Television Portrayals of Ethnic Minorities in the United States: The Analysis of Individual Differences, Media Use, and Group Identity and Vitality

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of television portrayals of ethnic minorities, particularly in the United States on group vitality and identity. The empirical evidence shows that certain television programs may influence minorities' perceptions of their group vitality and identities and media selection. This paper presents the effects of television depictions of minorities focusing on the individual differences perspective. Social identity theory, ethnolinguistic identity theory, uses and gratifications, and social identity gratifications help explain the role of individual differences on the use of media for social identity and group vitality

An Analysis of Personality Traits and Learning Styles as Predictors of Academic Performance

The present study examined the influence of Big Five personality traits and learning styles on cognitive and affective academic performance, and gender differences in learning styles. A survey research was employed to collect the data from the target population of students. Participants (N = 1,529) were students who enrolled in Business Administration and Communication Arts at Assumption University of Thailand.Overall, the results indicated that personality traits found to be better predictors of cognitive and affective academic performance than did learning styles. Conscientiousness was a significant contributor of academic performance. Among five personality traits, Conscientiousness, Openness, Agreeableness significantly predicted cognitive academic performance, whereas Conscientiousness, Openness, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability significantly predicted affective academic performance. Learning styles were also related to cognitive academic performance. Moreover, students in Business Administration reported higher scores in Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability than those in Communication Arts. The results showed no significant differences in learning styles between genders

Excessive use of Facebook: The influence of self-monitoring and Facebook usage on social support

This study examined the influence of self-monitoring and the amount of Facebook use on Facebook addiction, and the associations among self-monitoring, Facebook addiction, Facebook usage, and social support. A cross-sectional design was used to collect the data from 257 college students who have used Facebook. The findings indicated that high self-monitors were more likely to be addicted to Facebook than were low self-monitors. In addition, the number of friends and Facebook activities were the major predictors of the amount of time on Facebook. High self-monitors, Facebook activities, and the amount of time predicted Facebook addiction. Moreover, the number of friends and low-self-monitors were linked to social support. Keywords: Facebook addiction, Facebook usage, self-monitoring, social suppor