Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hohpublica.uni-hohenheim.de/handle/123456789/26

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 31

The affective, cognitive, and behavioral echo of cumulative series reception aka binge-watching: A qualitative study
(2025) Eberhard-Bölz, Sarah
When analyzing the cumulative reception of TV series, often called binge-watching (i.e., watching several episodes of one TV series back-to-back), there has been a strong focus on potentially harmful consequences in the literature, such as insomnia, anxiety, depression symptoms, and particularly addiction. However, only a few extant studies have considered potential nonharmful or even beneficial consequences from binge-watching. The present study addresses this gap in the binge-watching literature and calls for future studies that address the gap between the two contrasting perspectives on binge-watching, i.e., whether it is a harmful or beneficial behavior. In the present study, 24 semi-structured, diary-based interviews were conducted with young adults, yielding a wide spectrum of thoughts, affects, and behaviors that outlasted the exposure situation. The qualitative content analysis revealed long-term effects, such as transferred positive and negative moods, delayed sleep, feelings of inspiration or motivation, and urges to research or communicate about the TV series. A key finding was that binge-watching also triggered affective states such as heightened arousal or grieving, which could last up to several hours or days. The described media effects' potential persistence demonstrates the importance of considering the time aspect in future research because the longer the effects last, the longer they potentially impact one's everyday live.
Auswirkungen der Nutzung mobiler Kommunikation auf die Verbindlichkeit in engen Freundschaften
(2018) Alius, Daniel
Our world becomes faster, more flexible and more short-term due to the possibilities of mobile communication. This development raises the question of its impact on our social relationships as long-term constructs. The present work examines the consequences of the use of mobile communication and online-vigilance on the commitment, responsiveness and behavior in friendships. The theoretical basis of the study is the investment model of Rusbult (1983). Data collection was conducted by an online-survey and a convenience sample in March 2018. 677 users of mobile communication (68% female/ 32% male) from Germany, with an average age of 30, participated in the survey. To investigate the relationships, a structural equation model with latent variables was specified. In addition, mediation effects were examined for their significance. The results show that the use of mobile communication promotes commitment and responsiveness in friendships. Online-vigilance, which captures the cognitive focus on online content and communication, has both, positive and negative effects on the commitment. On the one hand, it leads to a decrease in satisfaction in friendships and, subsequently, to a lower level of commitment, on the other hand, it increases the perception of investment, which increases the commitment. A high level of online-vigilance is also attended by a greater degree of non-committal behavior.
Digitaler Fußabdruck der Kindheit
Sharenting in der Wahrnehmung von Heranwachsenden
(2024-07-27) Forray, Ellen; Trepte, Sabine
Der Umstand, dass Eltern in sozialen Netzwerken Informationen ihrer Kinder veröffentlichen, führt immer wieder zu Kontroversen. Bislang ist jedoch wenig dazu bekannt, wie die betroffenen Jugendlichen über das Sharenting-Verhalten ihrer Eltern denken und es fehlt insbesondere an quantitativen Untersuchungen in diesem Bereich. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Studie wurden deshalb 166 Heranwachsende im Alter von zehn bis 18 Jahren befragt, wie sie Sharenting wahrnehmen und bewerten. Mit Hilfe des Online-Fragebogens wurden Zusammenhänge zwischen der Bewertung von Sharenting und der wahrgenommenen Privatheit online, der Bereitschaft zur Online-Selbstoffenbarung sowie dem Online-Identitätsmanagement exploriert. Ziel der Studie war es, die Sichtweise Jugendlicher auf das Thema Sharenting zu verstehen und zu erfassen, welche Rolle das Teilen kindbezogener Informationen durch die Eltern in ihrem Alltag spielt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Sharenting weder in dem Ausmaß praktiziert, noch derart negativ von den Heranwachsenden wahrgenommen wird, wie der bisherige Forschungsstand vermuten lässt. Nach Ansicht der Jugendlichen, funktioniert die Kommunikation mit den Eltern zum Thema Sharenting ebenfalls zufriedenstellend und die Familien scheinen vielfach einen Modus gefunden zu haben, der für alle Beteiligten funktioniert. Die Befragten haben ferner klare Vorstellungen davon, welche Inhalte von den Eltern geteilt werden dürfen und welche privat bleiben sollten. Darüber hinaus besteht ein negativer Zusammenhang zwischen dem Bedürfnis nach Online-Privatheit und der Bewertung von Sharenting. Im Gegensatz dazu, führt eine zunehmende Bereitschaft zur Online-Selbstoffenbarung zu einer besseren Bewertung. Ein Zusammenhang mit der Bedeutung von Online-Identitätsmanagement kann hingegen nicht festgestellt werden. Die Arbeit liefert damit grundlegende Ergebnisse zur Sichtweitweise von Jugendlichen auf das Thema Sharenting.
