Controversial Messages Research Articles

How might we motivate uptake of the Dual Prevention Pill? Findings from human-centered design research with potential end users, male partners, and healthcare providers.

Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPTs) combining contraception with HIV prevention offer a promising solution to uptake and adherence challenges faced with oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The Dual Prevention Pill (DPP), which combines oral PrEP with an oral contraceptive pill (OCP), could address unmet need for family planning (FP) and HIV prevention. This study aimed to identify barriers and motivators for DPP uptake to inform the development of a DPP demand generation strategy and broader introduction efforts for MPTs. Qualitative, ethnographic research employing human-centered design techniques was conducted in Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. A research consortium conducted 45 immersions, 34 key informant interviews, and 12 friendship circles with potential end users, male romantic partners, healthcare providers (HCPs), and cultural commentators. Creative concepts were subsequently co-created and validated in workshops with end users, male partners, and HCPs. Four major themes emerged. Women struggled to balance personal motivations with societal expectations. Relationship goals strongly influenced sexual and reproductive health decisions, particularly related to financial security and social status. Negative experiences, such as untrustworthy partners, were significant triggers for OCP and PrEP use. Lastly, male partners were concerned about the DPP upending gender norms but held more positive individual attitudes. Five initial audience segments for the DPP were identified: women seeking enjoyment outside of their primary relationship; new mothers adhering to social norms; women wanting to maintain romantic relationships; women at risk of unintended pregnancy; and women with unfaithful partners. Segments informed the development of three communication themes, with the preferred route highlighting the DPP as a tool to prepare for life's unpredictability. To effectively generate demand for the DPP, several strategies should be considered. Connecting with women's diverse identities and goals and celebrating their individuality is crucial. Linking the DPP to relationship goals reframes it as a means to protect relationships rather than a risk. Leveraging negative triggers through targeted media campaigns empowers women to take control of their sexual health during challenging moments. A balance in channel placement is necessary to raise public awareness while using more discrete channels for potentially controversial messages with male partners and wider communities.

Metaphors and pseudometaphors of language as controversial messages in public discourse about Serbian

Abstract Set in the contemporary public discourse about the Serbian language, this paper demonstrates how metaphors of and about language constructed with the source domains of violence and war (e.g., language occupation, language as battlefield, to fight for language) may serve nationalistic political aims and act as conflict-inciting messages, under the pretenses of typical language purism or ‘language care’. The concept of pseudometaphor is introduced as a figuration-based discursive strategy whereby metaphors for language, underpinned by the language-language users metonymy, may serve as tools for covertly conveying controversial messages about their respective language users. The analysis covers public discourse published in a span of eight years (2010–2018), involving institutionalized language and political campaigns, and less institutionalized public language debates. As convergent evidence for pseudo-metaphoricity of the language-war/violence metaphors and their potential for instigating inter-ethnic conflict, the analysis includes critical voices that expose the dominant ideology through literalization of their metaphorical models.

Cashing in on the culture wars?CEOactivism, wokewashing, and firm value

AbstractResearch SummaryIn this article, we examine under what conditions CEO activism—the practice of corporate leaders to take public stances on sociopolitical issues—can create firm value. In our model consumers care about the type of firm they buy from, but also understand that corporate leaders can make false or misleading statements to pander to valuable demographics. We show that, although the profitability of CEO activism is severely compromised by this wokewashing, under some conditions credible, value‐enhancing sociopolitical communications can still take place. We characterize (i) when corporate leaders prefer to stay silent; (ii) when wokewashing is so widespread that no credible communication is possible; and (iii) when instead some credible communication can take place. We also show how an intrinsically motivated CEO can destroy or increase firm value.Managerial SummaryMany corporate leaders take public stances on sociopolitical issues and observers suggest that this practice can sometimes create firm value. A problem with the idea, however, is that, if taking a certain stance is indeed value enhancing, then many other CEOs may be tempted to take the same stance opportunistically. In this article, we study how CEO activism can be profitable when wokewashing is a real concern. We show that credible, value‐enhancing sociopolitical communications require controversial messages, as significant opposition from consumers with different worldviews is necessary to ensure the credibility of communications. Far from being a “bug,” controversy is a feature of credible CEO activism. We also demonstrate that a CEO's intrinsic motivation to take a stand can sometimes create value by making communications more credible. Obliquely, then, a CEO not primarily motivated by profits may be the best at maximizing profits.

