Pub Date : 2026-03-19DOI: 10.1177/00936502261425713
Christine Liebrecht, Naomi Kamoen, Rieke van Lieshout
Voters using Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) often struggle with comprehension, leading to satisficing behavior. Conversational Agent VAAs (CAVAAs) aim to improve understanding by allowing users to ask a chatbot comprehension questions. While early research shows positive effects, studies have only compared CAVAAs to basic VAAs, not to enhanced VAAs (VAA+s) with clickable information buttons. Current study compares four versions: a basic VAA, a VAA+, a CAVAA, and a CAVAA+, tested on desktop (Study 1) and smartphone (Study 2). Results show that all three information-rich versions reduce non-directional answers and positively impact political and tool evaluation measures, suggesting that added information, regardless of format, improves response quality and user experience. Interestingly, users request more information in the enhanced web-based VAA+ than via the chatbot. We discuss these and other findings in the paper.
{"title":"From Buttons to Bots: Exploring the Impact of Enhanced Features in Voting Advice Applications on Desktops and Smartphones","authors":"Christine Liebrecht, Naomi Kamoen, Rieke van Lieshout","doi":"10.1177/00936502261425713","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502261425713","url":null,"abstract":"Voters using Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) often struggle with comprehension, leading to satisficing behavior. Conversational Agent VAAs (CAVAAs) aim to improve understanding by allowing users to ask a chatbot comprehension questions. While early research shows positive effects, studies have only compared CAVAAs to basic VAAs, not to enhanced VAAs (VAA+s) with clickable information buttons. Current study compares four versions: a basic VAA, a VAA+, a CAVAA, and a CAVAA+, tested on desktop (Study 1) and smartphone (Study 2). Results show that all three information-rich versions reduce non-directional answers and positively impact political and tool evaluation measures, suggesting that added information, regardless of format, improves response quality and user experience. Interestingly, users request more information in the enhanced web-based VAA+ than via the chatbot. We discuss these and other findings in the paper.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147489903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-18DOI: 10.1177/00936502261430969
Xun Zhu, Youllee Kim, Huai-yu Chen
This research examines how counter-stereotypical portrayals influence prosocial behavior across racial groups within the context of medical crowdfunding. Drawing on the stereotype content model and expectancy violation theory, we investigate how messages that contradict stereotypes of racial groups perceived as having low warmth violate expectations about these groups and influence campaign donations. Across two studies—an analysis of over 17,000 crowdfunding campaigns (Studies 1a-c) and an online experiment ( N = 688; Study 2)—counter-stereotypical portrayals of warmth were associated with higher donations for Asian and White beneficiaries but with lower donations for Black beneficiaries. Expectancy violations mediated these effects, with Black beneficiaries experiencing smaller positive expectancy shifts than other groups. The findings highlight the differential effects of warm-based portrayals across racial groups when used to challenge stereotypes. The study advances theoretical frameworks on stereotypes and expectancy violations while offering practical guidance for more effective and equitable messaging strategies.
{"title":"Differential Effects of Counter-Stereotypical Portrayals of Warmth Across Racial Groups: Behavioral and Experimental Evidence","authors":"Xun Zhu, Youllee Kim, Huai-yu Chen","doi":"10.1177/00936502261430969","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502261430969","url":null,"abstract":"This research examines how counter-stereotypical portrayals influence prosocial behavior across racial groups within the context of medical crowdfunding. Drawing on the stereotype content model and expectancy violation theory, we investigate how messages that contradict stereotypes of racial groups perceived as having low warmth violate expectations about these groups and influence campaign donations. Across two studies—an analysis of over 17,000 crowdfunding campaigns (Studies 1a-c) and an online experiment ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">N</jats:italic> = 688; Study 2)—counter-stereotypical portrayals of warmth were associated with higher donations for Asian and White beneficiaries but with lower donations for Black beneficiaries. Expectancy violations mediated these effects, with Black beneficiaries experiencing smaller positive expectancy shifts than other groups. The findings highlight the differential effects of warm-based portrayals across racial groups when used to challenge stereotypes. The study advances theoretical frameworks on stereotypes and expectancy violations while offering practical guidance for more effective and equitable messaging strategies.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147478024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-11DOI: 10.1177/00936502261421437
Michael Hameleers, Toni G. L. A. van der Meer, Marina Tulin, Tom Dobber
Political deepfakes potentially undermine democracy by amplifying socio-political divides in hyper-realistic manners. As an important next step in understanding the political consequences of deepfakes, this article reports on the longer-term effects of deepfakes across two different political settings: The US and the Netherlands. We conducted three-wave pre-registered experiments spanning a full week in which we exposed participants in the US and the Netherlands to realistic political deepfakes. We found that, in both political settings, exposure to deepfakes lowered support for the targeted political actor. This effect was strongest for people initially supporting the attacked politician. Although deepfakes had a delegitimizing impact, they were rated as substantially less credible than authentic videos. Although fact-checks were able to lower the credibility of deepfakes, the delegitimizing impact of deepfakes was resilient to corrections. These findings highlight the continued influence of corrected deepfakes on political beliefs.
