Anticipatory Economic Stressors: Perceived and Potential Sources of Economic Disadvantage for LGBTQ Adults

This article examines anticipatory economic stress—or the stress of future economic crises or events that may negatively impact material well-being—for LGBTQ adults. Using qualitative interview data from 76 LGBTQ adults, three main sources of anticipatory economic stress emerged: the family, the workplace, and health care. Following an intersectionality framework, these anticipatory economic stressors are experienced differently across gender and racial lines, heightening anticipatory economic stress for LGBTQ people of color and transgender respondents. This article has significant implications for understanding the role of future economic stress in the present and provides important insight into what specific forms of anticipatory economic stress that shape the lives of LGBTQ individuals.     

Sexual Communication,Satisfaction, and Condom Use Behavior in Friends with Benefits and Romantic Partners

Although “friends with benefits” relationships (FWBRs) are common and have been the subject of significant media and research attention, relatively little is known about them, especially in terms of how they differ from other types of relationships. The present research sought to compare the sexual outcomes of FWBRs to those of traditional romantic relationships via an online survey. Results revealed that FWBR partners were less likely to be sexually exclusive, had a lower frequency of sexual interaction, were less sexually satisfied, and generally communicated less about sex than romantic partners did. However, compared to romantic partners, FWBR partners devoted relatively more of the time spent together to sexual activity, practiced safe sex more frequently, communicated more often about extradyadic sexual experiences, and reported a greater number of lifetime casual sex partners. These findings indicate that the sexual outcomes of FWBRs and romantic relationships are quite distinct and provide evidence of the potential public health implications associated with both casual and committed sexual relationships.     

Cafe Culture in France and the United States: A Comparative Ethnographic Study of the Use of Mobile Information and Communication Technologies

Mobile (or personal) information and communication technologies are changing our communication opportunities and expectations and altering the nature of communication in public places. This study explored the uses and implications of these technologies through participant observation and interviews in cafes, public places at the heart of communities where people gather for beverages, food, and company, as well as for other activities. Cafes were ideal research contexts because (a) they provide convenient and acceptable entree into communities of place; (b) they serve important social, psychological, and economic functions; and (c) many are sites of a nexus of face-to-face and mediated interactions. Findings indicated that many people in American cafes routinely background their face-to-face experiences as they focus on electronic space rather than on physical space. In contrast, mobile information and communication technologies are generally not impacting people's experiences of physical space in cafes in Paris. Cross-cultural differences in the usage of mobile information and communication technologies in "third places" are explored.     

Sources,Characteristics and Effects of Mass Media Communication on Science: A Review of the Literature,Current Trends and Areas for Future Research

A significant amount of science coverage can be found nowadays in the mass media and is the main source of information about science for many. Accordingly, the relation between science and the media has been intensively analyzed within the social scientific community. It is difficult to keep track of this research, however, as a flurry of studies has been published on the issue. This article provides such an overview. First, it lays out the main theoretical models of science communication, that is, the ‘public understanding of science’ and the ‘mediatization’ model. Second, it describes existing empirical research. In this section, it demonstrates how science’s agenda‐building has improved, how science journalists working routines are described, how different scientific disciplines are presented in the mass media and what effects these media representations (might) have on the audience. Third, the article points out future fields of research.     

The Effects of Resources, Decision Making, and Decision Implementing on Perceived Family Well-Being in Adjusting to an Economic Stressor

This article examines the relationships of personal resources, decision-making, and decision-implementing behaviors that were measured in time one with perceived family well-being that was measured one year later. The sample included 323 farm men and women who had experienced the same economic stressor event. A structural equation model was posited based upon the theoretical frameworks of family resource management. The results indicated the theoretical model fit the data well for both men and women. LISREL analyses revealed strong positive relationships among perceived financial and emotional resources, decision making, and perceived family well-being. A positive relationship was found between decision making and decision implementing, but no relationship was found between decision implementing and perceived family well-being. Gender differences were present only in the measurement model among the indicators of decision implementing and family well-being.     

The Gender Gap in Fear: Assessing the Interactive Effects of Gender and Perceived Risk on Fear of Crime

In this research we explore the interaction between gender and perceived risk of victimization on levels of fear of crime. Much of the previous research on the effects of gender on fear of crime assumes that crimes are not gendered and that the effects of gender would operate the same regardless of type of crime. Challenging this assumption, we examine crimes that disproportionately victimize women or men. We find that there is greater nuance in both fear of crime and perception of risk when explored in this way. In fact, men's fear of crime actually surpasses women's fear at high levels of perceived risk for those crimes in which men are more likely to be victimized. We offer explanations for this finding, concluding that gendered perceptions of crime and victimization may drive these differences. In sum, our study indicates that future research on fear of crime must be even further attuned to the gender gap in fear.     

