two political activists published hidden-camera recordings of their visits to the offices of a national, community-based, nonprofit organization. In the videos, the activists posed as a prostitute and a pimp in order to elicit damaging information from the organization's employees. This incident was just the latest in a series of disastrous situations for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). In the year prior to the video controversy, the organization addressed allegations of voter registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election and reacted to the expose of a hidden embezzlement by a family member of ACORN's founder. This study employs the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to analyze how ACORN responded to this series of damaging public relations attacks. The study investigated ACORN's crisis response strategies through an analysis of media coverage about the crises.     

Correlates of Participation in a Family-Based HIV Prevention Program

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between contextual factors and attendance in a family-based HIV prevention program for low-income, urban, African-American women and their children. Participants' motivations to become involved, their concerns about discussing sex-related issues with their children, recruiters' perceptions of respondents' understanding of the program, and environmental stressors were examined. Participants' level of motivation and recruiters' success in improving respondents' understanding of the program were significant correlates of attendance. Stressors experienced by the family and concerns around talking with children about sex were not significantly associated with participation. Recommendations to enhance involvement in family-based HIV prevention programs are made.     

Civic responsibility in a risk democracy

The National Research Council advocates for what they term a risk democracy, in which risk issues require community decision-making based on dialogue. This essay focuses on the promotion of civic responsibility in a risk democracy. Award-winning public awareness campaigns are analyzed to demonstrate how community partnerships and civic responsibility can improve community resilience. First, the role of a community in an emergency is discussed; second, the current focus of the Department of Homeland Security on prevention rather than preparation as illuminated by interviews with emergency managers is critically examined; and finally, public awareness campaigns are presented to show how personal and civic responsibility can assist in emergency planning and response.     

Resignation or Dismissal?: When a CEO and a President Clash

In the executive director's opinion, Bluehills Family Services' board of directors had serious problems with their organizational governance. These difficulties came to a head in an apparently unresolvable clash between the executive director and the board president. Given the preexisting board and organization perceptions, could an emergency board meeting produce a positive outcome, and would the executive director's participation be counterproductive?     

Beyond attribution: Building new measures to explain the reputation threat posed by crisis

Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) suggests attributed responsibility is the key factor explaining the reputation threat posed by crisis situations. However, studies on SCCT have found using its prescribed responses has a small effect. This research uses image repair theory’s conception of crisis to suggest that offensiveness is another factor that should be measured in order to explain the reputation threat posed by crisis. Using the literature of moral foundations theory, interviews with 20 people with expertise in public relations, and 338 participants from mTurk in a 2 (attributed responsibility)?×?10 (crisis offensiveness) experiment, this research develops valid, reliable measures of attributed responsibility for crisis offensiveness, and mitigating virtuousness, that explain 73.7% of the reputation threat posed by crisis in the sample, as opposed to 24.8% explained by attributed responsibility alone in the same sample. Implications for public relations scholars and practitioners are discussed.     

College Students and HIV/AIDS: A Comparison of Nontraditional and Traditional Student Perspectives

Objective and Participants The authors compared nontraditional college students' knowledge and perceptions of HIV/AIDS and sexual practices with previously reported results about traditional students. Methods Nontraditional students completed an online survey with questions based on national HIV/AIDS surveys. Traditional students completed the same survey with paper and pencil. Results Overall, the authors found more similarities than differences between the 2 groups. The findings support previous research that suggests that although college students are knowledgeable about HIV and its risks, they express little personal concern about becoming infected. The authors also discuss how apparent differences between nontraditional and traditional students regarding personal concern about becoming infected, relationship status, and information sources may influence the development of effective prevention strategies geared toward nontraditional college students. Conclusions Institutional leaders need to adapt to these differences, and researchers should undertake additional studies to clarify these differences so that college students may be more effectively educated about HIV/AIDS and encouraged to get tested.     

Johnson and Johnson phantom recall: A fall from grace or a re-visit of the ghost of the past

This paper addresses and evaluates the case of Johnson and Johnson's crisis management. In an attempt to analyze the case, the paper overviews Johnson and Johnson's Tylenol product tampering in the 1980s and its recent phantom recall of Children's Motrin. The assessment of the company's crisis management was done using the anticipatory model of crisis management (AMCM). Conclusions drawn from this assessment put Johnson and Johnson in a different spotlight than it had enjoyed during its earlier crisis management efforts. Implications for organizational crisis management efforts are also presented.     

Taking Over the School: Student Gangs as a Strategy for Dealing with Homophobic Bullying in an Urban Public School District

SUMMARY

This article discusses the African American lesbian gang, DTO (Dykes Taking Over), as an example of a student-initiated strategy for dealing with homophobic bullying in an urban American school district. A series of alleged incidents of same-sex sexual harassment by gang members on heterosexual students illustrate how lesbian/bisexual threat was used by these women to re-establish a power differential after they experienced bullying based on their sexuality and gender expression. A series of alleged incidents of same-sex sexual harassment by gang members on female heterosexual students illustrate how gay/bisexual threat was used by these women to re-establish a power differential after they experienced bullying based on their sexuality and gender expression. This article considers how these students were reacting, perhaps preemptively and in retaliation, to homophobia in their schools, particularly from their peers, forming gangs and using same sex sexual harassment of other students as a weapon against homophobia and a means by which they could assert themselves in their masculinities, not unlike their male peers who experience same sex bullying and/or harassment and use anti-female sexual harassment to assert their masculinity. Intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality frame several major questions that arise from these considerations, including: Might their masculinities be uniquely related to their performances of bullying? (How) could homophobic bullying be framed with sexual harassment in both policy and practice? Would this framing benefit or harm students who are bullied? How would/does that change the way we can handle it in schools (i.e., school policies), if at all? Implications for school-based practitioners are discussed with regard to how these students' behavior might be the result of a lack of programs and services available for LGBTQ and same gender loving youth both in and after school.     

Primary versus secondary prevention messages: College students' perceptions of effectiveness by marijuana user status

Abstract

Objective: With medical and recreational marijuana legislation expanding throughout the country, the need to educate high-risk populations is evident. The purpose of this study was to assess college students’ perceptions of health communication messages comparing primary and secondary prevention messages concerning marijuana. Participants: Participants (n?=?487) included college students, ages 18–25, enrolled in a Midwestern University. Methods: Participants assessed messages based on likeability, creativity, believability, persuasiveness, relevance, and usefulness using an online questionnaire that also included open-end comments. Results: Rasch analyses indicate that nonmarijuana users rated primary prevention messages higher than secondary prevention messages, whereas marijuana users ranked secondary prevention messages more favorably than primary prevention messages. Conclusion: Interventions designed to address marijuana use among college students may be more effective if tailored toward user status. Specifically, primary prevention materials should be designed for abstainers, while secondary prevention messages that focus on harm reduction strategies should be used with marijuana users.