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This dissertation attempts to expand our understanding of the deficient self-regulation (DSR) of Internet use and media habit development. Drawing from a social cognitive perspective, DSR is described as lapses in effective self-control that are self-corrected over time. A shortcoming in this area of research is that factors relevant to the technology that may encourage the development of DSR or media habits are rarely, if ever, discussed. A large focus of existing research is instead narrowly placed on individual factors that motivate DSR and media habits. An extension is proposed to theory on DSR in this dissertation by examining the role played by novelty perceptions of technology. In the initial stages of technology use, when perceptions of novelty generally grow, perceived novelty is hypothesized to elicit a state of flow, which in turn diminishes the subfunctions of self-regulation and provokes DSR. The relationship between perceived novelty and flow is moderated by psychosocial problems, boredom proneness, and self-reactive outcome expectation. As perceived novelty of a technology decreases, it is presumed that self-control is restored given that flow no longer inhibits self-regulation. However, DSR and media habits are hypothesized to persist in later technology use if individuals experience psychosocial problems, boredom proneness, or high self-reactive outcome expectations. The manifestation of DSR in later stages of technology use increases the likelihood of forming media habits. The influence of novelty perceptions was evaluated on flow, DSR, and media habits at initial and later stages of technology use. The pretest demonstrated that a novelty frame successfully manipulated novelty perceptions of Second Life, the technology used in this experiment, in anticipated directions. In the main study, perceived novelty resulted in flow, which in turn predicted growth of DSR during initial stages of Second Life use. In the familiar stages of use, DSR led to the

This investigation sought to extend research in mediated intergroup communication by examining the role of emotion in producing intergroup bias. Two studies were guided by social identity theory, appraisal-based theories of emotion, and cultivation theory. Study 1 surveyed 254 adults, recruited through student referrals. Drawing insight from previous content analytic research and cultivation theory, results indicated that the media plays an important role in cultivating emotional reactions toward racial minorities. Overall daily television consumption was associated with experiencing anxiety-related emotions and distrust-related emotions toward Blacks. Television news consumption was associated with experiencing anger towards Blacks. Overall daily television consumption was associated with experiencing anger and anxiety-related emotions toward Latinos and Asians. Television news consumption was associated with experiencing distrust-related emotions toward Asians. In Study 2 a 2 (Immigration: Threat/No-Threat) X 2 (Ingroup Emotional Norm Endorsement: Present/Absent) plus 1 (Control) experiment examined the impact of mediated intergroup threat on attitudes toward immigration, collective self-esteem, information sharing and seeking behaviors, and policy support, in the context of illegal immigration. This study also examined whether experimental condition indirectly influenced the above-specified outcomes through intergroup emotions. Previous news consumption was examined as a potential moderator of the mediational relationship between experimental condition and intergroup outcomes via intergroup emotions. Results indicate that exposure to intergroup threat via the media directly influence attitudes toward immigrants' human rights and information sharing. Exposure to intergroup threat indirectly influences immigration attitudes through feelings of anxiety. Moreover, exposure to intergroup threat via the media indirectly influences information sharing and support for En

The study examined the ways in which individuals manage inconsistent information about actors and fictional character that the actors play. Previous research suggested that people tend to attribute characters' characteristics to the actors. Therefore, actor-character inconsistency might be deemed as hypocritical and undermine the effects of the media content. However, this effect was hypothesized to be moderated by information processing mode. Specifically, when viewers transport into the narrative, namely, become absorbed in the story, they are not able to integrate actor information with character information. Similarly, when processing the message heuristically, viewers lack sufficient cognitive resources to integrate actor information. Thus, it was hypothesized that character incongruence will only diminish media effects when viewers process the media content critically. These hypotheses were explored in the context of perceptions of cosmetic surgery and sexual objectification of women. Participants read a fictitious interview in which the actor Raymond Romano expressed either approval of breast augmentation procedures or criticized this practice. Then, participants watched an edited segment from an Everybody Loves Raymond episode in which Romano played the role of a character that encouraged his wife to undergo cosmetic surgery. Viewers were requested to engage in issue elaboration, encouraged to transport into the show (narrative elaboration) or had to complete a distraction task while watching (heuristic processing). They listed all the thoughts they had during the media exposure and completed questionnaires assessing attitudes towards cosmetic surgery and sexual objectification of women. The same measures were completed again, one week after the lab session. Analysis of viewers' reported thoughts indicated that the manipulation successfully induced the different types of processing. Further, participants in the issue elaboration condition tended to generate