Perceptions of Sources of Sex Education and Targets of Sex Communication: Sociodemographic and Cohort Effects

As part of a larger survey study on young adult sexuality conducted over a 17-year period at a Midwest U.S. university, more than 6,000 college students completed questions on the sources of their sex education and the degree to which they have communicated about sex with various types of individuals. Participants reported receiving more sex education from peers and media than from parents (and mothers more than fathers). Respondents also reported communicating more about sex with peers than with parents or any other categories of individuals. Differences were found in the degree of sex education from various sources and in communication with various targets based on gender, ethnic background, and social class. Furthermore, changes were found over the 17-year period. More recent cohorts of students perceived that they received more sex education from media, peers, and professionals, and communicated more about sex with professionals, relative to earlier cohorts.     

Communication of Military Couples During Deployment and Reunion: Changes,Challenges, Benefits,and Advice

The emotional cycle of deployment model proposes that military couples face both obstacles and opportunities across the trajectory of deployment. Guided by the model, we seek to address gaps in the literature by investigating how 236 recently reunited service members and at-home partners (N = 118 couples) describe their experiences during deployment and reunion. Results of content analyses revealed a variety of changes to communication during deployment (RQ1), challenges of reunion (RQ2), benefits of deployment (RQ3), and advice for reintegration (RQ4). These findings bolster and extend the emotional cycle of deployment model; they also have practical utility for helping military couples navigate deployment and reunion.     

Community Relations and Risk Communication: A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Emergency Response Messages

This study replicates and extends Heath and Abel's (1996) quasi-longitudinal analysis of the long-term impact of risk communication and emergency response measures. This study confirms and disconfirms some of the 1996 Heath and Abel conclusions. We found that because concern remains high that risk events are likely to occur and harm community safety, citizens are willing to become knowledgeable of emergency response measures. Such knowledge gives citizens a greater sense of control, which may translate into trust for industry and city emergency response experts. Support for the industry is increased by effective improvements in its operations. Long-term, community-relations programs may empower citizens with knowledge of what to do in the event an emergency occurs.     

Diaspora,Community and Communication: Internet Use in Transnational Haiti

Abstract With its capacity to link many people interactively across great distances, the Internet seems to be the ultimate tool for dispersed ethnic groups wishing to sustain identity in an ‘alien’ land and work in solidarity with those facing challenges at ‘home’. Some theorists speak of the creation of diasporic public spheres arising from creative use of Internet technologies. Nevertheless, scholars working in this area rarely embed their analyses within existing work on the public sphere. In the present study I use insights from public sphere theory to evaluate participants' use of a Haiti Global Village forum. After examining Haiti Global Village, I conclude that such forums offer needed space for civic deliberation and provide a valuable infrastructure for networking. Participants' difficulty in translating these assets into an off‐line project, however, highlights the importance of place‐based social ties. Consideration of the experience of other Haitian forums reinforces the importance of such ties.     

Differences Between Actual and Perceived Student Norms: An Examination of Alcohol Use,Drug Use,and Sexual Behavior

Researchers in the social norms area have previously focused primarily on alcohol consumption, paying comparatively less attention to drug use and sexual behavior. The major purposes of this study were to (1) compare perceptions of peer norms in the areas of alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior with actual behavior and (2) determine if a relationship existed between a student's perceptions of normative behavior and a student's actual behavior. Participants were 833 college students at a large, public university in the Northeast. Study participants overestimated alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior among their peers. There was also a positive relationship between actual behavior and perceived peer norms, although the effect sizes for all behaviors were small to moderate. The authors provide further support for the tenets of social norms theory and suggest that social norms interventions are appropriate both campus-wide and to targeted high-risk groups.     

Older Adults and Emerging Digital Service Delivery: A Mixed Methods Study on Information and Communications Technology Use,Skills, and Attitudes

Based on data from a survey (n = 3291) and 14 qualitative interviews among Danish older adults, this study investigated the use of, and attitudes toward, information communications technology (ICT) and the digital delivery of public services. While age, gender, and socioeconomic status were associated with use of ICT, these determinants lost their explanatory power when we controlled for attitudes and experiences. We identified three segments that differed in their use of ICT and attitudes toward digital service delivery. As nonuse of ICT often results from the lack of willingness to use it rather than from material or cognitive deficiencies, policy measures for bridging the digital divide should focus on skills and confidence rather than on access or ability.     