Do sexist comments hinder participation in online political discussions?
(2023) Reich, Sabine; Bachl, Marko
Women who visibly engage in politics online experience a lot of backlash. The presented study investigates sexist incivility against women in online political spaces as a possible explanation for the gender gap in online political discussion and expression. Online sexism solidifies the masculine norm in online political spaces. Drawing on social cognitive theory and the theory of normative social behavior, we understand online incivility as communication mechanisms that enforce gender norms in online political discussions. We use a preregistered online survey experiment with German Internet users to investigate how sexist comments in online political discussions affect women’s participation in the discussion, perceived social norms about participating, and their internal political efficacy. We found no effects of sexist comments on the propensity to engage in the discussion or the political efficacy to contribute. However, the presence of sexist comments increased the fear of sanctions in both men and women. The null findings of the preregistered experiment occurred despite sufficient statistical power and a successful treatment check. We discuss several possible explanations for the null effects and ways forward.
Exploring the potential of immersive virtual reality for social science research
(2025) Hepperle, Daniel; Vogelgesang, Jens
Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) holds out the promise of laboratory‐grade experimental control while preserving much of the richness of real world experience, yet several issues remain unresolved. The central theme of this dissertation is spanned around the idea of using IVR as a tool to help researchers conducting empirical studies in the domain of social sciences. To address the question, the thesis incorporates five related studies. Paper 1 introduces the main areas of concern in a typical research process and offers guidance where IVR toolkits might be a valuable addition. Based on those identified areas of concern, the paper suggests solutions such as automation workflows in order to reduce the human‐error (i.e. using predefined scenes that already offer different basic standard methods in order to track all changes in the virtual world). Paper 2 examines seven open‐source IVR toolkits, demonstrating how to standardize modular scene setup, participant sensing, and data export. The analysis clarifies the features currently available in different toolkits and provides a basis for researchers to decide which features and toolkits offer the greatest benefits. We also discuss novel features such as AI‐based analysis which is not present in most toolkits. Based on this we provide guidance for future IVR‐based research software development. Paper 3 offers a PRISMA guided systematic scoping review of 56 publications, mapping the field of studies that compare either IVR with the real world or IVR with 2D screens. In short, the review finds that there are more similarities than differences between IVR and the real world. However, between IVR and 2D screens, more findings show differences between the two environments than similarities. Paper 4 provides an empirical test of transferability: the mere‐exposure effect was successfully replicated in the original study setup (n = 70 m; 49 f) as well as within IVR (n = 39 m; 24 f). Overall, the studies demonstrate the efficacy and practicality of employing IVR to induce effects analogous to those observed in a real‐world context in the case of the mere exposure effect. Finally, Paper 5 introduces asymmetric normalization, a novel manipulation that decouples self‐perception from how others see a participant in social IVR, thereby expanding the experimental design space with the possibility to reduce bias. This may concern various attributes such as size or age, as well as other visual or spatial characteristics. Pilot data from 40 participants shows that this technique reliably alters interpersonal‐distance preferences, opening a new design space for social science research. This dissertation advances research in the social sciences by showcasing the capabilities of IVR toolkits and illustrating how they can be integrated into established research processes. It further demonstrates that a cognitive‐affective mechanism (mere exposure) also is present in IVR. Moreover, it introduces asymmetric normalization as a novel manipulation technique that expands the experimental design space beyond what is feasible in physical laboratories. For research practice, the papers within the dissertation lower the barriers to entry for non‐technical scholars, provide a decision matrix for selecting and extending IVR toolkits. Together, they shift IVR from a technological novelty to a mature, shareable, and cost‐effective platform for conducting experiments in the social science domain.
