Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap - Volume 40, Issue 4, 2012

Veertig jaar geleden, in de herfst van 1972, verscheen het allereerste nummer van het Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap, toen nog Massacommunicatie geheten. Guido Fauconnier (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), James Stappers (Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen), Paul Hendriksen (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting) en Eldert Willems (Universiteit van Amsterdam) vormden destijds de redactie. In 1996, jaargang 24 en het jaar dat het tijdschrift zijn huidige titel kreeg, gaf uittredend hoofdredacteur James Stappers aan dat de titelwijziging in de eerste plaats bedoeld was om uitdrukking te geven aan ‘de emancipatie van de Communicatiewetenschap als zelfstandige wetenschappelijke discipline’. Hijzelf zette een stap opzij om plaats te maken voor een nieuwe, Vlaams-Nederlandse redactie. In de loop der jaren had Massacommunicatie immers te zeer een Nederlandse stempel gekregen: halfweg de jaren tachtig kwamen alle redactieleden en bijdragen uit Nederland. De nieuwe redactie bestond vanaf toen uit Jan Kleinnijenhuis (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Peter Neijens (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Leen d’Haenens (Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen), Keith Roe (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Frieda Saeys (Universiteit Gent) en Erwin Seydel (Universiteit Twente Enschede).Inmiddels zijn er weer zestien jaar verstreken. Coen van der Linden (Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen) en Jan Gutteling (Universiteit Twente) verzorgden in die tijd het redactiesecretariaat en sinds 2009 is Connie de Boer (Universiteit van Amsterdam) de hoofdredacteur. Al die jaren nam Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap een unieke positie in doordat het een forum bood aan onderzoekers die in het Nederlands over communicatiewetenschappelijke onderwerpen wensten te publiceren. En nog steeds is Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap springlevend. Maar het moet zich staande weten te houden in een academische wereld die veel belang hecht aan de relatieve impact van zijn publicaties. Intussen heeft Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap een ISI-impactscore verworven. Dit zou het interessanter maken voor onderzoekers om hun resultaten via Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap aan collega’s en de buitenwacht kenbaar te maken. Dat is althans één mogelijke redenering. De academische wereld kent ook een trend van verengelsing, en dat kan een argument zijn om in de eerste plaats in het Engels over onderzoeksresultaten te rapporteren. Mede daarom besloot de redactie om een enquête te versturen naar communicatiewetenschappers die werkzaam zijn aan Vlaamse en Nederlandse universiteiten en andere onderzoeksinstellingen. Deze enquête zou het mogelijk maken om de koers voor de komende jaren van het Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschap verder uit te zetten. Bovendien was deze bevraging een uitgesproken kans om, ter gelegenheid van dit jubileumjaar, bij de onderzoekers te polsen hoe zij de toekomst van hun discipline zien.

Women’s resistance to sexual music videos: the role of involvement and dissonance

Research on sexual music videos has paid little attention to the possibility that viewers can resist sexual music videos and has largely ignored the processes that may explain this resistance. The present study aimed to fill these gaps in the literature. In an experiment, 44 young women were shown a music video with either sexual or neutral content. Subsequently, their reactions towards the music video were assessed. Involvement in the sexual music video, defined by emotionally driven attention, was positively related to feelings of dissonance. Feelings of dissonance, in turn, were positively related to resistance in the form of negative thoughts towards the music video. These effects were not found for mere exposure to the sexual music video or for involvement in the neutral music video. Our study suggests that young women’s involvement in sexual music videos can elicit resistance, which is explained by increased dissonance.

Sexual objectification in a vampire romance: An experimental study towards the effect of the movie Twilight on self-objectification among adolescent girls

The present study investigates whether self-objectification is induced by exposure to a popular, but sexually objectifying teenage movie (i.e. Twilight). To test this hypothesis, an experiment in 70 adolescent girls (Mage = 15,07, SDage = 1,51) was conducted. Results showed, first, a significant effect of the Twilight movie on self-objectification. Girls who had been exposed to Twilight reported a higher level of self-objectification in the posttest compared to the pretest and to the control group. Second, a significant interaction effect of exposure to Twilight and strong identification with the main character was found. Findings are discussed in light of objectification theory.

