Extending the Conceptualization of Listening Fidelity

An exploration of variables potentially related to Listening Fidelity (LF) was conducted through two separate studies. Study 1 indicated that when the potential fidelity of the stimulus message was varied as a function of the number of words and time length, the message with lowest potential fidelity produced significantly lower LF than either the moderate or high potential LF message versions. The moderate potential fidelity message produced the more normal score distribution although not significantly different LF scores than the high potential message. Differences in LF were not indicated as a function of participant sex, gender, or listening style. Study 2 found that LF and two of the three internal scoring components of LF were significantly correlated with four of five dimensions of the Watson Barker Listening Test. Continued emphasis on developing alternative cognitions and exploring listener confidence, cognitive complexity, and the specific function and relationship of LF with listening outcomes were recommended.     

Explaining the Effects of Powerless Language Use on the Evaluative Listening Process: A Theory of Implicit Prototypes

This study examined the effects of forewarning and discounting messages on the evaluational consequences of powerless language use. The specific forewarning message contained information on types of powerless language (including hesitations) and their effects. The general forewarning message excluded mention of hesitations. The discounting message cautioned against making trait attributions based on powerless language behaviors. In Experiment #1, listeners exposed to the specific and general forewarning messages gave lower competence ratings to the lecturer and were less likely to recommend that he be hired as an instructor. The discounting message did not moderate negative evaluations of the lecturer. In Experiment #2, a one week delay was inserted between the forewarning and discounting messages and the oral presentation. No significant differences were found between the activation conditions and the control condition. The results of this study suggest that the theory of implicit prototypes may explain how the evaluative listening process forms impressions of powerless and powerful sources.     

If you feed them, will they come? The use of social marketing to increase interest in attending a college alcohol program

The authors used social marketing to design and test advertisement components aimed at increasing students' interest in attending an alcohol program focused on reaching students who drink heavily, although the authors offered no such program. Participants were undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses (N = 551). Questionnaires included measures assessing demographic information, alcohol use and negative consequences, and interest in attending an alcohol program in response to exposure to 1 of 12 systematically varied advertisements. The authors found that approximately 20% of participants across all ad types indicated some level of interest in attending the alcohol program. Students who use alcohol reported more interest in attending when an informational message was used. Of the participants offered food, 41.9% indicated the food offered in the advertisement impacted their interest in attending. Results suggest market segmentation plays a role in developing effective advertisements to recruit different groups of students based on their reported drinking behavior.     

Physiological Regulation at 9 Months of Age in Infants Prenatally Exposed to Cigarettes

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the association between prenatal cigarette exposure and physiological regulation at 9 months of age. Specifically, we explored the possibility that any association between prenatal cigarette exposure and infant physiological regulation was moderated by postnatal environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure or infant gender. We evaluated whether male infants with prenatal cigarette exposure or infants who were also exposed to ETS after birth had the highest levels of physiological dysregulation. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was obtained from 206 (142 exposed and 64 nonexposed) infants during a baseline period and during procedures designed to elicit both positive and negative affect. There was a significant suppression of RSA during the negative affect task for nonexposed infants, but not for exposed infants. Postnatal ETS exposure did not moderate this association; however, gender did moderate this association such that boys with prenatal cigarette exposure had a significant increase in RSA rather than the suppression seen among both nonexposed boys and girls. These results provide additional support for the idea that boys are particularly vulnerable to the effects of prenatal cigarette exposure.     

Simple But Powerful Health Messages for Increasing Condom Use in Young Adults

In a large longitudinal study involving young adults, we conducted an eight-hour STD educational intervention and examined the impact of the intervention on the efficacy of a message for promoting condom use. The message was framed in positive or negative terms and was presented visually or in numbers (percentages or frequencies). Results indicated that the numerical positive-framed message increased condom use among young adults who did not receive the intervention, whereas the numerical negative-framed message did not. Attitudes toward condom use along with changes in intentions to use condoms mediated this framing effect. In contrast, the positive-framed and negative-framed messages were equally and highly effective for promoting condom use when the messages were presented visually or when young adults received the STD educational intervention before reading the message, suggesting that the simple brochures featuring visual aids were as effective in changing attitudes and behavioral intentions as the extensive intervention. These findings add to a growing body of evidence detailing the mechanisms that allow well-constructed visual aids to be among the most effective, transparent, memorable, and ethically desirable means of risk communication. Clinical and public health implications are discussed.     

