Bruce E. Pinkleton

Relationships of media use and political disaffection to political efficacy and voting behavior

A random telephone survey (N=582) of Washington state voters conducted in November 1994 examines relationships among mass media use, specific aspects of political disaffection, political efficacy and participation. Results suggest that negativism toward media campaign coverage reduces media use and that cynicism toward the political system reduces political efficacy. Negativism and media use also are negatively related to cynicism. Contrary to concerns expressed by some scholars and journalists concerning the negative impact of superficial media coverage on political participation, however, mass media use positively predicts voting behavior. In addition, negativism toward campaign tactics appears unrelated to political participation.

Effects of a Peer-Led Media Literacy Curriculum on Adolescents' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Sexual Behavior and Media Portrayals of Sex

The United States has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and birth in the Western industrialized world, and research indicates that television and other mass media are important sources of sexual information for young people. The purpose of this study was to determine if a teen-led, media literacy curriculum focused on sexual portrayals in the media would increase adolescents awareness of media myths concerning sex, decrease the allure of sexualized portrayals, and decrease positive expectancies for sexual activity. A posttest-only quasi-experiment with control groups was conducted at 22 school and community sites in Washington state (N = 532). The intervention, a 5-lesson media literacy curriculum targeted primarily to middle school students, encouraged sexual abstinence because of federal government funding requirements. Adolescents evaluated the program positively, with 85% rating it as better than other sex education programs. Compared to control-group participants, students were less likely to overestimate sexual activity among teens, more likely to think they could delay sexual activity, less likely to expect social benefits from sexual activity, more aware of myths about sex, and less likely to consider sexual media imagery desirable. The results showed that media literacy has promise as part of a sex education program by providing adolescents with a cognitive framework necessary to understand and resist the influence of media on their decision making concerning sex.

Individual Motivations, Perceived Media Importance, and Political Disaffection

Mass media have been blamed for distancing people from the political process by increasing cynicism and voter apathy. A telephone survey of 592 registered voters in Washington state tested a set of relationships among political involvement, perceived media importance, political disaffection, and efficacy. As hypothesized, political involvement was positively associated with the perceived importance of newspapers and radio talk shows. These, in turn, were negatively associated with cynicism and positively associated with efficacy. Cynicism was negatively associated with efficacy, while efficacy was positively associated with involvement. The results suggest that involvement is a key variable in the political decision making process through its relationships with orientations toward information sources. Thus, media can serve as a catalyst for involved citizen decision making. Scholars should attend to the motivational context individuals bring to the media when examining the role of the media in political decision making.Mass media have been blamed for distancing people from the political process by increasing cynicism and voter apathy. A telephone survey of 592 registered voters in Washington state tested a set of relationships among political involvement, perceived media importance, political disaffection, and efficacy. As hypothesized, political involvement was positively associated with the perceived importance of newspapers and radio talk shows. These, in turn, were negatively associated with cynicism and positively associated with efficacy. Cynicism was negatively associated with efficacy, while efficacy was positively associated with involvement. The results suggest that involvement is a key variable in the political decision making process through its relationships with orientations toward information sources. Thus, media can serve as a catalyst for involved citizen decision making. Scholars should attend to the motivational context individuals bring to the media when examining the role of the media in political d...

An Exploration of the Effects of Negative Political Advertising on Political Decision Making

Abstract A total of 236 students participated in an experiment testing the effects of positive, negative, and negative comparative political advertising on key variables in the political decision-making process. Participants exposed to negative advertising found it less useful for political decision making and were more negative toward political campaigns than were participants exposed to positive advertising. Negative political advertising had no effect on participants cynicism, efficacy, or apathy. The findings suggest that, though negative advertising contributes to citizens disgust with campaigns, this strategy does not automatically increase citizens cynicism or apathy.

Factors affecting Internet use in a saturated-access population

Abstract There is a large body of literature that focuses on technology and innovation adoption. Much of that deals with the factors that affect adoption at different stages. Some research deals with early adoption, such as that by Rogers (1995) . Other research looks at innovations as they begin to penetrate the general population, such as Lin’s (1998) study of personal computer use. Across these studies the impact of the factors changes. For example, demographics are better at predicting early adoption but become less important for general adoption. This study looks at factors that affect usage of an innovation when it is available to most of the population. In this case the population was the faculty and staff at Washington State University, where 97% had access to the Internet. Like Lin’s study, the present research used the four scales of adoption factors (resources, need for innovativeness, complexity, advantages), media use, technology clusters, and demographics as predictors. Unlike Lin’s study which predicted PC adoption, this study predicted Internet use. Based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 296 faculty and staff in the Spring of 1998 the major findings were: 1. The four factors found in Lin’s study were replicated, but the strengths differed. 2. Gender and age were significant demographic predictors of use, younger males being heavier users. 3. Those owning more technologies were heavier users. 4. Those more positive on two perceptual factors (viewing the Internet as less complex and seeing more advantages) were heavier users.

