Using four separate national probability metasamples of adults in the United States, two measures of pornography consumption, two measures of sexual attitudes, and two measures of sexual behavior, this article pits two macrotheories on pornography and its behavioral effects against each other in competing, falsifiable hypothesis tests. Specifically, the article compares the libertarian theory of pornography’s hypothesis that sexual attitudes are a confound of the pornography consumption—sexual behavior relationship, with the sexual scripting theory of pornography’s hypothesis that sexual attitudes are a mediator of the pornography consumption—sexual behavior relationship. No evidence was found to support the argument that pornography consumption—sexual behavior relationships are spurious and due to preexisting sexual attitudes. Alternatively, analyses uniformly supported the conceptualization of sexual attitudes as a mediating link between pornography consumption and sexual behavior.

By adopting the uses and gratifications approach to understand two evolutionary needs—the environmental surveillance need and social involvement need—this study investigated the use of alarm and prosocial words in news headlines and the associated generic digital footprints. We analyzed over 170,000 online news headlines and the number of associated clicks and “likes” for each news story on an online news platform. Our results support the idea of a human alarm system for sensational news as a psychological survival mechanism designed to detect and pay attention to threatening news such as catastrophes and diseases. News headlines with alarm words indirectly attracted more “likes,” indicating a concern with survival, through an increased number of clicks to select that news item. Furthermore, the results of a conditional indirect effect model showed that while online readers selectively clicked on news headlines with alarm words, the presence of a prosocial word in the headline increased the likelihood that readers would “like” it.

This study examined associations between parents’ and young adults’ communication competence in the contexts of face-to-face (FtF) and technologically mediated communication (TMC). We investigated the role of family communication patterns in parental socialization of communication competence. In our investigation, we focused on two distinct aspects of communication competence: effectiveness and appropriateness. Analyzing self-report data of 104 parent-child dyads, we found that parents’ self-reported FtF communication appropriateness was directly associated with children’s self-reported FtF and TMC appropriateness. Children’s reports of conversation orientation were positively associated with their self-reported FtF and TMC effectiveness. Additionally, parents’ reports of conformity orientation were positively linked to children’s self-reported FtF communication appropriateness. These findings suggest that parental influences may manifest through different mechanisms for children’s communication effectiveness and appropriateness. Further, parents and family communication play important roles in children’s development of communication competence not only in FtF interactions, but also in TMC interactions.

Past work suggests that the priorities for information propagation in social media may be markedly different from the priorities for news selection in traditional media outlets. We explore this possibility here, focusing on the tone of both newspaper and Twitter content following changes in the U.S. unemployment rate, from 2008 to 2014. Results strongly support the expectation that while the tone of newspaper content exhibits stronger reactions to negative information, the tone of Twitter content reacts more strongly to positive economic shifts.

Informed by the theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) and ego-network analysis, the present study outlines the mechanisms that contribute to the creation and maintenance of social norms and their subsequent behavioral outcomes. By analyzing different patterns of normative influence associated with cervical cancer detection among Latinas (N = 982), the study concludes that network brokerage provides individuals with nonredundant information, helps resist normative pressure, and contributes to efficacy beliefs, promoting more informed decision making. Conversely, network closure perpetuates conformity, increases the influence of social norms, and induces less confidence in individual’s ability to comply with cervical cancer screening, subjecting Latinas to unnecessary health risks. Overall, the results suggest that the study of normative influence should be combined with social network analysis, trying to shed a light on the distinct social structures and communication practices that can either reinforce or challenge norms. These findings extend the discussion of social norms in health-related decision making to a more nuanced approach that recognizes the antecedents and outcomes of normative influence.

If the individuals who are most likely to perceive media bias no longer encounter, via selective exposure, media content they might consider biased, why are perceptions of media bias so pervasive? We argue that many people who engage in politically motivated selective exposure also perceive “the media” in general to be biased. Relying on a survey of adults in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, which has witnessed particularly contentious and divisive political events since 2011, this study examines self-reported patterns of selective exposure to partisan media while accounting for the role of the local communication ecology in encouraging or discouraging partisan media selectivity. It also tests the idea that selective exposure is related to a generalized perception of media bias—the idea that “the media” in general are biased while self-selected media are not. Finally, the study tests a moderated mediation model showing the structure of relationships among political opinion extremity, selective exposure, and perceived media bias. Results suggest (a) a positive relationship between political opinion extremity and selective exposure, (b) opposite patterns of relationships between selective exposure and perceived media bias about self-selected and general media, respectively, and (c) evidence of moderated mediation among political opinion extremity, selective exposure, and perceived media bias.

Over the last few years, significant research has been conducted to examine the impact of web interactivity. However, mixed results have been found regarding why and how web interactivity could affect users’ attitudes and other psychological responses. This meta-analysis reviewed prior research that examined the extent to which web interactivity could affect various psychological outcomes and how such effects would differ due to several moderating variables. Our analysis of the results in 63 studies ( N = 13,484) suggested that across studies, web interactivity was significantly correlated with user enjoyment, positive attitudes, and desirable behavioral intentions. However, interactivity did not necessarily increase cognitive elaboration, knowledge acquisition, and information recall. While modality interactivity appeared to be more effective than source interactivity and message interactivity, perceived interactivity was significantly more effective than objective interactivity. Furthermore, extremely high levels of web interactivity were not as effective as have been anticipated.

Although research has made significant gains in understanding the constitutive nature of conversation in the process of organizing, its predictive effects on organizational outcomes are still uncertain. To contribute in this direction, based on social exchange theory and leader-member exchange (LMX) research, this study examined the predictive effects of leader-member conversational quality (LMCQ) on employee organizational commitment (OC), and the potential interaction effects of LMCQ with LMX quality. Using data from an online survey, this study found that above and beyond communication frequency and other control variables, LMCQ is significantly associated with employee OC. More interestingly, the effects of LMCQ vary based on the level of LMX quality. These findings have significant implications at both theoretical and practical levels.

Research suggests that the experience of interpersonal racism increases target group individuals’ engagement in health-impairing behavior. While becoming relatively less visible in face-to-face communication contexts, overt racism is finding its “niche” in social media. Drawing on the general strain theory, we examined whether and how microblogged racist messages increase target group members’ intention to drink alcohol through negative emotions. In an online experiment conducted with a general adult sample of 211 Asians living in the United States, participants were randomly exposed to one of three stimuli—control (nonracist) tweets versus anti-Asian tweets versus anti-Asian retweets—and reported their affective states. Next, participants performed a drink choice task disguised as a consumer survey. Results showed that microblogged racist messages indirectly influenced drinking intention in two causal pathways: through anger and serially through shame and anger. The impact and implications of racist messages generated and disseminated through social media platforms are discussed.

Organizations often delegate decision-making tasks to groups and teams. At issue is the extent to which participation during discussion reflects both individual-level characteristics and emergent (i.e., group-level) processes. Drawing upon Hewes’s socio-egocentric model and team meeting literature, we used a multilevel approach to examine participation in product-design teams across a series of tasks. Findings indicate that participation consists of both intra- and group-level processes. Team members who were talkative initially continued to participate frequently during the later tasks, and, as predicted, project managers also spoke more often than team members in any other role. In addition, group-level trends became stronger over time, as evidenced by behavioral convergence. Discussion addresses implications for a “middle ground” approach to modeling communicative behavior in groups.