Ivar Vermeulen

It is all about being popular: The effects of need for popularity on social network site use

Prior research on predictors of social network site (SNS) use has mainly focused on the Big Five, narcissism, and self-esteem. Results have been inconsistent, and variance explained was rather low. Need for popularity (NfP) might be a better predictor of SNS use, because SNSs are ideal venues for people with a high NfP. Study 1 tested NfP, self-esteem, need to belong, entitlement, and vanity as predictors for a range of SNS behaviors; Study 2 replaced entitlement and vanity with narcissism and added the Big Five as predictors. SNS behaviors assessed were grooming, strategic self-presentation, profile enhancement, disclosure of feelings, routine use of SNS, and number of friends. Results showed that NfP was the strongest and most consistent predictor of SNS behaviors. This pattern indicates that NfP plays an important role in SNSs.

Information about chemotherapy-associated cognitive problems contributes to cognitive problems in cancer patients.

Although increasing attention is directed at identifying biological mechanisms underlying cognitive changes observed in cancer patients without central nervous system disease following chemotherapy, psychological factors that can contribute to these cognitive changes are much less studied.

Anonymity Versus Privacy: Selective Information Sharing in Online Cancer Communities

Background Active sharing in online cancer communities benefits patients. However, many patients refrain from sharing health information online due to privacy concerns. Existing research on privacy emphasizes data security and confidentiality, largely focusing on electronic medical records. Patient preferences around information sharing in online communities remain poorly understood. Consistent with the privacy calculus perspective adopted from e-commerce research, we suggest that patients approach online information sharing instrumentally, weighing privacy costs against participation benefits when deciding whether to share certain information. Consequently, we argue that patients prefer sharing clinical information over daily life and identity information that potentially compromises anonymity. Furthermore, we explore whether patients’ prior experiences, age, health, and gender affect perceived privacy costs and thus willingness to share information. Objective The goal of the present study is to document patient preferences for sharing information within online health platforms. Methods A total of 115 cancer patients reported sharing intentions for 15 different types of information, demographics, health status, prior privacy experiences, expected community utility, and privacy concerns. Results Factor analysis on the 15 information types revealed 3 factors coinciding with 3 proposed information categories: clinical, daily life, and identity information. A within-subject ANOVA showed a strong preference for sharing clinical information compared to daily life and identity information (F 1,114=135.59, P=.001, η2=.93). Also, adverse online privacy experiences, age, and health status negatively affected information-sharing intentions. Female patients shared information less willingly. Conclusions Respondents’ information-sharing intentions depend on dispositional and situational factors. Patients share medical details more willingly than daily life or identity information. The results suggest the need to focus on anonymity rather than privacy in online communities.

Forecasting the Experience of Future Entertainment Technology “Interactive Storytelling” and Media Enjoyment

Advances in gaming and other entertainment technologies are evolving rapidly and create new conceptual challenges for understanding and explaining the user experiences they can facilitate. The present article reports a prospective study on a particularly promising entertainment technology of the future: Interactive storytelling (IS). Integrating various streams of computing technology, such as advanced visualization, natural speech processing, and autonomous agents, IS systems are envisioned to offer new, personalized and thus unique kinds of entertainment to mass audiences of the future. The authors refer to existing models of media entertainment for a theoretical analysis and analyze expert interviews with members of the international IS development community to lay out the foundations for a forecast model of the entertainment experience of future IS systems. The resulting model organizes fundamental requirements, modes of users’ information processing, and specific types of (pleasant) experiences, which holds implications for (future) entertainment theory and research that accompanies further development of IS media.

Social Influence in Networks of Practice An Analysis of Organizational Communication Content

Networks of Practice (NoPs) facilitate knowledge sharing among geographically dispersed organization members. This research tests whether social influence in NoPs is reinforced by actors’ embeddedness in practice (knowledge about informal content), organizational embeddedness (knowledge about formal organizational content), structural embeddedness (knowledge about who knows what), and relational embeddedness (knowledge about informal relationships). A full-fledged automated content analysis on all postings on four NoPs maintained by a multinational chemical company revealed four dimensions in communication content that largely coincide with the proposed embeddedness types. We measured social influence by assessing to what extent actors’ use of uncommon language traits was adopted in the responses to the postings. Hypothesis testing revealed that network members who communicate about informal practice, and know who knows what, exert more social influence than others. The results suggest that network members’ social influence is rooted in their utilitarian value for others, and not in their organizational or relational embeddedness.

