Lee Ann Kahlor

An Augmented Risk Information Seeking Model: The Case of Global Warming

This effort argues for an augmented version of the relatively new Risk Information Seeking and Processing (RISP) Model, and subsequently applies this augmented RISP model specifically to environmental risk information seeking. Nearly 830 randomly selected members of a national panel were surveyed about their attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors regarding seeking information about an environmental risk—global warming. Path analysis suggests the promise of applying an augmented RISP model to environmental risk information seeking (R2 = .72 for information seeking intent) and reinforces prior research, which indicated the notable contribution that perceived social pressures may have when individuals seek such information (β = .68, p < .001).

Television's Role in the Culture of Violence Toward Women: A Study of Television Viewing and the Cultivation of Rape Myth Acceptance in the United States

This study approached cultivation from a feminist, ecological perspective that recognized television at the macrosystem level as a purveyor of cultural norms embedded in a culture of violence towards women. The results suggest that general television consumption is related significantly to first- and second-order rape myth beliefs among men and women. Data also indicate positive relationships between soap opera viewing and both rape myth acceptance (second order beliefs) and the overestimation of false rape accusations (a first order belief), and a negative relationship between crime-show viewing and rape myth acceptance. Gender was a significant predictor of rape beliefs above and beyond the contributions of television viewing and other individual- and micro-level variables.

What are you saying? Challenges and opportunities for increasing visibility and understanding of indoor microbiological research

This study identifies challenges that microbiologists who study built environments face in their efforts to increase public understanding and visibility associated with their research. More specifically, it offers an empirical assessment of these scientists’ perceptions of what people need to understand – specific research terms and concepts are noted – and what needs to be considered when communicating with key decision-makers in agencies that fund research. The results of semi-structured interviews with 79 U.S. scientists highlight several themes, terms, and concepts that require improved understanding among laypeople, policy-makers, and funding agencies. The results also imply that these scientists are willing communicators who are often called upon by laypeople to answer questions about microbial issues and research related to built environments. Suggestions are made to aid this research community’s future public communication efforts.

Whiteness Theory in Advertising: Racial Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Ads

Research has suggested the race of models in advertisements impacts audience attitudes toward these messages, but how does viewers’ race affect attitudes toward advertisements featuring models of the same or a different race? The authors explore the existence of racial identity and color-blind racism across racial groups and examine these constructs as they relate to attitudes toward advertisements and ad models’ race. Although the authors found that racial identity and color-bind racism were present across audiences, they did not find significant relationships between race and attitudes toward ads. They did, however, find color-blind racism was significantly related to non-White audiences’ opinions of ads featuring Black models.

Ethics Information Seeking and Sharing Among Scientists The Case of Nanotechnology

As nanotechnologies permeate our daily lives, it is increasingly important that we understand the ethical considerations of these innovations and to what extent scientists attend to these considerations. Guided by the theory of reasoned action and an extended version of that model that includes prior knowledge, sense of responsibility, and ethics involvement, we surveyed a sample of nanoscientists to explore their ethics information seeking and sharing. Path analyses support the theory of reasoned action as a useful framework. Findings suggest that making ethics information more available to scientists and redoubling social pressure to seek and share ethics information may help close the ethics-to-practice gap that exists today.

Intensifying the burden: the implications of individual responsibility messages in HIV public service announcements aimed at Black women

Abstract In the USA, HIV transmission rates among Black women are four times higher than white women, even in the face of low-risk behaviours, a discrepancy often overlooked because of historical stereotypes. In this study, we deconstruct a specific government-sponsored HIV prevention campaign targeted at Black women. Critical discourse analysis reveals a heavy focus on individual responsibility, self-sacrifice, family and deference to men. The presence of historically relevant racial and gender-related constructs suggests intersectional implications for the campaign. We provide suggestions for avoiding linkage to destructive racial constructs in HIV prevention messages and allied forms of sexual health communication aimed at Black women.

Risky Politics: Applying the Planned Risk Information Seeking Model to the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

News coverage of the 2016 U.S. presidential election periodically framed the election in terms of risk. We sought to better understand the role of perceived risk and related emotional responses in shaping information seeking intent during the election. We turned to the planned risk information seeking model as our theoretical framework and tested the model using online panel data collected in the month preceding Election Day 2016. Given the divisive nature of the presidential campaign, we also conducted multigroup comparison using ideology as a grouping variable. The model shows excellent fit to the data, accounting for more than half of the variance in seeking intent for both conservatives and liberals. Most interesting was that anger was negatively related to seeking intent among the conservatives but not the liberals, suggesting a sort of shutdown among certain respondents. Overall, our results suggest that the model provides a theoretically rich starting place for the study of risk information seeking in the context of electoral politics and raises some interesting questions for future research.

Microbiologists’ Public Engagement Views and Behaviors †

In this study, we present results from an extensive survey of US-based microbiologists (adults) to explore these scientists’ perceptions and behaviors related to communicating their research. Specifically, we explored the frequency with which microbiologists engage in public communication, how they evaluate their public communication experiences, and the factors associated with their willingness to engage in face-to-face and online public communication in the future. Data from a multi-wave online survey suggest that microbiologists (N = 903) are somewhat frequent communicators who derive great value from their outreach efforts. The results further suggest that social and psychological drivers of future intentions to engage with the public are consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Specifically, microbiologists with more positive attitudes toward engagement were more willing to partake in direct and online communication activities. Similarly, microbiologists who believe they possess communication skills are more willing than their less efficacious colleagues to do either type of outreach. Our results also indicate that more-senior and more-active researchers are more willing to participate in direct and online engagement. Implications for communication training are discussed.

Avoiding Trouble: Exploring Environmental Risk Information Avoidance Intentions.

This study explores predictors of risk information avoidance intentions in the context of a novel environmental threat—induced earthquakes in Texas. Given the paucity of research on risk information avoidance, this work was guided by a cognitive information behavior model. Survey data (N = 541) from a random sample of Texas adults allowed us to explore these variables. While previous research has shown risk information seeking intentions to be robustly guided by a number of constructs, our current data suggest that risk information avoidance intentions may be more narrowly predicated on risk information avoidance-related subjective norms, attitudes, and perceived knowledge insufficiency. We discuss these findings and suggest avenues for future environmental risk research.