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Browsing by Author "Tamul, Daniel J."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Breaking the Muscular Mold: The Application of Homophily, Credibility, and Physical Attractiveness within Attitude and Perceived Behavioral Control towards Weight Lifting
    Hotter, Jessica C. (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-12)
    This study extends the Theory of Planned Behavior by drawing on research investigating the 'halo effect,' which posits that physically attractive people are more likely to be hired, get a raise, perceived positively, and/or live happily within certain professions. Extant work has shown this trend is not generalizable across all fields. For example, scientists who are viewed as relatively unattractive and unsociable are perceived as producing higher quality research compared to their more attractive and sociable counterparts. The fitness industry, and the bodybuilding community in particular, presents an interesting issue where muscularity is an indicator of expertise and credibility, however, for female bodybuilders a muscular physique may diminish her perceived attractiveness and diminish such evaluations. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study examines how muscularity influences assessments of attractiveness, credibility, and homophily and indirectly influences participants' attitudes and perceived control over theory own weight lifting behavior. Though the hypothesized model was not a good fit, an exploratory respecification of the proposed model shows physical attractiveness plays a central role in assessments of homophily, credibility, and attitude.
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    Exploring Mechanisms of Narrative Persuasion in a News Context: The Role of Narrative Structure, Perceived Similarity, Stigma, and Affect in Changing Attitudes
    Tamul, Daniel J.; Hotter, Jessica C. (University of California Press, 2019-10-28)
    Two exploratory studies demonstrate, for the first time, that narrative persuasion can diminish the stigma attached to social groups featured in journalistic narratives. Study 1 shows narrative format improves stigma toward Syrian refugees indirectly through narrative engagement, perceived similarity, and meaningful affect. Decreases in stigma also improved attitudes toward refugees. Study 2 replicates these findings against a separate participant pool, an additional story topic, and compares changes in engagement, stigma, and attitude to a non-narrative fact sheet and a control condition. A preregistered third study seeks to validate the finding that narratives can elicit destigmatization and disentangle the roles of story exemplars from story structure.
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    Much Ado About Immersion: Power, Reported Results, and the Validity of Research on the Psychology of Virtual Reality and Immersive Simulations
    Lanier, Madison Kathryn (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-26)
    Virtual reality (VR) technology has permeated consumer culture in recent years, consequentially inspiring a hotbed of interdisciplinary academic VR research to better understand its effects as a medium. It has become a popular subject of study in fields as varied as engineering, computer science, communication, and psychology. The present study evaluates methodological trends in behavioral research on VR in terms of best practices regarding data collection, reporting, and availability. A meta-scientific content analysis of 61 articles focused on power, p-values, reporting errors, and transparency of data, all of which respectively represent four stages of research: data collection, analysis, reporting, and sharing. The findings from 1,122 statistical tests show that there is room for improvement in much behavioral research on VR in terms of methodological trends regarding number of participants, reporting of results, and data availability. Although no firm conclusions can be drawn about the presence of p-hacking or other questionable research practices (QRPs), the present study demonstrates that chronically small sample sizes, instances of errors in reporting, and a lack of transparent supplemental data are evident. The trends observed are broad, yet informative, and further research in this area is crucial. Methodological recommendations are made for future research dealing with VR applications, particularly given the potential social and cultural impact of the technology.
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    A Thematic Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Children's Top Mobile Applications of 2018
    Keene, Kyra Margaret (Virginia Tech, 2020-06-24)
    People around the globe rely on their mobile devices for instant access to entertainment and social media. Children comprise a large majority of individuals who use smartphone applications, particularly for gaming and learning opportunities. Understandably, these apps become part of the identity development process, including the formation of one's gender identity. App developers include gendered content to capture and maintain children's attention, but much of the existing research examines children in late childhood and early adolescence, leaving the ages of six to eight relatively undiscussed. The researcher utilized a thematic analysis to review 20 children's mobile applications for instances of gender stereotypes. Social cognitive theory offers a guiding principle for understanding the process of developing one's gender identity, as well as the role that external stimuli, such as digital media examples and parent models, play. This study aimed to determine whether mobile applications targeting the identified age group use gender stereotypes, as well as how they employ these stereotypes within the application. The researcher randomly selected 20 top children's applications on the Apple App Store and examined them for gendered instances, such as occupations and interests as well as character depictions. The results reflect that instances of gender stereotypes do occur in the children's mobile applications. Many of the applications portrayed feminine stereotypes surrounding nurturing and caregiving tasks ("Mommy in Training"), making it one of the most frequently exploited feminine stereotypes in the sample. The "Boys will be Boys" stereotype comprised the most frequently displayed masculine stereotypes across the studied applications. These findings represent the idea that society places higher value on these stereotypes than others, such as social relationships ("The Power of Motivational Friendship") or recklessness ("The Risk Taker"). Implications include modeling of traditionally masculine and feminine stereotypes for young users by utilizing popular characters recognizable by most children in the target age range.
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    Trending in the Right Direction: Using Google Trends Data as a Measure of Public Opinion During a Presidential Election
    Wolf, Jordan Taylor (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-19)
    During the 2016 presidential election, public opinion polls consistently showed a lead in the popular vote and Electoral College for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Following Trump's surprise victory, the political pundits and public at large began to question the accuracy of modern public opinion polling. Fielding a representative sample, convoluted and opaque methodologies, the sheer amount of polls, and both the media's and general public's inability to interpret poll results are among the flaws of the polling industry. An alternative or supplement to traditional polling practices is necessary. This thesis seeks to investigate whether Google Trends can be effectively used as a measure of public opinion during presidential elections. This study gathers polling data from the 2016 presidential election from states that were considered swing states. Specifically, this study examines six total polls, three from states that swung in the way the polls predicted they would – Nevada and Virginia – and three from states that swung against the prediction – Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Answers to the "Most Important Issue" question in each poll are compared to their corresponding topics in Google Trends by calculating Pearson product moment correlations for each pair. Results indicated that in states that swung as predicted, Google Trends was an effective supplement to traditional public opinion polls. In states that did not swing as predicted, Google Trends was not an effective supplement. Implications of these results and future considerations for the polling industry and Google are discussed.
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    What’s in a Font?: Ideological Perceptions of Typography
    Haenschen, Katherine; Tamul, Daniel J. (2019-12-20)
    Although extensive political communication research considers the content of candidate messages, scholars have largely ignored how those words are rendered – specifically, the typefaces in which they are set. If typefaces are found to have political attributes, that may impact how voters receive campaign messages. Our paper reports the results of two survey experiments demonstrating that individuals perceive typefaces, type families, and type styles to have ideological qualities. Furthermore, partisanship moderates subjects’ perceptions of typefaces: Republicans generally view typefaces as more conservative than Independents and Democrats. We also find evidence of affective polarization, in that individuals rate typefaces more favorably when perceived as sharing their ideological orientation. Results broaden our understanding of how meaning is conveyed in political communication, laying the groundwork for future research into the functions of typography and graphic design in contemporary political campaigns. Implications for political practitioners are also discussed.