Social media users produce more affect that supports cultural values, but are more influenced by affect that violates cultural values

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by American Psychological Association in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000282 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Although social media plays an increasingly important role in communication around the world, social media research has primarily focused on Western users. Thus, little is known about how cultural values shape social media behavior. To examine how cultural affective values might influence social media use, we developed a new sentiment analysis tool that allowed us to compare the affective content of Twitter posts in the United States (55,867 tweets, 1888 users) and Japan (63,863 tweets, 1825 users). Consistent with their respective cultural affective values, U.S. users primarily produced positive (vs. negative) posts, while Japanese users primarily produced low (vs. high) arousal posts. Contrary to cultural affective values, however, U.S. users were more influenced by changes in others’ high arousal negative (e.g., angry) posts, whereas Japanese were more influenced by changes in others’ high arousal positive (e.g., excited) posts. These patterns held after controlling for differences in baseline exposure to affective content, and across different topics. Together, these results suggest that across cultures, while social media users primarily produce content that supports their affective values, they are more influenced by content that violates those values. These findings have implications for theories about which affective content spreads on social media, and for applications related to the optimal design and use of social media platforms around the world

A Chronosequence Feasibility Assessment of Emergency Fire Rehabilitation Records within the Intermountain Western United States

Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus have invested heavily (for example, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) spent more than $60 million in fiscal year 2007) in seeding vegetation for emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation of non-forested arid lands over the past 10 years. The primary objectives of these seedings commonly are to (1) reduce the post-fire dominance of non-native annual grasses, such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and red brome (Bromus rubens); (2) minimize the probability of recurrent fire; and (3) ultimately produce desirable vegetation characteristics (for example, ability to recover following disturbance [resilience], resistance to invasive species, and a capacity to support a diverse flora and fauna). Although these projects historically have been monitored to varying extents, land managers currently lack scientific evidence to verify whether seeding arid and semiarid lands achieves desired objectives. Given the amount of resources dedicated to post-fire seeding projects, a synthesis of information determining the factors that result in successful treatments is critically needed. Although results of recently established experiments and monitoring projects eventually will provide useful insights for the future direction of emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation programs, a chronosequence approach evaluating emergency stabilization and burned area rehabilitation treatments (both referenced hereafter as ESR treatments) over the past 30 years could provide a comprehensive assessment of treatment success across a range of regional environmental gradients. By randomly selecting a statistically robust sample from the population of historic ESR treatments in the Intermountain West, this chronosequence approach would have inference for most ecological sites in this region. The goal of this feasibility study was to compile and examine historic ESR records from BLM field offices across the Intermountain West to determine whether sufficient documentation existed for a future field-based chronosequence project. We collected ESR records and data at nine BLM field offices in four States (Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Utah) and examined the utility of these data for the development of a chronosequence study of post-fire seeding treatments from multiple sites and different ages (since seeding) throughout the Intermountain West. We collected records from 730 post-fire seeding projects with 1,238 individual seeding treatments. Records from each project ranged from minimal reporting of the project’s occurrence to detailed documentation of planning, implementation, and monitoring. Of these 1,238 projects, we identified 468 (38 percent) that could potentially be used to implement a field-based chronosequence study. There were 206 ground-seeding treatments and 262 aerial-seeding treatments within this initial population, not including hand plantings. We also located a considerable number of additional records from other potential field offices that would be available for the chronosequence study but have yet to be compiled for this feasibility report

Is it time for bed? Short sleep duration increases risk of obesity in Mexican American children

OBJECTIVE: Cross-sectional studies show that sleep is related to childhood obesity. We aimed to examine the longitudinal impact of sleep on obesity risk in Mexican American children. DESIGN AND METHODS: We evaluated 229 Mexican American 8–10-year-olds and their mothers at baseline and 12- and 24-month follow-ups. Sleep duration and anthropometrics were collected. Age- and gender-specific BMI z-scores (BMIz) were calculated based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. Sleep duration was estimated using accelerometry. Children were also categorized as long or short sleepers, using the National Sleep Foundation’s recommendation to define adequate sleep duration (10–11 hours for 5- to 12-year-olds). Using linear regressions, we examined whether sleep duration predicted BMIz, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and weight gain at 24 months. RESULTS: Children were mostly short sleepers (82%). Children who slept less were more likely to have a higher BMI z-score, WHtR and weight gain at 24-month follow-up (β = −0.07, P = 0.01; β = −0.11, P < 0.01; β = −0.14, P = 0.02, respectively), after controlling for baseline weight status, child gender, maternal BMI and occupation. CONCLUSION: In Mexican American children, shorter sleep duration at baseline was associated with increased weight status over 24 months