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Contains fulltext : 221354.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Although self-persuasion was shown to be more effective than direct persuasion in changing attitudes and intentions, its effectiveness in different cultures remains unclear. Furthermore, research suggests that Eastern individuals tend to incorporate close others in the self to a larger extent than Western individuals. Combining both lines of research, the current studies examined whether thinking of a close other would influence the effectiveness of (self)-persuasion across cultures. Two parallel studies were conducted. U.S. participants (n study 1 = 195; n study 2 = 292) and Chinese participants (n study 1 = 187; n study 2 = 313) reported their initial attitudes and intentions toward five target behaviors prior to either think of a specific close other or not. Subsequently, they were randomly assigned to receive either a self-persuasion or a direct persuasion task. Specifically, the self-persuasion task led participants to generate own arguments or arguments that they think the close other would give; the direct persuasion task led participants to read given arguments or imagine that the arguments were from the close other. In the end, all participants reported their attitudes and intentions again after doing the persuasion tasks. The moderation effect of culture was only found in Study 1, such that direct persuasion worked more effectively in Chinese participants than self-persuasion, whereas the effectiveness of the two persuasive techniques did not differ in U.S. participants. In both studies, thinking of a close other was not found to influence the effectiveness of (self-)persuasion across cultures. Possible explanations and future research directions were discussed. 30 p.

Children display fright and worry responses to violent news. Including involved children, non-involved children or experts as sources in children’s news is assumed to reduce these negative effects. However, exemplification theory gives reason to question whether particularly the use of involved children indeed has a reassuring effect. To test this, an experiment was conducted among 237 children (8–13 y/o). They were randomly exposed to a news video containing (1) involved children as source, (2) non-involved children, or (3) adult experts. Fright and worry responses were measured both before and after exposure. Results showed that the inclusion of involved children as a source significantly increased worry responses, but did not affect fright responses. Non-involved child sources significantly reduced fright and worry responses. Expert sources reduced children’s fright responses, but did not change feelings of worry. These insights can inform news producers on how to alleviate the effects of covering violent events in news. IMPACT SUMMARY (a) Prior State of Knowledge Violent content in news induces negative responses in children. Producers of children’s news try to alleviate these effects by using involved children, non-involved children, or adult experts as sources in violent news stories. (b) Novel Contributions This study provides first empirical insights into the effects of involved children, non-involved children, and adult experts as sources in violent news stories on children’s fear and worry responses. It shows how to alleviate children’s negative emotional responses to news. (c) Practical Implications News producers are encouraged to use non-involved children or adult experts when presenting violent news to children. They should be careful with the inclusion of involved children as sources in news stories.

Contains fulltext : 230176.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Cyber aggressive behaviors such as nonconsensual image sharing, nasty comments, and social exclusion frequently take place on WhatsApp. These behaviors often involve group processes, where adolescents conform to peers' behaviors. WhatsApp is pre-eminently suited for group-communication among adolescents, and, thus, may facilitate conformity to such behaviors. However, research on conformity on WhatsApp is scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine if and how the social identity perspective on group behavior may explain cyber aggression on WhatsApp. Specifically, we examined how social identification relates to conformity to cyber aggression on WhatsApp. In a preregistered survey, 647 early adolescents answered questions about social identification with group members and conformity to behavior of a WhatsApp group. Hierarchical multiple regression and moderated mediation analyses point towards an indirect, positive relation between the centrality component of social identification and conformity to cyber aggression, mediated by perceived social pressure to conform. These findings contribute to the literature by extending the social identity perspective to conformity on WhatsApp. Further exploration of this research line within the field of cyber aggression is warranted, because this can help improve applied interventions to reduce conformity to cyber aggression. 16 p.

Contains fulltext : 235994.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Many studies in the field of positive media psychology have investigated the effects of meaningful film on viewer's feelings and openness to others, all the while music is the number #1 media source for feeling moved, touched or inspired. Therefore, the current study examined the role of meaningful compared to pleasurable music on listeners emotional experiences, feelings of connectedness, and altruistic behaviors. In a pre-posttest experiment, 105 participants (Mage = 23.800; SD = 6.082; 77.3% female) listened to either their favorite meaningful music or their favorite pleasurable music. Findings revealed that listening to meaningful music leads to stronger feelings of being moved, having a lump in one's throat and tears crying, more contemplation, a stronger motivation to seek what matters in life, and a stronger desire to express love to close others, compared to listening to pleasurable music. Both listening to meaningful and pleasurable music were found to lead to a wide range of intense and blended emotions, a desire to connect to others, and same levels of altruism. In sum, meaningful and pleasurable music can evoke a different mix of emotions, however, both are strong and open our hearts to others. 23 p.

Contains fulltext : 231736.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Cyber aggression in messaging apps often involves a group-based process of conformity to aggressive norms. To date, no empirical research has investigated this psychological process and its determinants. Therefore, this study reports two experiments that examined the effects of group centrality (the subjective importance of a social group) and accountability (being accountable for one's actions) on conformity to cyber aggressive norms. Additionally, the moderating role of susceptibility to peer pressure was examined. The experiments included a scripted WhatsApp conversation in which participants judged the appropriateness of cyber aggressive behaviors after viewing ostensible peers' responses. The results of Experiment 1 (N = 233, Mage = 13.19) were replicated in Experiment 2 (N = 296, Mage = 12.67), which had an improved method addressing the limitations of Experiment 1. Accountability affected conformity to cyber aggressive norms (Experiment 1: f = .18, p = .016; Experiment 2: f = .13, p = .041): Adolescents who did not think they had to discuss their responses in class conformed more than those who did. However, no effect of group centrality or moderating effects of susceptibility to peer pressure were found. This study extends conformity research to messaging apps. The findings suggest that increasing accountability in messaging apps may be a viable strategy for intervention efforts to reduce conformity to cyber aggression. 11 p.

Human behavior can be classified into 2 basic categories: execution of responses and withholding responses. This classification is used in go/no-go training, where people respond to some objects and withhold their responses to other objects. Despite its simplicity, there is now substantial evidence that such training is powerful in changing human behavior toward such objects. However, it is poorly understood how simple responses can influence behavior. Contrary to the remarkably tenacious idea that go/no-go training changes behavior by strengthening inhibitory control, we propose that the training changes behavior via changes in explicit liking of objects. In two preregistered experiments, we show that go/no-go training influences explicit liking for smartphone apps (Experiments 1 and 2) and that this liking partially mediates the effect of the training on consequential choices for using these apps 1 day later (Experiment 2). The results highlight the role of evaluations when examining how motor response training influences behavior. This knowledge can inform development of more effective applied motor response training procedures and raises new theoretical questions on the relation between motor responses and affect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Contains fulltext : 219926.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Social robots become increasingly human-like in appearance and behaviour. However, a large body of research shows that these robots tend to elicit negative feelings of eeriness, danger, and threat. In the present study, we explored whether and how human-like appearance and mind-attribution contribute to these negative feelings and clarified possible underlying mechanisms. Participants were presented with pictures of mechanical, humanoid, and android robots, and physical anthropomorphism (Studies 1-3), attribution of mind perception of agency and experience (Studies 2 and 3), threat to human–machine distinctiveness, and damage to humans and their identity were assessed for all three robot types. Replicating earlier research, human-machine distinctiveness mediated the influence of anthropomorphic appearance on the perceived damage for humans and their identity, and this mediation was due to anthropomorphic appearance of the robot. Perceived agency and experience did not show similar mediating effects on human–machine distinctiveness, but a positive relation with perceived damage for humans and their identity. Possible explanations are discussed. 11 p.

