Dying for charisma: Leaders' inspirational appeal increases post-mortem

In the present research, we shed light on the nature and origins of charisma by examining changes in a person's perceived charisma that follow their death. We propose that death is an event that will strengthen the connection between the leader and the group they belong to, which in turn will increase perceptions of leaders' charisma. In Study 1, results from an experimental study show that a scientist who is believed to be dead is regarded as more charismatic than the same scientist believed to be alive. Moreover, this effect was accounted for by people's perceptions that the dead scientist's fate is more strongly connected with the fate of the groups that they represent. In Study 2, a large-scale archival analysis of Heads of States who died in office in the 21st century shows that the proportion of published news items about Heads of State that include references to charisma increases significantly after their death. These results suggest that charisma is, at least in part, a social inference that increases after death. Moreover, they suggest that social influence and inspiration can be understood as products of people's capacity to embody valued social groups.     

Why privacy keeps dying: the trouble with talk about the end of privacy

It is a curious fact how much talk about privacy is about the end of privacy. We term this ‘privacy endism,’ locating the phenomenon within a broader category of endist thought. We then analyze 101 newspaper articles between 1990 and 2012 that declare the end of privacy. Three findings follow. First, claims about the end of privacy point to an unusually broad range of technological and institutional causes. Privacy has been pronounced defunct for decades, but there has never been a near consensus about its causes. Second, unlike other endist talk (the end of art or history, etc.), privacy endism appears ongoing and not period specific. Finally, our explanation of the persistence and idiosyncrasy of claims to the end of privacy focuses on Warren and Brandeis’s 1890 negative conception of privacy as ‘the right to be let alone’: namely, modern privacy talk has always been endist because the right to privacy was born out of the conditions for its violation, not its realization. The conclusion comments on implications of that basic proposition.     

The relationship between perceived youth exposure to anti-smoking advertisements: how perceptions differ by race

Data on self-reported perceived exposure to anti-smoking messages were collected from 1,608 high school students surveyed through the ASPIRE (A Smoking Prevention Interactive Experience) Program in Houston, Texas. Data collection took place between October 2002 and March 2003. Logistic regression identified that African Americans perceived significantly less exposure to anti-smoking advertisements via television (OR = .50, p < 0.05) and posters (OR = .61, p < 0.05) than whites. However, they had nearly twice as much perceived exposure to anti-smoking advertisements at movies (OR = 1.79, p < or = 0.05) and sporting events (OR = 2.1, p < or = 0.05) than their white counterparts. Hispanic youth perceived significantly less exposure to anti-smoking posters (OR = .51, p < or = 0.05) and significantly higher exposure to anti-smoking messages at sporting events (OR = 1.92, p < or = 0.05) and school programs (OR = 3.44, p < or = 0.05) compared to white youth. While the relationships tested in this study are exploratory, they provide initial evidence for an important nexus between race and communication channels that may impact perceived exposure to tobacco advertising.     

Canadian families into the year 2000

"Canadian families are pluralistic and varied, with a mix of traditional, modern, and post-modern characteristics. This paper looks at families into the immediate future.... Consideration is given to ethnicity, cohabitation, fertility, childrearing, sexuality, family policy, adolescence, and general family life. The state will continue to influence family life. Non-familial associations will affect family values and activity."