Research has shown that sexual content is prevalent in television programming and that this content can have an effect on the viewer's attitudes about sex. This study examined this relationship within the theoretical framework of cultivation and social cognitive theories. This study used a survey to examine these relationships in young students at a large southeastern university. The researchers targeted freshmen, many in their first semester, for this study to get the best measure of attitudes, before they were influenced by college life. In addition to examining the effects of television viewing, the researcher looked at the effects of exposure to other media that may contain sexual content, such as magazines, Internet, DVD's, video games, and music. The study did not find significant relationships between television viewing and students' sexual attitudes and behaviors, but it did find several strong relationships among sexual attitudes and behaviors and students' exposure to other forms of media that may contain sexual content, including music, films, video games, and DVDs.

The instrumental misuse of prescription stimulants as "study drugs", particularly by college students, is a serious issue that needs to be further investigated. Using data from a sample of 549 University of Central Florida Orlando students, the current study tested the relationship between prescription stimulant misuse and social learning theory, as well as general strain theory. Approximately 17% of participants reported misusing prescription stimulants for academic purposes at least once in the past year. Findings show support for social learning theory; the number of friends who use prescription stimulants and the individual's attitudes about the effectiveness of the drugs are both significant variables. General strain theory was divided into two parts; the first one tests the relationship between strain and negative affect, while the second tests negative affect, strain and prescription stimulant misuse. Overall, general strain theory was not found to explain prescription stimulant misuse. Also, results showed students who binge drink or use other substances are significantly more likely to report prescription stimulant misuse. Potential implications for these findings are discussed, as well as future research directions.

This thesis explores the complex link between Latino individuals' self-esteem and media depictions. This thesis was created with the intent to fill a current gap in communication research by providing original data and addressing the lack of quantitative research surrounding the Latino community. The Latino Perceptions of Realism in TV and Film Scale was created as a new tool to measure opinions about ethno-cultural portrayal. This thesis aims to clarify how Latino people's self-esteem is shaped by the perceived realism of media depictions, drawing on Social Identity Theory and Social Learning Theory. This thesis examines how Latinos are portrayed in movies to determine how media exposure affects how the Latino population views their self-esteem. This study uses empirical analysis to further our understanding of the relationship between media portrayal, social identity development, and self-esteem in the Latino community. The thesis offers original quantitative data using a survey-based approach. It introduces the Latino Perceptions of Realism in TV and Film Scale, a new survey tool for gauging perceptions of Latino interpretations of television and film Latino characters. Regression analysis was employed to investigate how media depictions affect the development of self-esteem in the Latino population. Key findings provide insight into the complex relationships between media portrayal and the way Latinos view their ethnic group in film and television. Demographic factors such as age and gender, the amount of media consumption, intellectual capacity, and work ethic were revealed as important determinants impacting the development of Latino self-esteem. This study contributes new data to the discipline of media effects research, extending the conversation on the stereotypical representation of Latinos in television and film. It also provides insight into how Latinos view their self-esteem based on character portrayals in film and television. / MACOM / This thesis examines the complex relationship between how Latino individuals identify and how the media portrays them. By providing new perspectives and addressing the lack of quantitative studies on the Latino population, this thesis aims to close a gap in communication research. The Latino Perceptions of Realism in TV and Film Scale is a new scale designed to gather feedback on how Latino culture is portrayed in media. Based on psychological theories, specifically Social Identity Theory and Social Learning Theory, this thesis explores how media representations affect Latino self-esteem. Through an analysis of the representations of Latinos in television and film, the study investigates how exposure to these representations affects how Latino viewers feel about themselves. This study uses empirical analysis to expand on our knowledge of the relationship between media representation, social identity, and self-esteem in the Latino community. The results provide insight into the complex connections between how Latinos view their own ethnic group in the context of film and television and how they are portrayed in the media. This study reveals a nuanced association between media consumption patterns and the self-esteem of Latinos. Latinos' identity and self-esteem are shaped by various factors, including their views of reality, the quantity of media they consume, and demographic traits. This thesis broadens the discussion on stereotyped portrayals of Latinos in the media. It offers insights into how these representations affect Latino self-esteem by bringing fresh data to the field of media effects research.

