Katheryn Christy

Leaderboards in a virtual classroom: A test of stereotype threat and social comparison explanations for women's math performance

Abstract Gamification includes the use of gaming features, such as points or leaderboards, in non-gaming contexts, and is a frequently-discussed trend in education. One way of gamifying the classroom is to introduce leaderboards. Leaderboards allow students to see how they are performing relative to others in the same class. Little empirical research has investigated the impact of leaderboards on academic performance. In this study, 80 female undergraduates took a math test in a virtual representation of a classroom after being exposed to one of three leaderboard conditions: a leaderboard where men held the majority of the top positions, a leaderboard where women held the majority of top positions, and a no leaderboard condition. Participants in the female majority leaderboard condition performed more poorly on the math test than those in the male leaderboard condition, yet demonstrated a higher level of academic identification than those in the male and control conditions. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications that this studys findings may have for the use of leaderboards within educational environments.

The Health Belief Model as an Explanatory Framework in Communication Research: Exploring Parallel, Serial, and Moderated Mediation

The Health Belief Model (HBM) posits that messages will achieve optimal behavior change if they successfully target perceived barriers, benefits, self-efficacy, and threat. While the model seems to be an ideal explanatory framework for communication research, theoretical limitations have limited its use in the field. Notably, variable ordering is currently undefined in the HBM. Thus, it is unclear whether constructs mediate relationships comparably (parallel mediation), in sequence (serial mediation), or in tandem with a moderator (moderated mediation). To investigate variable ordering, adults (N = 1,377) completed a survey in the aftermath of an 8-month flu vaccine campaign grounded in the HBM. Exposure to the campaign was positively related to vaccination behavior. Statistical evaluation supported a model where the indirect effect of exposure on behavior through perceived barriers and threat was moderated by self-efficacy (moderated mediation). Perceived barriers and benefits also formed a serial mediation chain. The results indicate that variable ordering in the Health Belief Model may be complex, may help to explain conflicting results of the past, and may be a good focus for future research.

Public Estimates of Cancer Frequency: Cancer Incidence Perceptions Mirror Distorted Media Depictions

Compared with incidence rates, certain cancers are over- or underrepresented in news coverage. Past content analytic research has consistently documented these news distortions, but no study has examined whether they are related to public perception of cancer incidence. Adults (N = 400) completed a survey with questions about perceived cancer incidence, news consumption, and attention to health news. Cancer incidence perceptions paralleled previously documented news distortions. Overrepresented cancers were overestimated (e.g., blood, head/brain) and underrepresented cancers were underestimated (e.g., male reproductive, lymphatic, thyroid, and bladder). Self-reported news consumption was related to perceptual distortions such that heavier consumers were more likely to demonstrate distorted perceptions of four cancers (bladder, blood, breast, and kidney). Distortions in risk perception and news coverage also mirrored discrepancies in federal funding for cancer research. Health care professionals, journalists, and the public should be educated about these distortions to reduce or mitigate potential negative effects on health behavior and decision making.

Public Perception of Cancer Survival Rankings

Past research has observed that certain subgroups (e.g., individuals who are overweight/obese) have inaccurate estimates of survival rates for particular cancers (e.g., colon cancer). However, no study has examined whether the lay public can accurately rank cancer survival rates in comparison with one another (i.e., rank cancers from most deadly to least deadly). A sample of 400 Indiana adults aged 18 to 89 years (M = 33.88 years) completed a survey with questions regarding perceived cancer survival rates. Most cancers were ranked accurately; however, breast and stomach cancer survival rankings were highly distorted such that breast cancer was perceived to be significantly more deadly and stomach cancer significantly less deadly than reality. Younger participants also overestimated the survival rate for pancreatic cancer. These distortions mirror past content analytic work demonstrating that breast, stomach, and pancreatic cancers are misrepresented in the news.

Transportability and Presence as Predictors of Avatar Identification Within Narrative Video Games

To understand how narratives may best be implemented in video game design, first we must understand how players respond to and experience narratives in video games, including their reactions to their player character or avatar. This study looks at the relationship that transportability, self-presence, social presence, and physical presence have with identification with ones avatar. Survey data from 302 participants (151 males, 151 females) were analyzed. Both transportability and self-presence explained a significant amount of variance in avatar identification. We discuss the implications of these findings for future narrative video game research.