A gendered perspective on online privacy and self-disclosure
(2024) Frener, Regine; Trepte, Sabine
In research on online privacy and self-disclosure, gender is commonly included as a potentially predictive variable. The results are heterogeneous and sometimes controversial; explanations are often lacking or based on stereotypical assumptions. With this dissertation, I seek to provide a gender-focused perspective on online privacy and self-disclosure by taking a closer look at gender effects in privacy-related outcomes, studying the implementation of gender as a research variable, and investigating how gender is related to people’s inherent need for privacy. To this end, I present a short introduction in the first chapter, followed by four publications: a book chapter on privacy and gender (Study 1), a systematic literature review (Study 2), an empirical investigation of gender effects in privacy behavior (Study 3), and the development of the Need for Privacy Scale (NFP-S; Study 4). In Study 1, the book chapter, I summarize key theoretical advancements in gender and privacy research in line with the feminist movement. Further, empirical findings on gender disparities are presented from a communication science perspective. I discuss the ongoing gender-based digital divide as well as risks associated with automatic gender categorization. Lastly, I address the problems of conceptualizing gender as a binary, static variable, and propose alternative perspectives for more equitable treatment. In Study 2, my co-author Prof. Dr. Sabine Trepte and I examine how scholars in the field of online privacy incorporate gender into their research. For n = 107 articles reporting gender effects (or a lack thereof), we assess whether gender theory is included, to what extent it is referred to, and what function it serves. The results show that in most studies, gender is undertheorized, resulting in reduced explanatory power and the risk of gender essentialism. To meet the need for gender theorization in online privacy research we identified in Study 2, I present an empirical investigation of the social web gendered privacy model (Thelwall, 2011) in Study 3. The model aims to link gender differences in online privacy concerns, data protection behavior and online self-disclosure and explain them via gender differences in offline factors. Using longitudinal data (n = 1,043), I found partial support for the relationships between the privacy-related variables as well as for the transfer from offline to online contexts. The expected gender differences did not arise consistently, which challenges the model’s claim that women constitute an especially vulnerable population regarding social media usage. To offer added value for the broader field of privacy-related research, my co-authors Jana Dombrowski and Prof. Dr. Sabine Trepte and I present the Need for Privacy Scale (NFP-S) in Study 4. The NFP-S is a concise measure of the need for privacy as a personality trait, developed to be applied in any context. Against the theoretical backdrop of Burgoon’s (1982) privacy dimensions, we propose a second-order model with informational, psychological, and physical need for privacy as the first-order factors. In two large-scale surveys (Study 1: n1 = 3,278; n2 = 1,226; Study 2: N = 1,000), the scale was validated with regard to relevant personality traits, privacy-related cognitive criteria and behaviors as well as socio-demographic variables. With the goal of disentangling (biological) sex and gender, we include self-assessed femininity and masculinity. We find that congruity between participants’ perception of their femininity/masculinity and their sex is related to a higher need for privacy. In the overall discussion, I combine insights from the studies, provide ideas for future research, and offer societal and practical implications. Taken together, the four studies contribute to the field of online privacy by emphasizing the psychological perspective of gender as a socially constructed, multifaceted, and dynamic construct. Adopting this view is desirable for privacy researchers, as it helps to better understand privacy-related attitudes and decision-making, hence increasing overall validity. Furthermore, a differentiated understanding of gender is needed to prevent oversimplifications and stereotyping and to promote ethical and fair research.
Good News!
how reading valenced news articles influences positive distinctiveness and learning from news
(2016) Trepte, Sabine; Schmitt, Josephine B.; Dienlin, Tobias
International news articles often compare different countries, favoring one country over another. On the basis of this notion, we hypothesized that when people read international news articles favoring their own country over another, they would afterwards evaluate their country (in-group) better than the other country (out-group) – a tendency referred to as positive distinctiveness in social identity theory (SIT). We further hypothesized that when people read international news articles favoring their own country, they would afterwards have better knowledge of the news articles they read. An experiment with two groups (positive vs. negative articles in terms of participants’ own national identity) was conducted in Germany and the US (total N = 364). We found that when participants read positively valenced news articles, they afterwards showed more positive distinctiveness (e.g., U.S. students believed that the US had a better national educational system than Germany). We also found that when German participants read positively valenced news articles, they demonstrated better knowledge of the articles. This effect was not found in the U.S. sample. Overall, we found support for the notion that social identity mechanisms are relevant when it comes to analyzing the effects of news media.
How many people use alternative media in Germany and how can we measure it?
