Nojin Kwak

Connecting and "Disconnecting" With Civic Life: Patterns of Internet Use and the Production of Social Capital

This article explores the relationship between Internet use and the individual-level production of social capital. To do so, the authors adopt a motivational perspective to distinguish among types of Internet use when examining the factors predicting civic engagement, interpersonal trust, and life contentment. The predictive power of new media use is then analyzed relative to key demographic, contextual, and traditional media use variables using the 1999 DDB Life Style Study. Although the size of associations is generally small, the data suggest that informational uses of the Internet are positively related to individual differences in the production of social capital, whereas social-recreational uses are negatively related to these civic indicators. Analyses within subsamples defined by generational age breaks further suggest that social capital production is related to Internet use among Generation X, while it is tied to television use among Baby Boomers and newspaper use among members of the Civic Gene...This article explores the relationship between Internet use and the individual-level production of social capital. To do so, the authors adopt a motivational perspective to distinguish among types of Internet use when examining the factors predicting civic engagement, interpersonal trust, and life contentment. The predictive power of new media use is then analyzed relative to key demographic, contextual, and traditional media use variables using the 1999 DDB Life Style Study. Although the size of associations is generally small, the data suggest that informational uses of the Internet are positively related to individual differences in the production of social capital, whereas social-recreational uses are negatively related to these civic indicators. Analyses within subsamples defined by generational age breaks further suggest that social capital production is related to Internet use among Generation X, while it is tied to television use among Baby Boomers and newspaper use among members of the Civic Generation. The possibility of life cycle and cohort effects is discussed.

Information and Expression in a Digital Age Modeling Internet Effects on Civic Participation

This article examines the role of the Internet as a source of political information and a sphere for public expression. Informational media use, whether traditional news sources or online public affairs content, is expected to foster interpersonal political discussion and online civic messaging, contributing to increased civic participation. Using two-wave national panel survey data, three types of synchronous structural equation models are tested: cross sectional (relating individual differences), fixed effects (relating intraindividual change), and auto regressive (relating aggregate change). All models reveal that online media complement traditional media to foster political discussion and civic messaging. These two forms of political expression, in turn, influence civic participation. Other variable orderings are tested to compare the theorized model to alternative causal specifications. Results reveal that the model produces the best fit, empirically and theoretically, with the influence of the Internet, rivaling the mobilizing power of traditional modes of information and expression.

Talking Politics and Engaging Politics: An Examination of the Interactive Relationships Between Structural Features of Political Talk and Discussion Engagement

This study takes a process-oriented approach to understand the current status of political discussion research and identifies discussion engagement—discussion attention and integrative discussion—as an unexplored but important facet of political discussion. As a block, these two variables of discussion engagement independently accounted for significant variance in two criterion variables of political engagement, political knowledge and political participation, after controlling for not only a host of demographic, attitudinal, and media use variables but also three most researched structural features of political discussion—network size, discussion frequency, and network heterogeneity. In addition, the study analyzes the interplay between various attributes of political discussion in an attempt to untangle the dynamic relationships among features of political discussion in politics. Findings suggest that whether network size and heterogeneity mobilize or demobilize citizens may depend on whether they are attentively and frequently discussing political issues with others.

Understanding the Relationship Between Communication and Political Knowledge: A Model Comparison Approach Using Panel Data

The purpose of this study was to examine more closely the assumptions of causality in research on communication and political knowledge. Although most communication theory suggests that communication causes learning, some have argued for the reverse causal direction or reciprocal causality. Others have confounded these concepts—in conjunction with political interest—in measures of political “sophistication” or “expertise.” We collected panel data (N = 1,109) on a national sample in June and November 2000. We employed a model comparison approach to identify the best fitting model among alternatives that included models of unidirectional and reciprocal causality in both lagged and synchronous models, controlling for prior political interest and various demographic factors. The data are most consistent with a model of causality that is unidirectional running from Time 2 measures of news use and political discussion to Time 2 political knowledge.