{"title":"Radical Right-Wing Political Deepfakes Can Successfully Delegitimize Targeted Political Actors: Evidence From Three-wave Experiments in the US and The Netherlands","authors":"Michael Hameleers, Toni G. L. A. van der Meer, Marina Tulin, Tom Dobber","doi":"10.1177/00936502261421437","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502261421437","url":null,"abstract":"Political deepfakes potentially undermine democracy by amplifying socio-political divides in hyper-realistic manners. As an important next step in understanding the political consequences of deepfakes, this article reports on the longer-term effects of deepfakes across two different political settings: The US and the Netherlands. We conducted three-wave pre-registered experiments spanning a full week in which we exposed participants in the US and the Netherlands to realistic political deepfakes. We found that, in both political settings, exposure to deepfakes lowered support for the targeted political actor. This effect was strongest for people initially supporting the attacked politician. Although deepfakes had a delegitimizing impact, they were rated as substantially less credible than authentic videos. Although fact-checks were able to lower the credibility of deepfakes, the delegitimizing impact of deepfakes was resilient to corrections. These findings highlight the continued influence of corrected deepfakes on political beliefs.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"56 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147393423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-16DOI: 10.1177/00936502261415680
Laurent H. Wang, Lindsay B. Miller, Miriam J. Metzger, Robin L. Nabi
Can discrete emotions be leveraged to combat privacy powerlessness and motivate privacy protection? Extending theorizing and research that exclusively focus on cognitive processes underlying online privacy decision-making, this study builds on gain/loss framing research and the emotions-as-frames model to understand the effectiveness of emotional appeals (i.e., hope and fear) in generating attitudinal and behavioral change in online privacy. Two online experiments that differed in message topics (Study 1: changing social media privacy settings; Study 2: rejecting website cookies) were conducted with demographically-stratified samples of U.S. adults. Results showed that gain-frame-induced hope consistently led to reduced privacy powerlessness, which was associated with increased privacy protection intention across both topics, whereas loss-frame-induced fear only led to increased protection intention in the social media context. This study advances theorizing on the role that discrete emotion plays in online privacy management from a communication perspective and highlights the novel effect of hope in motivating attitudinal and behavioral change. Findings also help to answer recent calls for remedies to privacy powerlessness and inform message-based intervention designs for consumer empowerment.