(2024) Klawier, Tilman
Digital media are often assumed to facilitate the production and spread of alternative news outlets. So far, however, it is quite unclear whether exposure to alternative media is a mass or a niche phenomenon. Although several studies attempted to measure alternative media use, these come to very different results. The present article aims to answer the general question of which methods measure alternative media exposure most accurately in order to approximate the number of alternative media users for the case of Germany. For this purpose, the study compares aggregate data from 27 studies comprising 34 measurements of alternative media exposure that were taken between 2015 and 2022. Moreover, the data analysis is complemented with a review of pertinent methodological literature. The study shows that although tracking measures do not capture all types of online media use, they do not appear to underestimate the number of alternative media users when compared to benchmark traffic data. From various self-report measures, those using lists of outlets with binary response options show the most similar results to tracking studies and the lowest levels of over-reporting. It is concluded that between 7% and 17% of Germans have at least sporadic contact with alternative media, while the number of weekly users is smaller and ranges between 2% and 4%. The share likely fluctuates over time in conjunction with current political events and developments. However, the data suggest that the alternative media audience did not grow over the past years. The article ends with a discussion of the potential impact of alternative media on society.
How news audiences allocate trust in the digital age: A figuration perspective
(2024) Mangold, Frank; Bachl, Marko; Prochazka, Fabian
The article enriches the understanding of trust in news at a time when mass and interpersonal communication have merged in the digital sphere. We propose disentangling individual-level patterns of trust allocation (i.e., trust figurations ) across journalistic media, social media, and peers to reflect the multiplicity among modern news audiences. A latent class analysis of a representative survey among German young adults revealed four figurations: traditionalists, indifferentials, optimists, and cynics. Political characteristics and education corresponded with substantial heterogeneity in individuals’ trust in news sources, their inclination to differentiate between sources, and the ways of integrating trust in journalistic and non-journalistic sources.
Kommunikations-Controlling zur zielgerichteten Steuerung der internen Kommunikation in der Bundeswehr
(2015) Abel, Stephan Christopher; Brettschneider, Frank
Presuming that there is need for improvement the doctor’s thesis aims at systematically selecting the best fitting instrument for a strategic-objective-oriented management of the German Federal Armed Forces’ internal communication. It starts with a description and multi-dimensional classification of all available instruments for the management of private enterprises’ internal communication. Before proposing one of them for managing the German Federal Armed Forces’ internal communication, there is conducted an organizational analysis to clear the crucial differences between the German Federal Armed Forces and private enterprises. As a part of this, there is also conducted a research for the differences in internal communication between these two organizations by using Qualitative Research methods. The evaluation of 16 expert interviews leads to a model called ‚Unterschiedsmodell interne Kommunikation Bundeswehr vs. privatwirtschaftliches Unternehmen’. The findings resulting from the organizational analysis are used to create an evaluation tool that finally proposes to establish the ‚Communications Value System’ in combination with the ‚Index Interne Kommunikation’ for a strategic-objective-oriented management of the German Federal Armed Forces’ internal communication.
Kommunikationsprobleme zwischen Landwirtschaft und Naturschutz in Deutschland und ihre Ursachen
(2022) Menauer, Verena Theresa; Schweiger, Wolfgang
Communication is considered a key prerequisite for anchoring nature conservation in agriculture in the long term. However, the longlasting, sometimes heated disputes between ac-tors from both sectors in Germany show clear deficits, especially in public communication. Instead of finding solutions and compromises, the fronts are hardening in many places. The study aimed to identify and detail the existing communication problems and their causes. A coherent framework of communication studies that explicitly deals with communication problems is missing. Nevertheless, there are a number of theoretical approaches and research traditions that examine individual aspects of communication problems or, complementarily, deal with the conditions for successful communication. Of outstanding importance is research on public discourse – it forms the main theoretical point of reference of this work. Studies on journalistic news selection, approaches to strategic communication and research on group identities also appear to be relevant. Within the framework of a qualitative content analysis, 160 publications from the years 2019 and 2020 of the four relevant groups of actors (interest-led actors, state actors, news and specialist journalism) and the available user comments were examined. Thus, a current inventory of the existing communication problems was created. The analysis also provided initial indications of their possible causes. Subsequently, four group discussions were held with representatives from agriculture and nature conservation. The results of the content analysis were discussed and deepened. The initial findings of the content analysis were thus deepened, questioned and supplemented by the subjective perceptions and assessments of those affected. The results show that the observed problems and their causes are manifold: Firstly, actors are often unwilling to reach a rationally motivated agreement. Instead of openly engaging with all actors involved in the dis-course, they refuse to talk or try to influence individual target groups through strategic-manipulative communication. Secondly, not all topics, events and presentation perspectives have the same chance of being publicly discussed. Both news and specialist journalistic media usually only report on negative, conflictrelated issues, their reports are sometimes tendentious and limited to presenting one of several possible perspectives. Thirdly, it became apparent that the manner of communication is not always appropriate because actors do not sufficiently substantiate their positions with arguments, respond sufficiently to topics and arguments of the opposing side or express themselves appropriately. The following aspects can be named as causes for the lack of discourse quality: (1) Farmers seem to have an enormous distrust of outsiders, but also of their own professional representation. More or less all actors are met with great suspicion. (2) Especially among agricultural actors, emotional and financial concerns seem to play a major role. As a result, they sometimes find it difficult to communicate objectively and to accept that non-agricultural actors are also heard in the pub-lic discourse. (3) The actors involved sometimes lack the necessary knowledge to be able to participate optimally in the discourse. This applies to actors from agriculture and nature conservation as well as to journalists. (4) The media, interest groups and state actors are subject to various path dependencies and internal organisational constraints that are not only, but primarily of an economic nature. In some cases, they have the consequence that actors cannot act or communicate freely and discourse-oriented. (5) Moreover, various unresolved conflicts of objectives lead to problems. For example, actors from agriculture and nature conservation are sometimes confronted with the problem of having to pursue conflicting interests at the same time. (6) Group-specific differences in behaviour and evaluation can be cited as a further cause. Future studies should focus on the aspect of lack of knowledge, which negatively impacts the discourse quality in several respects.