España ha sido uno de los países más azotados por la pandemia de la Covid-19. En un contexto de incertidumbre y estrés, los medios de comunicación desempeñan un papel relevante en la difusión de información. En esta investigación se determinan qué factores influyeron en la percepción del riesgo ante el Coronavirus, qué elementos condicionaron la confianza en las medidas adoptadas por el ejecutivo, y cómo influyó la exposición informativa a la propagación de fake news. Para responder a las cuestiones se realizó un cuestionario online en el que participaron 2.034 personas de diferentes comunidades autónomas de España, poniéndose a prueba dos modelos de regresión lineal múltiple, además de diferentes técnicas bivariadas de análisis estadístico paramétrico. Los datos evidencian una mayor percepción del riesgo entre los sectores con mayor exposición informativa a noticias sobre el Coronavirus. Una segunda conclusión referencia el papel que desempeñan las predisposiciones políticas previas del individuo, como la ideología, en la confianza que inspiran las medidas adoptadas por el Gobierno. Asimismo, los análisis realizados muestran que los sectores que realizan un mayor seguimiento informativo no son inmunes a la propagación de fake news. Esta investigación pone de manifiesto la importancia que desempeña la comunicación en la percepción del riesgo, y la necesidad de ahondar en este campo, por las implicaciones psicológicas, sociales y económicas que implica dicho fenómeno Spain is one of the countries that has been most severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In times of uncertainty and stress, the media plays an important role in disseminating information. This study establishes which factors affected risk perception regarding the Coronavirus, which factors determined trust in the measures taken by the Government, and how the presentation of information influenced the spread of fake news. To answer these questions an online survey was created and was completed by 2,034 people from different autonomous communities in Spain, using two multiple linear regression models, as well as different bivariate techniques for parametric statistical analysis. The data shows increased risk perception among the sectors with greater exposure to news about the Coronavirus. A second conclusion refers to the role played by an individual’s pre-existing political biases, such as ideology, and their effects on the trust placed in the measures adopted by the Government. In addition, the analysis conducted shows that sectors that follow the news more closely are not immune to the spread of fake news. This research highlights the importance of communication in risk perception and the need to conduct further research in this field, in terms of the psychological, social, and economic implications of this phenomenon

Contains fulltext : 240021.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) A promising avenue for health behavior change is to influence conversational valence, that is, the extent to which people talk negatively or positively about health behaviors. However, no research to date has experimentally manipulated conversational valence, thereby inhibiting conclusions about causal inferences. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the influence of conversational valence instructions on perceived conversational valence and subsequent binge drinking determinants. College students (N = 138) read either negative or positive conversational valence instructions. Subsequently, dyads engaged in a 5-min conversation about drinking, before self-reporting perceived conversational valence and binge drinking determinants (i.e., attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions). Results revealed that valence instructions influenced binge drinking determinants via perceived conversational valence. Those instructed to talk negatively about binge drinking reported healthier binge drinking determinants than those instructed to talk positively. Furthermore, this effect on binge drinking determinants was mediated by perceived conversational valence. These findings demonstrate that conversational valence about health can be manipulated through simple instructions and confirm the idea that conversational valence is causally linked to binge drinking determinants. Thereby, these findings show the potential that interpersonal communication in general, and conversational valence instructions, in particular, have when integrated in health interventions. 7 p.

Contains fulltext : 228087.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) This study aimed to investigate whether children's advertising literacy activation affects their susceptibility to advertising and if this relationship is moderated by inhibitory control. In an experiment among 48 children aged 10-13 years old, we made a distinction between children's conceptual advertising literacy (i.e., knowledge of advertising) and attitudinal advertising literacy (i.e., critical attitude toward advertising). By using a within-subjects design, participants were primed with either television commercials (advertising condition) or a news broadcast (control condition). Advertising literacy activation was assessed with the Advertising Literacy Activation Task (ALAT), inhibitory control with a Go/No Go Task, and susceptibility with both an Approach-Avoidance Task (to assess implicit desire for the advertised products) and a questionnaire measurement (to assess explicit desire for the advertised products). The results showed that the relation between both conceptual and attitudinal advertising literacy activation and implicit desire for the advertised products was moderated by inhibitory control. Inhibitory control not only diminished the direct positive effect of advertising literacy activation on implicit desire, but even reversed it. No effects of advertising literacy activation and inhibitory control were found on explicit advertised product desire. Our results indicate that inhibitory control plays an important role in countering advertising effects. 31 p.

Contains fulltext : 227518.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Due to technological advancements, an increasing number of messages are personalized through different sophisticated techniques, such as online behavioural advertising (OBA) and synced advertising (SA). Considering the increasing number of different types of personalization strategies that can be applied for personalization, the question rises whether consumer perceptions of these strategies differ when it comes to their knowledge about, and their perceived benefits and costs of these personalization strategies. A US national survey (N = 1,008) examined knowledge, benefits, and costs of OBA and SA. Whereas OBA has been extensively studied in the past, SA is a novel personalization strategy. Therefore, the current study updated what we know about OBA, provided new insights on SA, and was able to directly compare the two in terms of knowledge and perceptions. The results showed that consumers know more about online behavioural advertising than synced advertising. Furthermore, coding of open-ended questions provided further insights into perceived benefits and costs of the personalization strategies. Personal relevance and added advertising value were the most prevalent perceived benefits and privacy concerns are the most often prevalent perceived cost. The results inform the advertising industry, advertising literacy programs, and encourage ethical debates about the use of personalization strategies. 20 p.