{"title":"The Pulse of Privacy: The Role of Efficacy Framing and Discrete Emotion in Combating Privacy Powerlessness and Motivating Online Privacy Protection","authors":"Laurent H. Wang, Lindsay B. Miller, Miriam J. Metzger, Robin L. Nabi","doi":"10.1177/00936502261415680","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502261415680","url":null,"abstract":"Can discrete emotions be leveraged to combat privacy powerlessness and motivate privacy protection? Extending theorizing and research that exclusively focus on cognitive processes underlying online privacy decision-making, this study builds on gain/loss framing research and the emotions-as-frames model to understand the effectiveness of emotional appeals (i.e., hope and fear) in generating attitudinal and behavioral change in online privacy. Two online experiments that differed in message topics (Study 1: changing social media privacy settings; Study 2: rejecting website cookies) were conducted with demographically-stratified samples of U.S. adults. Results showed that gain-frame-induced hope consistently led to reduced privacy powerlessness, which was associated with increased privacy protection intention across both topics, whereas loss-frame-induced fear only led to increased protection intention in the social media context. This study advances theorizing on the role that discrete emotion plays in online privacy management from a communication perspective and highlights the novel effect of hope in motivating attitudinal and behavioral change. Findings also help to answer recent calls for remedies to privacy powerlessness and inform message-based intervention designs for consumer empowerment.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"230 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146198466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-02-12DOI: 10.1177/00936502251412924
Tamara D. Afifi, America L. Edwards
This study examines how face-to-face (FtF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) contribute to relationship maintenance and resilience in dual-earning families, a largely overlooked area in family communication research. Guided by the theory of resilience and relational load (TRRL), we test how ongoing FtF and CMC maintenance behaviors predicted well-being across a week among 62 families (i.e., two parents and one adolescent). Using a week-long daily diary and physiological measures (cortisol and IL-6 assays), we assess perceived stress, mental health, and loneliness. Findings suggest that both FtF and CMC maintenance are associated with lower stress and better well-being, with FtF showing somewhat stronger associations on certain outcomes such as loneliness. Additionally, perceived gaps between desired and received maintenance predicted higher and more erratic stress and diminished mental health, underscoring the importance of meeting relational needs. These results highlight how families balance FtF and digital maintenance in everyday life and extend the TRRL by incorporating mixed-media contexts and perceived maintenance gaps.
{"title":"Balancing Face-to-Face and Digital Communication: The Role of Relationship Maintenance in Dual-Earning Families","authors":"Tamara D. Afifi, America L. Edwards","doi":"10.1177/00936502251412924","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251412924","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how face-to-face (FtF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) contribute to relationship maintenance and resilience in dual-earning families, a largely overlooked area in family communication research. Guided by the theory of resilience and relational load (TRRL), we test how ongoing FtF and CMC maintenance behaviors predicted well-being across a week among 62 families (i.e., two parents and one adolescent). Using a week-long daily diary and physiological measures (cortisol and IL-6 assays), we assess perceived stress, mental health, and loneliness. Findings suggest that both FtF and CMC maintenance are associated with lower stress and better well-being, with FtF showing somewhat stronger associations on certain outcomes such as loneliness. Additionally, perceived gaps between desired and received maintenance predicted higher and more erratic stress and diminished mental health, underscoring the importance of meeting relational needs. These results highlight how families balance FtF and digital maintenance in everyday life and extend the TRRL by incorporating mixed-media contexts and perceived maintenance gaps.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"303 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146160369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-31DOI: 10.1177/00936502251413056
Lei Guo, Yiyan Zhang, Yi Li, Yiqing Xu
Media agenda setting takes time. However, with the evolving media landscape altering how we consume news, many contemporary agenda-setting studies still rely on decade-old guidelines to determine time lags instead of empirically testing them. The literature also reveals inconsistent conceptualizations of “time lag.” To address this, we propose a two-dimensional typology to clarify this concept and conduct a systematic literature review of 1,444 articles published between 1972 and 2024 to trace conceptual and methodological trends of the time lag research, and identify factors influencing time lag length. Results show that, on average, it took 55 days of media exposure (accumulation) for the agenda-setting effect to appear at the aggregated level and 28 days at the individual level, with public response lagging by about 7 days (delay). Additionally, media agenda setting tends to take longer to manifest at higher levels and occur more quickly in collectivist societies compared to individualist ones.
