Positive Digital Communication Among Youth: The Development and Validation of the Digital Flourishing Scale for Adolescents

Research has extensively studied the negative effects of digital communication on adolescents’ well-being. However, positive digital experiences and behavior in adolescence are still poorly understood. The recently developed Digital Flourishing Scale addresses this gap and focuses on the positive perceptions of a user’s experiences and behaviors in digital communication among adults. In this paper, we developed an adolescent version of this scale. Study 1 demonstrated the internal consistency of the scale and the same factor structure for adolescence as for adulthood: connectedness, civil participation, positive social comparison, authentic self-presentation, and self-control. Study 2 confirmed the identified factor structure with a second sample of adolescents and established measurement invariance across genders. The construct validity of the scale was confirmed by investigating associations with related constructs, including the basic psychological needs from self-determination theory (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), secure attachment to a close friend, Internet aggression, social media-induced inspiration, authenticity of posted positive content, and social media self-control failure. The results indicated that not all adolescents flourish equally online. Differences occurred depending on the adolescents’ gender and socioeconomic status. The paper concludes that the newly developed scale is a valid and reliable measure for assessing adolescents’ perceptions of digital thriving and digital empowerment

A checklist of the dacine fruit flies (Diptera, Tephritidae, Dacinae) of Mozambique

Here we present a checklist of all records of dacine fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae) from Mozambique, based on verified specimen records in natural history collections and literature records. In total, 57 Dacinae species are recorded from Mozambique, of which only one is considered endemic. This relatively low species diversity compared to other African countries appears to be related to incomplete sampling. For each species the localities from which it was recorded are given (including geocoordinates), or a general distribution is provided. The checklist is discussed briefly in terms of species richness, endemism and geographic distribution.https://www.africanentomology.comZoology and Entomolog

Onderzoekscompetenties in de academische bachelor Communicatiewetenschappen

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Sexual Socialization

During adolescence, sexual processes take up a central position. The acquisition of a positive sexual identity is considered to be a key developmental task for adolescents (Tolman & McClelland, 2011) and can be described as the process of “understanding [one’s] own sexual orientation as well as sexual needs and values, preferences for sexual activities, partner characteristics, and modes of sexual expression (Worthington, Savoy, Dillon, & Vernaglia, 2002) (p.512).” Modern evolutionary theory explains that this process is driven by biological stimuli, such as pubertal maturation and sexual hormones (Steinberg, 2005), and is influenced by environmental factors as environmental flexibility helps to meet biological goals (Belsky, Steinberg, & Draper, 1991). The most significant environmental factors are so-called sexual socialization agents (i.e., parents, peers, and media) that guide adolescents’ development of attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviors regarding sexuality (Tolman & McClelland, 2011; Ward, 2003). Social learning theory explains that these agents (e.g., peers or media characters) may model sexual and relational behavior that can be observed and adopted by adolescents, especially if the behavior is rewarded (Bandura, 1999). In addition, these agents inform adolescents on attitudes, norms and beliefs towards sexuality that are considered as favorable (Bandura, 1999). Importantly, sexual socialization agents differ in the type of messages they promote as being favorable. More precisely, the literature distinguishes positive and negative messages. Positive messages are messages that socialize adolescents towards a positive sexuality defined as “sexuality that is consensual, honest, mutually pleasurable, non-exploitative, and protected against unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)” (Ward, Day, & Epstein, 2006) (p.59). When messages deviate from this description of a positive sexuality, they are regarded as negative or risky in the literature. Because of the substantial impact that the development of a sexual identity has on adolescents’ current, but also their future well-being, research has studied extensively the relationships between sexual socialization agents and adolescent sexual maturation (Tolman & McClelland, 2011). Over the years, three (related) areas of research have been developed that each focus on a key socialization agent: (1) parents, (2) peers, and (3) media.status: Published onlin

Antecedents of adolescents’ exposure to different types of sexually explicit Internet material: A longitudinal study

Communication scholars have repeatedly highlighted the importance of studying the type of content that media users are exposed to. However, although adolescents use sexually explicit Internet material (SEIM) frequently, we know little about which specific types of SEIM they are exposed to. Moreover, knowledge is lacking about the antecedents of exposure to different types of SEIM and whether these antecedents differ between boys and girls. The present two-wave panel survey among 1,557 Dutch adolescents addressed these lacunae by studying exposure to affection-themed, dominance-themed and violence-themed SEIM. Younger adolescents were more often exposed to affection-themed SEIM, while older adolescents and adolescents with higher levels of academic achievement were more frequently exposed to dominance-themed SEIM. Hyper masculine boys and hyper feminine girls were more frequently exposed to violence-themed SEIM.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Antecedents of adolescents’ exposure to different types of sexually explicit Internet material: A longitudinal study journaltitle: Computers in Human Behavior articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.04.032 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Media Representation: Health and Body Images

The current chapter presents a review on the portrayal of appearance ideals in popular entertainment media. Literature on the components of the ideal appearance in popular media and the nature of portrayals of appearance standards in popular media is examined. First, study findings on the characteristics of appearance ideals presented in the media demonstrate that popular media frequently glamorize curvaceously thin female and mesomorphic male characters with flawless faces and a suntanned White or lighter Black skin tone. Second, younger characters are more likely to adhere to appearance standards in media content than older characters. Moreover, the ideal appearance is considered to be malleable. Characters with an ideal appearance also outperform characters deviating from appearance standards at a sexual, social and professional level. Lastly, appearance standards in the media are inherently related to stereotypes on gender and ethnicity. Several recommendations for future research are provided.status: publishe

De invloed van seksualiserende media op de seksualiteitsbeleving van adolescenten