Research has demonstrated the importance of economic forecasts for financial decisions at the aggregate economic level. However, little is known about the psychological and neurophysiological mechanisms that economic forecasts activate at the level of individual decision-making. In the present study, we used event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to test the hypothesis that economic forecasts influence individuals’ internal model of the economy and their subsequent decision behavior. Using a simple economic decision-making game, the Balloon Analogue of Risk Task (BART) and predictive messages about possible economic changes in the game before each block, we test the idea that brain potentials time-locked to decision outcomes can vary as a function of exposure to economic forecasts. Behavioural results indicate that economic forecasts influenced the amount of risk that participants were willing to take. Analyses of brain potentials indicated parametric increases of the N1, P2, P3a, and P3b amplitudes as a function of the level of risk in subsequent inflation steps in the BART. Mismatches between economic forecasts and decision outcomes in the BART (i.e., reward prediction errors) were reflected in the amplitude of the P2, P3a, and P3b, suggesting increased attentional processing of unexpected outcomes. These electrophysiological results corroborate the idea that economic messages may indeed influence people’s beliefs about the economy and bias their subsequent financial decision-making. Our findings present a first important step in the development of a low-level neurophysiological model that may help to explain the self-fulfilling prophecy effect of economic news in the larger economy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.3758/s13415-020-00813-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Contains fulltext : 222400.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The aim of this study was to develop and test an indirect measurement instrument that is able to assess children's advertising literacy activation. Study 1 (N = 24, age: 10-12) describes the development of the Advertising Literacy Activation Task (ALAT) in which participants sort successive words in two categories: advertising or news. Studies 2 and 3 tested the ALAT on usability, reliability, predictive, and construct validity. In study 2 (N = 38, age: 10-12), participants were primed with a story about advertising or about news. Study 3 (N = 114, age: 7-13) used a similar design but with actual television commercials and news broadcast. Frequency and speed of categorizing conceptual and attitudinal words were analyzed with Bayesian statistics investigating effects of priming, dispositional advertising literacy, and their interactions. Results indicate that the ALAT is a usable and reliable measurement instrument with good predictive validity, but with limited construct validity. 33 p.

Contains fulltext : 219428.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Thorough understanding of how "outside the box" ideas in the newsroom can be triggered and fostered is fundamental to grasp innovation in journalism, but is still largely uncharted territory. Comprehension of its key elements would enable news organisations to reinvent themselves and improve chances for survival. In this article we develop an instrument to investigate if and how newsroom workers and management perceive an Innovative Learning Culture (ILC). This survey enables us to locate which aspects of ILC are bottlenecks or foster creativity and innovation processes. First we focus on how the different aspects of ILC are perceived: which aspects are experienced to foster or hinder an overall ILC. In a second step we analyse how respondent characteristics influence perceptions of these processes. In combining these two steps, the survey can be used as a key to "unlock" the newsroom with respect to its creative and innovative potential. We validated the survey in the newsrooms of two Dutch national quality newspapers, each with a different history, culture, audience and size. Findings show that they have similar perceptions of which ILC-aspects typically foster or hinder ILC in their newsrooms. We discuss the outcomes and provide suggestions for future research. 19 p.

Item does not contain fulltext This study tested the effectiveness of a theory-driven, school-based advertising intervention entitled Ad Masters that aimed to stimulate children's advertising coping behavior in the current media landscape. A cluster randomized controlled trial was completed among 704 children (7-12 years old) in schools. The schools were allocated to either the intervention group (n = 399) or control group (n = 305). Both short-term (directly after the intervention) and long-term effects (3 months after the end of the intervention) were measured. Bayesian mixed-effect analyses showed positive short- and long-term effects of the intervention on children's understanding of advertising's tactics. Structural equation analysis showed that the intervention-induced changes in children's understanding of advertising’s tactics were not related to any changes in their use of advertising coping strategies or their advertising susceptibility. No other intervention effects were found. However, structural equation analyses showed that, regardless of the intervention, motivation and ability to use advertising coping strategies are both associated with children's actual coping behavior. These findings indicate that motivation and ability to effectively use advertising coping strategies are important empowering factors that should be taken into account in future research on children's advertising coping behavior and in advertising intervention development. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 219497.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) To function as well-informed citizens in democracy, early adolescents (12-16 years old) should become news literate news consumers. In this time of fragmented media use and evolving conceptions of (the importance and relevance of) news, this is not easy. Therefore, this focus group study investigated news consumption and news literacy through the eyes of early adolescents. Results showed that early adolescents have broad definitions of news. Their news consumption is predominantly passive, possibly due to a lack of intrinsic motivation. They see news as important, but often as boring, repetitive and negative, and disconnected from youth. Participants had knowledge of news content and effects, and stressed the importance of reliable news. However, for the majority, this did not translate into critical evaluation of news. For early adolescents, the key factor in becoming more news literate news consumers is motivation. Moving forward, motivation should be better incorporated in both research and practice. 17 p.

Contains fulltext : 241562.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is a promising tool to reduce public speaking anxiety in adults, while treatment and prevention of public speaking anxiety in children has been largely neglected. We examined whether repeated brief exposures to a virtual audience embedded in a prototype of the Virtual Reality (VR) SpeakApp-Kids! helped to reduce (1) self-reported state anxiety during three public speaking practice sessions, (2) state anxiety during the actual presentation that followed, and (3) general public speaking anxiety from the first practice session until after the actual presentation in children aged 9-12 years (n = 40). First, we found a decrease in state anxiety during the first two practice sessions. Also in line with our expectations, pupils in the SpeakApp-Kids! condition reported lower state anxiety during the actual presentation than the control (at home) condition (n = 49). Finally, we found a larger decrease in general public speaking anxiety from the first practice session until one week after the actual presentation for the SpeakApp-Kids! condition, as compared to the control children preparing their presentations as usual. Taking limitations into account, this VR SpeakApp-Kids! is a promising tool to be developed further as it has potential to serve as an educational tool for speech practice and thereby reducing public speaking anxiety. More importantly, it has potential to prevent public speaking anxiety from developing in the first place. 18 p.

Contains fulltext : 240029.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Go-along interviews among adolescents (N = 26, Mage = 16.31, SD = .83) were conducted to examine how adolescents interpret alcohol posts in terms of appropriateness and how this, in turn, plays a role in adolescents’ reactions toward alcohol posts on public and private social media entries. The findings of this study, first, indicate that alcohol posts were classified as appropriate or inappropriate based on the amount of alcohol and the displayed behavior in the post. Second, most posts, including inappropriate ones, received positive or no feedback. Moreover, adolescents deliberately seemed to withhold negative feedback out of fear of being misjudged by peers. Still, negative reactions were expressed more quickly in safer off- and online environments (i.e., face-to-face conversation and online chat messages) because they were visible to close friends only. This is important in view of prevention as it unravels the interesting role of private environments in stimulating negative interpersonal communication. 16 p.

PurposePhysical stores are increasingly dependent on impulse visits and the impulse purchases of passers-by. Interactive advertising screens in store windows could help retailers increase impulse-visit urges and impulse-buying urges. However, the effects of interactive screens in physical surroundings have not been studied before. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of interactive screens on impulse urges and gain insight into the underlying mechanism that explains the possible effect.Design/methodology/approachAn interactive screen was placed in a store window. Using three field experiments, we studied the effect of interactivity-level (high vs low) on the impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges of passers-by, and the mediating role of self-agency in these effects.FindingsHighly interactive (compared to less interactive) advertising screens in store windows positively affect impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges through self-agency. Retailers can therefore use interactive advertising screens to increase the number of impulse purchases if feelings of self-agency are activated.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the extent to which interactive screens in a store window enhance the impulse-visit and impulse-buying urges of passers-by and the mediating factor of these effects. By conducting three field experiments, we achieved a high external validity and managed to share very reliable results owing to the replication of the findings.

