To boldly go where no relationship has gone before: Commentary on interpersonal relationships in the digital age.

Individuals have a need to maintain positive social interactions, and with the advent of new-media technologies, there are a myriad ways individuals can satisfy this need by engaging socially in mediated (non-face-to-face) communication, hence the need for a special issue on "Relationships in the Digital Age." The articles in this special issue reflect the need to answer theoretical questions brought forth by the increased tendency for individuals to create and maintain interpersonal relationships through mediated forms of communication. The commentary highlights the need for increased research on mediated interpersonal relationships by psychologists and discusses how the articles in the issue can be used to answer theoretical questions about mediated interpersonal communication. The article ends with speculation on how media may create social spaces that may be advantageous for some individuals.

To boldly go where no relationship has gone before: commentary on interpersonal relationships in the digital age.

Individuals have a need to maintain positive social interactions and with the advent of new media technologies, there are a myriad ways individuals can satisfy this need by engaging socially in mediated (non-face-to-face) communication, hence the need for a special issue on Relationships in the Digital Age. The articles in this special issue reflect the need to answer theoretical questions brought forth by the increased tendency for individuals to create and maintain interpersonal relationships through mediated forms of communication. The commentary highlights the need for increased research on mediated interpersonal relationships by psychologists and discusses how the articles in the issue can be used to answer theoretical questions about mediated interpersonal communication. The article ends with speculation on how media may create social spaces that may be advantageous for some individuals.

An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions.

Delayed message recall may be influenced by currently held accessible attitudes, the nature of the message, and message perceptions (perception of bias and message elaboration). This study examined the potential of message perceptions to mediate the influence of valenced attitude accessibility and message type on unaided recall of anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In a field experiment, ninth grade students (N = 244) watched three PSAs and responded to items on laptop computers. Twelve weeks later, follow-up telephone surveys were conducted to assess unaided recall. Both valenced attitude accessibility and message type were associated with message perceptions. However, only perception of message bias partially mediated the relationship between message type and unaided recall.

Treatment via Television: The Relation Between Watching Dr. Phil and Viewers' Intentions to Seek Mental Health Treatment.

Many people with a mental disorder fail to obtain professional treatment for a diagnosable mental disorder, and some turn to media outlets for diagnosis and treatment recommendations; however, little is known about outcomes associated with exposure to media mental health professionals. We reasoned that exposure to Dr. Phil would be associated with greater intentions to seek mental health treatment for oneself and for one's child and that this relationship would be serially mediated by higher levels of parasocial relationship with Dr. Phil and greater efficacy beliefs in treating the mental illness of oneself and one's child. As predicted, frequent viewing of Dr. Phil was associated with higher levels of parasocial relationship with Dr. Phil, which in turn was itself associated with greater efficacy beliefs in treating a mental illness of oneself and of one's child, which was ultimately related to greater intentions to seek treatment for oneself or for one's child. The findings suggest that the relationship that develops between media mental health professionals and their audience can encourage intentions to seek mental health treatment.

Predicting Nurses' Turnover: The Aversive Effects of Decreased Identity, Poor Interpersonal Communication, and Learned Helplessness.

Through a social identity theoretical lens, this study examines how nurses' identification with their working small group, unit, or floor, nursing role (e.g., staff ER nurse, nurse practitioner), and nursing profession relate to nurses' interaction involvement, willingness to confront conflict, feelings of learned helplessness, and tenure (employment turnover) intentions. A cross-sectional survey (N = 466) was conducted at a large, quaternary care hospital system. Structural equation modeling uncovered direct and indirect effects between the five primary variables. Findings demonstrate direct relationships between nurse identity (as a latent variable) and interaction involvement, willingness to confront conflict, and tenure intentions. Feelings of learned helplessness are attenuated by increased nurse identity through interaction involvement and willingness to confront conflict. In addition, willingness to confront conflict and learned helplessness mediate the relationship between interaction involvement and nurses' tenure intentions. Theoretical extensions include indirect links between nurse identity and learned helplessness via interaction involvement and willingness to confront conflict. Implications for interpersonal communication theory development, health communication, and the nursing profession are discussed.

Moral license in video games: when being right can mean doing wrong.

Research on video game violence has found largely consistent evidence that violence in video games tends to be associated with an increase in antisocial behavior. However, this body of work has mostly ignored one prominent feature of many violent games: moral decision making. It is possible that the influence of video game violence could change when moral decisions are brought into the context. One way video games change behavior is through changes in players' self-perceptions, a process called identity simulation. In addition, a perspective called moral license predicts that these effects should not necessarily be consistent across behaviors, in that people should try to balance selfishness with keeping the moral high ground across many behaviors. Therefore, moral choices (or immoral choices) in a video game may predict less moral (or more moral) behaviors right after the game. However, later behavior may revert yet again, creating a cycle of pro- and antisocial behaviors. The present experiment asks participants to make moral choices in a video game, and then measures their behavior on two subsequent tasks. Results indicate that taking what participants perceive to be the more moral mind-set in the video game predicts more antisocial behavior on the first task, but more pro-social behavior on the next task. These results support identity simulation and moral license processes in a video game and moral behavior context, and indicate that there may be greater complexity in video game violence effects than previously understood.

Missed Programs (You Can't TiVo This One): Why Psychologists Should Study Media.