Kooperation oder Konfrontation? Die Wirkung von Commitment, Empowerment, Emotion und Kritik in Verhandlung und Mediation
(2019) Hartmann-Piraudeau, Andrea; Brettschneider, Frank
The present work examines the effects of commitment, empowerment, anger, happiness and criticism by means of computer-based negotiation in the laboratory. In negotiation and mediation research, only a few experimental studies exist on the mechanisms of these conditions or interventions in a negotiation context with a mediator or a mediating third party. Usually, the results of experimental negotiation studies are based on classical two-party negotiations. With the research question of how the interventions of a mediator affect the negotiation process and the selected topics commitment, empowerment, emotions and criticism, a scientific contribution to the research of the effect of media-tion should be made. This is relevant because conflicts in society are less and less resolved by power. This development can be seen in different fields of social life In the first part of the work, mediation and negotiation are described as procedures for dealing with conflicts of interest and their similarities and differences are worked out. The state of research on the mechanisms of mediation in general and specifically on the research topics of Commitment, Empowerment, Emotions and Critique forms the theoretical basis of the work. Subsequently, the specific experimental conditions are discussed and the extent to which the negotiation situation in the laboratory can be transferred to the mediation context is worked out. 186 participants took part in the negotiation and were then questioned by questionnaire. The effects of the different test conditions on the willingness to cooperate, the agreement rate, the evaluation of the negotiating partner, the emotions experienced during the negotiation and the evaluation of the mediator were examined. The negotiating movements of the individual groups were compared against two reference groups and evaluated according to the principle of "match and mismatch" (Pruitt and Syna 1985; Benton et al. 1972). There were statistically significant differences between the experimental groups: All in all, those groups that were confronted with anger or criticism agreed faster. In the case of the condition "anger", concessions - analogous to previous attempts (without mediator) - can be seen as a strategic approach. The anger of the negotiating partner was evaluated by the test persons as an indication of their negotiating limits. In order to avoid an escalation or even a break, the participants reacted with concessions, even if they were not happy and felt negative. If the mediator criticised the course of the negotiations, a similar effect resulted: the participants in this group reached agreement more frequently than in other groups. However, the motivation for the concession was not based on strategic considerations, but on the uncertainty triggered by the mediators intervention, and was accompanied by strong negative emotions of its own, which were projected onto all participants. Below-average cooperative behaviour and below-average agreement rates indicate the experimental conditions of "confidence" and "empowerment". The difference between the two conditions lies above all in the emotion experienced and the assessment of the negotiating partner. If the test persons were given "confidence" by their negotiating partner, they reacted in an above-average good mood, little anxious and confident and found their negotiating partner sympathetic and cheerful. In the "Empowerment" group, the mediator induced his own encouraging comments. In addition to the restrained cooperation, these triggered a rather average emotional response, and the mediator was rated as "unhelpful". The analysis shows that the test persons interpreted the confidence of the negotiating partner analogously to the condition "anger" as a sign of his satisfaction with the progress of the negotiation. Accordingly, they saw no strategic necessity to show increased cooperation. In the empowerment of the mediator, the restraint is also based on the fact that the mediator as an external third party evaluates the progress positively. This is interpreted as an indication that there is no danger of escalation or abortion in the room and that the situation does not require increased concessions. However, the subjects were less positive in this condition and were more critical of the mediators intervention. There are indications that the test persons felt restricted in their self-determination. The test condition "Commitment" examines the effect on the demand of a written commitment of the test persons before the beginning of the negotiation. The agreement rate as well as the cooperation behaviour remained rather average. One conspicuous feature of the group analysed, however, is the high number of words used in the comments during the negotiation compared to the other groups. The request to write a first comment significantly increased the communicativeness in the course of the procedure and led to positive emotions among the test persons and an equally positive attribution of the negotiating partners. In addition to descriptive observation, data analysis and interpretation, recommendations for action in mediation practice were derived from the results for each group.
