Search

AbstractRecent advancements in artificial intelligence have empowered voice assistants to comprehend user input and provide contextually relevant responses more effectively. This paper aims to explore people’s relationship with voice assistants, examining factors like the sense of power, control, closeness, and parasocial relationships, and how relationship types relate to the credibility of voice assistants. To investigate this, we built on the foundation of interpersonal relationships and applied parasocial relationship theory as a framework for understanding the human–agent relationship. We conducted an online survey (N = 393). Our results show that people mainly perceive their relationship with voice assistants as either a servant–master relationship, student–teacher relationship, or equal partnership. This study highlights that voice assistants’ mimicry of human characteristics can make them more than tools—they can also be perceived as servants, teachers, or equal partners. Notably, a significant association exists between relationship type and credibility judgments towards voice assistants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being socially excluded seriously threatens individuals' need to belong and emotional well-being. This article investigates to what extent different coping strategies help overcome these detrimental effects: thinking about real-life friends/enemies (i.e. orthosocial relationships, OSRs) and thinking about (dis)liked media characters (i.e. parasocial relationships, PSRs). Across three experiments (N Pilot = 129, N Study1 = 132, N Study2 = 855), we first induced social exclusion using a virtual ball-tossing game. Afterward, we manipulated different relationship types and valences and compared them to non- or less-relational control conditions. As hypothesized, belongingness and emotional well-being increased from pre- to post-coping. This effect was fully mediated by perceived relationship closeness to the respective person(a). Highlighting that PSRs represent more than surrogates (i.e. secondary replacements of OSR), both relationship types did not differ in coping effectiveness. Moreover, positive relationships were more effective in fulfilling both coping goals than negative ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the dual-process model of entertainment experiences and motivated cognition, we propose that specific affective states such as surprise, curiosity, and confusion (so-called epistemic emotions), as well as empathy, are involved in eudaimonic entertainment experiences while reading political news. We further assume that these emotions are related to normatively desirable outcomes such as deliberation within, information seeking, and knowledge acquisition about political topics. To test the hypothesized model, we conducted a between-subjects online experiment (N = 407) that used different stimuli to induce the emotions of interest while simultaneously varying news topics. Structural equation modeling revealed that the data mostly supported our hypotheses. Overall, we find that through these affective states, even soft news can enable normatively desirable outcomes. All data and materials can be accessed from . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feeling ostracised, that is, feeling ignored and excluded, in a social media environment causes negative affect and threatens fundamental human needs. Socially anxious people are especially fearful of social exclusion and may—if they feel ostracised—suffer even more when they do not have low-risk coping options such as using the Like button. Using the Online Ostracism tool, in a 2 (Ostracism vs. Inclusion) × 2 (Coping Deprivation vs. Control) experimental design, individuals with various social anxiety levels (N = 131) engaged in an online group task. Coping deprivation was operationalised via a disabled Like button. Compared to included participants, those who were ostracised reported significantly more threatened needs and worse mood. Needs were mostly threatened when ostracised ones encountered a disabled Like button. Social anxiety did not moderate this Ostracism × Coping interaction effect. However, the more socially anxious ostracised individuals were, the more they used the Like button. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially excluded individuals often use media to cope with their feelings of loneliness, restore threatened needs, and regulate their emotions. However, social exclusion experiences have often been studied from a social-psychological perspective, with little consideration of media-specific characteristics. Thus, this paper aims to identify which different media applications individuals use to overcome social exclusion experiences and how effective this is in terms of need restoration and emotion regulation. A systematic review yielded 119 studies investigating 274 coping tools and 134 underlying strategies. Results indicated that media represent multifunctional tools that enable behavioral approach, behavioral avoidance, cognitive approach, and cognitive avoidance coping. Overall, using these tools was effective in 59% of all cases, with different strategies being linked to more or less effectiveness. By highlighting the theoretical implications of these findings, this paper provides six suggestions that can guide future research within this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the controversial relationship and blurred lines between information and entertainment media, the current study's goal aimed at qualitatively exploring media entertainment's role in emerging adults' political identity formation and engagement. By analyzing 55 semistructured interviews from Germany, Croatia, Turkey, South Korea, and the Philippines, we examined how emerging adults in 5 countries--differing in tightnesslooseness, political culture, and media freedom--explore alternative political identities (identity exploration) and commit to a set of political values (identity commitment). Across countries, notable similarities supported the notion of traditional and new forms of entertainment as universal drivers of political identity formation and engagement (e.g., informational source, broadening one's horizon). However, idiosyncrasies of countries reflected unique cultural values, beliefs, and norms, and the benefits of media entertainment pathways to political identity development appeared to depend on political freedom and democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democracies around the world are struggling with the decline of civic and political engagement. At the same time, new forms of engagement such as lifestyle politics, Internet activism, and political consumerism are on the rise. In this introduction to the Special Section, we argue that citizens are increasingly engaging through informal, creative, and digitally networked activities, thereby moving political engagement into the domain of entertainment and personalized communication on the Internet and in social media. Moreover, we advocate a cross-cultural approach to explore how media use contributes to political participation in a globalized, mediatized world. The studies assembled in this Special Section show that political engagement through using media hinges on cultural parameters such as political structures, political leaders, press freedom, neo-tribes, degrees of tightness, postmaterialist values, norms, and localized versus centralized patterns of information disorder, to mention a few. Implications of the studies and suggestions for future research direction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile phones, television, internet services, games, and social media offer diverse and numerous opportunities for coping with stress in everyday life. Different disciplines have contributed to answering how these media are used for coping. Consequently, fragmented and disconnected research perspectives have evolved. To improve integration, we conducted a scoping review. A total of 318 articles met the inclusion criteria. Three main perspectives on media use for coping were identified: (1) stress and coping, (2) mood management and emotion regulation, and (3) media addiction and problematic media use. Each perspective has contributed to different aspects of the use of media for coping. Six advancements are proposed, which attempt to integrate perspectives and to guide future research on coping using media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smartphones are ubiquitous and frequently used in copresent interactions. This behavior is often seen as inappropriate and thus has been termed phubbing, compromising the words "phone" and "snubbing." Although being a worldwide phenomenon, little is known about what predicts phubbing behavior in the first place. Drawing on injunctive norms (i.e., what ought to be done), the study's aim was to shed light on the relationship between mobile phone norms (MPN) and phubbing behavior. Furthermore, the role of being permanently online and permanently connected (POPC) and fear of missing out (FOMO), reflecting approach and avoidance orientations, respectively, as additional predictors and moderators was investigated. As expected, the findings of an online survey (N = 278) supported the assumption that MPN were negatively related to phubbing behavior. Moreover, results showed that both FOMO and POPC were significantly positively connected to phubbing behavior but did not play significant moderating roles concerning the norm–phubbing relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When posting content in social media, users can feel excluded due to lacking (cyber-ostracism) or negative (cyber-rejection) feedback. Referring to the temporal need-threat model, this study examined the impact that both exclusion experiences have on social media users' need threat and on their online coping behavior to fortify threatened needs. For this purpose, a pre-registered between-subjects experiment (N = 211) was conducted by manipulating the type of social exclusion on three levels (ostracism; rejection; inclusion). Results indicated that both types of exclusion threatened media users' needs for belonging, self-esteem, meaningful existence, and control. Compared to ostracized users, rejected ones were more threatened in their needs for belonging and self-esteem, but equally threatened in their needs for meaningful existence and control. Regarding social media users' coping behavior, ostracized users showed more prosocial behavior, whereas rejected ones rather withdrew from social interactions. Material, code, and data can be found at . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on parasocial interaction (PSI) has a long tradition in noninteractive environments such as watching TV or listening to radio speakers. In the past years, researchers have started to apply PSI on videogame streaming environments, where the audience can interact with the observed media persona and get immediate feedback on their messages and requests. In a 3 × 2 online experiment (N = 251), we manipulated how a streamer addressed participants (individual vs. collective vs. no addressing) and whether he paid attention to and answered messages in the chat (attention vs. no attention to the chat). Findings show that the more individually participants were addressed and whether the streamer reacted to messages in the chat affected experiences of PSI. Furthermore, alongside their overall enjoyment, PSI predicted viewers' commitment to social norms. We discuss these findings regarding their implications for the conceptualization of PSI in light of interactive novel technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 10 years, many canonical findings in the social sciences appear unreliable. This so-called "replication crisis" has spurred calls