A Wisdom (Not) of This Age: Paul’s Education from His Letters to the Early Acts

This article takes up the matter of Paul’s education and explores it within the Roman world of education. In order to do this, the article draws upon and contributes to reception historical studies of Paul. More specifically, the article illustrates the flexibility of Paul’s education as it is described in his letters, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Acts of Paul. While Paul downplays his education in several autobiographical statements within his letters, his letters nevertheless suggest that Paul received a high level of education. The Acts of the Apostles further contributes to an early Christian portrayal of Paul as an educated figure by giving readers a Paul who speaks eloquently and presents a controversial message that can be narrated with reference to both Jewish scripture and to Graeco-Roman philosophy. The Acts of Paul presents Paul as a persuasive speaker, but the speeches contained within this narrative are generally of a more concise nature. On the other hand, the Acts of Paul presents Paul as a writer who can read and respond eloquently to highly disputed queries from other groups of believers. These texts coalesce in depicting a Paul who is well educated, but they differ in their depictions of how his education was evident in his life.

Toward a Theory of Political Science and the Future of Exopolitics

The aim of this paper is to inform (or enlighten) the public about exopolitics, which is a sub-discipline of political science that puts a new spin on studying extraterrestrial life or non-human, intelligent entities — that is, as it especially relates to politics. And despite its contrary and controversial message, exopolitics pushes the political science envelope. Indeed, the discipline speaks volumes about a supposed relationship we (humans) may have with intelligent creatures outside our realm of understanding, particularly with an unprecedented wave of UFO sightings worldwide. Of course, human beings have always felt the need to connect with other humans; but will this position mean that we can also come together with humanoids from another planet? Exopolitics is also concerned with other alien worlds, and different academic thought processes that might led to profound misunderstandings about this specific political science discipline, and our understanding of the fabric of the universe. Further, we need objectivity and clarity when it comes to studying exopolitics. Finally, exopolitics, fortunately, has not caused some kind of academic backlash; nor is it some namby-pamby academic discipline that has no bearing on anything.

Should the sculpture of Synagoga at Bamberg Cathedral be removed? Considerations and approaches to the problem of anti-Jewish images in a Christian church

Since the early thirteenth century the outstanding Gothic sculptures of Synagoga and Ecclesia at Bamberg Cathedral - personifications of Judaism and the Church - have been part of an iconographic programme of the history of salvation. After the original statues at the Princes’ portal were relocated to the interior for conservation reasons, copies now fill the gaps in the portal’s pictorial programme. This ‘doubling’ of the motif and of its message recently led to demands for the removal of Synagoga. The archbishop, cathedral chapter and monument conservators are striving to retain both groups of figures in situ in order to preserve their history and context at the cathedral while confronting their controversial message. The aim of this article is to situate the sculptures of Ecclesia and Synagoga in the context of the many, often conflicting positions that have arisen during the current debate and to discuss these points of view in the context of present-day tendencies towards iconoclasm. Thus it considers the applicability of the term antisemitic to medieval sculptures and examines the iconographic development of the Ecclesia-Synagoga group for its anti-Jewish or antisemitic content. It also considers the partial or complete loss of the medieval horizon of meaning in today’s secular society, which leads to a loss of acceptance of the monument. The article concludes with a ten-point plan which aims to reconstruct the legibility of the figures and to raise awareness of the meaning and value of the sculptures without perpetuating outdated patterns of thinking.

The ambivalent visit: Children's experiences of relating with their fathers during staying in shelters for women survivors of domestic violence

AbstractChildren's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious problem that has been increasingly examined during the last four decades. In the case of severe IPV, children are placed with their mothers in shelters for women survivors of domestic violence (SDV). The current study aimed to understand young children's descriptions of relating with their fathers during their stay in SDVs. Interviews were conducted with 32 Israeli children, aged 7 to 12 years. Two main themes and five subthemes were identified through thematic analysis: (1) Atypical visiting arrangements (subthemes: a lack of understanding about the meaning of supervised visitations, inconsistent and unstable visitations); (2) ambivalent attitudes towards the visiting arrangements (subthemes: enjoying fathers' attention and shared family time, worry and guilt following the visitations, controversial messages from fathers). The findings demonstrate the children's subjective views and emphasize the benefit of gathering qualitative data from young children in the context of exposure to IPV. Findings are discussed in light of the cognitive dissonance reduction theory. Limitations of the study are discussed, along with implications for practice, theory and future research.