{"title":"Explicating the Time Factor in Media Agenda-Setting Research","authors":"Lei Guo, Yiyan Zhang, Yi Li, Yiqing Xu","doi":"10.1177/00936502251413056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251413056","url":null,"abstract":"Media agenda setting takes time. However, with the evolving media landscape altering how we consume news, many contemporary agenda-setting studies still rely on decade-old guidelines to determine time lags instead of empirically testing them. The literature also reveals inconsistent conceptualizations of “time lag.” To address this, we propose a two-dimensional typology to clarify this concept and conduct a systematic literature review of 1,444 articles published between 1972 and 2024 to trace conceptual and methodological trends of the time lag research, and identify factors influencing time lag length. Results show that, on average, it took 55 days of media exposure (accumulation) for the agenda-setting effect to appear at the aggregated level and 28 days at the individual level, with public response lagging by about 7 days (delay). Additionally, media agenda setting tends to take longer to manifest at higher levels and occur more quickly in collectivist societies compared to individualist ones.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"292 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146098411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-19DOI: 10.1177/00936502251393580
Yongliang Liu, Mark Boukes, Michael Hameleers, Hanqin Li, Huitao Li, Qing’an Zhou
Research on news media trust and the many related concepts has grown steadily in recent years. Yet, the field currently still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the extent to which the conceptualizations and operationalizations of these constructs are (mis)aligned. To address this gap, we systematically reviewed and content-analyzed 623 empirical publications on news media trust and related concepts from 1951 to 2025. We found a great diversity in operationalizations and conceptualizations of trust-related concepts, which could be partly explained by various contextual and methodological factors, such as the timing, region, and method of the research. By synthesizing previous definitions, we identified three distinct approaches to define these concepts, aiming to integrate the various perspectives on this topic. Our findings suggest that future research should aim for a more coherent operationalization of news media trust variables to ensure consistency and comparability across studies.
{"title":"Conceptualizations and Operationalizations of News Media Trust across Time and Borders: A Systematic Literature Review (1951–2025)","authors":"Yongliang Liu, Mark Boukes, Michael Hameleers, Hanqin Li, Huitao Li, Qing’an Zhou","doi":"10.1177/00936502251393580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251393580","url":null,"abstract":"Research on news media trust and the many related concepts has grown steadily in recent years. Yet, the field currently still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the extent to which the conceptualizations and operationalizations of these constructs are (mis)aligned. To address this gap, we systematically reviewed and content-analyzed 623 empirical publications on news media trust and related concepts from 1951 to 2025. We found a great diversity in operationalizations and conceptualizations of trust-related concepts, which could be partly explained by various contextual and methodological factors, such as the timing, region, and method of the research. By synthesizing previous definitions, we identified three distinct approaches to define these concepts, aiming to integrate the various perspectives on this topic. Our findings suggest that future research should aim for a more coherent operationalization of news media trust variables to ensure consistency and comparability across studies.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"60 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2026-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146000577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-26DOI: 10.1177/00936502251403310
Youllee Kim, Yong-Chan Kim, Xun Zhu
Communication infrastructure theory (CIT) posits that integrated connectedness to a community storytelling network (ICSN), which refers to individuals’ access to community communication resources and opportunities, positively affects civic engagement. We meta-analyzed this relationship with 23 studies ( k = 28, N = 17,792) and found that the overall effect of ICSN on civic engagement was moderate ( r = .38), with slightly different effect sizes for different types of civic engagement, including neighborhood belonging ( r = .42), collective efficacy ( r = .28), and civic participation ( r = .41). The relationship was largely unaffected by moderators. Among ICSN components, interpersonal neighborhood storytelling was particularly influential in fostering neighborhood belonging and civic participation, while the three components (i.e., interpersonal neighborhood storytelling, local media connectedness, and participation in community organizations) contributed similarly to collective efficacy. We discuss the importance of neighborhood storytelling in fostering civic engagement and offer implications for theoretical advancement and practical applications.