for open science practices, which aim to increase the reproducibility, replicability, and generalizability of findings. Communication research is subject to many of the same challenges that have caused low replicability in other fields. As a result, we propose an agenda for adopting open science practices in Communication, which includes the following seven suggestions: (1) publish materials, data, and code; (2) preregister studies and submit registered reports; (3) conduct replications; (4) collaborate; (5) foster open science skills; (6) implement Transparency and Openness Promotion Guidelines; and (7) incentivize open science practices. Although in our agenda we focus mostly on quantitative research, we also reflect on open science practices relevant to qualitative research. We conclude by discussing potential objections and concerns associated with open science practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that news stories feature many morally-laden topics, this study investigated the effect of moral conflict in news stories on entertainment experiences and learning outcomes. We propose that a reader's perception of moral conflict in a non-fictional news story will lead to the cognitively engaging experience of appreciation, which is characterized as thought-provoking, moving, and meaningful. Moreover, we suggest that this experience will impact two aspects of knowledge gain: the acquisition of knowledge (objective knowledge) and the perception of having learned something (subjective knowledge). To investigate whether the perception of moral conflict and the experience of appreciation hampers or fosters knowledge gain, an online experiment was conducted in which participants (N= 334) read a feature story that was manipulated to induce the perception of moral conflict. Our results demonstrated that a news article perceived as morally conflicting led to more appreciation than one that was not perceived as morally conflicting. Our findings provide insight into the relationship between perceived moral conflict and learning outcomes, that is, knowledge acquisition and subjective knowledge, and the role of entertainment experiences in this relationship. Results are discussed in relation to the influence of entertainment experiences on learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of what is important when we evaluate movies is crucial for understanding how lay audiences experience and evaluate entertainment products such as films. In line with this, subjective movie evaluation criteria (SMEC) have been conceptualized as mental representations of important attitudes toward specific film features. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of self-report data from online surveys, previous research has found and validated eight dimensions. Given the large-scale evaluative information that is available in online users' comments in movie databases, it seems likely that what online users write about movies may enrich our knowledge about SMEC. As a first fully exploratory attempt, drawing on an open-source dataset including movie reviews from IMDb, we estimated a correlated topic model to explore the underlying topics of those reviews. In 35,136 online movie reviews, the most prevalent topics tapped into three major categories--Hedonism, Actors' Performance, and Narrative--and indicated what reviewers mostly wrote about. Although a qualitative analysis of the reviews revealed that users mention certain SMEC, results of the topic model covered only two SMEC: Story Innovation and Light-heartedness. Implications for SMEC and entertainment research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video game streaming platforms have reached high popularity within the last years. As one of these popular platforms, Twitch provides users with the opportunity to participate in several gaming situations: They can simultaneously watch in-game actions, the streamer playing the game, and additionally, they can interact with the streamer and other viewers by using the chat. In an online survey, the current study explored how individuals (N = 548) experience media enjoyment when using Twitch. Findings indicate that social aspects of using Twitch predominantly contribute to enjoyment. Approaches toward the phenomenon of video game streaming as well as implications for research on the usage of second screens and Social TV are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides others, subjective knowledge -- the feeling of being knowledgeable -- as well as the complexity of a communicated content have been shown to have an impact on different behavioral outcomes -- also in the field of consumer choices. However, it remains open how both factors influence subsequent outcomes such as information seeking, behavioral intentions, or actual choice behavior -- especially related to environmental issues. With a 2 (high/low subjective knowledge) x 2 (high/low complex information) between-subjects design (N = 87), we investigated the effects of subjective knowledge and complexity of an online news text about a specific environmental topic (i.e., palm oil) on behavioral intentions, online information seeking as well as on behavioral choices. Higher subjective knowledge raised the probability to volunteer for an NGO and the duration of time spent on a palm oil-related webpage. Environmental attitudes determined the general likelihood to engage in palm oil-related web search and the number of webpages visited. Text complexity did not influence the target variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Zeiten, in denen wir über Mobilgeräte permanent online und mit anderen verbunden sein können, stellt sich die Frage, ob das permanente Online-Sein ein gutes Leben fördert oder erschwert. Der Fokus liegt hierbei auf den gesundheitsfördernden und vorbeugenden Aspekten der Salutogenese1 und auf der achtsamen, selbstkontrollierten und sinnstiftenden Nutzung der Onlinemedien. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Internet provides massive amounts of heterogeneous information, people may perceive this medium as challenging. The difficulty to evaluate and select relevant information increases as more and more diverse sources and content are available. Information overload (IO) may be the consequence. The research presented here gives a first comprehensive overview of possible indicators for IO in the context of online news exposure. Based on an online survey (N=419), we found that younger people with less information-seeking self-efficacy were more susceptible to experience IO. Additionally, we identified motivations for media consumption and information retrieval strategies in the Internet that imply IO. With our results, we contribute to a further understanding of IO and provide an important basis for future research needed to face the challenges resulting from the rising media diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in the meaningful sides of media entertainment has blossomed over the last decade, with numerous scholars examining how certain media content can enhance social good and well-being. Because social scientific work in this area is relatively new and is rapidly evolving, numerous conceptualizations of meaningful media experiences have been introduced. In this paper we argue for the importance of recognizing a unique form of media experience that causes us to look beyond our own concerns, to recognize moral beauty, and to feel unity with humanity and nature—what we label here as “self-transcendent media experiences.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks at the symbolic interactions on social networking sites, such as Likes on Facebook, and their role in users' sense of social in- or exclusion. In an online experiment, users of Facebook were asked to write a possible status update and then received note about the numbers of hypothetical Likes they received (zero, two, or thirty) and who (close friends or acquaintances) pressed the Like button. Multivariate analysis of variances showed that belongingness and self-esteem needs are threatened when people do not receive Likes. In contrast, more Likes seem to satisfy these needs better. The influence of who gives the Likes is minor compared to the sheer number of Likes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of being always online and connected, cyberostracism—the feeling of being ignored or excluded over the Internet—is a serious threat to fundamental human needs: belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. According to the temporal need-threat model, responses to ostracism lead to immediate and universal experiences of negative emotions as well as to thwarted need satisfaction. In two experiments ( N 1 = 105; N 2 = 85), we investigated these effects using a new computerized tool, Ostracism Online (Wolf et al., 2015). In both studies we found that ostracism negatively affected emotional states, belongingness, self-esteem, and meaningful existence but not control. Furthermore, Facebook use as a coping strategy after being excluded had no significant impact on need restoration. In sum, our findings highlight that Ostracism Online is a useful tool to connect the research area of social media and ostracism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When people feel socially threatened and excluded, they could use their mobile phones to reconnect with others and feel better. We assumed that such positive results can occur even if mobile phones are not actively used. Rather, it may suffice if users believe that carrying a mobile phone ensures social connection. This mindset may help users recover a sense of belonging during self-threatening situations. In two experiments, we asked whether the smartphone as a physical device or its symbolic representation can aid in everyday self-threatening situations. In Study 1 (N = 74), participants with their smartphones in their pockets experienced less threatened belongingness than those who were deprived of their smartphones. In Study 2 (N = 419), participants who encountered a smartphone symbol with social apps after feeling socially excluded recovered better than those who encountered a symbol with informational apps, but showed no difference in recovery compared to those who encountered no symbol at all. Findings support the idea that smartphones can 'physically' buffer against social threats and partially serve as subtle reminders of social bonds. • Smartphones as physical devices and symbols represent social bonds and affiliation. • Beyond mere use, they can help users deal with feeling ostracized. • With smartphones in the pocket, users felt less socially threatened than without. • Social app cues reduced feeling ostracized better than information app cues. • Social app cues reduced feeling ostracized not better than providing no cues at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audiences’ movie evaluations have often been explored as effects of experiencing movies. However, little attention has been paid to the criteria viewers use when they evaluate a movie or its specific features. Adding to this, the present research introduces the idea of subjective movie evaluation criteria (SMEC), conceptualizes SMEC as the mental representation of important attitudes toward specific film features, and describes the scale construction for their measurement and its validation process. Findings from pilot work and 2 studies including over 1,500 participants provide first evidence that 8 dimensions—Story Verisimilitude, Story Innovation, Cinematography, Special Effects, Recommendation, Innocuousness, Light-heartedness, and Cognitive Stimulation—are largely determined by stable individual differences, substantially but differentially related to film-specific constructs and personality traits, and that the SMEC scales are reliable and