Environmental Concern, Patterns of Television Viewing, and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Integrating Models of Media Consumption and Effects

This study merges insights from cultivation and uses and gratifications to examine the relationship between environmental concern, five forms of television viewing, and pro-environmental behaviors. This research considers both the direct effects of various forms of television viewing and their potential mediating roles in the relationship between environmental attitudes and behaviors. Analysis of 7999 and 2000 DDB Life Style Study data reveals that television news and nature documentary use are predicted by environmental concern and contribute to pro-environmental behaviors, whereas three forms o f entertainment television use are not consistently linked to these variables. Implications for future research are discussed.

Connecting, Trusting, and Participating: The Direct and Interactive Effects of Social Associations

In recent years, research has come to recognize that nonpolitical associations have unintended but important consequences for citizens’ participation in public affairs. Scholars theorize that these associational activities—embedded within social networks and sustained by confidence in the motives of others—encourage and facilitate participation in civic life. This study tests and broadens these theses by (1) assessing the relative impact of different types of associational activities (i.e., informal socializing, public attendance, and religious participation) and (2) examining interactive relationships between these activities and generalized interpersonal trust. Findings show that all of these associational activities significantly contribute to civic engagement. Furthermore, all three interactions between the social associations and social trust are significant, indicating that those involved in associational activities are even more likely to become civic participants when they hold trusting attitudes toward others.

Fear, authority, and justice: Crime-related TV viewing and endorsements of capital punishment and gun ownership

We focus on the relationships among three types of television viewing (news, police reality, and crime drama) and attitudes toward capital punishment and handguns, as well as the likelihood of actually owning a handgun. A host of exogenous variables are treated as predictors of television use, support for police authority, fear of crime, and our criterion variables. A series of direct and indirect relationships are assessed. Analysis suggests that viewing police reality shows is both directly and indirectly related to the endorsement of capital punishment and handgun ownership, while also directly predicting a greater likelihood of actual handgun ownership. In addition, TV news viewing predicts fear of crime in audience members, and this fear contributes to the endorsement of capital punishment and handgun ownership. Crime drama viewing is positively related to support for the death penalty.

Mobile Communication and Social Capital: An Analysis of Geographically Differentiated Usage Patterns

Drawing from a representative sample of adults in the USA, this study explored the links between mobile communication and select indicators of social capital, while also accounting for usage patterns regarding the proximity of mobile contact. Overall, the findings show that mobile phone use intersects with proximity in distinctive ways that are related to spending leisure time with others in a face-to-face context and being active in organized groups and clubs. For individuals with primarily local usage patterns, both voice calling and text messaging were positively associated with social leisure activity. For those who primarily used the mobile phone to contact others from a distance, text messaging was positively related to social leisure activity, and for those whose mobile contacts were balanced between local and distant, voice calling was positively associated with active membership in organizations. Interpretation of these findings and directions for future research are offered in the discussion.

Honey, I Shrunk the World! The Relation Between Internet Use and International Engagement

Scholars have long been interested in the overlap between electronic communication systems and international affairs. New communication systems have brought an expectation for greater information flow and connection across geographical boundaries when compared to the systems that came before them. This study continued this longstanding scholarly interest by examining how the Internet facilitates a sense of connection to the international community at the individual level. Findings demonstrate that the Internet matters for international engagement. According to the results, the Internet connects individuals to the international community by helping them increase their knowledge of the world, facilitating their sense of belonging to the greater world, and motivating them to participate in international events and foreign volunteer opportunities. Further, findings suggest that younger users of the Internet tended to benefit more than older users from reading international news on the Internet with respect to international political knowledge and international participation.

Mobile communication and strong network ties: Shrinking or expanding spheres of public discourse?:

This study tests theoretical propositions that intensive mobile communication in small networks of like-minded strong ties hinders open dialogue with others. Using multi-wave panel data from a representative sample of adults in the US, the study found that reported levels of open dialogue decreased slightly with mobile-mediated political discussion in small and like-minded strong-tie networks. Interestingly, a more pronounced positive effect was found for mobile-mediated discussion in larger networks of like-minded close ties. In this case, open dialogue was facilitated by mobile-mediated discussion, revealing potential for mobile communication among close personal ties to expand spheres of public discourse and deliberation. Theoretical implications and directions for future research are offered in the discussion.