Amanda J. Holmstrom

Orientations to Video Games Among Gender and Age Groups

Questionnaires were completed by 5th-, 8th-, and 11th-grade public schools students in rural and suburban school districts and by undergraduates at two universities in the United States (n = 1,242). They were asked about their orientation to video games—the amount of time they played, their motives for doing so, and the game types they preferred—to better understand the context in which effects research might be organized. The conceptual schema for this research was the uses-and-gratifications perspective. The males in the sample played video games at twice the weekly average of the females, were consistently stronger in all measured motives than the females, and preferred physically oriented video games over the females’ preference for more traditional, thoughtful games. Younger players opted for the fantasy motive in their playing and older players more so for competition. Preference for physical games declined among the older males, and generally motives were stronger in the middle years of playing for both males and females than in the youngest and oldest age groups. Regression analyses explained considerably more variance in game playing for males than for females.

Guys can't say that to guys: Four experiments assessing the normative motivation account for deficiencies in the emotional support provided by men

Men are less likely than women to provide sensitive emotional support when attempting to comfort others. This paper reports four experiments that tested a normative motivation account for this sex difference, which maintains that men employ less sensitive messages because they desire to avoid acting in what they view as a feminine manner. We propose that target sex and gender schematicity influence the perceived normativeness of comforting behaviors and examined how these variables affected: participants’ judgments of the normativeness of helpers’ behavior (Experiment 1); helpers’ goals, as reflected in judgments about the importance of different ends that might be pursued in support situations (Experiment 2); helpers’ plans, as reflected in judgments about the appropriateness of different comforting messages (Experiment 3); and helpers’ actions, as reflected in the verbal messages produced to comfort distressed friends (Experiment 4). These studies supported the normative motivation account, but also indicated that other factors influence comforting behavior.

An Initial Test of a Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Esteem Support Messages

Esteem support is a form of social support that is provided to others with the intent of enhancing how they feel about themselves. This article outlines and assesses empirically a cognitive-emotional theory of esteem support messages (CETESM), which identifies (a) dimensions along which esteem support messages can be scaled, (b) mechanisms through which sophisticated esteem support messages should have their effects, and (c) outcomes that should be generated by messages that vary in quality. The merits of this theoretical model are evaluated in a study (N = 506) examining esteem support messages for three types of esteem threat: failure, rejection, and transgression. Many of the theory’s tenets are supported by the study’s results.

Bereaved adults' evaluations of grief management messages: Effects of message person centeredness, recipient individual differences, and contextual factors

This study identifies grief management strategies that bereaved adults evaluate as more and less helpful, assesses whether the person centeredness of these strategies explains their helpfulness, and determines whether strategy helpfulness varies as a function of demographic, personality, and situational factors. Participants (105 bereaved young adults) assessed the helpfulness of 16 grief management strategies; these strategies were coded for their degree of person centeredness. Strategy person centeredness was strongly correlated with helpfulness. Strategy helpfulness varied as a function of participant gender and the disruptiveness of the decedents death, but not as a function of need for cognition or decedent closeness.

Explaining the Impact of Attachment Style on Evaluations of Supportive Messages: A Dual-Process Framework

This article reports tests of hypotheses derived from a theory of supportive message outcomes that maintains that the effects of supportive messages are moderated by factors influencing the motivation and ability to process these messages. Participants (N = 331) completed measures of attachment style, which provided individual-level assessments of processing motivation, and responded to either a mildly or moderately severe problem, which manipulated situational motivation.They subsequently evaluated the helpfulness of comforting messages that varied in person centeredness and were attributed to either an acquaintance or a close friend. Although message evaluations were strongly influenced by person centeredness, this effect, as expected, was also moderated by attachment style and problem severity. Results are discussed in terms of the dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes.

Which Comforting Messages Really Work Best? A Different Perspective on Lemieux and Tighe's “Receiver Perspective”

This article responds critically to a recent article by Lemieux and Tighe (Communication Research Reports, 21, 144–153, 2004) in which the authors conclude that recipients of comforting efforts prefer messages that exhibit a moderate rather than high level of person centeredness. It is argued that an erroneous assumption made by Lemieux and Tighe about the status of “receiver perspective” research on the comforting process led to faulty interpretations of the data and unwarranted conclusions about recipient preferences regarding comforting messages. Alternative interpretations of Lemieux and Tighes data are presented; these are guided by the extensive previous research that has assessed evaluations and outcomes of comforting messages.

What Helps–and What Doesn't–When Self-Esteem is Threatened?: Retrospective Reports of Esteem Support

Esteem support is a particular form of social support that is provided with the intent of enhancing how others feel about themselves and their attributes, abilities, and accomplishments. This study examines the association between perceptions of esteem support message helpfulness and (a) characteristics of the esteem support situation, (b) the relationship between provider and recipient, and (c) features of the perceived esteem support message. Participants (N = 55) recalled two esteem-threatening situations, one for which they received helpful esteem support and another for which they received unhelpful esteem support. Messages and features of situations and helpers were coded. Results indicate that features of the esteem support message and the helper are related to perceptions of messages helpfulness.

Esteem Support Messages Received during the Job Search: A Test of the CETESM

The current study extends research on the Cognitive-Emotional Theory of Esteem Support Messages (CETESM) and examines the role of esteem support during the job search. Unemployed, underemployed, and/or displaced job seekers (N=197) recalled an esteem support message they had received during their job search. Messages were coded using a scheme derived from the CETESM. Results indicate that helpful messages (i.e., those that enhanced state self-esteem related to the job search) were significantly more likely than unhelpful messages to contain message features predicted by the CETESM. Helpful messages were also associated with greater job search activity than were unhelpful messages. Theoretical implications, as well as pragmatic implications for those who wish to support job seekers, are discussed.

Are Gender Differences in Responses to Supportive Communication a Matter of Ability, Motivation, or Both? Reading Patterns of Situation Effects Through the Lens of a Dual-Process Theory

Women process information about support situations and messages more extensively than men, but little is known about whether these gender differences reflect underlying differences in processing ability, motivation, or both. Two studies examined information processing by men and women in both relatively less serious and more serious situations. Participants in Study 1 responded to more and less serious experimental scenarios, whereas participants in Study 2 reported on a recent bereavement situation. In both studies, the pattern of observed gender differences was most consistent with women possessing both greater ability and greater motivation to process information about support situations and messages.

The Mediating Role of Cognitive Reattribution and Reappraisal in the Esteem Support Process

The recently proposed cognitive-emotional theory of esteem support messages (CETESM) posits that sophisticated esteem support messages enhance state self-esteem by promoting cognitive reattribution and reappraisal of esteem-threatening situations and their effects on the self. To test this hypothesis, participants (N = 234) read a hypothetical situation in which they imagined they had experienced one of two esteem-threatening situations. They then read a conversation in which a helper offered high- or low-quality esteem support messages. Finally, participants completed measures of cognitive reattribution and reappraisal and state self-esteem. Results mostly supported the predicted mediational model, though one message feature failed to predict message ratings, and issues arose in assessing cognitive reattribution.