{"title":"Revisiting Communication Infrastructure Theory: A Meta-Analytical Approach to Understanding the Influence of Integrated Connectedness to a Neighborhood Storytelling Network","authors":"Youllee Kim, Yong-Chan Kim, Xun Zhu","doi":"10.1177/00936502251403310","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251403310","url":null,"abstract":"Communication infrastructure theory (CIT) posits that integrated connectedness to a community storytelling network (ICSN), which refers to individuals’ access to community communication resources and opportunities, positively affects civic engagement. We meta-analyzed this relationship with 23 studies ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">k</jats:italic> = 28, <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">N</jats:italic> = 17,792) and found that the overall effect of ICSN on civic engagement was moderate ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">r</jats:italic> = .38), with slightly different effect sizes for different types of civic engagement, including neighborhood belonging ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">r</jats:italic> = .42), collective efficacy ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">r</jats:italic> = .28), and civic participation ( <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">r</jats:italic> = .41). The relationship was largely unaffected by moderators. Among ICSN components, interpersonal neighborhood storytelling was particularly influential in fostering neighborhood belonging and civic participation, while the three components (i.e., interpersonal neighborhood storytelling, local media connectedness, and participation in community organizations) contributed similarly to collective efficacy. We discuss the importance of neighborhood storytelling in fostering civic engagement and offer implications for theoretical advancement and practical applications.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145830249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1177/00936502251405335
Nick Carcioppolo, Geyi Wang, Kaixu Yuan, Zixiao Yang, Dongya Wang
This study contributes to theory in persuasion and humor by hypothesizing distinct audience segments that determine how people respond to humor appeals. Across two studies, using a multiple message design and two different humor appeals, we specify and validate four discrete audience segments, referred to here as audience receptivity profiles, that align with previous theorizing and are differentially related to persuasion. Findings suggest that those with different audience receptivity profiles vary in whether they find humor appeals humorous, resulting in increased perceptions of humor and message-consistent persuasive effects among audiences who belong to supportive audience receptivity profiles, and decreased humor as well as increased likelihood of unintended effects among audiences who belong to non-supportive audience receptivity profiles. These findings align with previous theorizing in this area, and highlight when humor may have deleterious effects on audiences whose attitudes and values suggest they are most open to persuasive attempts.
{"title":"When Humor Appeals Fail and When They Succeed: Using Latent Profile Analysis to Identify Audience Receptivity to Humorous Messages","authors":"Nick Carcioppolo, Geyi Wang, Kaixu Yuan, Zixiao Yang, Dongya Wang","doi":"10.1177/00936502251405335","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251405335","url":null,"abstract":"This study contributes to theory in persuasion and humor by hypothesizing distinct audience segments that determine how people respond to humor appeals. Across two studies, using a multiple message design and two different humor appeals, we specify and validate four discrete audience segments, referred to here as audience receptivity profiles, that align with previous theorizing and are differentially related to persuasion. Findings suggest that those with different audience receptivity profiles vary in whether they find humor appeals humorous, resulting in increased perceptions of humor and message-consistent persuasive effects among audiences who belong to supportive audience receptivity profiles, and decreased humor as well as increased likelihood of unintended effects among audiences who belong to non-supportive audience receptivity profiles. These findings align with previous theorizing in this area, and highlight when humor may have deleterious effects on audiences whose attitudes and values suggest they are most open to persuasive attempts.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"93 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145770693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1177/00936502251401636
Wang Liao, Chelsea Kim, Bo Feng
This essay proposes that studying the emergence of solidarity through multi-actor supportive communication offers a useful lens for understanding the increasingly complex structures, dynamics, and communal nature of supportive communication in online communities. Drawing on research of social exchange, online community affordance, and social support type, the essay explores the links between multi-actor supportive communication patterns and solidarity experiences in online communities. It develops three propositions that connect four forms of exchange—reciprocal, negotiated, generalized, and productive—to the experiences of solidarity, moderated by affordance and support type as key communication-situational factors. Directions for empirical testing of these propositions are also discussed, along with implications for supportive communication research and the study of online communities.
{"title":"Multi-Actor Supportive Communication and the Emergence of Solidarity in Online Communities: A Situated Social Exchange Framework","authors":"Wang Liao, Chelsea Kim, Bo Feng","doi":"10.1177/00936502251401636","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502251401636","url":null,"abstract":"This essay proposes that studying the emergence of solidarity through multi-actor supportive communication offers a useful lens for understanding the increasingly complex structures, dynamics, and communal nature of supportive communication in online communities. Drawing on research of social exchange, online community affordance, and social support type, the essay explores the links between multi-actor supportive communication patterns and solidarity experiences in online communities. It develops three propositions that connect four forms of exchange—reciprocal, negotiated, generalized, and productive—to the experiences of solidarity, moderated by affordance and support type as key communication-situational factors. Directions for empirical testing of these propositions are also discussed, along with implications for supportive communication research and the study of online communities.","PeriodicalId":48323,"journal":{"name":"Communication Research","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145770691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}