Media psychology involves the scientific examination of the cognitive processes and behavior involved in the selection, use, interpretation, and effects of communication across a variety of media (e.g., via the Internet, television, telephone, film). Media are central to people's lives, with projections indicating that an average person spent over 3,515 hours using media in 2012. New technologies are increasing the importance of media. Data from two content analyses demonstrate the underrepresentation of media psychology in mainstream psychological literature and in undergraduate and graduate psychology course offerings. We argue for the importance of a psychological approach to the study of media because of its presence in people's lives and because psychologists use it in their research and their choices may affect the external validity of their findings. We provide a useful framework from which psychologists can approach the study of media, and we conclude with recommendations for further areas of scientific inquiry relevant to psychological science.

Dr. Phil and psychology today as self-help treatments of mental illness: a content analysis of popular psychology programming.

Many people with a diagnosable mental illness do not receive professional treatment. Instead, they may turn to media mental health professionals for diagnosis and treatment recommendations. This study content analyzed episodes of Dr. Phil and issues of Psychology Today to determine what mental disorders are covered and treatments are recommended, and to determine whether their coverage of mental disorders corresponds to the national prevalence of mental disorders. Both sources provide content about depression more than about any other mental illness. Both also make recommendations for psychotherapy more than they recommend other forms of treatment. The study also found no relation between the proportion of times that mental disorders were discussed and the prevalence of the disorders among American adults. This research helps to lay a foundation for future research addressing the relations among mental disorders, self-treatment, and the media's role in mental health.

Effect of playing violent video games cooperatively or competitively on subsequent cooperative behavior.

Research on video games has yielded consistent findings that violent video games increase aggression and decrease prosocial behavior. However, these studies typically examined single-player games. Of interest is the effect of cooperative play in a violent video game on subsequent cooperative or competitive behavior. Participants played Halo II (a first-person shooter game) cooperatively or competitively and then completed a modified prisoner's dilemma task to assess competitive and cooperative behavior. Compared with the competitive play conditions, players in the cooperative condition engaged in more tit-for-tat behaviors-a pattern of behavior that typically precedes cooperative behavior. The social context of game play influenced subsequent behavior more than the content of the game that was played.

Increasing support for alcohol-control enforcement through news coverage of alcohol's role in injuries and crime.

OBJECTIVE: Prior research has shown that the proportion of news stories about violent crimes, car crashes, and other unintended injuries that mention the possible contributing role of alcohol is far lower than the actual proportion of alcohol-related crimes and unintended injuries. An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that inclusion of such mention can increase concern about alcohol risks and support for alcohol-control measures, which have elsewhere been shown to decrease alcohol-related problems in community settings. Methodologically, we provide a model for experiments permitting generalization across randomly selected message stimuli. METHOD: Sixty randomly selected local news stories on violent crime, motor vehicle crashes, and other unintended injuries from newspapers throughout the United States were manipulated into versions including or not including alcohol as a causative factor. Participants (n = 785) were drawn from a national online research panel representative of the U.S. population; 66% of panel members contacted agreed to participate. Data were analyzed using mixed-effect, multilevel models to permit generalization across message and participant variability. RESULTS: Mention of alcohol in news stories increased support for enforcement of alcohol-control laws. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to increase mention of alcohol as a causative factor in news reports of violent crime and unintended injury have the potential to increase public support for alcohol-control policies.

How self-affirmation reduces defensive processing of threatening health information: evidence at the implicit level.

OBJECTIVE: Self-affirmation reduces defensive responses to threatening health information, but little is known about the cognitive processes instigated by self-affirmation. This study tested whether self-affirmation increases responsiveness to threatening health information at the implicit level. DESIGN: In an experimental study (N = 84), the authors presented high- (coffee drinkers) and low-relevance (noncoffee drinkers) participants with threatening health information linking caffeine consumption to health problems. Prior to reading this information, the authors manipulated self-affirmation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants completed an unobtrusive lexical decision task to measure the accessibility of threat-related cognitions and reported their perceptions of message quality and intentions to take precautions. RESULTS: Among high-relevance participants, self-affirmation increased the accessibility of threat-related cognitions, increased perceptions of message quality, and promoted adaptive behavioral intentions. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that self-affirmation can increase implicit responsiveness to threatening health information among a target audience, that is, people for whom the health information is highly relevant.

Attitude and norm accessibility affect processing of anti-smoking messages.

OBJECTIVE: Anti-smoking PSAs are not always effective in reducing cigarette smoking, and there is a lack of research into mechanisms through which PSAs affect the attitudes and behaviors of viewers. The present research was designed to better understand how smokers and non-smokers process anti-smoking ads. DESIGN: In a repeated measures design, the accessibility of smokers' (N = 70) and non-smokers' (N = 96) attitudes toward and norms concerning smoking were assessed and then their reactions to four anti-smoking PSAs were measured. RESULTS: The accessibility of smokers' attitudes toward smoking-how quickly they bring their attitudes to mind-predicted their central processing of ad content, and smokers who counterargued in response to the ads were not persuaded by them. The accessibility of smokers' norms for smoking-how quickly they bring to mind social support for smoking-predicted their peripheral processing of the ads, and imbued resistance to persuasion. In contrast, non-smokers' attitude and norm accessibility were unrelated to ad processing. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that anti-smoking ads may have paradoxical effects on smokers and may actually undermine anti-smoking efforts. Furthermore, smokers who can readily access a pro-smoking norm are unlikely to process anti-smoking messages, which may further hinder anti-smoking efforts.