Meta-cognition and resistance to political persuasion: evidence from a three-wave panel study

ABSTRACT

We investigate the temporal course of meta-cognition and resistance processes following exposure to counter-attitudinal information in the 2012 Presidential election. Using a unique 3-wave survey panel design, we tracked eligible voters during the last months of the 2012 campaign and experimentally manipulated exposure to negative political messages targeting Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on an online platform. As predicted, we found that politically unengaged (vs. engaged) individuals were less likely to counter-argue a message attacking their favored candidate. Resistance, in turn, led to increased attitudinal certainty, polarization, and correspondence with actual voting behavior over the course of the campaign. These findings provide the first analysis of the longitudinal effects of meta-cognitive processes underlying persuasion for real-world attitude change and behavior.     

Stress, life events, and socioeconomic disparities in health: results from the Americans' Changing Lives Study

It has been hypothesized that exposure to stress and negative life events is related to poor health outcomes, and that differential exposure to stress plays a role in socioeconomic disparities in health. Data from three waves of the Americans' Changing Lives study (n = 3,617) were analyzed to investigate prospectively the relationship among socioeconomic indicators, five measures of stress/negative life events, and the health outcomes of mortality, functional limitations, and self-rated health. The results revealed that (1) life events and other types of stressors are clearly related to socioeconomic position; (2) a count of negative lifetime events was positively associated with mortality; (3) a higher score on a financial stress scale was predictive of severe/moderate functional limitations and fair/poor self-rated health at wave 3; and (4) a higher score on a parental stress scale was predictive of fair/poor self-rated health at wave 3. The negative effects of low income on functional limitations attenuated to insignificance when waves 1 and 2 stress/life event measures were controlled for, but other socioeconomic disparities in health change remained sizable and significant when adjusted for exposure to stressors. The results support the hypothesis that differential exposure to stress and negative life events is one of many ways in which socioeconomic inequalities in health are produced in society.     

A Longitudinal Examination of Physiological Regulation in Cocaine‐Exposed Infants Across the First 7 Months of Life

This study examined the association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and physiological regulation across the first 7 months of age. Measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were obtained from 169 (82 cocaine‐exposed and 87 nonexposed) infants during baseline periods at 1 month and 7 months of age and during tasks designed to elicit positive and negative affect at 7 months of age. After controlling for maternal age, gestational age, and obstetrical risk, structural equation modeling indicated that the association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and baseline RSA at 7 months of age was direct even in the presence of an indirect effect through baseline RSA at 1 month of age. There were no indirect effects through maternal affect during mother‐infant interactions assessed at 1 month of age. Analyses also indicated a direct association between prenatal exposure to cocaine and RSA regulation to negative affect at 7 months of age.     

Gender,Generational Status,and Parent–Adolescent Sexual Communication: Implications for Latino/a Adolescent Sexual Behavior

There is little research on how specific parent–adolescent sexual communication topics influence Latino/a youth's sexual behaviors, and how gender and generational status may moderate effects. This study examined effects of three different messages on intercourse and condom use among 1,944 Latino/as from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (T1 mean age = 15.46; SD = 1.50). Results indicated discussing health consequences predicted higher odds of intercourse 1 year later across gender and generation groups. Birth control recommendation effects on subsequent intercourse and condom use differed by generational status and gender. Results indicated that message content is important for understanding effects of parent–adolescent sex communication on adolescents' behavior and underscored the need to consider gender and generational status in Latino/a parent–adolescent sexual communication studies.     

Listening to Intense Messages: The Role of Arousal and Affect in Message Content Recognition

This study examines the interference effect of high-arousal, affective messages on the recognition of message content from less arousing messages. Subjects were 108 undergraduate students who viewed two political commercials in one of three conditions: Target (low intensity) followed by high-arousal message, target followed by low-arousal message, and target preceded by high-arousal message. The messages used were the political commercials of Michael Bailey concerning family values and abortion.

Results indicated that arousal effects recognition of message content. It appears, however, that high-arousal messages facilitate the recognition of content from a low-arousal message presented either before or after the stimulus.

These results are discussed in terms of current conceptualizations of affect-inducing messages and listening. Areas of further research are also suggested.     