Like, Share, Discuss: Wie Jugendliche Privatheit in Sozialen Netzwerken gemeinschaftlich verhandeln
(2025) Holzschneider, Saskia; Trepte, Sabine; Dombrowski, Jana
Jugendliche schützen ihre Privatheit auf sozialen Medien nicht nur individuell, sondern auch im Kollektiv. Basierend auf den theoretischen Annahmen des Social Media Privacy Model (Trepte, 2021) und dem empirisch getesteten Model of Collective Information Processing (Schindler, 2023), untersucht diese Arbeit wie diese kollektiven Prozesse ablaufen. Hierbei werden Kleingruppen als informationsverarbeitende Systeme betrachtet, die Lösungen für den Schutz ihrer Privatheit etablieren. Diese Schnittstelle zwischen Kleingruppen- und Privatheitsforschung fand bisher noch keine Anwendung in wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten. Die Auswertung der Daten aus geführten Einzel- (N = 172) und Gruppenbefragungen (N = 50) mittels hierarchischer Multilevel Regression und Within-Person-t-Tests ergab, dass Jugendliche ihre Privatheit intensiv im Kollektiv durch Gespräche regulieren und dabei bereit sind, Informationen systematisch zu verarbeiten. Sie nutzen hierfür hauptsächlich den Verarbeitungsmodus der Bestätigung, wobei sie trotz systematischer Verarbeitung ein bereits vorher festgelegtes Ziel anstreben. Trotz der Homogenität der Gruppen und der kurzen Gespräche, kam es zu Meinungs- und Einstellungsänderungen bei den Jugendlichen. Unter anderem streben sie zukünftig einen intensiveren Austausch über Privatheit in ihrem Umfeld an. Aus praktischer Sicht wird deshalb eine Sensibilisierung durch weitere Interventionen an Schulen empfohlen. Aus wissenschaftlicher Perspektive sind die Ergebnisse teilweise nicht ganz eindeutig. So sinkt beispielsweise das Vertrauen in das eigene Netzwerk im Zeitverlauf, während die Zufriedenheit mit der eigenen Privatheit steigt. Es bedarf weitere empirischer Analysen, um das Zusammenspiel der einzelnen Mechanismen ganzheitlich zu verstehen.
A longitudinal analysis of the privacy paradox
(2021) Dienlin, Tobias; Masur, Philipp K; Trepte, Sabine
The privacy paradox states that people’s concerns about online privacy are unrelated to their online sharing of personal information. On the basis of a representative sample of the German population, which includes 1,403 respondents interviewed at three waves separated by 6 months, we investigate the privacy paradox from a longitudinal perspective. Using a cross-lagged panel model with random intercepts, we differentiate between-person relations from within-person effects. Results revealed that people who were more concerned about their online privacy than others also shared slightly less personal information and had substantially more negative attitudes toward information sharing (between-person level). People who were more concerned than usual also shared slightly less information than usual (within-person level). We found no long-term effects of privacy concerns on information sharing or attitudes 6 months later. The results provide further evidence against the privacy paradox, but more research is needed to better understand potential causal relations.
