Jennifer L. Bevan

A picture is worth a thousand words: A content analysis of Facebook profile photographs

This research examines identity construction and gender roles in social networking sites by studying and comparing the profile photographs of male and female Facebook users. Specifically, the number of photos in the profile album and the content of the main profile picture are studied by coding specific pictures, and determining if the content and amount of profile pictures differ significantly by gender. Participants include male and female Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 23 who are currently enrolled in a college or university. Profile pictures tended to be inactive, posed, appropriate, and only including the subject. The content and amount of Facebook profile photographs also did not significantly vary by gender. Implications of these findings, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed.

Negative emotional and cognitive responses to being unfriended on Facebook: An exploratory study

We consider Facebook unfriending as a form of relationship termination with negative emotional and cognitive consequences. Specifically, ruminative and negative emotional responses are examined via an online survey of adult Facebook users who were unfriended. These responses were positively related to each other and to Facebook intensity. Rumination was positively predicted by using Facebook to connect with existing contacts and was more likely when the unfriender was a close partner. Participants also responded with greater rumination and negative emotion when they knew who unfriended them, when they thought they were unfriended for Facebook-related reasons, and when participants initiated the Facebook friend request. The contribution of these exploratory findings to our growing understanding of negative relational behaviors on Facebook are discussed.

Informed lay preferences for delivery of racially varied pharmacogenomics

Objectives To understand public perceptions and opinions of three options for prescribing medicine: individualized genetic testing, race-based prescription, and traditional prescription.Methods Focus groups in urban, suburban, and rural communities over-sampled for minority groups conducted from February through April, 2001 in Georgia.Results Group members (N = 102) identified individualized genetic testing as providing the best quality of care (60% of talk turns; 75% in postdiscussion anonymous survey), but stipulated the need for protection from the invasion of privacy, discrimination, and prohibitive cost. Most individuals chose genetic testing because it provided individualized attention, and African-Americans indicated they would choose genetic testing even if the costs were high. Overall, individuals were suspicious of race-based prescription. Analyses for degree of suspicion revealed a main effect for race and an interaction effect for race and gender.Conclusions If issues of cost, discrimination, and privacy are addressed, lay individuals prefer genetic testing as the basis for prescription of medicines that exhibit racially patterned response variation.

Why people use Yelp.com: An exploration of uses and gratifications

This study examines why individuals use the website Yelp.com from a uses and gratifications perspective. Male and female Yelp.com users who were 18 and over completed an online survey. The results of the study indicate that individuals overwhelmingly use Yelp.com for information-seeking purposes, followed by entertainment, convenience, interpersonal utility, and pass time. Further, there was an overall higher usage of each need for the readers and writers of restaurant reviews compared with readers only, suggesting more involvement for the reader and writer group. Frequency of Yelp.com usage and perceived influence of Yelp.com restaurant reviews were also positively related to the majority of motives. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed, as well as suggestions for future research.

Attitudinal barriers to delivery of race-targeted pharmacogenomics among informed lay persons

Objectives To ascertain attitudes of prospective patients relevant to the delivery of race-based pharmacogenomics.Methods Written anonymous survey and qualitative responses in two sets of reactance format focus groups over-sampled for minority groups in urban, suburban, and rural communities conducted from February through April, 2002 [N = 104] and August through November, 2002 [N = 120].Results Participants do not associate “races” exclusively with continental clusters. They have incomplete knowledge of their recent ancestors (39.6% do not know all their biological grandparents). They would be highly suspicious of race-labeled drugs; with 47.5% saying they would be very suspicious of their safety and 40.6% indicating they would be very suspicious of their efficacy. A substantial minority of African-American participants (13.2%) would prefer to take the drugs designated for European Americans. Effect of discussion of race-based medicine on racial attitudes is ambiguous.Conclusions Patient knowledge of ancestry and suspicion of race-designated drugs constitute substantial barriers that need to be incorporated in judging the likely effectiveness of race-based pharmacogenomics.