Contains fulltext : 200928pub.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Robots are becoming an integral part of society, yet our moral stance toward these non-living objects is unclear. In two experiments, we investigated whether anthropomorphic appearance and anthropomorphic attributions modulated people's utilitarian decision making about robotic agents. In Study 1, participants were presented with moral dilemmas in which the to-be-sacrificed agent was either a human, a human-like robot, or a machine-like robot. These victims were described in either neutral or anthropomorphic priming stories. Study 2 teased apart anthropomorphic attributions of agency and affect. Results indicate that although robot-like robots were sacrificed significantly more often than humans and humanlike robots, the effect of humanized priming was the same for all three agent types (Study 1), and this effect was mainly due to the attribution of affective states rather than agency (Study 2). That is, when people attribute affective states to robots, they are less likely to sacrifice them in order to save humans. 16 p.

Contains fulltext : 200921.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Research has shown that self-persuasion is more effective in increasing smokers' risk perception and decreasing short-term smoking behavior compared to the traditional direct persuasion. However, the role of self-construal, which is closely associated with how one perceives persuasive messages, is not explored. The current research filled this gap by introducing self-construal to the self-persuasion literature to investigate its potential moderating role. Throughout five studies, we measured daily smokers' chronic self-construal (Study 1-3), selected smokers with different culturally-nurtured self-construal (Study 4), and primed situational self-construal (Study 5) to examine the role of self-construal in regard to smokers' cognition, attitude, and short-term smoking behavior, after being targeted by direct- or self-persuasion. Health warnings on cigarette packages and text regarding the negative consequences of smoking were used as direct persuasive messages. Adapted versions of health warnings and an argumentation task were used to induce self-persuasion. Null results were obtained from most of the studies. The overall support for the null hypothesis, however, remains weak and needs to be further verified. Limitations and future research direction are discussed. 17 p.

Item does not contain fulltext People are frequently confronted with scams; swindlers trying to gain your trust to get hold of your personal information, money or belongings. Elderly people are especially vulnerable to these tricks, that typically occur at the front door, street or on the phone. We have developed a virtual training environment to teach people how to handle these situations and learn them to increase their verbal resilience. The training is implemented as a tablet application and consists of six scenarios that are likely to occur in daily life. Participants are placed in a dialogue with a virtual character and may interact by choosing an answer from a fixed multiple-choice menu or by speaking the answer aloud. A speech recognition module is able to detect the level of assertiveness and provides immediate feedback to the user's performance. In this paper, we present the implementation of the virtual training application. To evaluate the prototype a focus group was organized, consisting of potential end users. The outcomes were mainly positive and the provided feedback will be incorporated into the final version. 7th Games and Learning Alliance Conference (GALA 2018), Palermo, Italy, 5-7 December 2018

Contains fulltext : 226720.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) In the last 10 years, many canonical findings in the social sciences appear unreliable. This so-called "replication crisis" has spurred calls for open science practices, which aim to increase the reproducibility, replicability, and generalizability of findings. Communication research is subject to many of the same challenges that have caused low replicability in other fields. As a result, we propose an agenda for adopting open science practices in Communication, which includes the following seven suggestions: (1) publish materials, data, and code; (2) preregister studies and submit registered reports; (3) conduct replications; (4) collaborate; (5) foster open science skills; (6) implement Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines; and (7) incentivize open science practices. Although in our agenda we focus mostly on quantitative research, we also reflect on open science practices relevant to qualitative research. We conclude by discussing potential objections and concerns associated with open science practices. 26 p.

Background There is a need to develop and improve interventions promoting healthy drinking behaviors among children. A promising method could be to stimulate peer influence within children’s social networks. In the Share H2O social network intervention (SNI), peer influence was utilized by selecting a subset of influential children and training them as ‘influence agents’ to promote water consumption—as an alternative to SSBs. Previous research has mainly focused on the process of selecting influence agents. However, the process of motivating influence agents to promote the behavior has hardly received any research attention. Therefore, in the SNI Share H2O SNI, this motivation process was emphasized and grounded in the self-determination theory (SDT). This study evaluated the implementation of the Share H2O SNI, focusing on whether and how applying SDT-based techniques can motivate the influence agents and, indirectly, their peers. Methods This study included data collected in the Netherlands from both the influence agents (n = 37) and the peers (n = 112) in the classroom networks of the influence agents. Self-reported measurements assessed the influence agents’ enjoyment of the training, duration and perceived autonomy support during the training, and changes in their intrinsic motivation and water consumption before and after the start of the intervention. Changes in the peers’ intrinsic motivation, perceived social support, and social norms were measured before and after the start of the intervention. Results The influence agents enjoyed the training, the duration was adequate, and perceived it as autonomy supportive. There was an increase in the influence agents’ intrinsic motivation to drink water and their actual water consumption. Providing personal meaningful rationales seemed to have motivated the influence agents. The intrinsic motivation and perceived descriptive norm of the peers remained stable. The peers reported an increase in their perceived social support and injunctive norm concerning water drinking after the intervention. Influence agents appeared to mainly use face-to-face strategies, such as modeling, talking to peers, and providing social support to promote the behavior. Conclusions The current findings provided preliminary evidence of the promising effects of using SDT-based techniques in an SNI to motivate the influence agents and, indirectly, their peers. Trial registration NTR, NL6905, Registered 9 January 2018, https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6905

Background The COVID-19 infodemic, a surge of information and misinformation, has sparked worry about the public’s perception of the coronavirus pandemic. Excessive information and misinformation can lead to belief in false information as well as reduce the accurate interpretation of true information. Such incorrect beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic might lead to behavior that puts people at risk of both contracting and spreading the virus. Objective The objective of this study was two-fold. First, we attempted to gain insight into public beliefs about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 in one of the worst hit countries: the United States. Second, we aimed to test whether a short intervention could improve people’s belief accuracy by empowering them to consider scientific consensus when evaluating claims related to the pandemic. Methods We conducted a 4-week longitudinal study among US citizens, starting on April 27, 2020, just after daily COVID-19 deaths in the United States had peaked. Each week, we measured participants’ belief accuracy related to the coronavirus and COVID-19 by asking them to indicate to what extent they believed a number of true and false statements (split 50/50). Furthermore, each new survey wave included both the original statements and four new statements: two false and two true statements. Half of the participants were exposed to an intervention aimed at increasing belief accuracy. The intervention consisted of a short infographic that set out three steps to verify information by searching for and verifying a scientific consensus. Results A total of 1202 US citizens, balanced regarding age, gender, and ethnicity to approximate the US general public, completed the baseline (T0) wave survey. Retention rate for the follow-up waves— first follow-up wave (T1), second follow-up wave (T2), and final wave (T3)—was high (≥85%). Mean scores of belief accuracy were high for all waves, with scores reflecting low belief in false statements and high belief in true statements; the belief accuracy scale ranged from –1, indicating completely inaccurate beliefs, to 1, indicating completely accurate beliefs (T0 mean 0.75, T1 mean 0.78, T2 mean 0.77, and T3 mean 0.75). Accurate beliefs were correlated with self-reported behavior aimed at preventing the coronavirus from spreading (eg, social distancing) (r at all waves was between 0.26 and 0.29 and all P values were less than .001) and were associated with trust in scientists (ie, higher trust was associated with more accurate beliefs), political orientation (ie, liberal, Democratic participants held more accurate beliefs than conservative, Republican participants), and the primary news source (ie, participants reporting CNN or Fox News as the main news source held less accurate beliefs than others). The intervention did not significantly improve belief accuracy. Conclusions The supposed infodemic was not reflected in US citizens’ beliefs about the COVID-19 pandemic. Most people were quite able to figure out the facts in these relatively early days of the crisis, calling into question the prevalence of misinformation and the public’s susceptibility to misinformation.