Mollen, Anne: Digital spaces of civic communication. The practices and interfaces of online commenting
(2021) Prochazka, Fabian
News endorser influence in social media
(2020) Teutsch, Doris; Trepte, Sabine
Social networking sites have become an online realm where users are exposed to news about current affairs. People mainly encounter news incidentally because they are re-distributed by users whom they befriended or follow on social media platforms. In my dissertation project, I draw on shared reality theory in order to examine the question of how the relationship to the news endorser, the person who shares news content, determines social influence on opinion formation about shared news. The shared reality theory posits that people strive to achieve socially shared beliefs about any object and topic because of the fundamental epistemic need to establish what is real. Social verification of beliefs in interpersonal communication renders uncertain and ambiguous individual perceptions as valid and objectively true. However, reliable social verification may be provided only by others who are regarded as epistemic authority, in other words as someone whose judgment one can trust. People assign epistemic authority particularly to socially close others, such as friends and family, or to members of their in-group. I inferred from this that people should be influenced by the view of a socially close news endorser when forming an opinion about shared news content but not by the view of a socially distant news endorser. In Study 1, a laboratory experiment (N = 226), I manipulated a female news endorser’s social closeness by presenting her as an in-group or out-group member. Participants’ opinion and memory of a news article were not affected by the news endorser’s opinion in either of the conditions. I concluded that the news article did not elicit motivation to strive for shared reality because participants were confident about their own judgment. Therefore, they did not rely on the news endorser’s view when forming an opinion about the news topic. Moreover, the results revealed that participants had stronger trust in the news endorser when she expressed a positive (vs. negative) opinion about the news topic, while social closeness to the news endorser did not predict trust. On the one hand, this is in line with the social norm of sharing positive thoughts and experiences on social networking sites: adherence to the positivity norm results in more favorable social ratings. On the other hand, my findings indicate that participants generally had a positive opinion about the topic of the stimulus article and thus had more trust in news endorsers who expressed a similar opinion. In Study 2, an online experiment (N = 1, 116), I exposed participants to a news post by a relational close vs. relational distant news endorser by having them name a close or distant actual Facebook friend. There was a small influence of the news endorser’s opinion on participants’ thought and opinion valence irrespective of whether the news endorser was a close or distant friend. The finding was surprising, particularly because participants reported stronger trust in the view of the close friend than in the view of a distant friend. I concluded that in light of an ambiguity eliciting news article, people may even rely on the views of less trustworthy news endorsers in order to establish a socially shared and, therefore, valid opinion about a news topic. Drawing on shared reality theory, I hypothesized that social influence on opinion formation is mediated by news endorser congruent responses to a news post. The results indicated a tendency for the proposed indirect relation however, the effect size was small and the sample in Study 2 was not large enough to provide the necessary statistical power to detect the mediation. In conclusion, the results of my empirical studies provide first insights regarding the conditions under which a single news endorser influences opinion formation about news shared on social networking sites. I found limited support for shared reality creation as underlying mechanism of such social influence. Thus, my work contributes to the understanding of social influence on news perception happening in social networking sites and proposes theoretical refinements to shared reality theory. I suggest that future research should focus on the role of social and affiliative motivation for social influences on opinion formation about news shared on social networking sites.
Not our kind of crowd! How partisan bias distorts perceptions of political bots on Twitter (now X)
(2025) Lüders, Adrian; Reiss, Stefan; Dinkelberg, Alejandro; MacCarron, Pádraig; Quayle, Michael
Social bots, employed to manipulate public opinion, pose a novel threat to digital societies. Existing bot research has emphasized technological aspects while neglecting psychological factors shaping human–bot interactions. This research addresses this gap within the context of the US‐American electorate. Two datasets provide evidence that partisanship distorts (a) online users' representation of bots, (b) their ability to identify them, and (c) their intentions to interact with them. Study 1 explores global bot perceptions on through survey data from N = 452 Twitter (now X) users. Results suggest that users tend to attribute bot‐related dangers to political adversaries, rather than recognizing bots as a shared threat to political discourse. Study 2 ( N = 619) evaluates the consequences of such misrepresentations for the quality of online interactions. In an online experiment, participants were asked to differentiate between human and bot profiles. Results indicate that partisan leanings explained systematic judgement errors. The same data suggest that participants aim to avoid interacting with bots. However, biased judgements may undermine this motivation in praxis. In sum, the presented findings underscore the importance of interdisciplinary strategies that consider technological and human factors to address the threats posed by bots in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
The overstated generational gap in online news use? A consolidated infrastructural perspective
(2021) Mangold, Frank; Stier, Sebastian; Breuer, Johannes; Scharkow, Michael
Recent research by Taneja et al. suggested that digital infrastructures diminish the generational gap in news use by counteracting preference structures. We expand on this seminal work by arguing that an infrastructural perspective requires overcoming limitations of highly aggregated web tracking data used in prior research. We analyze the individual browsing histories of two representative samples of German Internet users collected in 2012 (N = 2970) and 2018 (N = 2045) and find robust evidence for a smaller generational gap in online news use than commonly assumed. While short news website visits mostly demonstrated infrastructural factors, longer news use episodes were shaped more by preferences. The infrastructural role of social media corresponded with reduced news avoidance and more varied news repertoires. Overall, the results suggest that research needs to reconsider commonly held premises regarding the uses of digital media in modern high-choice settings.
