Digital Commons Network^™

“Stick To Sports”: Fan Moral Reasoning Strategies And Subsequent Psychological Well-Being In Response To An Athlete’S Controversial Political Associations, Stephen Warren

Doctoral Dissertations

With athletes actively protesting on and off the court, as well as sports organizations embracing activism efforts like Black Lives Matter, the importance of understanding how sports fans respond to athletes engaging in or being associated with politics is increasing, as well. If part of the draw for watching sports and identifying with teams is the potential to increase psychological health, what happens when fans are presented with political viewpoints within sports that they disagree with? This dissertation uses two studies to explore how fans of the New England Patriots responded to reading an article about a rookie Patriots player …

Examining Media Dependency And Parasocial Relationship On Protective Action Behaviors During Covid-19, Amy Hyman

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the significant role that mass media plays in disseminating messages to the public during disasters and public health crises. Information disseminated during a disaster influences individuals’ decision-making process regarding protective actions, or mitigation behaviors. This study examined the relationship between media dependency theory, parasocial relationship, and media effects (cognitive, affective and behavioral) during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach was used with a convenience sample. The sample focused on residents in the state of Arkansas and specific generational cohorts. The results found that the generational cohorts had different media preferences during the height of …

Quantifying And Typifying Image Use In Television News Coverage Of Mass Shootings, Ellie Catherine Hudd

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Increasing research supports the presence of a contagion effect among mass shootings, wherein extensive media coverage of mass shootings may inspire future mass shooters, many of whom view this coverage as a form of reward. Furthermore, two awareness campaigns–one from the private sector and one from law enforcement–have advocated against naming and depicting the shooter in media coverage of mass shootings. This study is theoretically grounded in second-level agenda-setting as the basis for a content analysis of three days of television news coverage of two mass shootings in the United States (one in El Paso, Texas and one in Pittsburgh, …

Conceptualizing Television Viewing In The Digital Age: Patterns Of Exposure And The Cultivation Process, Lisa Prince

Doctoral Dissertations

With an ever-increasing variety of platforms, devices and services to choose from, new media technologies have altered and transformed the television viewing experience. With television more accessible and convenient than ever, viewers are consuming even more content, ensuring that television continues to dominate the cultural landscape. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how television viewing in the current media environment impacts audiences. For more than fifty years, cultivation theory has proven to be an enduring and generative research approach to understanding how exposure to the world of television shapes audiences' views of social reality. However, no cultivation study to date …

Emotional Responses To Opioid Public Service Announcements; Testing Trait Empathy’S Impact On Message Processing And Attitude Change, Olivia D. Cohen

ETD Archive

Addiction to opioids, including abusing prescription pain killers and using heroin, is on a dramatic rise in the United States. Communities across the country are in the process of adapting new ways of addressing the issue, which have been met with significant opposition from the general public. This study examined the impact an individual’s trait empathy has on whether persuasive public service announcements (PSAs) dealing with opioid addiction will be processed centrally or peripherally. Empathy has evolved, growing from an emotional experience, to a cognitive ability, to a function of both emotional and cognitive elements that can work both independently …

No Laughing Matter: Failures Of Satire During The 2016 Presidential Election, Jamie Noelle Smith

Honors Theses and Capstones

The 2016 presidential election was so full of unusual characters and unprecedented scandals, that media outlets, from the nightly news to late-night, had to adjust to this new normal in politics. Indeed, not even the jokesters on the handful of political satire shows on television were immune to the necessary changes that all the media had to take in covering Donald Trump. Given how many people tuned into to these shows each week, it is no surprise that the role that political satire television may have played in the election results was fodder for those giving post-election hot takes. Many …

Effects Of Conflict Sensitivity In News Stories And User-Generated Comments, Marta Natalia Lukacovic

Wayne State University Dissertations

The discussion about normative repercussions of conflict sensitive framing of journalistic communication demands empirical evidence. Thus, this study provided experimental examination of effects of peace journalism. Furthermore, this study also explored the effects of conflict sensitive framing of user-generated comments. Widely popular digital media platforms provide countless and growing opportunities for regular citizens to create and share different types of content, including comments, which means user-generated content should be considered in evaluation of present-day media effects. The collected evidence suggests that conflict sensitive framing in both professional and user-generated forms has certain effects on how audience perceives news about wars …

What Makes A Man?: An Alpha Male’S Fight For Masculinity Against The Media’S Muscular Ideals, Julie A. Yockey

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Previous studies have focused heavily on media effects on women however growing trends in male ideals are finding that men are no longer static observers. The media constructs the ideal male body as lean, strong and muscular and men exposed to these idealized images may experience body dissatisfaction. Therefore, this project explores the effects of media ideals on men and the possible relationship between the media depictions of the muscular ideals and masculinity. Current research analysis shows that exposure to media ideals not only causes body dissatisfaction among men; trying to achieve the perfect body may result in unhealthy behaviors. …