In a time when many scientists are concerned about waning trust in science, it is important to investigate the mechanisms that determine how people assign trust to a scientific communicator. This study investigates the effect of uncertainty communication by scientists (i.e., expressing reservations towards their own research) on trust and behavioral intention. Specifically, it provides a theoretical explanation for earlier findings that communicating uncertainty increases scientists’ trustworthiness. We test a theoretical framework involving mediation through attributed communicator bias. Results from a mixed design experiment (N = 88), using modified science news articles, show that uncertainty communication significantly increases trust and donation intention and that the effect on trust is mediated by attributed communicator bias. Furthermore, the effect of uncertainty communication on donation intention is mediated by trust.

International audience; Contemporary consumers, societies, and ecologies face many challenges to well-being. Consumer researchers have responded with new attention to what engenders happiness and flourishing, particularly as a function of consuming more wisely. Consumer wisdom has been conceptualized as the pursuit of well-being through the application of six interrelated dimensions: Responsibility, Purpose, Flexibility, Perspective, Reasoning, and Sustainability (Luchs, Mick, and Haws 2020). However, up to now, the roles of marketing management and government policies with respect to enabling and supporting consumer wisdom have not been thoroughly and systematically considered. To do so, we adopt an integrative approach based on a range of theoretical and empirical insights from both wisdom research in the social sciences and in consumer research. We weave those insights into the stages of an expanded version of the circular economy model of the value cycle, within which we also include the traditional four Ps of the marketing mix. This approach allows us to identify how marketing practices and public policies can enable and support consumer wisdom, resulting in advancements to well-being and the common good as well as restorations to the missions and reputations of business and government.

Contains fulltext : 233230.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Seeking to promote healthy food options through design, this study investigates whether food saltiness perception can be enhanced through the design of the surface texture of the container from which the product is sampled, using 3D-printing. An experimental study was conducted at a supermarket in which shoppers (N = 270) participated in a taste test. A full-factorial 3 (surface texture: smooth, rough, rough and irregular) x 3 (salt content: low, medium and high salt content) between-subject design was employed. Participants in each condition were asked to try the product and assess saltiness perception, taste intensity, taste liking and willingness to try. Results testify to the feasibility of enhancing saltiness impressions through both rough and irregular 3D-printed surface textures, but only for the medium-salt and high-salt variants. Findings on taste liking and willingness to try likewise testify to the importance of considering the interaction between surface texture and saltiness. These findings qualify previous research on cross-modal correspondences by showing that applications of surface textures may backfire when the gap between expectations triggered by tactile sensations and actual food contents becomes too large. Implications for initiatives aimed at promoting healthy food choices are discussed. 7 p.

Structural priming is the tendency to repeat syntactic structure across sentences and can be divided into short-term (prime to immediately following target) and long-term (across an experimental session) components. Current theories of structural priming propose that different memory systems support these components, however, this study investigates how non-declarative memory could support both the transient, short-term and the persistent, long-term structural priming effects commonly seen in the literature. We propose that these characteristics are supported by different subcomponents of non-declarative memory: Perceptual and conceptual non-declarative memory respectively. Previous studies have suggested that these subcomponents age differently, with only conceptual memory showing age-related decline. By investigating how different components of structural priming vary across the lifespan, we aim to elucidate how non-declarative memory supports two seemingly different components of structural priming. In 167 participants ranging between 20 and 85 years old, we find no change in short-term priming magnitude and performance on perceptual tasks, whereas both long-term priming and conceptual memory vary with age. We suggest therefore that the two seemingly different components of structural priming are supported by different components of non-declarative memory. These findings have important implications for theoretical accounts of structural priming.

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by a Grant from the National Science Centre in Poland (Grant Number: 2017/26/M/HS6/00360) awarded to Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka. Data collection by the following researchers was supported by Grants as follows: Emma C. O'Connor (Grant RL5GM118963 from National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health; Angel Gomez (Grant RTI2018-093550-B-I00 from the Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain); Sylvie Graf and Martina Hrebickova (Grant 20-01214S from the Czech Science Foundation, and Grant RVO: 68081740 from the Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences); Teri A. Kirby (Grant ES/S00274X/1 from the Economic and Social Research Council); Soledad de Lemus (Grant PSI2016-79971-P from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the excellence); Michelle K. Ryan and Renata Bongiorno (Grant ERC-2016-COG 725128 from the European Research Council awarded to Michelle K. Ryan); Marie Gustafsson Senden, Anna Lindqvist and Emma Renstrom (Grant 2017-00414 from the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life, and Welfare); Claudio V. Torres (Grant DPI/DIRPE n. 04/2019 from the University of Brasilia)., This study was preregistered in Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/u9xfg/., Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Whereas qualitative and ethnographic data suggest that many cultures conceptualize manhood as precarious, quantitative research has yet to demonstrate the cross-cultural consistency of precarious manhood beliefs. Here, we examined the psychometric isomorphism, or measurement invariance, of a brief precarious manhood beliefs scale (the PMB). Using data from university samples in 62 countries across 13 world regions (N=33,417), we examined: (1) the isomorphism of the PMB across individual and country levels; (2) the PMB’s distinctness from, and associations with, other cross-culturally validated gender ideologies (e.g., ambivalent sexism and ambivalence toward men; Glick & Fiske, 1996, 1999); and (3) associations of the PMB with country-level indices of gender equality (the GGGI; World Economic Forum, 2019) and human development (the HDI; United Nations Development Programme, 2019). Findings indicate that the PMB is a psychometrically valid and isomorphic index of beliefs about the male gender role that accounts for unique variance in country-level gender equality and human development., National Science Center, Poland 2017/26/M/HS6/00360, United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) RL5GM118963, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain RTI2018-093550-B-I00, Grant Agency of the Czech Republic 20-01214S, Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences RVO: 68081740, UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) ES/S00274X/1, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness PSI2016-79971-P, European Research Council (ERC) European Commission ERC-2016-COG 725128, Swedish Research Council Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life & Welfare (Forte) 2017-00414, University of Brasilia 04/2019

Contains fulltext : 234237.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Marketers increasingly use behavioral targeting in location-based mobile marketing (LBMM). However, highly personalized marketing messages like this may backfire by eliciting consumer reactance. We suggest that LBMM efficacy depends on its potential to minimize consumer reactance, which can be achieved by effectively combining location targeting (in-store vs. out-store), behavioral targeting (based on consumers' product category involvement [PCI]), and the type of promotion offered (price vs. non-price promotion). Results of a field study, a virtual reality experiment, and two online experiments show that although in-store mobile ads are generally more effective in increasing sales than out-store mobile ads, this is only the case if consumers have low PCI with the advertised product category, because this decreases their reactance. To attract consumers to stores by out-store LBMM, we show that firms should offer price promotions to consumers with low PCI and non-price promotions to consumers with high PCI, because these combinations of location targeting, behavioral targeting, and type of promotion elicit the least reactance and therefore result in a higher probability to buy. 26 p.