Politische Polarisierung und Fragmentierung im Lichte sozialer Medien
Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme des Forschungsstandes
(2025) Jost, Arietta; Scheufele, Bertram
Wo steht die sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung zu politischer Polarisierung und Fragmentierung im Lichte sozialer Medien? Dieser Frage gehen die beiden Autoren nach, indem sie eine propositionale bzw. thematische Meta-Analyse durchführten. Dazu erfassten sie, (1) wie Journalbeiträge die beiden Konstrukte theoretisch konzipieren, (2) welche Themen, Länder und Medien sie betrachten und (3) welche methodische Vorgehensweise sie wählen, um die beiden Konstrukte empirisch zu untersuchen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass politische Polarisierung und Fragmentierung selten konkret definiert werden. Im Fokus steht vielfach Twitter, aber auch die sozialen Medien generell, wobei meist der sogenannte globale Norden betrachtet wird. Methodisch dominieren Querschnittsbetrachtungen und Web-Scraping. Diese Schwerpunkte und Defizite bisheriger Forschung münden abschließend in Empfehlungen für künftige Forschung.
The precarity of progress: implications of a shifting gendered division of labor for relationships and well-being as a function of country-level gender equality
(2024) Fisher, Alexandra N.; Ryan, Michelle K.; Liao, Yuan-Hsi; Mikołajczak, Gosia; Riedijk, Larisa; Leander, N. Pontus; Abakoumkin, Georgios; Abdul Khaiyom, Jamilah Hanum; Ahmedi, Vjollca; Agostini, Maximilian; Atta, Moshin; Bagci, Sabahat Cigdem; Bélanger, Jocelyn J.; Berisha Kida, Edona; Bernardo, Allan B. I.; Chobthamkit, Phatthanakit; Choi, Hoon-Seok; Cristea, Mioara; Damnjanovic, Kaja; Danyliuk, Ivan; Di Santo, Daniela; Douglas, Karen M.; Enea, Violeta; Fitzsimons, Gavan J.; Gómez, Ángel; Gützkow, Ben; Hamaidia, Ali; Helmy, Mai; Hudiyana, Joevarian; Jovanović, Veljko; Jovanović, Veljko; Kende, Anna; Keng, Shian-Ling; Kieu, Tra Thi Thanh; Koc, Yasin; Kreienkamp, Jannis; Kurapov, Anton; Lantos, Nóra Anna; Lemay, Edward P.; Lueders, Adrian; Malik, Najma Iqbal; McCabe, Kira O.; Mehulić, Jasmina; Molinario, Erica; Moyano, Manuel; Muhammad, Hayat; Muluk, Hamdi; Nisa, Claudia F.; Nyúl, Boglárka; O’Keefe, Paul A.; Olivias Osuna, Jose Javier; Osin, Evgeny; Park, Joonha; Pica, Gennaro; Pierro, Antonio; Rees, Jonas; Reitsema, Anne Margit; Rullo, Marika; Samekin, Adil; Schumpe, Birga M.; Selim, Heyla A.; Stanton, Michael Vicente; Tseliou, Eleftheria; vanDellen, Michelle R; Vázquez, Alexandra; Wollast, Robin; Yeung, Victoria Wai-Lan; Zand, Somayeh; Žeželj, Iris Lav; Zúñiga, Claudia
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a shift toward a more traditional division of labor–one where women took greater responsibility for household tasks and childcare than men. We tested whether this regressive shift was more acutely perceived and experienced by women in countries with greater gender equality. Cross-cultural longitudinal survey data for women and men ( N = 10,238) was collected weekly during the first few months of the pandemic. Multilevel modelling analyses, based on seven waves of data collection, indicated that a regressive shift was broadly perceived but not uniformly felt. Women and men alike perceived a shift toward a more traditional division of household labor during the first few weeks of the pandemic. However, this perception only undermined women’s satisfaction with their personal relationships and subjective mental health if they lived in countries with higher levels of economic gender equality. Among women in countries with lower levels of economic gender equality, the perceived shift predicted higher relationship satisfaction and mental health. There were no such effects among men. Taken together, our results suggest that subjective perceptions of disempowerment, and the gender role norms that underpin them, should be considered when examining the gendered impact of global crisis.

Browse

Browsing Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft by Classification "300"