Interview and Focus Group Research: A Content Analysis of Scholarship Published in Ranked Journals

Two qualitative methods, interviewing and focus groups, guide scholarship in a range of fields, yet evaluation of such work has long been riddled with complications. Scholars have called for the investigation of norms in qualitative research design to offer evaluators and qualitative scholars alike additional tools for judging and justifying specific methodological choices. In answer to this call, we analyzed the content of articles (N = 13,670) published in top-ranked journals in communication, public health, and interdisciplinary social science from 2005 to 2009. Findings revealed that the typical interview study had approximately 30 participants (median = 27). Focus groups had slightly more participants (median = 36) spread across an average of six groups. Only approximately 25% of all interview and focus group studies (N = 1,865) reported participants’ mean age, and only about 19% reported participants’ race/ethnicity. These findings offer a point of departure for discussions about standards in qualitative research.

Identifying Admired Models to Increase Emulation Development of a Multidimensional Admiration Scale

According to social cognitive theory, people are most likely to emulate the behaviors of admired models. Though potentially valuable to researchers and practitioners, this postulate remains untested, as there is no validated measure of admiration. To facilitate research on admiration, a 14-item measure was constructed and the resulting scores were validated across two studies.

Death narratives and cervical cancer: Impact of character death on narrative processing and HPV vaccination.

Objectives: Narratives hold promise as an effective public health message strategy for health behavior change, yet research on what types of narratives are most persuasive is still in the formative stage. Narrative persuasion research has identified 2 promising features of such messages that could influence behavior: whether characters live or die, and whether characters encounter key barriers. This study investigated the effects of these 2 narrative message features on young women’s HPV vaccination intentions and examined mediating psychological processes of narrative persuasion in the context of cervical cancer messages. Method: We manipulated these 2 features in a narrative HPV vaccine intervention targeted to a national sample of U.S. women 18–26 who had not initiated the vaccine (N = 247). Participants were randomized in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment. Results: Compared to death narratives, survival narratives increased narrative believability and self-efficacy while lowering perceived barriers to vaccination. As features interacted, survival narratives featuring social barriers led to greater narrative transportation (absorption into the story) than other combinations. Moderated mediation analysis tested 10 theoretically derived mediators; transportation and risk severity mediated the narrative–intention relationship. Conclusions: Findings provide evidence for key psychological postulates of narrative persuasion theory. Results inform practical application for the construction of effective narrative message content in cervical cancer prevention campaigns for young women.

I, You, or He: Examining the Impact of Point of View on Narrative Persuasion

ABSTRACT Narratives can be used to persuade individuals to change their attitudes and behaviors, and can be especially effective is in changing attitudes toward individuals that are stigmatized or otherwise labeled as outgroup members. One feature that can influence a story’s persuasive effectiveness is the story’s point of view (POV). This study experimentally investigated the relative impacts of 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-person POVs on attitudes toward, and beliefs about, gay people. Results showed that participants who read the 3rd-person story had significantly more positive attitudes toward gay people than those who read the 1st-person story. In all cases, POV appeared to have no impact upon narrative transportation or identification.

Dispositional pandemic worry and the Health Belief Model: Promoting vaccination during pandemic events

Background Promoting vaccination during pandemics is paramount to public health, yet few studies examined theoretical motivations for vaccination during pandemics. Thus, the relationships between dispositional pandemic worry, constructs of the health belief model (HBM) and vaccination during the H1N1 pandemic were studied. Methods Participants (N = 1377) completed surveys assessing dispositional pandemic worry, HBM variables and H1N1 vaccination. Principle axis factor analysis and point biserial correlations were conducted. Differences in worry and vaccination were assessed via independent samples t‐tests. Relationships between vaccination, demographics and worry were investigated using hierarchical linear regression. PROCESS analysis was conducted to explicate the relationship between worry and vaccination intention. Results A two‐factor structure of dispositional pandemic worry—worry frequency and worry severity—was confirmed. Dispositional worry was higher among those who intended to and received H1N1 vaccine. Worry frequency and worry severity were positively related to vaccination. Threat, benefits and barriers mediated the impact of worry severity and threat and barriers mediated the impact of worry frequency on vaccination intentions. Conclusions Messages increasing dispositional worry and benefits while decreasing barriers may boost vaccination behavior during a pandemic event. Future study of relationships between dispositional worry and HBM variables is warranted.