valid instruments for measuring subjective movie evaluation criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Drawing on the affect infusion model and on affective disposition theory, this study aims to explain the influence of viewers' affective disposition toward the guests of political TV talk shows on their information processing and judgments. The affective disposition was manipulated in an experiment. Results suggest that this affective disposition remained stable during exposure to the program, leading to predetermined information processing of the discussed political issue and a judgment that is consistent with the one made by the guest. Without prior manipulation of affective disposition, affective involvement with the issue influenced the viewers' judgments instead, indicating open information processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to investigate the measurement invariance of media users’ entertainment experiences as conceptualized by two-process models of entertainment (i.e., enjoyment and appreciation) across different media formats. With this purpose, the present research relates to the recent rise of entertainment research, embracing more and more media types and formats with which entertainment experiences may occur. At the same time, it addresses a methodological issue that has rarely been addressed in communication research. Focusing on one of the most often used measurement instruments in entertainment research, on three different media formats (political talk shows, comedies, and dramas), the study finds evidence for configural, metric, and scalar invariance for the scale. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Within Hofstede’s framework of individualistic and collectivistic cultures, this contribution examines measurement equivalence of hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment motivations in two different cultures, namely Germany representing a more individualistic culture (N = 180) and Turkey representing a more collectivistic culture (N = 97). By means of a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, we could secure configural invariance for both hedonic and eudaimonic entertainment motivations across the German and Turkish sample. Metric invariance, however, could only be obtained for hedonic, but not for eudaimonic motivations. Scalar invariance was obtained for neither of the two entertainment motivations. The study points to the importance of equivalence testing when conducting cross-cultural research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on assumptions from entertainment theory, an online-study ( N = 419) was conducted to investigate the differential relationships between enjoyment and appreciation of a video clip that dealt with the features of natural gas as fuel for cars, objective and subjective knowledge about the content of that clip, and behavioral intentions of dealing with the topic of natural gas. Structural equation modeling revealed that enjoyment was directly positively related to objective and subjective knowledge. However, objective knowledge did not predict and subjective knowledge was only weakly associated with behavioral intentions. Appreciation, in contrast, was directly negatively related to knowledge acquisition and not related to subjective knowledge, but was the best predictor for behavioral intentions. These results point to the distinct processes and relationships of different entertainment experiences. Implications for entertainment–education and online video portals are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Perceived Leadership Communication Questionnaire (PLCQ) is a short, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring leadership communication from both perspectives of the leader and the follower. Drawing on a communication-based approach to leadership and following a theoretical framework of interpersonal communication processes in organizations, this article describes the development and validation of a one-dimensional 6-item scale in four studies (totalN= 604). Results from Study 1 and 2 provide evidence for the internal consistency and factorial validity of the PLCQ's self-rating version (PLCQ-SR)—a version for measuring how leaders perceive their own communication with their followers. Results from Study 3 and 4 show internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion validity of the PLCQ's other-rating version (PLCQ-OR)—a version for measuring how followers perceive the communication of their leaders. Cronbach's α had an average of.80 over the four studies. All confirmatory factor analyses yielded good to excellent model fit indices. Convergent validity was established by average positive correlations of.69 with subdimensions of transformational leadership and leader–member exchange scales. Furthermore, nonsignificant correlations with socially desirable responding indicated discriminant validity. Last, criterion validity was supported by a moderately positive correlation with job satisfaction (r=.31). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article revisits the controversial relationship of entertainment and political communication. On the basis of a theoretical integration of entertainment theory with theories of motivated information processing, we suggest that entertainment consumption can either be driven by hedonic, escapist motivations that are associated with a superficial mode of information processing, or by eudaimonic, truth-seeking motivations that prompt more elaborate forms of information processing. Results of two experiments indicate that eudaimonic forms of emotional involvement (characterized by negative valence, moderate arousal, and feeling moved) stimulated reflective thoughts about politically relevant content, issue interest, and information seeking. This pattern was consistent across two types of entertainment stimuli (fictional films and soft news) and two types of affect manipulations (moving film music and moving exemplars). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latent state–trait theory (LSTT) considers the fact that measurement does not take place in a situational vacuum. LSTT decomposes any observed variable into a latent state component and a measurement error component, and any latent state into a latent trait component and a latent state residual representing situational influence and/or interactional influences. Furthermore, it provides more precise reliability estimates than common coefficients. This article introduces the basic concepts of LSTT, discusses its usefulness for public opinion research, and applies LST models to panel data on political efficacy from the 2009 German Longitudinal Election Study. The findings show that internal efficacy is a rather trait-like disposition and external efficacy is significantly due to situational and/or interactional influences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In times of permanent connectedness via mobile devices, availability demands often occur even across the boundaries between work and private life. Based on work–family border theory, this study examined how so-called setting-inconsistent pressure to be available influences employees' emotional well-being. For this purpose, an experimental 2 × 2 between-subjects design (N = 337) was conducted by manipulating setting-inconsistent pressure to be available (low vs. high) and type of setting-inconsistency (receiving a message from a colleague at home vs. receiving a message from a friend at work). Results indicated that pressure to be available beyond work–home boundaries significantly increased negative affect but had no influence on positive affect. Contrary to expectations, employees' stress resilience did not moderate this effect. Furthermore, it made no difference whether boundaries were violated through private messages in the work domain or work-related messages in the private domain. • Social pressure to be availably beyond work–home boundaries had a negative impact on employees' emotional well-being. • Availability demands in the private and in the work domain increased employees' negative affect to the same extent. • Employees' coping resources were no buffer against the negative effects of setting-inconsistent pressure to be available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background With the availability of mobile smart devices, many adolescents have developed the habit of being online and connected with other users almost all the time. Objective The aim of this paper is to provide a definition of being permanently online (PO) and permanently connected (PC) and to explore students’ current PO/PC behaviors. Methods An online survey was conducted with 178 university students in Germany to explore the intensity of their PO/PC behaviors in various social situations, the differences in being PO and being PC, students’ feelings about a possible loss of Internet access, and their online responding behaviors. We also shed some light on the associations between being PO/PC and various aspects of well-being, as well as between PO/PC and demographics and lifestyle. Results Smart device usage behaviors at night and behaviors in various social situations during the day indicate that PO and PC behaviors are occurring frequently. The results show that being connected to others (PC) seems to be more relevant to the participants than browsing the web (PO). Moreover, the participants expressed strong emotional responses about a temporary loss of Internet access. Coping behaviors in response to increasing number of incoming messages and permanent availability are reported. Conclusion This exploratory study demonstrates the relevance of the concepts of being PO and PC to students, and points out further research gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An online survey ( N = 207) investigated how the seen-function influences users’ answering behavior in Facebook chatting. The seen-function is a chat-feature that provides more transparency over the course of a chat conversation and thus may also intensify the mutual awareness of chat partners. Based on the need to belong and fear of ostracism as motivators for user behavior it was hypothesized that users with a higher value of these personality traits would have a higher expectation for others to answer immediately and a higher perceived obligation to answer immediately. Indeed, fear of ostracism and need to belong were positively related to perceived obligations to answer and expectations toward chat partners. However, the perceived obligation to answer immediately was higher than the average expectation toward others to do so. Looking for different clusters of users, we found three groups of users in the data set that differ in terms of their expectations and perceived obligations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Contrary to the popular notion of the pledge-breaking politician, research has revealed that governing political parties fulfill most of their pre-election pledges. This discrepancy between public perception and scientific findings could be the result of citizens' looser definition of election pledges. Thus, as citizens' assessment of pledge fulfillment (and with that their satisfaction with the governing parties) hinges on their understanding of election pledges, we examined citizens' perception of election pledges. Our experiment (N = 705) showed that citizens were more likely to perceive messages as pledges when they were articulated in binding versus less-binding terms, but when they were vague as opposed to specific in terms of goals. Political attitudes also biased the understanding of election pledges, demonstrating that it is in the eye of the beholder which messages are considered to be election pledges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]