Item does not contain fulltext Purpose: The past decade has seen tremendous growth in research focused on understanding college students' alcohol-related social media displays. However, longitudinal studies remain rare. The purpose of this 5-year study was to describe alcohol and abstinence display patterns on Facebook. Methods: This prospective longitudinal cohort study recruited incoming 17- to 19-year-old college students from two universities upon entering college. Trained coders evaluated Facebook profiles monthly over five years to identify alcohol and abstinence displays. Alcohol displays were further categorized as general alcohol use or intoxication/problem drinking references. Analyses included multivariate negative binomial regression. Results: Among 338 participants recruited (mean age = 18.4, SD = .6), 56.1% were female, 74.8% were Caucasian, and 58.8% were from the Midwest college. General alcohol use references were most common in the spring semester of the third year (mean = 3.9 displays; 95% CI: 3.21-4.73), these often included references to a "21 run." Intoxication/problem drinking references were most common in spring semester of the first year (mean = .79 displays, 95% confidence interval: .56–1.10) and second year of college (mean = .77 displays, 95% confidence interval: .54-1.11). There were no gender differences associated with alcohol displays at any time point. Abstinence displays were rare and declined in frequency to a low of four total displays in year 5. Conclusions: This 5-year study is the first to document patterns of alcohol and abstinence displays throughout the undergraduate experience. Findings may inform planning targeted interventions by time point, or longitudinal studies of other substances or on different platforms. 7 p.

Contains fulltext : 231659.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Dark patterns are (evil) design nudges that steer people's behaviour through persuasive interface design. Increasingly found in cookie consent requests, they possibly undermine principles of EU privacy law. In two preregistered online experiments we investigated the effects of three common design nudges (default, aesthetic manipulation, obstruction) on users' consent decisions and their perception of control over their personal data in these situations. In the first experiment (N = 228) we explored the effects of design nudges towards the privacy-unfriendly option (dark patterns). The experiment revealed that most participants agreed to all consent requests regardless of dark design nudges. Unexpectedly, despite generally low levels of perceived control, obstructing the privacy-friendly option led to more rather than less perceived control. In the second experiment (N = 255) we reversed the direction of the design nudges towards the privacy-friendly option, which we title "bright patterns". This time the obstruction and default nudges swayed people effectively towards the privacy-friendly option, while the result regarding perceived control stayed the same compared to Experiment 1. Overall, our findings suggest that many current implementations of cookie consent requests do not enable meaningful choices by internet users, and are thus not in line with the intention of the EU policymakers. We also explore how policymakers could address the problem. 38 p.

Contains fulltext : 233700.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Sharing helps children form and maintain relationships with other children. Yet, children born today interact not only with other children, but increasingly with robots as well. Little is known on whether and how children treat robots as recipients of prosocial acts. We thus investigated children's sharing behavior towards robots. Specifically, we assessed the effect of anthropomorphic appearance and affective state attributions. Children (4-9 years old; n = 120) were introduced to robots that varied in the extent to which they looked human-like. Children's perceptions of the robots' affective states were manipulated by explicitly demonstrating one robot as having feelings and the other one not. Subsequently, children's sharing behavior towards and feelings about sharing with these robots were measured. Results indicate that there was no effect of anthropomorphic appearance on sharing behavior. However, importantly, children in both age groups shared more resources with a robot that they attributed with affective states, and expressed more positive emotional judgments about sharing with that robot as well. An exploratory mediation analysis further revealed that children's positive feelings about sharing guided their actual sharing behavior with robots. In sum, children show more pro-social behavior when they believe a robot can feel. 11 p.

Contains fulltext : 231364.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Girls' magazines play an important role in the maintenance of gender perceptions and the creation of gender by young girls. Due to a recent resurgence within public discussion and mediated content of feminist, postfeminist, and antifeminist repertoires, centered on what femininity entails, young girls are growing up in an environment in which conflicting messages are communicated about their gender. To assess, which shared norms and values related to gender are articulated in girl culture and to what extent these post/anti/feminist repertoires are prevalent in the conceptualization of girlhood, it is important to analyze magazines as vehicles of this culture. The current study analyzes if and how contemporary postfeminist thought is articulated in popular girl's magazines. To reach this goal, we conducted a thematic analysis of three popular Dutch teenage girls' magazines (N = 27, from 2018), Fashionchick, Cosmogirl, and Girlz. The results revealed that the magazines incorporate feminist, antifeminist, and as a result, postfeminist discourse in their content. The themes in which these repertoires are articulated are centered around: the body, sex, male- female relationships, female empowerment, and self-reflexivity. The magazines function as a source of gender socialization for teenage girls, where among other gendered messages a large palette of postfeminist themes are part of the magazines' articulation of what it means to be a girl in contemporary society. 12 p.

Contains fulltext : 220301.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Through communication technology, users find themselves constantly connected to others to such an extent that they routinely develop a mindset of connectedness. This mindset has been defined as online vigilance. Although there is a large body of research on media use and well-being, the question of how online vigilance impacts well-being remains unanswered. In this preregistered study, we combine experience sampling and smartphone logging to address the relation of online vigilance and affective well-being in everyday life. Seventy-five Android users answered eight daily surveys over five days (N = 1615) whilst having their smartphone use logged. Thinking about smartphone-mediated social interactions (i.e., the salience dimension of online vigilance) was negatively related to affective well-being. However, it was far more important whether those thoughts were positive or negative. No other dimension of online vigilance was robustly related to affective well-being. Taken together, our results suggest that online vigilance does not pose a serious threat to affective well-being in everyday life. 25 p.