The primary aim of this study is to better understand the link between supportive and influential communication among individuals in romantic relationships and health behavior changes in their partners. Interdependence theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959) posits that individuals in relationships may interact in ways that emphasize their interconnected relationship by making behavioral transformations to align their own behavior with their partner (Kelley, 1979). In general, research suggests that behavioral transformations are associated with rewarding relationship outcomes (Rusbult & Van Lange, 2003), yet little is known about the communication climate within relationships and why individuals may engage in healthy or unhealthy behaviors for the sake of their relational partners. The present study examines how individuals make health-related transformations and how these transformations- both healthy and unhealthy- are associated with relationship quality, social support, and positive and negative social influence. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny, Kashy & Cook, 2006) and cross-sectional dyadic data from 169 couples, results indicate that individuals in relationships engage in healthy and unhealthy transformations for their partners and that interdependence theory assumptions can be applied to an interpersonal health communication context. Specifically, being in a supportive relationship was positively associated with health, relationship quality, and healthy behavior transformations. Social influence results were mixed. Positive social influence was associated with an individual's own health, relationship satisfaction, and their partner's health behavior transformations; negative social influence was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and commitment and more frequent unhealthy behavior transformations. Individuals who reported making healthy behavior changes for their partners experienced better relationship quality. Taken together, the

The purpose of this investigation was to explore how participants' language use during counseling (overall emotional expression, positive emotional expression, and communal coping, or "we-talk") was associated with superior adjustment, as measured by four psychosocial outcome variables (depression, positive affect, negative affect, and relationship satisfaction); as well as to identify the key concerns of dyads with cancer, how concerns differed by role and sex, and if they were associated with participants' well-being. The present study was a content analysis of the counseling sessions of 43 dyads (N = 86) with breast and prostate cancer. Using a multi-method approach, the audio recordings of 228 counseling sessions were transcribed and analyzed linguistically (quantitatively) and thematically (qualitatively).Results of the linguistic analyses revealed that participant's use of "we-talk" had the most consistent and beneficial effect on outcomes; specifically improved depression, negative affect, and relationship satisfaction. These findings suggest that it might not be as important how much a person expresses themselves emotionally, but rather, whether they have a close relational partner that they see as an instrumental part of their coping process and significantly intertwined in their life, which is reflected in their language use of communal coping.Results of the thematic analyses revealed that survivors' concerns were more focused on cancer and treatment related issues, whereas partners' concerns centered on the well-being of their spouse/partner with cancer, and what they were doing to help their loved one cope with his/her illness. The overarching key concern that was intertwined in participants' discourse was frequent discussion of relationship maintenance, negotiation, and communication issues. In addition, discussion of these concerns showed greatest benefits for women with breast cancer.The findings of this study has implications for counselors and clini

Medical residency is characterized by sleep deprivation, stress, and heavy workload. The impact of these pressures on physician-patient communication has not been fully explored. The aim of the current study was to investigate how contextual demands, stress, and burnout impact empathy and provision of patient-centered communication among internal medicine residents in two hospitals. The long-call shift was studied, as it is known to be particularly taxing and is a primary feature of medical residency. Assessments were obtained both prior to and at the conclusion of residents' shifts. Cognitive complexity was examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between stress and burnout, and burnout and empathy. Results revealed that there was a significant decline in physician empathy from the beginning to the end of the long-call shift and that this decline in empathy predicted less patient-centered communication from physicians. Stress, burnout, and decline in empathy were all positively associated, indicating that resident physicians who were more stressed and burned out were at increased risk for declines in empathy over the course of their shift. Cognitive complexity was not found to be a significant mediator of any associations between study variables, though it was associated with several key variables in unexpected ways. These findings highlight the importance of identifying and addressing barriers to patient-centered communication, as a number of these barriers may be routinely present in the demanding environment of medical residency.

This book chapter reviews the relation of language to thought and its implications for intergroup relations. Following recent advances in social psychology, the chapter argues that language, far from merely being a medium for the transmission of stereotypes and prejudices, has the power to create, augment, and transform them. In particular, I examine the implications of the ability of language to contain thought (like a vessel), to focus thought (like a lens), and to reveal thought (like a barometer).

Media effects research has yet to shed light on the effects of exposure to the stereotype of Latinos as passionate and seductive (i.e., Latin lovers). Research on priming ethnic group stereotypes indicates that the activated stereotype affects subsequent evaluations of members of the ethnic group. This study looked at the effects of priming the Latin lover stereotype on participants' judgments of unrelated targets. A self-categorization theory approach was invoked to account for individual differences in priming effects, by assessing the role that ethnicity salience and stereotype endorsement play in priming effects. The experiment found little support for the effects of priming the Latin lover stereotype. Ethnicity accessibility and stereotype endorsement mainly moderated priming effects dealing with perceptions of an unrelated White male target's romanticism, perceptions of an unrelated Latino male target's relational commitment, perceptions of a relationally-committed female target's ethnicity, and compatibility ratings involving the relationally-committed female target. Reasons for the weak priming results are discussed.