Tolerance for Potential Environmental Health Risks: The Influence of Knowledge,Benefits, Control,Involvement, and Uncertainty

As organizations, especially companies, regulators, and environmentalists, attempt to communicate with key publics about risk conditions in the workplace and neighborhoods, serious research attention is being given to understanding risk communication, especially as mandated in the Superfund Amendment Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). Title 111, Section 313 of that act requires chemical companies to inform key publics about their chemical emissions. In this vein, we compare respondents who are more tolerant of environmental risk with those who are less tolerant based on each group's level of knowledge, perception of benefits, level of involvement, perceived control, and level of uncertainty concerning a potential risk source. Analysis showed a significant difference between less risk-tolerant and more risk-tolerant subjects concerning perception of benefits and level of involvement. As predicted from previous research, no significant difference was found between the two groups based on their knowledge about the issue. No significant differences were found between the two groups for perceived control and level of uncertainty, although differences were found to follow predictions. These findings were analyzed in detail, with special attention to implications both for public relations practitioners who are interested in the content of risk messages and for defining targeted audiences based on those audiences' desire for information.     

Economic Dependence,Overurbanization, and Economic Growth: A Study of Less Developed Countries*

Excessively large and rapidly growing urban populations characterize social structural change in less-developed countries. This is in contrast to the developmental patterns which accompanied structural transformation in the presently rich, industrialized countries of the world. Many less-developed countries are thus said to be “overurbanized.” In this paper, quantitative cross-national data are brought to bear on the hypothesis that overurbanization has been fue1ed by the economic dependence to which these countries are, to varying degrees, subject. The hypothesis that the degree of overurbanization and changes therein inhibit economic growth is also examined. But the overurbanization question is often framed as a matter of the relative distribution of the labor force into service and manufacturing occupations. We herefore examine parallel hypotheses which define overurbanization in terms of the urban labor distribution. Constraints on the availability of labor force data, however, relegate these findings to a subordinate role. Panel regression analysis provides support for the proposition that dependence upon foreign capital leads to overurbanization (defined as either the urban/development relationship or in terms of labor structure imbalance). Furthermore, relative increases in overnrbanization are consistently accompanied by relative declines in per capita economic growth, though the effects of higher levels of overurbanization do not appear to impede economic growth.     

The Interaction of HIV Knowledge,Perceived Risk,and Sex Differences on Risky Sex

Objectives: Risky sexual behavior increases during college. HIV knowledge and risk perception have been inconsistent predictors of risky sex independently. Methods: This study tested the interaction between HIV knowledge, risk perception, and sex to predict risky sex in college students (N = 171; 52.0% female). Results: Women's HIV knowledge resulted in greater reports of risky sex when risk perception was low. Conversely, men's HIV knowledge translated into greater reports of risky sex when risk perception was high. Conclusions: Although preliminary, this study calls for nuanced models of risky sex and the inclusion of risk perception modules in HIV reduction programs.     

Technology Adoption in Small Family-Owned Businesses: Accessibility,Perceived Advantage,and Information Technology Literacy

The purpose of the study was to examine the antecedents and impacts of information technology (IT) adoption by small family-owned businesses, using data from the National Family Business Survey. This research tested a model based on the Diffusion of Innovations framework and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Family business managers’ prior knowledge and level of IT use, business location, and community size/type were important antecedents to the decision to adopt IT. Ease of use and decision to adopt IT accounted for over 60% of the variance in usefulness of IT and implementation of internet and IT capabilities. The implementation of IT capabilities accounted for nearly 40% of the variance in actual use of IT and perceived impact of the internet.     

Types of Knowledge as Predictors of Company Support: The Role of Information in Risk Communication

Knowledge of chemicals and chemical processes is assumed by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy and by scholars and practitioners of public relations to underpin how people understand and evaluate the risks they en- counter. What has been elusive, however, is the connection between knowledge of this kind, awareness of risks (such as those related to chemical plants), and support or opposition. Previous research has found nonsignificant relations between knowledge of technical data and support or opposition for ostensible sources of risk. To further examine this problem, a study was conducted in communities with high concentrations of chemical plants. Results indicate that the communities differ in the extent to which knowledge of chemicals and processes, economic benefits, violations of EPA and state regulations, and outreach efforts correlates with support for the facilities. Results suggest that support or opposition may be a function of levels of knowledge in ways that are idiosyncratic to communities, based on their communication infrastructures and cultures     

Vertical and Lateral Information Processing: The Effects of Gender, Employee Classification Level, and Media Richness on Communication and Work Outcomes

Data from 666 employees of a large midwesterntelephone company were analyzed to identifycommunication pattern differences between: (a) males andfemales; (b) exempt and nonexempt employees; and (c)employees using rich and lean communication media. MANOVAand discriminant function analyses results indicatedfemales sent less information to supervisors andexperienced less information overload than males. Exempt employees interacted more with department headsand sent less information to peers than nonexemptemployees. Those using the richest media communicatedmore with supervisors while those using the leanest media received most of their information fromdepartment heads. Additionally, interaction effects weredetected. Discussion is advanced on how these findingsmight be used to improve intraorganizational communication.