BackgroundMost studies on social influencer marketing techniques have focused on the promotion of unhealthy foods whereas little is known about the promotion of healthier foods. The present experimental study investigated whether a popular real versus fictitious fit influencer is more successful in promoting healthy food products. In addition, we examined the role of parasocial interaction as an underlying mechanism of healthy food product endorsement.MethodsWe used a randomized between-subject design with 154 participants (mean age: 24.0 years). Viewers’ product attitude and purchase intention were tested after exposure to an Instagram post by a popular real fit influencer (n = 77) or fictitious fit influencer (n = 77).ResultsResults showed that parasocial interaction mediated the relation between the type of influencer and product attitude as well as purchase intention. Parasocial interaction was higher for participants exposed to the popular real fit influencer compared to the fictitious fit influencer, leading to higher healthy food brand attitude and purchase intention.DiscussionThe findings showed that it is crucial for social influencers to establish a warm personal relationship and connection with the their followers when promoting a healthy product successfully. We suggest that the promotion of healthy foods could be more successful in public health when using popular fit influencers.

Item does not contain fulltext This chapter investigates how political candidates utilize Twitter to communicate with each other to better understand the role Twitter plays in facilitating public debate. Taking a communication network approach, Vergeer uses the 2012 Dutch national election to provide insight into how political candidates interact on Twitter and describe the structure of the candidates' online communication network. Results regarding candidate interaction on Twitter are mixed: most candidates only tweet occasionally, and while reciprocity was observed it often only occurred between party members, especially incumbents. While Twitter thus provides political candidates with the opportunity to conduct interparty discussions, it appears that few do and that Twitter is mainly used as a broadcasting platform. As such, candidates do not use the full democratic potential of the platform.

Item does not contain fulltext The amount of online messages that are personalized based on people's characteristics and interests is growing. Due to technological advancements, it has become possible to personalize messages across media in real time. However, little is known about people's perceptions of these different personalization techniques, while this can have important implications for message effectiveness and the privacy debate. A survey with U.S. adults (N = 1,008) showed that in the context of real-time personalization, all personalization techniques are seen as unacceptable and they are all associated with perceptions of surveillance. This applies to all generations, but younger generations are more likely to accept and to perceive less surveillance than older generations. Furthermore, we found that, of all predictors, perceived surveillance and attitudes toward personalization were the strongest predictors of acceptance of all personalization techniques. The results advance theory by differentiating between personalization techniques and introducing privacy cynicism and mobile device dependency as factors that positively relate to acceptance of personalization techniques. Practically, the results contribute to the debate on consumer agency related to people's personal data and inform media literacy programs. 9 p.

Unhealthy eating behavior has become a global health risk and thus needs to be influenced. Previous research has found that self-persuasion is more effective than direct persuasion in changing attitudes and behavioral intentions, but the influence of the cultural backgrounds of those being persuaded remains unclear. We conducted two studies to investigate the effectiveness of self-persuasion and direct persuasion techniques in promoting healthy eating intention among different ethnicities in the Netherlands. Native Dutch, Moroccan&ndash, Dutch, and Turkish&ndash, Dutch participated both online and offline. Participants saw a poster with either a self-persuasion message (&ldquo, Why would you choose healthier food?&rdquo, ) or a direct persuasion message (&ldquo, Choose healthier food!&rdquo, ), and were then asked to report their intention to eat healthily in the upcoming month. Significant cultural differences were found between native Dutch and Moroccan&ndash, Dutch in Study 1, and between the native Dutch and Turkish-Dutch who participated offline in Study 2. Accordingly, cultural background was found to moderate the relationship between persuasion and healthy eating intention among these groups. These results provided preliminary evidence for the moderation effect of persuasion on healthy eating intention: Self-persuasion appears to be more effective for people with an individualistic background, and direct persuasion appears to be more effective for people with a collectivistic background.

Contains fulltext : 217214.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Watching vlogs of social media influencers has become a favorite pastime for children and adolescents. For advertisers, vlogs are an excellent way to reach young viewers. As such, vlogs have become a powerful marketing tool. However, for children and adolescents it is often unclear whether a vlog contains advertising, which raises questions regarding the fairness and transparency of this type of advertising. If children do not recognize the commercial intent of in-vlog advertising, then they are unlikely to activate their advertising literacy, which may serve as a critical coping mechanism. The aim of this study was to investigate if a sponsorship disclosure stimulates children and adolescents' (7-16 years old) to activate their advertising literacy when exposed to embedded advertising in vlogs and, subsequently, if advertising literacy activation is related to children's brand attitude. Furthermore, we investigated whether the relation between exposure to a sponsorship disclosure and advertising literacy activation was moderated by children's dispositional advertising literacy and their age. An innovative aspect of the current study is that advertising literacy activation was measured in two ways: with a self-reported questionnaire and via an indirect measurement task (Advertising Literacy Activation Task). The results showed that the children who were exposed to a sponsorship disclosure did not activate their advertising literacy to a higher extent than the children who were not exposed to such a disclosure. This might be because of the high prominence of the brand in the vlog; thus children may not have needed the disclosure to realize that the vlog was sponsored and accordingly activate their advertising literacy. The results also showed that stronger attitudinal advertising literacy activation led to a more negative brand attitude. Interestingly, this effect was only found when attitudinal advertising literacy was assessed with a questionnaire and not when it was assessed with the indirect measurement task. Thus, children who were more critical toward the in-vlog advertisement through self-reporting also had a more negative brand attitude. This suggests that direct and indirect measurements of advertising literacy activation reveal different processes through which children make sense of, and are affected by, advertising. 16 p.

Background: Adolescent physical activity (PA) is widely linked to positive health outcomes. Unfortunately, 80% of adolescents do not meet recommendations, which may be due to perceived barriers to PA. Peer interactions significantly affect adolescent PA behaviors. This study aims to analyze distribution of PA barriers throughout adolescent friendship networks and barriers’ associations with PA. Methods: Adolescents (N = 383, mean = 10.77 y, SD = 1.30 y, 51.4% male) reported frequency of experiencing PA barriers (body related, social, fitness, convenience, and resource) and names of their friends. Average steps and minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA per day were measured using accelerometers. Linear network autocorrelation models determined if friends perceived barriers similarly when compared with nonfriends and analyzed relationships between barriers and objective PA measures while controlling for network effects. Results: Moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA, steps per day, body-related barriers, and social barriers displayed significant network effects, suggesting significant association with the scores of their friends. Average steps per day were significantly associated with age, sex, and social barriers, while inversely associated with fitness barriers. Conclusions: This research suggests adolescents’ perceived PA barriers are significantly associated with those of their friends. Researchers and practitioners aiming to reduce barriers to PA among adolescents may wish to assess peer reinforcing effects.

Contains fulltext : 219755.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Doorstep scams, scams in which con artists tell convincing but fraudulent stories in order to enter the house of a victim and/or steal personal belongings or information, have a high impact on victims. These victims are often elderly people. Existing campaigns mostly focus on the behavioural aspects that help to prevent a doorstep scam from happening, but verbal skills also contribute to the resilience of possible victims. In this research, a serious game is designed and evaluated for this purpose. The results of the evaluation are positive. The serious game is specifically seen as a valuable addition to existing training meetings. 31 p.