“Jimmy Cap Before You Tap”: Developing Condom Use Messages for African American Women

This study examined which characteristics of persuasive communications are most effective in changing African American women’s condom use attitudes. Focus groups were convened with 40 African American women (M_age = 25.54, SD = 4.67) to assess their opinions on current effective strategies used to promote condom use among their peers. Participants discussed effective characteristics of messaging campaigns (i.e., source, message type, channel) and how these could be used in future prevention messages. Findings revealed that making messages that are fun, catchy, and informative, delivered frequently through social media, TV, or radio by a peer or celebrity would be perceived as most effective in changing young African American women’s attitudes. Other themes that emerged were that condom use is more strongly associated with pregnancy prevention than HIV prevention and that sexual partners were perceived to have negative condom use attitudes. Recommendations centered on increasing exposure of HIV prevention messages by placing messages on the Internet and including a funny phrase or jingle in the message so that it is easy to remember and could potentially serve as a conversation starter for discussing safe sex with partners.     

The Effects of Channel-Consistent and Channel-Inconsistent Interpersonal Feedback on the Formation of Metaperceptions

A metaperception is an individual's perception of another's perception of him or her. Symbolic interactionists posit that metaperceptions are based on social feedback, while social cognitivists posit that metaperceptions are formed via an inward turn to self-perception. We hypothesized that a situational factor, clarity of feedback, moderates whether individuals will tune into the message itself versus to self-perception: unambiguous feedback may elicit metaperceptions based on the feedback, while ambiguous feedback may elicit metaperceptions based on self-perception. To test this, 157 undergraduates selected as low or high in self-esteem were randomly assigned to receive either clear, channel-consistent (e.g., positive verbal/positive nonverbal) feedback or unclear, channel-inconsistent (e.g., positive verbal/negative nonverbal) feedback from a confederate. Results indicated independent effects of both self-esteem and verbal feedback. In addition, counter to prediction, metaperceptions formed in response to channel-consistent feedback were more in line with the self; metaperceptions formed in response to channel-inconsistent feedback were more in line with the verbal element of the message. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.     

Urge to Gamble in Problem Gamblers Exposed to a Casino Environment

Cue-reactivity has received increased attention in addiction research, though not for gambling in particular. We examined cue reactivity in 18 problem gamblers by accompanying them to a gaming casino and measuring their subjective urge to gamble over a 1-h period. Half of the sample was additionally exposed to a gambling-specific negative mood induction (NMI) manipulation via guided imagery. Overall, about two-thirds of the sample reported moderate to high-gambling urges during the casino exposure. Additionally, the NMI reduced cue-reactivity. Finally, gambling urges in both groups decreased over the course of the exposure sessions. These findings suggest that a majority of problem gamblers experience the urge to gamble when exposed to gambling cues and that the intensity of these urges decrease with time, especially in the presence of a gambling-relevant NMI. Cue exposure should be studied further as a potential tool in the treatment of problem gambling.     

Intentionality behind nonverbal messages: A perceiver's perspective

This paper examines the ways in which people decide whether or not a nonverbal message is intentional. It was predicted that judgments of intentionality would be biased by an interactant's desire to protect his or her self image. Participants (N=163) in the study went to banks and discussed new accounts with an employee. They were then asked by a confederate to discuss the nonverbal messages perceived to be sent by the employee. The results indicated that respondents reported messages accompanied by attributions of intent at a rate greater than chance. In addition, positively labeled nonverbal messages usually received interpretations of intentionality. Negative messages were viewed most often as unintentional. In those instances where negative messages were seen as intentional, participants said that the employee had strong external pressures to act in a negative manner.The authors wish to thank reviewers Michael Motley and Patricia Noller for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.     

Employee exposure to coworker substance use and negative consequences: the moderating effects of work group membership.

The current study assesses: (1) whether the relationship between individual exposure to coworker substance use and negative consequences resulting from exposure depends on work group membership, and (2) whether group-level characteristics moderate the relationship between exposure and consequences. At the group-level, we assessed occupations involving safety risk or high mobility and social factors of drinking climate and group cohesiveness. We conducted Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) across two samples of municipal employees (ns = 650, 878; n of groups = 50, 49). Our results revealed that groups with higher proportions of jobs involving risk (e.g., machine work) and, to a lesser extent, groups with a higher level of drinking climate were those most vulnerable to consequences under conditions of exposure. Importantly, our findings controlled for individual risk factors (e.g., personal drinking, job stress). Our discussion examines the implications of this study for theory and policy related to workplace substance abuse.     

