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A selfish-prosocial distinction allows a new approach to the question of right-hemisphere (RH) and left-hemisphere (LH) responding in communication. The LH is associated with language in most persons, while the RH plays a special role in emotion. Some support a right-hemisphere hypothesis, that the RH is associated with the expression and communication of all emotions. Others favor instead the valence hypothesis, that the LH is associated with "positive" and the RH with "negative" emotions. We suggest that the "positive-negative" distinction be replaced by a "prosocial-selfish" distinction, so that the LH is prosocial and the RH is selfish. A study of fMRI response to dynamic and spontaneous expressions of persons to photographs of familiar persons versus unpleasant scenes showed that, as expected, the left amygdala region was activated to the depiction of the prosocial expression and the right amygdala was activated to the depiction of the negative expression. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LGBT rights movement in Taiwan has blossomed in recent years with public gatherings, social and political activism. The LGBT rights movement groups have been trying to cooperate with mass media to raise awareness of issues affecting homosexuals and to stimulate gay-straight communication. THA (The Tongzhi Hotline Association) is the LGBT rights movement group in this case study, and the group has been managing to attract media coverage of the LGBT rights movement events. In the case of "Taiwan Pride Parade" (September 30, 2006), THA had expected much in media coverage. This research also constructs a competitive symbiotic model to access the process and result of LGBT rights movement groups' employment of media strategies in competition with the authorities over the news coverage of this parade. The case shows they believed that concerns of gays and lesbians were topics of interest to the mainstream media, and so they devoted maximum resources to media outreach. For news coverage and public attention, movement organizers have to be more aware of the function of mainstream media to shape a powerful message and of the necessity for a movement to launch significant events to forward their message. This model also highlights the reflexivity and agency of the LGBT rights activists, which accordingly leads to dynamics, nonlinear and nondeterministic assessment of the contests in the news media. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study answers Ganesh, Zoller, and Cheney's (2005) call for research linking individual-level resistance with attempts at transformational change by focusing on transnational feminist networks (TFNs) that promote advocacy, information exchange, and solidarity among women across global contexts. We adopt a focus on embedded tensions to explore the dynamics involved with building alliances across aspects of (race, class, religion, and nation) difference. In accordance, we see TFNs as an illustrative case of "organizing tensions" found within globalized social change efforts. A preliminary survey of existing TFNs identifies three "organizing tensions" related to issues of funding, difference, and control. We describe the content of each reoccurring tension, providing illustrative examples of how various TFNs seek to manage them. A final section discusses how these tensions provide additional insight into the enactment of collective action within transnational spaces. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational media combinations are characterized by the use of multiple media both sequentially and in parallel. Existing research has primarily focused on the use of single media. Perspectives on media combinations have been limited and de-contextualized attending mainly to characteristics of such use, leaving out practices emerging in the organizational context in the intersection between the individual and the collective. Grounded Theory was used to analyse multiple datasets consisting of documents, observations, ad-hoc and semi-structured interviews, during a 6-month period in a department of a Fortune 500 company. The findings resulted in 3 interrelated and contextual bounded practices evolving from media combinations, namely (1) media cycling practices, containing 10 sub-types; (2) fluid-interdependent media practices, identified by both multiple clusters of people as a result of task complexity, and practical and cognitive challenges structuring the use of multiple and shared databases; (3) Puzzle zone practices, in which clusters of people in formalized meetings or informal settings try to solve challenges through aligning multiple bits and pieces of information according to goals and strategies. These practices identify challenges related to an operational working environment characterized by a constant flow of information and multiple interdependencies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates the dynamics of body image process through path model approach. Specially, individual impacts of six known motivations of social comparison process based on either upward comparison against mass media body images or lateral comparison against peer groups are examined on body image process are investigated. Six motivations of social comparison used in the study are: self-enhancement, self-improvement, self-evaluation, common bonding, altruism, and self-destruction. The resulted model reveals very complex nature of body image process associated with different motivations of social comparison. Online survey research was utilized with total N of 665. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women's magazines are an important source of health information for their readers. This qualitative textual analysis examines how More, a magazine targeted to women over 40, framed health, aging, and femininity. The central frame that emerged is difference: More readers were depicted as different from previous generations of older women, different from their younger counterparts, and different from men. More readers were advised that medical advancements made them the first generation that could look forward to aging as a time of personal growth, rather than a time of physical decline. However, More sent mixed messages about growing older, suggesting that aging is something to be delayed and avoided. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been assumed that movies can have an influence on moral development and moral thought. The content analysis presented here examines whether and how people who post informal reviews online think about moral issues related to the films, and how that fits with theories about moral development and the role of moral thoughts in entertainment. The results indicate that, in this context, conscious thoughts about moral issues are scarce, although they increase significantly when a movie is morally ambiguous. Most of the comments about moral issues reflect on the possible moral effects on others rather than on the self. This result casts some doubt on the assumption that films can be a tool for moral self-development. Other results show that moral comments about elements beyond the plot and characters (creators of the film, general audience and the world at large) are almost as frequent as those about the storyline, and that people use the level of moral complexity of a film to evaluate its overall quality. It would appear that the role of moral thoughts is more varied than previous theoretical models indicate. Future research in the area should perhaps incorporate considerations about moral ambiguity of a movie, moral thoughts beyond plot issues, and different roles that moral thoughts play in audience's interpretations of movies. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Illegal file sharing on the Internet leads to considerable financial losses for artists and copyright owners as well as producers and sellers of music. Measures to contain this phenomenon were so far rather restrictive. However, there is still a considerable number of illegal systems and users are able to decide quite freely between legal and illegal downloads because illegal downloads are still difficult to sanction. Recent economic approaches account for users´ improved bargaining position. They are based on the idea of revenue splitting between professional sellers and peers. In order to test such an innovative business model, we carried out an experiment with 100 undergraduate students forming five small peer-to-peer networks. The networks were confronted with different economic conditions. The results indicate that even experienced file sharers hold favorable attitudes towards revenue splitting. They seem to be willing to adjust their behavior to different economic conditions. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current project extends and updates Trapp and Hoff's (1985) serial argument model by explicating the process an individual goes through before, during, and after a serial argument episode. Specifically, the variables of perceived resolvability, serial argument goals, conflict tactics, rumination, and motivation to reduce ruminative thoughts are examined across romantic and family relationships. The proposed paths emerged generally as predicted and each of the models tested fit the data. Different path directions emerged according to which serial argument goal was most important and the type of conflict tactic that was used. These series of serial argument models allow for a preliminary theoretical depiction of the process of a serial argument episode enacted by close relational partners. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial body of scholarship has been dedicated to modeling the impact of particular social forums and personal characteristics on the frequency with which individuals encounter disagreement during political discussion. There are at least 2 notable gaps in this literature, however. First, most of it displays an exclusive focus on traditional "face-to-face" forums of discussion, such as the workplace or volunteer associations, rather than online forums of discussion, such as chat rooms and website bulletin boards. Second, there is a general lack of clarity about how structural-level constraints on heterogeneity, such as those produced by geography, impact exposure to political disagreement at the individual level. This article therefore elaborates on existing theories of exposure to political disagreement by developing a more sophisticated model that encompasses the potential influences of individual level characteristics and behaviors, frequency of political discussion both online and offline, and relevant structural level constraints. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile TV - DMB is a convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications. It is important to explore the diffusion, adoption, use, and effects of mobile TV - DMB during its early stage. The main purpose of this study is to explore how and why people adopt and use mobile TV - DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) in the context of their everyday lives, who the early adopters are, and what the effects of mobile TV are. The study aims to better understand why mobile TV is emerging and penetrating into people's daily lives and society, what is expected from the use of mobile TV, and what the potential impacts of mobile TV - DMB are on traditional media consumption. The study also focuses on identifying the factors that customers consider important in their decision to adopt mobile TV. It explores how the use of mobile TV adapts to existing patterns of media use. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which aims at examining the ways in which the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15) was framed by the various sectors of the Swedish news media at the national and local level. It further examines various other issues which were discussed in the conference by the news media including climate change, global warming and international negotiation.

This study examines the impact of media coverage of political figures in the 2004 election on public salience and attitudes toward the figures. Findings suggest that increased media coverage on political figures not only influences on public salience but also creates more dispersed attitude toward them. In addition, multiple regression analyses show that while news exposure and variables representing cognitive ability such as education and political knowledge are more important in forming salience, attention to news and variables concerning motivational constructs are related to attitude formation in agreement with media coverage. The implications of the findings are also discussed. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces a discussion session titled "Increasing Young People's Resilience to Unwanted Media Effects" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Boundaries: Questioning the Local, Global, and Transnational" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Political Conversations Online: Disagreement and Incivility" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Journalism Education and Journalism Students" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Narrative Processing" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Online Harassment and Bullying" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Intervention and Privacy in Online Behaviour" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Sex, Gender, and Technology" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Check It Out: Fact Checking on Old and New Media" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Online Memorialization, Mourning, and the Posthumous Management of the Digital Self" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "The Study of News and Social Media" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Class, Gender, and Power Dynamics in Global Virtual Work" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Exploring Online Communites" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Antidrinking/Antialcohol Health Communication" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Attention and Divided Attention" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Communicating With and To Power: Building Communication Capacity to Tackle Wicked Problems" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Conflict Coaching and ADR Processes in Federal and State Government Agencies" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Culture, Politics, and Religion" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "The Study of Online Opinion Expression" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Social Media Gratifications" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Experimental Studies of Robots and Agents" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Credibility and Trust in News" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "2016 San Diego Conference Planning Meeting" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Transforming Mediascapes Through Critical Practice, Policy, and Pedagogy" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "GIFTS: Great Ideas for Teaching Students" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Parties and NGO's as Strategic Actors" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Understanding Digital Health" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Emerging Problems Associated With Media Use" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "ICA Fellows Panel - II" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association (ICA) in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Between Propaganda and Government Communication" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Interacting With Fans: Media, Athletes, Sponsors, Teams" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "The Power of Transformative Learning: Ways to Engage and Develop Faculty and Students" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Processing Political and News Information in an Age of Entertainment and Overload" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Mediatization, Autonomy, and Public Sector Organisations" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Blue Sky Workshop: Uses and Effects of Inspiring Media Content: Developing a Subfield of Positive Media Psychology" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Snap, Tweet, and Vlog: The Burgeoning World of Social Media Content Innovation" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.

The article announces a discussion session titled "Focus on Asia: Media Receptions, Productions, and Activisms in China, South Korea, and Bangladesh" to be held during the conference of the International Communication Association in 2016.