The Language of Extraversion: Extraverted People Talk More Abstractly, Introverts Are More Concrete

To understand the impact of personality, one needs to know how personality differences manifest themselves in language use. The present study investigates the link between extraversion and language abstraction. Participants’ spontaneous verbal utterances in face-to-face interactions were analyzed for language abstraction by applying the linguistic category model, which distinguishes predicate types that convey information in concrete or interpretative manner. We also applied the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program to relate several word categories to extraversion and language abstraction. Results show significant positive correlations between extraversion and both language abstraction and self-reported level of interpretation. Language abstraction was also linked to LIWC variables (e.g., articles, numbers) previously shown to be related to extraversion. The findings suggest that the verbal style of extraverts is characterized by a higher level of abstract interpretation, whereas introverts tend to stick to concrete facts.

A logical toolkit for theory (re)construction

The social sciences have achieved highly sophisticated methods for data collection and analysis, leading to increased control and tractability of scientific results. Meanwhile, methods for systematizing these results, as well as new ideas and hypotheses, into sociological theories have seen little progress, leaving most sociological arguments ambiguous and difficult to handle, and impairing cumulative theory development. Sociological theory, containing many valuable ideas and insights, deserves better than this. As a way out of the doldrums, this paper presents a systematic approach to computer-supported logical formalization, that is widely applicable to sociological theory and other declarative discourse. By increasing rigor and precision of sociological arguments, they become better accessible to critical investigation, thereby raising scientific debate to a new level. The merits of this approach are demonstrated by applying it to an actual fragment from the sociological literature.

Blinded by the Light: How a Focus on Statistical “Significance” May Cause p-Value Misreporting and an Excess of p-Values Just Below .05 in Communication Science

Publication bias promotes papers providing “significant” findings, thus incentivizing researchers to produce such findings. Prior studies suggested that researchers’ focus on “p < .05” yields—intentional or unintentional—p-value misreporting, and excess p-values just below .05. To assess whether similar distortions occur in communication science, we extracted 5,834 test statistics from 693 recent communication science ISI papers, and assessed prevalence of p-values (1) misreported, and (2) just below .05. Results show 8.8% of p-values were misreported (74.5% too low). 1.3% of p-values were critically misreported, stating p < .05 while in fact p > .05 (88.3%) or vice versa (11.7%). Analyzing p-value frequencies just below .05 using a novel method did not unequivocally demonstrate “p-hacking”—excess p-values could be alternatively explained by (severe) publication bias. Results for 19,830 p-values from social psychology were strikingly similar. We conclude that publication bias, publication pressure, and verification bias distort the communication science knowledge base, and suggest solutions to this problem.

When you are what you own Do physically attractive people benefit more from owning sophisticated brands

Although desirable brands may positively affect impressions of its owner, brand ownership may also evoke negative reactions if a brand’s image is seen as incongruent with the brand owner. An experimental study tests the influence of physical attractiveness of a brand owner and observers’ level of materialism on the transference of brand sophistication onto a brand owner. Brand sophistication and physical attractiveness are manipulated and levels of materialism are measured. Results suggest that attractive brand owners are generally perceived as sophisticated, regardless of brand sophistication or observers’ materialism. for less attractive brand owners, owning a sophisticated brand may backfire, and decrease perceptions of sophistication, particularly when the observer is materialistic. Implications are that desirable brands are most likely to increase liking of brand owners when the brand fits the owner, and that owning desirable brands may backfire for lower levels of fit.

Questionable Research and Publication Practices in Communication Science

According to Thomas Kuhn, scientific revolutions always take place in response to anomalous data: When data are presented that do not concur with an established paradigm, the paradigm will shift. W...