Stereotypes, ideology and persuasion in America’s Army

This study investigates the influence of the shooting game America’s Army on players’ cognitions and attitudes towards Muslims and the army. In order to reconcile two contrasting views on game rhetoric (the framing and the critical reflection perspective), the perceptions and involvement of the player are forwarded as intermediary factors in the game effect model. We hypothesize that, in addition to mere exposure to America’s Army, perceived realism and moral engagement will be significant predictors of attitudinal and cognitive outcomes. The results of an online survey (N = 354) partly confirm these expectations: Frequency of play is not significantly related to any hypothesized outcome. Perceived realism significantly correlates with all cognitive and attitudinal measures. Moral distance correlates with cognitions and attitudes towards Muslims. This confirms that mere exposure is not a sufficient condition for game persuasion, and that the player should be considered a defining factor in the process of game rhetoric.

Are sponsorship disclosures in TV programs effective?

Due to concerns about the possible deceptiveness of sponsored content in television programs, the EU decided to make sponsorship disclosure obligatory. The goal of sponsorship disclosure is to raise awareness of sponsored content so viewers can guard themselves against persuasion. This study explores how sponsorship disclosure influences persuasion knowledge, and to what extent recall of a disclosure influences its effect. An experiment (N = 208) shows that a disclosure leads to greater recognition of sponsored content as advertising (i.e. activation of conceptual persuasion knowledge), which consequently makes the viewer evaluate the sponsored content more critically (i.e. higher attitudinal persuasion knowledge). This effect is only manifest for viewers who recalled the disclosure. Theoretically, this shows the importance of sponsorship disclosure and the recall of disclosure for effects on persuasion knowledge. As regulations are still in development in several countries, the findings are important for the practical implication of sponsorship disclosure.

Multiple screens in the living room: a study on simultaneous media use

Today’s (home) media environment is becoming increasingly saturated. Smartphones, tablets and laptops enter our living rooms and possibly alter our television viewing experience. In this paper, we want to grasp to what extent the use and role of television changes in the presence of multiple mobile media technologies. Through a multi-method approach we explore TV viewing behavior in a media-rich living room. Survey results indicate that the ownership of multiple media technologies in the home environment promotes their use whilst watching television. In addition, in-depth interviews reveal that in these media-rich living rooms media consumption becomes both more individualized and more social. According to the interviewees, social interaction within the living room has not decreased, but rather complemented with online conversations. These conversations can be in accordance (or congruent) with television content, but most of the time they are unrelated (or incongruent).

Effects of movement synchrony on ingroup perceptions and cooperation among high school children

Synchronous movement (e.g., marching, clapping) is a well-established practice to strengthen social bonds. Nevertheless, research on its effectiveness is scarce. We investigate effects of synchronous group movement on social identification, entitativity, and cooperation in high school students. Synchronous movement is conceptually disentangled in (1) rhythmic similarity, and (2) motor similarity. Although both factors may facilitate group processes individually, their combination (genuine synchronous movement) is expected to yield most positive effects. A 2 (same vs. different rhythm) x 2 (same vs. different movements) experiment was conducted (N = 75). Results showed rhythmic similarity promotes entitativity perceptions and cooperation, and motor similarity improves social identification. Combining both factors positively affected entitativity and social identification, testifying to the added value of genuine synchronous movement. To promote cooperation, true synchronous movement had no added value over rhythmic similarity.

The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media

Journalistiek en Politiek in Onzekere Tijden

Sophie C. Boerman, Eva A. van Reijmersdal & Peter C. NijensZijn sponsorvermeldingen in televisieprogramma’s effectief?