This research investigated the influence of television viewing on the social identity management or coping strategies endorsed by women. Three studies (N = 536) tested predictions formulated under the aegis of cultivation theory and social identity theory. Cultivation theory suggests that exposure to low-status mediated portrayals of female characters may lead to the internalization of low status in female heavy television viewers, possibly resulting in a negative ingroup or social identity. According to social identity theory, members of low-status groups may cope with negative social identity by adopting any of three identity management strategies: individual mobility (disassociating oneself from the ingroup), social creativity (changing the dimension of comparison with a high-status group or changing the comparison group altogether), and social competition (actively pursuing legal and/or civil means in order to obtain a higher status for the ingroup). By integrating the identity management strategies as outcome variables in a cultivation-led framework, the main predictions of this research were that television viewing would be directly related to strategies of mobility and creativity and inversely related to social competition. A model of television viewing's indirect effects on identity management via its influences on the sociostructural constructs (permeability, stability, and legitimacy) was also tested in this research. Finally, this research examined other theoretically important variables that were predicted to impact television's cultivation effects. These were (i) gender role attitudes, (ii) perceived ingroup vitality, (iii) ingroup identification, (iv) perceived ingroup efficacy, and (v) perceived realism of television programming. The findings from these three studies indicate that television viewing has both direct and indirect influences on identity management in women. Specifically, television viewing was significantly and positively related to indi

This investigation examines some of the potential underlying processes and factors associated with marital stability. Two studies were guided by Karney and Bradbury's vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model of marital development. Variables examined included negative affectivity, educational attainment, work and family stressors, conflict resolution styles, mutual problem solving, marital satisfaction, personal commitment, and divorce proneness. Study one used an existing data set consisting of 194 married couples and tested a part of the VSA model. Results indicate that high negative affectivity is associated with the endorsement of negatively toned conflict styles. In comparison to husbands, wives' negative affectivity and use of negatively toned conflict styles were found to be more detrimental to marital quality in general. Conflict resolution styles were able to explain the relationship between negative affectivity and marital quality for husbands more so than wives. Study two examined 186 newly married couples and tested additional paths of the VSA. The enduring vulnerability, negative affectivity, played a significant role in wives' and husbands' perceived stress and lower marital quality. Marital quality was significantly associated with how spouses personally communicated with their spouses about problems and concerns. Additionally, mutual problem solving was related to increased levels of stress for wives and husbands. There were partner effects for husbands' mutual problem solving on wives' perceived stress, but not vice versa. Last, mutual problem solving significantly mediated some of the relationships between enduring vulnerabilities, stressful events, and marital quality. Both studies highlight the impact communication processes have on a dyadic level in marital relationships. These findings will allow scholars, clinicians, and married individuals to further understand some of the factors and processes that contribute to dyadic adjustment and stab

To date, very little research on task-oriented groups has focused on relational communication, the verbal and non-verbal messages that members exchange in negotiating their interrelationships within a group. The purpose of the present study was to test a new, interdisciplinary model of how relational messages that faculty members receive from colleagues predict their global assessment of departmental support. A new Relational Message scale was employed in an online survey completed by 262 faculty members at the University of Arizona. Results of multilevel modeling analyses show that positive and negative relational messages received in collegial interaction were associated with 1) individuals' sense of relative competence and belongingness in their departments, 2) the extent to which gender is salient in their interactions with colleagues, 3) their level of identification with their departments, and 4) perceived departmental support. Female faculty members reported receipt of more negative messages about their professional competence, more negative feelings associated with interaction, more awareness of gender in interaction, and perceptions of lower departmental support than males. It was also found that both male and female respondents associated positive relational messages significantly more with male colleagues than expected, based on gender representation in their departments. No inter-departmental differences in relational communication experiences were found. Implications and limitations of the study, as well as future directions for research, are discussed.