Observed Infant Reactions During Live Interparental Conflict

Associations between interparental conflict and infant reactions were examined. Infants' history of exposure to interparental conflict and infant reactive temperament were examined as moderators. A community sample of 74 infants, aged 6–14 months, participated with their parents. Behavioral observations were made of parents' marital conflict and their infants' reactions. Parents reported on their emotional states during conflict, infants' history of exposure to interparental conflict, and infant temperament. Multilevel modeling indicated that infants showed differential responses to marital conflict; destructive and depressive conflict were associated with increased infant discussion attending and negative reactions, whereas constructive conflict was associated with decreased discussion attending and negative reactions. Infants' history of exposure to marital conflict and infant reactive temperament emerged as moderators.     

Can strategic message framing mitigate the negative effects of skeptical comments against corporate-social-responsibility communication on social networking sites?

This study connected framing theory with corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication literature to examine whether a CSR message that emphasizes customers’ contribution to CSR efforts can enhance CSR communication and mitigate the negative effects of skeptical comments from other users on social networking sites (SNSs). Specifically, this study examined whether a customer-credit-sharing CSR message, compared to a conventional self-promoting message, better mitigated the effects of skeptical comments from other SNSs users on values-driven motives perceived by customers, customers’ positive attitudes, and behavioral intentions. It also explored whether the effects of strategic framing changed when skeptical comments were made online by friends or strangers. A total of 400 customers participated in an online between-subjects experiment. The results showed that the credit-sharing message better protected perceived values-driven motives and positive attitudes toward the company after the customers were exposed to skeptical comments, regardless of who posted the skeptical comments. Customers who read the credit-sharing message also showed stronger intention to defend the company’s CSR efforts and stronger purchase intention when the skeptical comments came from a friend. More theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

“Consent is Good,Joyous, Sexy”: A banner campaign to market consent to college students

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study assessed the recall of, reaction to, and understanding of a brief campus banner campaign promoting consent in sexual relationships, and determined whether campaign exposure was associated with subsequent engagement in activities related to sexual assault education, awareness, and prevention. Participants: A stratified random sample of 1,200 undergraduates was recruited during fall of 2010; 628 (52.3%) participated. Methods: To account for history and maturation, an experimental research design was employed with an online survey. Results: Direct and indirect campaign exposure was associated with increased action. Students expressed primarily positive reactions to and appeared to understand the consent message. The campaign appealed to and was associated with increased activity among a wide range of students with one exception: a negative effect was observed for business students. Conclusions: Colorful banners with pithy, upbeat messages hold promise for engaging undergraduates in conversations and proactive activities related to sexual assault prevention.     

Exploring crisis communication in the internal context of an organization: Examining moderated and mediated effects of employee-organization relationships on crisis outcomes

This study seeks to foster a greater understanding of effective crisis communication from the internal context of organizations. The present research conducted an online experimental study of 640 full-time employees in the United States. Results through OLS multiple regression and path analysis indicated 1) employee-organization relationships (EOR) and timing strategy of self-disclosure (stealing thunder) were positively associated with the positive internal reputation and employees’ supportive behavioral intentions, 2) the positive effects of EOR on the employees’ supportive behaviors appeared differently according to whether or not stealing-thunder was used, and 3) the effects of EOR and message strategy (accommodative response) on the positive internal reputation were varied when the negative emotions (anger and anxiety) intervened.     

Exploring Facebook: Attachment Style and Nonverbal Message Characteristics as Predictors of Anticipated Emotional Reactions to Facebook Postings

The present study investigates people’s perceived likelihood of experiencing negative emotion in response to a potentially jealousy-inducing Facebook wall post that was ostensibly sent by a rival. Facebook messages were varied so that participants (n = 821) viewed a message containing text only or text plus either an attractive or unattractive photo of the sender, a winking face emoticon, words in all capitals, or triple exclamation points. Participants were then asked to indicate the degree of negative emotion they would feel if they saw this message on their romantic partner’s Facebook wall. The addition of wink-face emoticons and physical attractiveness cues in a Facebook wall post contributed to differences in likely experienced emotion. Participants also reported a greater likelihood of experiencing negative emotion if they were high in preoccupied attachment and low in dismissive attachment. Finally, women reported being more likely to experience negative interpersonal affect in response to the Facebook post than did men. Implications for the role nonverbal cues play in computer-mediated contexts, such as Facebook, are discussed.