A Statewide Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Media Literacy Training to Prevent Tobacco Use Among Adolescents

Researchers used a quasi-experiment (Nu2009=u2009723) conducted in the field and using both pretests and posttests to carry out a theory-based evaluation of the effectiveness of a media literacy curriculum implemented in Washington state. Results showed that reflective thinking concerning media message about tobacco increased for all media literacy participants, whether or not they had used tobacco previously. Changes in reflective thinking affected a range of decision-making indicators. Lesson participants who had not used tobacco demonstrated greater change at earlier stages of decision making in ways that suggested a greater understanding of the persuasive techniques used by tobacco manufacturers, on indicators such as perceived realism, desirability, and similarity. Lesson participants who had tried tobacco demonstrated greater change at later stages of decision making on indicators such as perceived peer norms for tobacco use, identification with tobacco-related portrayals, and expectancies for tobacco use. All participants also showed increases in their ability and motivations to resist smoking-related influences. Overall, the results suggest that media literacy has important and somewhat different effects on those who have and those who have not experimented with tobacco use. The results also show the importance of measuring cognitive and affective indicators of decision making that may change gradually as participants gain experience putting lessons learned into action.

External information sources of product enthusiasts: Differences between variety seekers, variety neutrals, and variety avoiders

The external information sources of enthusiasts are examined. Enthusiasts who frequently switch their purchases of wine from different regions are compared with those who switch their purchases less frequently. Findings indicate that variety-seeking enthusiasts use a significantly larger number of information sources than variety neutrals, and variety neutrals use a significantly larger number of sources than variety avoiders. Differences concerning wine consumption, the use of print media, interpersonal sources, and trial information sources are also noted.

Evaluation of an American Legacy Foundation/Washington State Department of Health Media Literacy Pilot Study

A pretest-posttest quasi-experiment was used to evaluate a pilot test of a media literacy curriculum implemented during summer 2001 in Washington state. As expected, media literacy training reduced youths beliefs that most peers use tobacco, increased their understanding of advertising techniques, and increased their levels of efficacy regarding the extent to which they would participate in advocacy and prevention activities. Mixed results were found for skepticism, which appeared to suffer from a ceiling effect, and surprising results were found for desirability, also seemingly an artifact of the measures used. The results indicate that media literacy training combining skill development with a motivational component represents a promising avenue for tobacco use prevention efforts. The study also helps establish some reliable outcome measures for media literacy evaluations, but additional testing should continue to pursue the development of a complete battery of reliable and valid indicators.

Exploring Relationships Among Media Use Frequency, Perceived Media Importance, and Media Satisfaction in Political Disaffection and Efficacy

The results of a telephone survey of registered voters in Washington state explored the ways in which citizens media exposure, perceptions of media importance, and media performance satisfaction associate with political disaffection and efficacy. The study tested 2 alternate models, 1 that included media satisfaction measures to predict citizens levels of political disaffection and efficacy, and 1 that included only media use frequency and perceived media importance. Satisfaction measures were more useful predictors of cynicism and of negativism toward the media than were media use frequency or perceived media importance measures. Media use frequency and importance measures predicted only negativism, primarily toward campaigns. The findings indicate that social scientists should focus on citizens satisfaction with media performance to understand the role of the media in political decision making.

Celebrity Endorsements and Their Potential to Motivate Young Voters

Although scholars have long indicated concern regarding disaffected young voters, the 2004 presidential election tallied record turnout among this age group. This study explored how and why celebrity-endorsed, get-out-the-vote campaigns may have helped to persuade young voters aged 18 to 24 to participate in an election campaign by examining campaign influence on individual decision-making factors. During the fall semester of 2004, a convenience sample of 305 college students from introductory general education classes completed surveys assessing their political efficacy, involvement, complacency, and apathy. Findings indicated that receptivity to celebrity spokespeople predicted lower levels of complacency and higher levels of self-efficacy. Complacency had independent effects on involvement and self-efficacy. The results therefore suggest that these campaigns can potentially influence positive change in political engagement of the younger citizenry.