Experiencing and Communicating Romantic Jealousy: Questioning the Investment Model

Though researchers have investigated individual aspects of Rusbults (1980) Investment Model of relational commitment in association with romantic jealousy, previous research had not employed the model as a theoretical framework for understanding variations in jealousy experience and expression within dating partnerships. Thus, the current research examined commitment, satisfaction, quality of alternatives, and investment in association with cognitive and emotional jealousy experience, and forms of jealousy expression. Mixed findings were observed for the bivariate associations between the investment model and jealousy variables. Further, the mediational role of commitment as specified by the investment model was not helpful in understanding jealousy experience and jealousy expression processes, with the sole exception of integrative communication. Implications for the study of romantic jealousy and the investment model are discussed in light of these findings.

Serial Argument Goals and Conflict Strategies: A Comparison between Romantic Partners and Family Members

Using the framework of Dyadic Power Theory (Dunbar, 2004), this study compares parent–child, sibling, and romantic relationships in terms of serial argument goal importance and conflict strategy usage. A university and community sample (N = 166) completed a questionnaire. The positive relational expression goal was more important in romantic relationships than in parent–child relationships, whereas the opposite was the case for the dominance/control goal. No differences were observed for sibling serial argument goal importance and no relationship type differences were found for the remaining goals or for the conflict strategies. The implications for serial argumentation research are discussed.

Being unfriended on Facebook: An application of Expectancy Violation Theory

This study considered being unfriended on Facebook as an expectancy violation that could vary in valence, importance, and expectedness according to a number of relationship and Facebook involvement characteristics. Facebook users who had been unfriended responded to a variety of quantitative scales via an online survey. Being unfriended constituted a moderately expected and negative, and moderately-to-highly important, expectancy violation. Whether ties with the unfriender were close versus weak best predicted valence and importance and the extent to which the unfriended individual used Facebook to connect with existing contacts best explained violation expectedness. Violation importance also predicted whether or not the unfriended individual contacted the former friend about being unfriended. Results supported Expectancy Violation Theory and extended knowledge about Facebook unfriending.

A preliminary study of how multiple exposures to messages about genetics impact on lay attitudes towards racial and genetic discrimination

Media depictions of genetics have led to concerns that this coverage will lead to increased belief in genetic determinism and increased discrimination, including racism. Previous studies of single exposures to messages about genetics or messages about genetics and race have shown some increases in discrimination and racism. Since attitude change is linked to repeated exposure to many messages, this study aimed to identify the effect of multiple exposures to multiple messages about genetics on attitudes towards determinism, discrimination and racism. Results showed an increase in genetically based racism, no increase in general racist affect and no significant increase in belief in determinism. Based on these results, we suggest that genetically based racism is a combination of racist affect with belief that perceived differences in human characteristics are solely or primarily influenced by genetics and that a move towards genetically based racism has implications for social policy.

Communication in the context of long-distance family caregiving: An integrated review and practical applications

OBJECTIVE Understanding how geographic distance impacts how individuals communicatively negotiate family caregiving is important for a number of reasons. Though long-distance caregiving (LDC) is a growing phenomenon with serious relational and health implications, this topic has yet to be approached from a communication perspective. In this review, LDC is thus considered as a communication context to offer caregiving scholars practical applications for contributing to this emerging research area. METHODS Review of the literature from 1999 to 2009 that studied aspects of distance caregiving communication obtained through searching Academic Search Premier, EBSCO, Communication and Mass Media Complete, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, PubMed/Medline, and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition online databases. RESULTS Eight published original research studies were included in the review. CONCLUSION The extent to which LDC communication is studied by caregiving researchers has the potential to provide helpful guidance for distant caregivers and care recipients to achieve successful health and relational outcomes. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Upon reviewing distance caregiving communication research findings, four applications are discussed: (1) defining distance as a subjective experience; (2) encouraging the use of mediated communication in LDC; and examining (3) interpersonal conflict and (4) topic avoidance processes in the LDC context.