The study aims to discover the strategies and techniques used by community mediators in the People's Republic of China. Previous research argues that mediator legitimacy in China draws on state authorization and the mediator's community standing. In contrast to Western conceptions of the mediator's role as a neutral facilitator of dispute resolution, research suggests that Chinese mediators openly speak on behalf of community norms, calling on disputants to subordinate personal preferences in the interest of maintaining harmonious relationships and governmental policies and legal regulations. The legitimacy of the mediation process depends more on a persuasive articulation of community norms than an impression of mediator neutrality. However, this account of Chinese mediation has been based solely on interview and questionnaire data. How (and whether) this contrast between self-report measures and mediation techniques in practice actually manifests itself in mediator discourse, at what stages, and to what degree has not really been observed or analyzed. This study records and analyzes community mediation cases to better understand what features are prevalent in mediation discourse. Cases were selected in both rural and urban areas. Discourse analysis is applied to transcripts so as to provide direct and detailed picture of how mediation is conducted in reality. Strategies typical of Chinese mediation, relative to American mediation are identified and illustrated with excerpts from the transcripts. Neutrality and power distribution are discussed and compared with their roles in American mediation. Their implications for political, social and cultural aspects are drawn to provide a glimpse of contemporary Chinese society and how resolution is created. Future research directions are pointed out with regard to mediator's gender difference, the location where the mediation happens (urban and rural) and the socio-economic class of disputants (e.g., migrant workers) involv

Content analyses indicate that women and girls are gender-stereotyped and negatively portrayed in video games, yet, to date, no research has examined the effects of exposure to these images on consumers. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of sexualized (stereotypical) and non-sexualized (counter-stereotypical) portrayals of female characters in video games on players' self-esteem, gender stereotyping, body esteem, self-objectification, and self-efficacy. Social cognitive theory and presence are utilized to explicate the processes through which individuals are affected by video game play. According to social cognitive theory, the portrayals of women and girls in video games would be expected to influence social perceptions about gender and self-concept in both male and female users. Integrating presence into this theoretical framework aids in explaining the effects of exposure to this uniquely interactive medium. The findings from this study suggest that short-term exposure to a sexualized female video game character predicts lower self-efficacy and negative attitudes toward women in terms of their physical capabilities for female players. Additionally, level of presence experienced by male game players predicted body-related outcomes, such that a higher level of presence was related to greater body satisfaction and lower self-objectification in men. Presence had no significant effect on the relationship between sex, type of character played, and the outcome variables. The results of this study are of consequence not only to media effects researchers but also to parents, legislators, and video game programmers.

Using the account episode (Schonbach,1992) as a framework, this study examined several variables related to how attributions are made and managed in the context of voluntary childlessness, arguably an instance of concealable stigma (e.g., Park, 2005; 2002). More specifically, the means by which voluntarily childless persons account for their childless decision (and how these accounts are evaluated) were examined, along with factors salient to social identity and intergroup perceptions (e.g., social dominance orientation, self-construal). Extant scholarship suggested that excuses and justifications would be evaluated differently in terms of both their acceptability and the interpersonal implications they carry. Findings indicate that excuses and justifications were not related to the account's acceptability, but did produce different attributions of interpersonal warmth and competence in those who used them. The acceptability of the target's childless decision was higher for those with a strong independent self-construal, and lower for those holding a high social dominance orientation. Few differences between the voluntarily childless man and woman were found. All findings are discussed in the context of both account evaluation and perceptions of the voluntarily childless.

This study explores whether anti-fat bias is reduced when obesity in women is perceived to be the result of an uncontrollable versus controllable factor. An experiment was designed to test whether manipulating the causal attribution in favor of the target (i.e., offering an uncontrollable attribution that removes all responsibility from the target for her obesity) would have an impact on perceivers' anti-fat attitudes, beliefs about weight controllability, and tendency to blame a woman for her weight. The exploration of this topic was conducted within a greater context of obesity-related issues including body image, social stigma, responsibility, and a culture of blame. Equally important in this endeavor was gaining insight into the reasons why women are blamed more for their obesity than their male counterparts. Attribution theory (Heider, 1958) serves as the primary theoretical framework. One hundred and eighty undergraduates from a large, southwestern university participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the following six conditions, five of which contained a version of the treatment embedded in an essay: Uncontrollable attribution, controllable attribution, potentially controllable attribution, manifest mention of weight, no mention of weight or control. The potentially controllable attribution was ultimately determined to be insufficiently manipulated and responses generated in response to it were not included in the data analysis. All participants completed a survey comprised of various measures designed to gauge anti-fat attitudes, beliefs about weight controllability, and blame tendency. A mediated model examining the relationships among the above three variables was also tested. Additionally, participants completed the Obesity-Induced Blame Scale (OIBS); a measure designed for the present study to test the degree to which a woman will be blamed and held responsible for her weight. While some results failed to statistically supp