Eftersom fertiliteten i många utvecklade länder har gått ned är det intressant att studera orsakerna bakom detta. Om inte orsakerna bara ligger i de socioekonomiska förhållandena, vilka diskuteras mest, var kan de då sökas? Denna studie använder enkätdata med avsikt att belysa om attityder till att skaffa barn påverkas av vilka familjeförhållanden man själv växt upp under samt själv upplever under vuxet liv. Synsättet bygger på idén att det finns effekter som påverkar tänkandet genom socialisering, från en generation till en annan. Genom analys av data från undersökningen YAPS studeras om det finns några empiriska samband mellan stabilitet i familjens sammansättning under uppväxten, attityder till att leva i parförhållande och attityder till att skaffa barn. Uppsatsen använder sig av regressionsanalys för att undersöka eventuella statistiskt belagda samband. Då resultaten inte visar upp något samband med uppväxtvillkoren så undersöks även ekonomiska villkor då dessa ingått som bakgrundsdata i analysen. Resultatet pekar på samband mellan synen på barn och synen på parförhållanden samt den ekonomiska situationen i familjen under uppväxten. Den attityd till barn som man uppger verkar också vara en könsfråga då kvinnor har en mer positiv syn på barn än män enligt denna studie.

As citizens of the Arabian Gulf states struggle to maintain identity and heritage in a swarm of economic boom and social modernization and mobilization, they are bombarded with media messages which conflict with the essential tenets of modernization and development: individualism, economic independence, freedom of expression, and elevated social status for women. The largely popular Gulf Arabic television miniseries genre is an important vehicle for those conflicting media messages, presenting stereotypical and simplistic representations of family life, the divide between good and evil, and prescribed gender dichotomies. Those messages which idealize traditionalism and conservative belief systems are crafted and informed by those who dominate the media apparatus in the Arabian Gulf: the ruling, male, Muslim, hegemonic elite. The miniseries genre keeps audiences glued to the television in the month of Ramadan, a time at which Muslims throughout the world are at a heightened sense of religiosity and devotion to family and are thus more susceptible to the persuasion of media messages related to religion, faith, virtues, and morals. This research examines the themes of patriarchy, gender dichotomies, family values, and the omnipresence of Islam in the genre and the relationship of all of these themes to the value and belief systems of the ruling hegemonic elite and audience members alike. The research is based on a data pool which includes 152 episodes, totaling roughly 101.5 televised hours. The data also include the results of a survey about audience interaction and interpretation of the genre. The survey is comprised of 35 questions to which 56 participants responded. It discusses the implications of the messages contained within the genre and communicated through the aforementioned themes, and examines the potential for them to influence audience members’ outlook on society as seen through the lens of relevant media theories. / text

Today’s youth have been exposed to more gambling-related media than previous generations, and they have grown up in an era in which states not only sanction but also run and promote gambling enterprises. Social Learning Theory proposes that one can develop new attitudes or expectancies about a specific behavior by watching others engage in that behavior, and that the media is one avenue through which one can develop new expectancies (Bandura, 2001). In addition, the Theory of Reasoned Action proposes that one’s behaviors are influenced directly by both subjective norms and attitudes (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). A mixed methods explanatory design was used to test a modified version of the Theory of Reasoned Action in which subjective norms and gambling-related media were hypothesized to have an effect on gambling behaviors directly and indirectly through both positive and negative expectancies. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the hypotheses, and semi-standardized interviews were used to help explain the results of the quantitative analyses and provide a richer and more accurate interpretation of the data. The hypothesized model was partially supported: the model was a good fit with the female college student data, accounting for 27.8% of variance in female student gambling behaviors, and it fit the male college student data reasonably well, accounting for 35.2% of variance in male student gambling behaviors. Results indicated that perceived subjective norms were more important for female college students. Results also indicated that exposure to gambling-related media has a direct positive association with both male and female college student gambling behaviors, and that exposure to gambling-related media has an indirect, positive association with male college student behaviors through positive expectancies. However, exposure to gambling-related media is not associated with positive expectancies about gambling for female college students. Data from the qualitative interviews supported the findings from the qualitative analyses and provided some clues about the progression from non-problematic to problematic behaviors, which may inform future research in this area.

