Abstract: In recent decades, social media has become an integral part of adolescents’ daily life, reshaping peer interactions. To overcome the limitations of the quantitative approach of adolescents’ social media use when investigating relationships with psychological outcomes, motivational factors have become increasingly popular. The first aim was to review the psychometric properties of existent tools used to measure adolescents’ social media use motives. The second objective was to elaborate a classification of the main motives among adolescents. Following PRISMA guidelines, 14 articles were reviewed based on the search of 5 databases. Psychometric properties were examined based on the COSMIN guidelines. The reviewed articles showed a heterogeneous process, with only two of them considered as a satisfying procedure of development and validation. Based on the Use and Gratification Theory, a classification of the five main motives for adolescents’ social media use was developed. Overall, this study encourages the pursuit of studies on social media use among adolescence, while carefully choosing a tool with satisfying psychometric properties.

Abstract: The soap opera effect is an unsettling feeling that some individuals experience while watching films at a high framerate. It has received little scholarly attention, and most explanations of it are speculative or anecdotal. Drawing on the mere exposure effect, this preregistered laboratory experiment provides new evidence of framerate sensitivity and cinemagoing as explanatory factors of the soap opera effect. Undergraduate students ( N = 270) reported their cinemagoing and completed a novel task to measure their framerate sensitivity. They also completed a task indicating their framerate preferences. Those with a higher framerate sensitivity and more regular cinemagoing preferred the standard framerate in one scene and the high framerate in another scene. These divergent findings may be due to differences in camera movement and luminance between the scenes.

Abstract: This study examines how personality is associated with the willingness to engage with opposing political views across two distinct contexts: interpersonal discussions and the media. Drawing on survey data from 1,340 Swiss–German participants, this study reveals that engagement with diverse political views is not solely shaped by stable personality traits but also by the characteristics of the informational context. Openness, for instance, shows a positive relationship with seeking controversial information in the media but not the interpersonal sphere, while extraversion is linked to a preference for controversial political discussions. Nevertheless, our results also point to a particular personality type, plasticity (i.e., shared variance of openness and extraversion), that seems to be more actively engaged in cross-cutting exposure across communication settings. In contrast, individuals high in stability (i.e., shared variance of conscientiousness, emotional stability, and agreeableness) tend to be somewhat less engaged.

Abstract: Human–computer interaction has advanced significantly with the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. However, it’s unclear whether users perceive these chatbots to have positive human qualities. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, university students evaluated the perceived warmth and benevolence of a chatbot, whereby we altered the description of the chatbot across experimental groups. Specifically, we altered its description according to Asch’s (1946) concept of warmth, where we varied it to have traits suggesting high or low kindness, and we also varied the language used in the chatbot description (technical vs. anthropomorphic). We hypothesized that describing the chatbot using anthropomorphic (humanlike language) vs. technical language would increase its perceived warmth and benevolence and that descriptions highlighting kindness would enhance the chatbot’s perceived warmth. Results revealed that kindness-related descriptions of the chatbot significantly affected its perceived warmth and benevolence, whereas differences in anthropomorphic or technical language did not. The role of personality traits in shaping AI perceptions is discussed.

Abstract: Social media are increasingly becoming platforms for moral discussions. Users communicating on a moral level can encourage us to engage with information regarding a moral debate by activating processes that shape our moral judgments. To investigate these processes, this paper studies the effect of attitude congruence and morally-framed arguments on the selection, reading time, and liking of social media content related to moral debates and whether the level of perceived moral relevance of the topic influences the effects’ strength. Further the role of identification with other users when choosing what content to interact with is examined. In a 2 x 2 x 2 mixed design experiment, participants were given an information selection task in which they were shown different posts within a mockup Facebook feed. Here, comment valence (positive vs. negative), type of argumentation within the comment (moral argument vs. no moral argument) and the opinion climate within one’s ingroup (ingroup supports attitude-consistent vs. attitude-inconsistent views) were manipulated. Results supported the confirmation bias regarding the selection and liking of content in social media. The hypothesized effects of moral arguments, relevance and group identification did not influence information selection or reading duration. Exploratory analyses revealed that content accompanied by comments with moral arguments has a higher likelihood of being liked, especially when the issue is seen as morally significant.

Abstract: The present investigation aimed to explore the mechanisms through which engaging with narrative entertainment (e.g., written or video) might fulfill the relatedness need satisfaction in audience members. Using both correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Study 2) methodology, we examined the degree to which relatedness needs might be satisfied in viewers via a direct route (i.e., through meaningful parasocial relationships with narrative characters) and via a vicarious route (i.e., through identification with a character who has satisfying relationships). Results indicated that each route can facilitate relatedness need satisfaction in narrative audiences. The present studies highlight how audiences experience characters both as shared selves and as distinct others and illustrate how narrative engagement can serve as a source for experiences and fulfillment outside of our day-to-day lives.

Abstract: Although research suggests that popular media can shape adults’ perceptions of scientists, studies with younger audiences remain scarce. In this preregistered online experiment, children aged 8–12 ( N = 256) viewed an animated television program that featured women who varied in their character role (i.e., superheroes vs. supervillains) and character description (i.e., labeled vs. not labeled as scientists). Children reported high levels of epistemic trust in scientists overall. However, viewing a villainous woman who was labeled (vs. not labeled) as a scientist led to slight reductions in epistemic trust. Furthermore, habitual exposure to superhero television negatively predicted one dimension of epistemic trust (i.e., perceived benevolence). We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings and offer practical suggestions for content design.

Abstract: Despite the proliferation of equality-focused actions on social media, such as the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, discrimination is still prevalent on these platforms. While confronting prejudice may reduce future discrimination (i.e., counter-speech), several factors limit confrontation within face-to-face interactions (i.e., social costs, perceived effectiveness, self-efficacy). Intervention is also more likely when others’ actions are driven by situational factors (i.e., external attribution) than stable features of personality (i.e., internal attributions). Yet, whether these antecedents of face-to-face confrontation parallel online confrontation is unclear. Participants ( N = 120) viewed a sexist or neutral social media profile manipulated to be consistent or inconsistent (i.e., facilitating internal and external attributions, respectively) and were asked to respond to the user’s recent post. Inconsistently sexist profiles were more likely to be confronted than consistently sexist profiles. However, participants exhibited more effort in responding (i.e., number of characters) to sexist than neutral prompts, regardless of the user’s consistency. Higher self-efficacy increased confrontation of sexist profiles, with larger effects emerging for inconsistent sexist behavior. Contrary to expectations, heightened social cost (i.e., perceived risks of confrontation) increased response effort for sexist profiles. These counterintuitive results indicate cognitive appraisals for online counter-speech might differ from face-to-face confrontation, potentially driven by partial anonymity, physical distance, and temporal delay of feedback observed in social media interactions. While results provide partial support for the role of attribution and individual differences for online confrontation, additional research is needed to understand antecedents of counter-speech on social media.

Abstract: Given that music remains relatively understudied in eudaimonic media effect research, the present study investigated the effect of music video consumption on eudaimonic emotions and prosocial outcomes. A pre-registered experiment ( N = 326) was conducted to examine the associations between eudaimonic music consumption, emotions, prosocial motivations, and donation willingness. Findings showed that participants viewing the eudaimonic music videos reported significantly higher eudaimonic emotions and corresponding physical reactions compared to those who viewed hedonic music videos. Path analysis results revealed the associations between music video consumption and prosocial orientation and willingness to donate to a worthy cause.