Youth to youth : changing Palestinian-American images and stereotypes through online social networks

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 16, 2009).Thesis advisor: Dr. Fritz Cropp.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2008.Throughout the past few years, the perceived images and stereotypes of Palestinians and Americans have worsened as a result of a variety of political dynamics and policies related to both the United States and the Middle East. Mass media, corresponding to these changes, adopted certain frames, which has contributed to the cultivation of these images and stereotypes. As the world is witnessing a technological revolution in the field of communication, that is reshaping our communities, sociopolitical and economic process, this study aimed at investigating the influence of online social networking on the way American and Palestinian youth perceived each other. Furthermore, the study also investigated the influence of online social networking on young people's level of interaction, psychosocial well-being and social capital, within the framework of controlled online social networking among youth from two different national groups. The study utilized an online field experiment design to examine how online social networking can influence images, stereotypes, level of interaction, psychosocial wellbeing and social capital of Palestinian and American youth. The results indicated that as a result of the online interaction, participants' perceived images and stereotypes were positively influenced, as well as positive relationships were developed amongst them. In addition, online social networking also positively influenced the participants' psychosocial well-being and social capital. The results were discussed within the framework of the role online social networking and the Internet can play in bridging the gap between cultures and mobilizing grassroots efforts in people-to-people public diplomacy. Future research is highly needed in this area, through which slightly altered methodologies can be used to further the knowledge about online social networking in an international perspective.Includes bibliographical reference

Is it Institutional or System Trust: Mediating the Effect of Generational Cohort Membership on Online Banking Intentions

A cross sectional survey of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (N = 559) was conducted to investigate the mediation effect of institutional and system trust on generational differences in online banking intentions. Results of serial mediation models showed that the effect of age on online banking intentions was best mediated through the serial combination of institutional and system trust, respectively. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.ye

Social Media Use and Alcohol Consumption: A 10-Year Systematic Review

Many studies have looked at the relationship between social media and alcohol consumption. There is a need for a comprehensive review that synthesizes the results of past research to systematically understand the relationship between social media use and alcohol consumption. The present systematic literature review synthesizes the findings from global social media and alcohol use studies (n = 206, 204 retained for analysis) between 2009 and 2019. Codes included type of study, methods, use of theory, and whether and how the relationship between social media and alcohol use was tested, among others. In addition to providing descriptive findings, the current study compared the findings across studies that primarily focused on advertising and marketing, self-generated user-generated content (UGC), other-generated UGC, social media uses and affordances, and a mixture of more than one type of content/focus. Most articles used quantitative methods (77.94%), which is followed by qualitative methods (15.20%), mixed methods (6.37%), and 0.49% that did not fit in any of the methods categories. Of the studies that tested the relationship between social media use and alcohol consumption, an overwhelming majority found that relationship to be positive (93.10%). The results of the present study provide a comprehensive understanding of past findings regarding social media and alcohol consumption and provide important future research suggestions

Playing their game : changing American students' attitudes and sterotypes toward Palestinians and Israelis through video game play

"July 2011"Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on May 21, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Kevin WiseVita.Includes bibliographical references.[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The current study investigated the effects of video game role-play on the change in explicit and implicit evaluations of national groups using a video game simulation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict called PeaceMaker. The study tested how American college students' preexisting attitudes and stereotypes of the two conflicting national groups were altered as a function of playing the role of either the Palestinian President or the Israeli Prime Minister within the game. The study investigated the process of self-induced persuasion resulting from playing persuasive video games by looking at both explicit and implicit attitude change. In addition, the study explored the influence of motivational activation, as a moderator, emotional responses and presence, as mediating factors, influencing the effect of video game role-play. Results of a 2 (Role-Play) x 2 (time) x (ASA) x (DSA) mixed factorial design experiment indicated that while role-incongruent changes in explicit evaluations were observed, implicit evaluations did not change significantly as a function of the treatment. In addition, results showed that motivational reactivity, as a moderator, as well as valence, arousal, and presence, as mediators, indirectly affected the relationship between role-play and changes in evaluations of Palestinians and Israelis

Alcohol brands being socially responsible on social media? When and how warning conspicuity and warning integration decrease the efficacy of alcohol brand posts among under-drinking-age youth

While federal regulations and alcohol industry self-regulation have been exhorting alcohol advertisers to include warnings, such as legal drinking age, on alcohol advertisements, it is rare to see this practice on social media. This study investigated the effects of warning conspicuity and warning-ad claim integration on under-drinking-age youth’s reactions to beer brand posts on social media (i.e., Instagram) and explicated the underlying mechanisms. The findings demonstrate that large-sized warnings (versus small-sized warnings) and integrated warnings (versus nonintegrated warnings) attract more visual attention, respectively. When warnings are integrated to the focal claims of the brand posts, a big-sized warning evokes greater state reactance than a small-sized one. However, when the warning is separated from the claim, a small-sized warning triggers higher reactance than a big-sized one. Underage participants’ state reactance mediates the interaction effect of warning conspicuity and warning integration on brand attitudes and intentions to interact with the brand posts, which in turn affect their intentions to drink alcohol, respectively