Impression Formation In The Online Amateur Setting: An Examination Of Transgender People, Minjie Li

LSU Master's Theses

Technology is enhancing our amateur culture, which may provide counter-stereotype depictions. The present study reexamined the continuum model of impression formation by investigating how the mechanism of an amateur technology platform interacts with the depiction of amateur content created by social minority members to redirect people’s cognitive process of impression formation of minority members in the online amateur setting. More specifically, conducting a 2 (Stereotype Depiction) x 2 (Platform) experiment, this study looked at whether amateur platform YouTube encouraged people to go beyond stereotyping to form an counter-stereotypic impression of the mediated transgender person featured in the amateur content. Moreover, …

"Les Miserables: The Twitter Revolution" : A Study Of Fan Activity, Parasocial Relationships, And Audience-Persona Interactions, Lance Stephen Bordelon

LSU Master's Theses

This study simulated a fan extension of the Broadway-renowned musical Les Miserables on a community level and measured the effects of fan interactions—both online and with the characters’ narratives as performed at Theatre Baton Rouge during summer 2013. The stimulus materials in this study were Tweets distributed via Twitter identities for each of the lead characters whereby their thoughts and narratives were communicated with audiences and Twitter followers—coinciding with the opening of the live theatrical production. Patrons of Theatre Baton Rouge were surveyed online after the closing of the production. This study served as a practical use of Twitter for …

The Effect Of Emotionally Arousing Negative Images On Judgments About News Stories, Martin Daniel Smith-Rodden

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Two experiments investigated the effects of the presentations of photographic images (highly emotionally arousing/low arousal/no image) on people's attitudes after reading a news story. Experiment 1 presented a story and images about U.S. involvement in the Afghanistan War. Experiment 2 replicated the design with a story and images about African famine relief efforts. Consistent with predictions of the affect heuristic model of judgment formation, the addition of emotionally arousing pictures had an effect on people's support for the war in Afghanistan and their support for famine aid. Additionally, effects were observed in broader attitudes concerning participant's support of a militaristic …

A Framing Analysis: The Nba's "One-And-Done"Rule, Daniel Ryan Beaulieu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2006, the NBA introduced the "one-and-done" rule that restricted high school graduates to enter directly into the NBA draft following high school. In turn, a high school prospect would essentially now have the option of playing professionally elsewhere (most likely overseas), enter the NBA's Developmental League, or play NCAA basketball. The rule has proved to be quite controversial, as it has had a great effect on both NBA and NCAA basketball, as well as the players. Various media outlets have been quite vocal not only about the rule itself, but the perceived effects it has had on both collegiate …

Splitting A Pair: Playing The Gender Card And The Race Card In American Politics, Amy Ladley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

More than any election before, the 2008 Presidential race revealed a persistent discussion of “race cards” and “gender cards.” In spite of the reported consensus that these alleged cards were everywhere, we know relatively little about those situations where the “card” label was applied, and even less about how this label influenced voters. In fact, among key electoral sources – political elites who use identity as a campaign tool, the journalists who cover and narrate elections, and researchers who make sense of elections-based behavior – there is no consensus regarding what a card is, how or when they are played, …

More Than Memories? Schema Transference From Media Characters To Real People, Hilary Ray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on whether personality traits and evaluations of television personalities are used to make inferences about new Social interaction partners. It tested the hypothesis that priming schemas of television personalities will bias inferences made about a stranger. The results were mixed. Participants in the experimental condition made more biased inferences about a stranger than did participants in the control condition. This transference was not influenced by participants' parasociability, and methodological limitations prevented conclusive study of the influence of affective evaluations in this effect. Future studies should attempt to increase methodological control and introduce a diverse set of measures …

Audience Engagement With Mother-Daughter Relationships In Prime-Time Television Of The 21st Century: A Qualitative Analysis Of Interpretation, Sensemaking, And Perceived Effects, Meghan L. O'Briend

Mass Communications - Dissertations

This qualitative analysis examines audience engagement with fictional portrayals of mother-daughter relationships in prime-time television of the 21st century. I used in-depth interviews with women of different backgrounds to explore how real mothers and daughters interpret portrayals of mother-daughter relationships on television; how they make sense of their own mother-daughter relationships through their engagement with these portrayals; and how and to what extent their engagement with these portrayals influences their own lives and mother-daughter relationships.

The results of this study uncovered a process of audience engagement with mother-daughter relationships on television that involved the viewing experience, interpretation, sensemaking, and perceived …