<p>Vi gör dagligen bedömningar av risker i situationer av alla de slag. Trafiken är en av de situationer där riskbedömningar är särskilt viktiga och hur korrekt bedömningen blir beror på hur vi upplever riskerna, vilket i hög grad varierar från person till person. Hypotesen i detta examensarbete är: Kvinnliga bilister upplever större subjektiv risk i trafiken än manliga bilister. Undersökningen av hypotesens giltighet utfördes med hjälp av intervjuer av 20 män och kvinnor. Frågorna syftade till att ta reda på deltagarnas subjektiva upplevelser av trafikrisker. Resultaten pekade på att det finns en tendens till skillnad i hur de båda könen upplever risker i trafiken. Kunskap om hur kvinnor och män upplever risker i trafiken är användbara för att göra olika trafiksituationer säkrare och därmed minska antalet olyckor. Ännu ett steg i denna strävan är att undersöka hur stressfaktorer påverkar riskuppfattningen i en trafiksituation.</p>

Social learning theory continues to be one of the most enduring theories of crime. Psychological criminology, on the other hand, tends to explain crime in terms of behavioral propensities. This research is specifically focused on the generality of social learning theory as it varies across a measure of criminal propensity- in this case, psychopathy. Prior studies have tested various theories with the use of measures of propensity, but the theory is rarely social learning, and the measure of propensity has never been psychopathy. The current study examines three components of social learning theory (definitions, differential association, and differential reinforcement) to determine whether or not its influence is dependent on an individual's level of psychopathy. Data used in this research is from the Pathways to Desistance Project, a serious juvenile delinquent sample. Standard ordinary least-squares and Tobit regressions (a method of analyses designed to correct for linear relationships between variables when there is censoring in the dependent variable) are modeled. Results indicate that definitions, differential association, differential reinforcement, and both measures of psychopathy exerted significant main effects on antisocial behavior. In addition, the social learning variables interacted differently across varying levels of psychopathy. Conclusions and policy implications for future social science research are discussed within.

In accordance with societal norms and values, consumers readily indicate their positive attitudes towards sustainability. However, they hardly take sustainability into account when engaging in exchange relationships with companies. To shed light on this paradox, this paper investigates whether defense mechanisms and the more specific concept of neutralization techniques can explain the discrepancy between societal norms and actual behavior. A multi-method qualitative research design provides rich insights into consumers' underlying cognitive processes and how they make sense of their attitude-behavior divergences. Drawing on the Ways Model of account-taking, which is advanced to a Cycle Model, the findings illustrate how neutralization strategies are used to legitimize inconsistencies between norm-conforming attitudes and actual behavior. Furthermore, the paper discusses how the repetitive reinforcement of neutralizing patterns and feedback loops between individuals and society are linked to the rise of anomic consumer behavior. (authors' abstract)

This study used qualitative methods to examine if there was a connection between conflict resolution styles used with siblings in adolescence and conflict resolution styles utilized in current romantic committed relationships. The Conflict Resolution Behavior Questionnaire (Reese-Weber, & Bartle-Haring, 2003) and Gottman‟s (1994a, 1994b) couple-conflict types as adapted by Holman and Jarvis (2003) were administered to 144 participants through an online questionnaire. Analysis of the CRBQ using a multiple regression indicated participant‟s self-rating of compromise, attack, and avoidant conflict resolution styles used with siblings when an adolescent predicted current self-ratings of compromise, attack, and avoidant conflict resolution styles utilized in current romantic relationships.