“Window” shopping online : cognitive processing of general and specific product windows

In this study, 36 participants navigated Amazon.com while their on-screen activity and physiological responses were recorded. An analysis of on-screen activity showed online shopping as a series of transitions between general browsing array pages (e.g., computers) and specific product pages (e.g., Apple MacBook). We recorded physiological responses associated with cognition in the moments following the onset of each page type (general array/specific product). The onset of specific product pages elicited cardiac orienting responses indicating automatic resource allocation to encoding, while the onset of general array pages did not elicit cardiac orienting responses. Furthermore, the magnitude of heart rate deceleration during the orienting response was a significant predictor of how much time participants spent on specific product pages. This demonstrates that the cognitive processes of consumers on shopping websites systematically during transitions between general and specific pages. These results are explained in terms of cognitive resource allocation during online shopping and exposure to interactive marketing

Attacks by Anons: A Content Analysis of Aggressive Posts, Victim Responses, and Bystander Interventions on a Social Media Site

Cyberbullying is an area of great anxiety related to adolescents’ use of social media. Although the affordances of social media sites often allow aggressive online content to be stored and searched, the actual content of aggressive posts has not been explored in great detail. The purpose of this content analysis was to examine discursive strategies used in aggressive posts, responses, and bystander comments on a social media site that is both popular among young adolescents and a known online site of cyberbullying behavior. A total of 993 question–answer dyads were analyzed. In this sample, aggressors are almost exclusively anonymous. Posters of aggressive content demean profile owners on the basis of social status, romantic success, emotional instability, perceived physical attractiveness, and age. Most profile owners attracted a comment from at least one supportive bystander. In general, bystander comments either attacked aggressive posters for their cruelty or their cowardice at being anonymous or supported profile owners by affirming their physical attractiveness or social competence. A power differential between aggressor and victim is a key feature that distinguishes bullying from other social conflicts among adolescents. Results show that, in the absence of physical power, online aggressors use discursive strategies to affirm their dominance over their victims. In turn, victims of online aggression, as well as supportive bystanders, use a variety of methods to attempt to resolve the power differential. Our findings have implications for development of digital citizenship and anti-cyberbullying initiatives that promote effective bystander behavior online

Pathways to virality : psychophysiological responses preceding likes, shares, comments, and status updates on Facebook

Facebook use has become habitual to social network site (SNS) users, yet little is known about the psychological processes at play while using this platform. This study explored how psychophysiological responses vary as a function of liking, commenting, sharing, or posting status updates interactions on Facebook’s newsfeeds. Participants were instructed to enact common Facebook activities or viral behaviors (like, share, comment, and update a status) in brief segments, while their psychophysiological responses were recorded. Our results showcase different approaches to dealing with psychophysiological responses for undefined, uncontrolled (organic) stimuli. We contrasted Facebook organic use segments that ended with pressing on the like button to those that did not end with liking the Facebook post. In the second method of data analysis, we analyzed psychophysiological data at the participant level using the 10 sec preceding the enactment of the 4 viral behaviors. Our findings showed that, indeed, the pathways leading up to performing online behaviors are diverse, thus indicating different underlying psychological processes. Findings’ theoretical and practical implications are discussed within the broader context of understanding social media behaviors.This work was supported by an internal grant from the Department of Advertising + Public Relations at Michigan State University

How much is social media worth? Estimating the value of Facebook by paying users to stop using it.

Facebook, the online social network, has more than 2 billion global users. Because those users do not pay for the service, its benefits are hard to measure. We report the results of a series of three non-hypothetical auction experiments where winners are paid to deactivate their Facebook accounts for up to one year. Though the populations sampled and the auction design differ across the experiments, we consistently find the average Facebook user would require more than $1000 to deactivate their account for one year. While the measurable impact Facebook and other free online services have on the economy may be small, our results show that the benefits these services provide for their users are large

Determinants of online safety behaviour: towards an intervention strategy for college students

How can young adults be motivated to enact security precautions? Communication about the risks of Internet use or online safety communication is a context in which personal responsibility is especially salient. The present research builds on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to examine the role of a previously unexplored variable, personal responsibility, in the protective behaviour of college students. Two studies are reported here. In the first (N = 565), the relationship of personal responsibility to safe (i.e. protective) online behaviour is tested in relationship to standard PMT variables. A multiple regression analysis of survey data shows that personal responsibility explained additional variance in protective behaviour after accounting for the effects of traditional threat and coping appraisal variables. Building on this, the second study (N = 206) examines the possibility of influencing personal responsibility through an intervention and experimental manipulation among college students. The experimental manipulation of personal responsibility found evidence of a causal relationship between personal responsibility and protective behaviour in the college student sample. Interactions with pre-existing levels of safety involvement and self-efficacy were uncovered. Based on the results, strategies for targeted online safety interventions are suggested