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Media psychological reflections on the organizational framework of sexual media’s influence on users’ short vs. long-term sexual quality

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Self-objectification and sexual effects of the media: an exploratory study in adolescence

Various social institutions and scholars across numerous academic fields have called attention to the potential negative effects of media use on adolescents sexual development. This concern emerged partly because of adolescents regular (if not daily) consumption of media content that promotes irresponsible, recreational, sexualizing and gender-stereotypical sexual activities. Despite scholars extensive efforts to study the potential effects of exposure to such media, some researchers continue to challenge the empirical evidence of sexual media effects. One of the reasons for this lack of consensus is that researchers face important questions about precisely how the influence of sexual media content operates. Because the scholarly attention to the complexity of the sexual media effect has so far remained limited, the dissertation aimed to contribute to our knowledge of the processes through which exposure to media may affect adolescents sexual attitudes and behaviors. This aim was twofold.A first aim was to explore how factors that are indicative of adolescents personalities and development may moderate the relationship between media use and sexual attitudes and behaviors and how it may identify adolescents who are at risk for sexual media effects. In this view, three studies examined the relevance of a risk-group focused approach by exploring the moderating role of (respectively) a prime socialization factor (i.e., maternal attachment), a personality trait (i.e., sensation seeking), and a biosocial factor (i.e., pubertal maturation) in sexual media effects. The first study, a cross-sectional study (N = 1,026), demonstrated that girls who displayed greater attachment to their mothers appeared to be less susceptible for the harmful influence of television viewing on their recreational and gender-stereotypical sexual attitudes; conversely, boys who displayed greater attachment to their mothers were more likely to be influenced by television viewing. The second study, a two-wave panel study (N = 1, 096), found that girls who demonstrated higher levels of sensation seeking and boys who demonstrated lower levels of sensation seeking were more susceptible to the negative influence of sexual television content on their attitudes toward uncommitted sexual exploration. Higher levels of sensation seeking among boys and lower levels of sensation seeking among girls appeared to decrease the influence of sexual television viewing. The third study, a two-wave panel study (N = 639), demonstrated that frequent users of sexually explicit websites were five times more likely to initiate sexual intercourse than non-users. Pubertal status moderated this relationship: an increased likelihood to initiate sex was found among adolescents in an early pubertal stage who frequently viewed sexually explicit websites. However adolescents in an advanced pubertal stage were less likely to initiate sex. Together, these findings demonstrate not only the relevance of conducting moderatoranalyses within sexualmedia effect research, but also that moderators may not unilaterally identify adolescents who are at risk of sexual media effects as, for instance, higher levels of sensation seeking decreased the impact of sexual television messages among boys. A second aim was to explore whether objectification theory allows us to identify mediating factors in the relationship between adolescents exposure to sexual media and their sexual attitudes and behaviors. Objectification theory explains why sexualizing media messages, which value appearance above personality, encourage adolescents to apply an observer s perspective to their own body. The internalization of this type of objectified perspective on the body may subsequently lead adolescents to develop sexual attitudes that do not foster authentic, rewarding, intimate sexual relationships and to engage in sexual behaviors that are associated with heightened physical and mental health risks. Before testing this explanatory process, two cross-sectional studies were conducted to examine how the recent, advanced understanding of an objectified self-concept related to the sexualizing media use of girls (N = 558) and boys (N = 911). The study findings indicated the relevance of a three-step perspective, demonstrating that sexualizing media use affects the internalization of appearance ideals and self-objectification, is indirectly related to self-objectification through internalization, and is associated with body surveillance through internalization and self-objectification. Building on this insight in the three-step process of self-objectification, two studies tested the ability of the three-step process of self-objectification to explain the effects of media on (respectively) adolescents sexual attitudes and behaviors. The first study, a three-wave panel study (N = 1,041) demonstrated that viewing sexualizing sitcoms was related to the three-step process of self-objectification over time. In turn, the internalization of appearance ideals was revealed to positively predict acceptance of the sexual double standard over time. The relationships between self-objectification or body surveillance and acceptance of the sexual double standard were found to be insignificant. The second study, a three-wave panel study (N = 730), provided additional support for the influence of sexualizing media (i.e., magazines) on the multidimensional process of self-objectification over time. Body surveillance appeared to positively predict the initiation of French kissing six months later, whereas self-objectification positively predicted the initiation of sexual intercourse six months later. No significant relationship emerged for intimate touching. The main question guiding these studies was whether objectification theory has the potential to clarify how sexual media affect adolescent sexuality. The study findings add some critical questions about the explanatory role of objectification theoryin sexual media effects, as several hypothesized relationships were not supported (e.g., null findings for intimate touching). However, they also demonstrate that, in some cases, objectification theory contributes to an explanatory model for sexual media effects and warrants future research attention.nrpages: 272status: publishe

The Interrelated Roles of Mass Media and Social Media in Adolescents’ Development of an Objectified Self-Concept: A Longitudinal Study

Previous research has shown that mass media stimulate the development of an objectified self-concept. However, we know little about the role social networking sites (SNS) play in these relationships. The current longitudinal study (N = 1,041) aimed to fill this gap by studying adolescents’ frequency of SNS use in general and their use of SNS to monitor attractive peers in particular. The results showed that the use of sexualizing mass media was associated with considering the appearance ideals promoted in mass media as one’s own standards to pursue. This internalization of appearance ideals, in turn, was related to the tendency to monitor attractive peers on SNS. Both the use of SNS to monitor attractive peers and the use of sexualizing mass media stimulated self-objectification and body surveillance over time. The frequency of SNS use played a limited role in the relationship between mass media and an objectified self-concept.status: publishe