Attitudes Toward Social Activism by Professional Athletes

Many professional athletes have raised awareness about and publicly protested social injustices. Athlete activism research has generally supported that such activism results in harsh backlash against the athletes, stemming from beliefs that politics and social justice protests do not belong in sports; patriotic/nationalistic values leading individuals to view such protests as un-American; and racial beliefs and attitudes, especially towards African American athletes. While robust, much of this research is theoretical or qualitative in nature and mainly examined reactions towards Black football players, with less focus on White athletes or those in different sports. To address these gaps, the current research used quantitative methods to examine attitudes towards a Black or White athlete who advocates for social justice. Social Identity Theory was applied to explore the relationships between fans’ own patriotic beliefs, level of sports identification, and their athlete activist attitudes. Participants’ scores on the Modern Racism Scale were assessed to examine the influence of these racial beliefs on athlete activist evaluations. Results yielded no impact of athlete’s race, sports league, or their interaction on participants’ athlete attitudes. However, consistent with hypotheses, relationships were found between social justice beliefs, level of sports fandom, patriotic beliefs, and Modern Racism beliefs. Implications of these findings, limitations, and future research directions were discussed

The Current State of Performance Appraisal Research and Practice: Concerns, Directions, and Implications

On the surface, it is not readily apparent how some performance appraisal research issues inform performance appraisal practice. Because performance appraisal is an applied topic, it is useful to periodically consider the current state of performance research and its relation to performance appraisal practice. This review examines the performance appraisal literature published in both academic and practitioner outlets between 1985 and 1990, briefly discusses the current state of performance appraisal practice, highlights the juxtaposition of research and practice, and suggests directions for further research

Persuasive Design of Destination Websites: An Analysis of First Impression

This research examines the persuasiveness of destination websites through an investigation of users’ first impression. To achieve this goal, it builds on research by Fogg (2003) and by Kim and Fesenmaier (2007) to assess the effect of the design factors of destination websites on first impression formation. The results of this study indicate that the subjects were able to make quick judgments on tourism websites, and that inspiration and usability were the primary drivers evoking a favorable first impression. This research concludes by discussing the implications of these findings and possible directions for future study

Analysing the Role of Interactivity in User Experience

An experimental investigation into the role of interaction in user experience (UX) with a controlled manipulation of interactivity features (e.g. avatars, interactive video) in a university information website is reported. The more interactive version had better affect and hedonic ratings, even though its perceived usability was worse. Analysis of qualitative data showed users were attracted to the interactive features, although they complained about poor usability. The results of the experiments are discussed to consider the role of interactivity in user experience and the differences between users’ quantitative judgements of UX and their comments on interactive features which reveal different perspectives

Authenticity in political communication: conceptualization, measurement, and examination of a popular concept

This dissertation investigates the concept of political authenticity from a communication science perspective. The literature on political personalization and changing notions of good politicians constitutes the theoretical framework for the three research articles in the thesis. The first article offers a communication science conceptualization of political authenticity. Based on a narrative literature review, it proposes a definition of political authenticity, identifies research perspectives to analyze the concept, and derives four theoretical concept dimensions (consistency, ordinariness, intimacy, and immediacy). The article integrates the perspectives and dimensions to derive a process model for the public construction of political authenticity. The second article draws upon the conceptualization of political authenticity to develop and validate a new scale for perceived political authenticity. Three consecutive empirical studies were conducted to test the composition, performance, and validity of the instrument. Results from an expert panel and two independent online quota surveys suggest a three-dimensional 12-item scale. The new P-PA Scale was found to be a robust and reliable measure that highly correlates with relevant political attitudes and behavioral intentions. Finally, the third article investigated the effects of political media exposure on perceived political authenticity. It draws on the literature on media priming theory, performed political authenticity in social media, personalization in media reporting, and dual processing theory to derive assumptions about media exposure effects on political authenticity. Results show that differences in perceived political authenticity are related to exposure to political information in different media types. Overall, the thesis sheds light on a popular concept in modern political communication and makes theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions to its investigation

The Impact of Mass Media on Political Support

Why is citizens' support for political actors and institutions declining? Recent research suggests that voter cynicism is fueled by the manner in which mass media covers political events and issues. This dissertation provides evidence regarding the impact that media coverage of political decision-making procedures has on an audience's political support. It focuses on the role of individual expectations and preferences of the audience. Empirically-standardized online surveys, an experimental study, and a comprehensive content analysis of news coverage were conducted for this study. It shows that mass media may contribute to a decrease of political support by shaping the perception of political processes. In addition, the findings suggest that the media's impact on political support was particularly strong if media coverage shapes the impression that political processes do not match individual preferences. This book contributes to a differentiation of the rather general claim that negative or critical media information results in a decline of political support

American College Students\u27 Perceptions of Saudi Arabia as a Travel Destination

Destination image is a critical factor for customers making a travel decision. The recent fluctuation in oil prices has forced the Government of Saudi Arabia to focus on tourism to revive its economy. The terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, affected the image of Saudi Arabia in the minds of people in other countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate American college students’ perceptions of Saudi Arabia as a travel destination and to provide information to help Saudi Arabia’s tourism authority to develop marketing strategies that will attract potential tourists

Voir Dire Efficacy In Highly Publicized Criminal Cases

Whether judges and attorneys are able to detect bias among potential jurors (venirepersons) is a pivotal concern in highly publicized cases in which most of the jury pool has been exposed to pretrial publicity (PTP). The current dissertation research addressed 1) whether attorneys and judges can accurately gauge differences in PTP exposure/bias among potential jurors, 2) how potential jurors\u27 (venirepersons) motivations to serve or not serve on a jury affect attorneys\u27 and judges\u27 abilities to detect bias, and 3) whether withholding instructions on the importance of juror impartiality in favor of urging honesty can reduce venirepersons\u27 abilities to tailor voir dire responses to their specific motivations. In the first phase, I manipulated the amount of negative PTP presented to mock venirepersons and subsequently measured their bias against the defendant. Mock venirepersons were then motivated to be impaneled on or excused from a jury before participating in a simulated voir dire. A mock judge instructed venirepersons before questioning either on the importance of impartiality among ideal jurors (which is standard) or the importance of honesty and a variety of opinions among ideal jurors. Finally, venirepersons watched a videotaped trial and rendered verdicts. Venirepersons motivated to get off the jury subsequently rendered more guilty verdicts than those motivated to get on the jury, and PTP exposure interacted with venireperson motivation such that venirepersons motivated to get on the jury who were exposed to excessive PTP shifted toward acquittal as compared to the other groups. Implicit associations between the defendant and guilt increased with the level of PTP exposure, and source-memory errors correlated with verdicts and guilt ratings. In the second phase, attorneys and judges viewed videos of the voir dires to gauge whether they 1) accurately judged the extent of venirepersons\u27 exposure to PTP and their pretrial prejudice and 2) effectively used causal challenges and peremptory strikes to eliminate unfavorable and/or biased venirepersons. Attorneys and judges consistently struck (or allowed strikes) and rated as more biased venirepersons who were motivated to escape jury service, and venireperson motivation and judicial instruction interacted such that motivated venirepersons were more likely to succeed in getting on or off the jury after receiving impartiality versus honesty instructions. The current findings revealed a new potential measure of PTP bias (the IAT) and provided insight into how venirepersons\u27 motivations and impression management tactics influence judges\u27 and attorneys\u27 decisions during voir dir