Alan M. Rubin

Predictors of Internet Use

We examined audience uses o f the Internet from a uses-and-gratifications perspective. We expected contextual age, unwillingness to communicate, social presence, and Internet motives to predict outcomes of Internet exposure, affinity and satisfaction. The analyses identified five motives for using the Internet and multivariate links among the antecedents and motives. The results suggested distinctions between instrumental and ritualized Internet use, as well as Internet use serving as a functional alternative to face-to-face interaction.

Television Uses and Gratifications: The Interactions of Viewing Patterns and Motivations.

This secondary analysis of television viewing motivations and patterns located two television user types: (1) users of the television medium for time consumption and entertainment; and (2) users of television content for nonescapist, information seeking.

Audience Activity and Television News Gratifications

The variable nature of audience activity was examined with a sample of 329 local television news viewers. Instrumental news viewing was expected to be related to audience intentionality, selectivity, and involvement with local news. Hierarchical regression found that affinity, selectivity, and involvement predicted intentionality; pass time motives, perceived realism, and reduced intentionality predicted nonselectivity; pass time motives and reduced affinity predicted distractions; and information and nonentertainment motives, perceived realism, and intentionality predicted involvement. Canonical correlation found two news viewing orientations. Instrumental use, or seeking exciting and entertaining information gratifications, was related positively to perceived news realism, affinity, intentionality, and involvement. Ritualized use, or more habitual and time-consuming viewing, was related negatively to news affinity, selectivity, and intentionality, and positively to coviewing distractions. Implications of the links between instrumental media use and audience activity for uses and effects research are discussed.

Psychological Predictors of Television Viewing Motivation

Our objective was to explore the psychological origins of media gratifications by examining how pertinent psychological variables, based on McGuires paradigm, help explain television viewing motivation. Hierarchical multiple regression of responses from a quota sample of 331 persons showed that psychological antecedents and control variables helped predict viewing motivation. Parasocial interaction, anxiety, creativity, and sensation seekings disinhibition dimension were the most substantial predictors, along with television affinity and exposure. We discussed the implications of these findings.

Viewer Aggression and Homophily, Identification, and Parasocial Relationships With Television Characters

This study examined the antecedents of viewer relationships experienced with television characters. Based on social cognitive theory, we considered how trait aggression helped explain identification, hornophily, and parasocial interaction with aggressive characters. Two hundred nineteen participants completed questionnaires measuring trait aggression and relationships with one of eight characters. We content analyzed portrayals of these characters to determine their levels of aggression. Results suggested viewer aggression predicted identification with aggressive characters, but did not predict hornophily and parasocial interaction beyond the variance explained by gender. We also observed relationships among the dependent variables and differences between physical and verbal aggression.

Interface of personal and mediated communication: A research agenda

Uses and gratifications is seen as a viable communication perspective for examining the interface of interpersonal and mass communication. This essay explicates the interpersonal dimension of uses and gratifications models, including individual needs and functional alternatives. The uses of interpersonal channels are considered as coequal alternatives to the uses of media channels for the gratification of social and psychological needs. The parallels between uses and gratifications and interpersonal communication perspectives are explained and a research agenda is created for future investigations of why and how media and personal interaction are used to gratify individual communicative needs.

Impact of Motivation, Attraction, and Parasocial Interaction on Talk Radio listening

We examined the impact of motivation, interpersonal attraction, and parasocial interaction (PSI) on listening to public affairs talk radio. Hierarchical regression identified several results. PSI and exciting entertainment motivation predicted intentional and frequent listening to a favorite host. PSI, task attraction, and information motivation predicted regarding a host as an important source of information. PSI, information motivation, task attraction, and pass time/habit motivation predicted feeling that a host influenced attitudes. PSI, information motivation, and pass time/habit motivation predicted following a hosts advice to act on societal concerns.

The Variable Influence of Audience Activity on Media Effects

Audience activity in the media transaction may function to promote or to deter media effects. Facilitative activity includes selectivity, attention, and involvement. Inhibitory activity includes avoidance, distraction, and skepticism. The authors expected instrumental media motivation, selectivity, attention, and involvement to be positive predictors of satisfaction, parasocial interaction, and cultivation effects from watching daytime television serials. They expected avoidance, distraction, and skepticism to be negative predictors of those effects. Three path analyses largely supported their expectations. The authors observed direct links between instrumental motivation and media effects, and indirect links that operated through audience activity. Such variations in audience activity help explain how and why people respond differently to media messages.

The uses and dependency model of mass communication

This essay responds to the individualistic criticism of the uses and gratifications perspective by considering social‐structural conditions that affect media uses and effects, and by proposing an audience‐centered and society‐based framework for examining mass communication processes. The nature of media dependency, the origins of dependency, audience needs and motives, audience‐media‐society relationships, functional alternatives, information seeking, and media effects are discussed as central concepts of the uses and dependency model of mass communication.

Chronic loneliness and television use

The study examined how chronic loneliness influenced local news and soap opera viewing. We hypothesized that chronic loneliness relates to reduced interpersonal interaction, increased electronic media use, and passive television use. The discriminant analysis distinguished chronic loneliness from nonloneli‐ness by: (a) lesser use of interpersonal channels and greater use of electronic media channels, especially television and movies; and (b) pass time viewing motivation. We discussed the implications of the results and related the findings to the links between personal and mediated communication.