Background Positive associations exist between physical activity and happiness in adolescents. However, previous studies have mostly used self-reported measures and cross-sectional designs. There is a need for more insight into the directionality and duration of this association. The current study was the first to investigate whether an increase in physical activity leads to happiness and whether adolescents become more physically active when they are happier. These two effects were studied between (on a day-to-day basis) and within days (on an hour-to-hour basis). Methods The study used data from the MyMovez project in which 1484 adolescents between the ages of 8 and 17 years wore an accelerometer on their wrist and answered experience sampling questions on happiness at random moments during the day for several weeks in 2016–2018. Results The preregistered analyses demonstrated an association between physical activity and happiness. More specifically, the number of steps per day predicted the experienced happiness on that day. In addition, a short-term reciprocal effect of physical activity and happiness was observed. Happiness was predicted by the number of steps accumulated in the previous hour and it also predicted the number of steps accumulated in the subsequent hour. However, convincing evidence was found that these effects did not occur in the long-term between days. The number of steps on the previous day did not predict happiness, nor did happiness predict the number of steps of the subsequent day. Conclusions This study confirms an association between physical activity and happiness in adolescents and shows that in the short-term, physical activity promotes happiness and vice versa. Therefore, we conclude that physical activity is not only important for the physical health of youth, but also plays an important role in their mental well-being. In addition, this knowledge can be used to further understand the importance of physical activity in adolescents’ health and help in promoting a healthy lifestyle among youth. Trial registration The data used are stored at the Data Archiving and Networked Services (10.17026/dans-zz9-gn44). Hypotheses, study design, sample, data collection procedure, measured variables, and plan of analysis were preregistered on the Open Science Framework (OSF, https://osf.io/5yk7r/).

Item does not contain fulltext This article describes how the social context of professional journalism has changed in the twenty-first century and why this has strengthened the need to redefine the function of journalism in this new era. Pivotal questions for journalism are: How to stay relevant for the public? How to redefine the public service function? How to deal with the increased competition? How to deal with a negative focus in the news that might offer people disillusion instead of hopeful perspectives? These questions are addressed within technological, social-cultural and economic developments that have a huge impact on the information supply. In this context, constructive journalism emerge. As a movement, it is indebted to civic journalism but takes it to the next level. Constructive journalism reconsiders the goals and values of professional journalism and cherishes a form of journalism that is public-oriented, solution-oriented, future-oriented and action-oriented, trying to avoid a bias towards negativity in the news. The break-through of the twenty-first century network model implies that journalism needs to move into a new direction, fostering cooperation, transparency and constructiveness. 16 p.

Contains fulltext : 183541.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) This study employed a scenario-based approach whereby participants were asked to choose which communication channel they prefer in certain situations. The first aim was to determine the effect of the topic of interactions and social ties on channel choice. The second aim was to examine the underlying mechanisms (controllability, anonymity, co-presence, and affective understanding) in the relation between interaction topic and social ties and channel choice. A questionnaire was administered among 238 participants, who were presented five communication scenarios with topics of low and high intimacy and four social ties, ranging from weak to strong. Results revealed that preference for face-to-face (FtF) communication was highest, followed by audio-only computer-mediated communication (CMC) and text-based CMC. Preference for FtF communication was higher when people valued feeling co-present and decreased when people valued feeling anonymous. Our results showed that communication channel choice is strategic and the choice for FtF ommunication, audio-only and text-based CMC largely depends on controllability, anonymity and co-presence. 27 p.

Contains fulltext : 200673.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Despite the popularity of the Persuasion Knowledge Model, and its persistent relevance given the omnipresence of sponsored content (e.g. brand placement in TV programmes and video games, or paid product reviews in blogs), the way scholars measure persuasion knowledge varies widely. This study aims to develop valid and reliable scales for standardized measurement of consumers' persuasion knowledge of sponsored content. In three phases, we developed the Persuasion Knowledge Scales of Sponsored Content (PKS-SC) that measures nine components: (1) recognition of sponsored content, (2) understanding of selling and persuasive intent, (3) recognition of the commercial source of sponsored content, (4) understanding of persuasive tactics, (5) understanding of the economic model, (6) self-reflective awareness of the effectiveness of sponsored content, (7) skepticism toward sponsored content, (8) appropriateness of sponsored content, and (9) liking of sponsored content. All scales have good to appropriate validity and reliability. Recommendations for future research are discussed. 27 p.

Contains fulltext : 173517.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) The current study was designed to examine whether 1-year-old infants relate the perception of others' being touched to their own sensorimotor system, and whether they distinguish between animate and inanimate targets. During electroencephalography (EEG) assessment, infants watched video sequences in which either a human or a non-human target was touched/not touched by another object. Comparisons of sensorimotor alpha activation (7-9 Hz) on centro-parietal electrodes revealed differential cortical reactivity to the touch versus non-touch situations for the human-, but not or the non-human target. Our findings indicate that infants relate others' sensory experiences to their own sensorimotor system. 9 p.

Food cues of palatable food are omnipresent, thereby simulating the intake of unhealthy snack food among children. As a consequence, this might lead to a higher intake of energy-dense snacks and less fruit and vegetables, a habit that increases the risk of developing chronic diseases. The aim of this experimental study is to examine whether playing a memory game with fruit affects fruit intake among young children. We used a randomized between-subject design with 127 children (age: 7–12 y) who played a memory-game, containing either fruit (n = 64) or non-food products (n = 63). While playing the memory-game in a separate room in school during school hours, free intake of fruit (mandarins, apples, bananas, and grapes) was measured. Afterwards, the children completed self-report measures, and length and weight were assessed. The main finding is that playing a memory-game containing fruit increases overall fruit intake (P = 0.016). Children who played the fruit version of the memory-game ate more bananas (P = 0.015) and mandarins (P = 0.036) than children who played the non-food memory-game; no effects were found for apples (P > 0.05) and grapes (P > 0.05). The findings suggest that playing a memory-game with fruit stimulates fruit intake among young children. This is an important finding because children eat insufficient fruit, according to international standards, and more traditional health interventions have limited success. Healthy eating habits of children maintain when they become adults, making it important to stimulate fruit intake among children in an enjoyable way. Trial registration: Nederlands Trial Register TC = 5687, Highlights • We tested the effect of fruit-cues on actual fruit intake among young children. • Fruit consumption increased after playing a memory-game with fruit. • Children reported that they enjoyed playing the game.

Item does not contain fulltext Previous work has shown that self-generating arguments is more persuasive than reading arguments provided by others, particularly if self-generation feels easy. The present study replicates and extends these findings by providing evidence for fluency effects on behavioural intention in the realm of helping. In two studies, participants were instructed to either self-generate or read two versus ten arguments about why it is good to help. Subsequently, a confederate asked them for help. Results show that self-generating few arguments is more effective than generating many arguments. While this pattern reverses for reading arguments, easy self-generation is the most effective strategy compared to all other conditions. These results have important implications for fostering behavioural change in all areas of life. 9 p.