Chul-joo Lee

Public Attitudes toward Emerging Technologies Examining the Interactive Effects of Cognitions and Affect on Public Attitudes toward Nanotechnology

Previous studies on public attitudes toward emerging technologies have treated cognitive and affective influences on public opinion as distinct, with little attention to the possible interaction between the two. Directly addressing this issue, we argue that cognitive and affective factors not only have important separate effects on public attitudes but also work in tandem to produce effects. In particular, it may be that affective variables shape the impact of cognitions and vice versa. We use data from a national telephone survey to test this interactive model of decision making about emerging technologies. Our analyses show that emotional heuristics moderate the effect that knowledge about nanotechnology has on peoples overall attitudes toward nanotechnology, with knowledge having a weaker effect on attitudes for people who do show strong emotional reactions to the topic. The implications of these findings for future research and policy making in this area are discussed.

The Influence of Knowledge and Deference toward Scientific Authority: A Media Effects Model for Public Attitudes toward Nanotechnology

Previous research suggests both cognitive and affective variables can impact how the public thinks about new scientific developments such as nanotechnology. Most studies have not explored the origins of these variables or their simultaneous, interactive influences on public opinion. Using national telephone survey data (N=706), we examine the pathways between different types of media use and attitudes toward nanotechnology, particularly potential mediating roles of nanotechnology knowledge and deference toward scientific authority. People relying on newspapers and the Internet for science information report higher levels of nanotechnology knowledge, while respondents using science TV showed higher levels of deference toward scientific authority.

Correlates of Cancer Information Overload: Focusing on Individual Ability and Motivation

Abstract The present study defined cancer information overload (CIO) as an aversive disposition wherein a person is confused and overwhelmed by cancer information, which occurs when he or she fails to effectively categorize new information due to a lack of resources for effective learning. Based on the definition and informed by previous studies on information overload and the cognitive mediation model, we hypothesized that low ability and motivation to process cancer information would lead to CIO. We used education level and trait anxiety as factors related to ability. Cancer history and the use of active media channels (such as the Internet and print media) were adopted as motivational factors. Four samples (three from the United States and one from South Korea) were used to explore the relationship between ability/motivation and CIO. Among them, only Sample 4 participants answered questions about stomach cancer, and other participants were asked about cancer in general. In all four samples, trait anxiety was positively associated with CIO. Health information use from active media channels (print or the Internet) was negatively associated with CIO in three samples. The associations between family history and CIO, and between education and CIO, were found in two samples. In short, the present study demonstrated that CIO partly depends on individual ability and motivation, thereby showing that CIO is influenced by personal characteristics as well as environmental factors.

Theorizing the Pathways From Seeking and Scanning to Mammography Screening

This study combines insights from existing theories in mass communication and health communication, and builds an integrated model accounting for the mechanisms by which an individual’s acquisition of mammogram-related media information becomes associated with intentions to obtain a mammogram. Our model was largely supported by a survey with a nationally representative sample of American females between the ages of 40 and 70 years. As expected, seeking and scanning mammogram-related information from the media were both positively associated with reflective integration of media health information, which in turn was positively related to behavioral attitudes and perceived normative pressures. Attitudes and normative pressures were then positively linked to the intention to get a mammogram. Based on these findings, we offer some suggestions for future research in this area.

Mapping the Social Capital Research in Communication: A Bibliometric Analysis

To examine how communication scholars have incorporated the concept of social capital originating from other disciplines, we first analyzed citation patterns among social capital–related journal articles, book chapters, and books extracted from Communication Abstracts. Moreover, we investigated whether and how communication scholars have cited three pioneering scholars in this area, that is, Robert Putnam, Pierre Bourdieu, and James Coleman, to identify aspects of social capital that have either been emphasized or overlooked. Based on the analyses of 171 journal articles, books, and book chapters, we found that the translation of the concept of social capital into communication research has been driven and dominated by a small group of political communication scholars. The results of our content analysis demonstrate that the prominent players in social capital research in the communication field distinctly favored the work of Putnam over those of Bourdieu and Coleman. The implications of these findings for communication research are discussed.

Why Does Social Capital Matter in Health Communication Campaigns

The present study examined the psychological mechanisms underlying the indirect effects of antidrug-specific social capital on targeted parent-child communication about drugs. Moreover, it explored why campaign exposure and social capital exert interactive influences on parent-child communication. Using a three-round longitudinal panel data set from the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY), we found that when taking into account behavioral attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, parents’ attitude toward talking about drugs with their child mediated the effects of antidrug-specific social capital on targeted parent-child communication about drugs. Furthermore, behavioral attitude mediated the interactive effects of campaign exposure and social capital on parent-child communication. The implications of these findings for research on the connection between media exposure and conversation and for public health interventions were discussed.

An Initial Look at the Associations of a Variety of Health-Related Online Activities With Cancer Fatalism

ABSTRACT It has been an important public health goal to remove cancer fatalism because of its negative influence on both cancer screening and preventive behaviors. The present study examines roles of the Internet, as an emerging, crucial source of cancer information, in the effect of education on cancer fatalism. Based on our secondary analysis of a nationally representative survey (i.e., Health Information National Trends Survey 4 Cycle 1), we found that people with low levels of education are less likely than their more educated counterparts to engage in online health information seeking that is negatively linked to fatalistic beliefs about cancer prevention. In addition, the effect of education on online health information seeking was detected only among people who trust online health information. The implications of these findings for cancer control and for research on the digital divide and communication inequalities are discussed.

The Psychological Mechanism Underlying Communication Effects on Behavioral Intention Focusing on Affect and Cognition in the Cancer Context

This study theorized the relationship among information exposure, affect, cognition, and behavioral intention by constructing a comprehensive model that combines an integrative model, media effects studies, and the risk-as-feelings hypothesis. Specifically, in the cancer context, we examined how exposure to information is associated with affect and cognition, which influence behavioral intention. A two-wave survey about stomach cancer was conducted among Korean people aged 40 or older (n = 1,130 at Wave 1 and 813 at Wave 2). Exposure to cancer information was positively associated with affective (cancer fear), affective-cognitive (cancer worry), and cognitive (risk perception) conditions at Wave 1, which predicted screening intention at Wave 2. However, cancer fear reduced screening intention, unlike cancer worry and cancer risk perception, which increased screening intention. While cancer risk perception influenced screening intention indirectly through norm, cancer fear and cancer worry had a direct impact on screening intention.

A Moderated Mediation Model of the Relationship between Media, Social Capital, and Cancer Knowledge

ABSTRACT We combined insights from various theories and models of media learning, and advanced an indirect model accounting for the mechanisms underlying the media influences on knowledge acquisition. Our model was largely supported by the data from a two-wave longitudinal panel survey with a nationwide sample of Korean adults. It was found that both personal cancer history and cancer worry were positively associated with exposure to stomach cancer information from the media. In turn, exposure to media information was positively related to reflective integration of that information, which ultimately leads to stomach cancer knowledge only among people with high levels of social capital. These findings suggest that media uses and effects are not only an individual but also a contextually dependent experience.