Working toward a theoretical model for source comprehension in everyday discourse

ABSTRACT Comprehension substantially benefits from attending to, thinking about, and mentally representing the sources of any presented information. Such processes require mental effort and unfortunately people do not always engage in such activities. The current article presents a nascent, evolving model of discourse comprehension that formalizes mechanisms to predict and explain people’s strategic use of source information. The discrepancy-induced source comprehension (D-ISC) model and its theoretical assumptions describe the moment-by-moment cognitive processes in which readers engage when they interact with potentially contradictory or controversial messages presented by different information sources. The utility of the model is supported by evidence from a growing research base examining single- and multiple-text comprehension experiences. The D-ISC model is also useful for suggesting future directions that could help build more-nuanced understandings of the ways that diverse readers engage in sourcing activities within everyday discourse contexts.

Unveiling unseen climate practices on Instagram

Climate change is often portrayed through stereotypical, extreme or controversial messages, with the role of human agency attached to consumption and demonstrations. Such depictions can be demotivating and cause issue fatigue. There is a need to broaden and elaborate our understanding of human connections to climate change. The aim of this paper is to identify a wide array of climate practices expressed by social media users. An empirical study of 42 Finnish ecological Instagram accounts was conducted. The textual and visual contents of climate-related posts were qualitatively analyzed to identify climate practices and the role visual images play in these representations. Six types of climate practices were identified in the data: detaching, reforming, transilluminating, persevering, caring and consolidating. The visualization of climate practices should be expanded in the media to broaden the understanding of potential human agency in the climate crisis.

Immediate and Persisting Effects of Controversial Media Information on Young People's Judgement of Health Issues.

Whether true or false, media information shapes people’s thinking. False information trigger beliefs which could compromise health behaviour. In this intervention study, the effect of controversial messages on 91 young participants’ judgement of health issues was tested. Held opinions about health-related issues were assessed before, after and one week after viewing a controversial TV-interview. Using pre-interview opinions for baseline, changes in judgements were assessed immediately after and one week after the interview. At both times, the opinions differed statistically significantly from baseline (p < .001). The relationship between opinions immediately- and one week-after viewing the interview was statistically significantly stronger (p < .001) than their association with the baseline. The results provide evidence for immediate change in judgment resulting from controversial information and demonstrate that the change persists for at least one week. The findings can be explained based on the schema theory and suggest that controversial information could have powerful impact on subjective judgement. Consequently, young people need to be educated in health issues and in the evaluation of media information to enable them to make the right choice when the need arises.

Navigating Alarming Media Messages About Nutrition and Health

This study focuses the emerging need for young people to critically respond to alarming messages in contemporary media highlighting the potential benefits or harms of certain foods. Besides being technical, advancements in the field of nutrition reported in media are often of tentative and speculative character, primarily selected and constructed on the basis of their news value rather than as representing established knowledge. The study aims to study students’ capabilities to navigate and critically respond to controversial media messages about health and nutrition in the context of science education. Our theoretical point of departure is in the concept “an examined life” in the critical reflection tradition of Socrates and the Stoics. We analyze how groups of upper secondary science class students engage in critical examination of a controversial message about cow’s milk encountered through Swedish public service news media on the Internet. The results illuminate that even when controversial findings are produced by a reputed university and communicated through independent media, students are capable of discerning the need to scrutinize such findings and are capable of performing such critical examination drawing on experiences of scientific investigations. Students’ openness to question authoritative voices in society and to illuminate the new findings on milk from multiple perspectives reflects how “an examined life” may be enacted in the context of science education. Inviting students to participate in related activities shows promise for enabling a critical examination of themselves and others in ways deemed important for democratic citizenship.

Editor’s Note

Previous articleNext article FreeEditor’s NoteFull TextPDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThis issue introduces an expansion of the journal’s “Art Work” section to include both artists’ and curators’ creative engagements with the Archives of American Art. Reaching across the collections, curator Robert Cozzolino composes a visual argument about the ethics of seeing private, and at times unexpected, materials in artists’ archives. Through his judicious selection, juxtaposition, and display of primary sources, he thinks about how and if researchers should disseminate such materials. Cozzolino asks: Are there aspects of artists’ papers that, once uncovered, can or should ever be unseen?If this curatorial intervention sheds light on what it means to see into archives, the essays in this issue’s “New Research” section grapple with the issue of not seeing. They do so by probing a variety of archival absences and ambiguities. Sarah Gordon considers why a New Deal mural by Rockwell Kent, which offered a controversial message of liberation to Puerto Ricans, has been largely lost to history. Christina Weyl asks, through the case of Worden Day, how scholars might fill in the missing or forgotten details of a woman artist’s life and career. Amelia Barikin and Chris McAuliffe treat the remains of an unrealized film script as both a record and component of Robert Smithson’s artistic practice.“Archive Matters” continues the themes of absence and ambiguity by reflecting on what archival rediscoveries can tell us about American art and its histories. In my own essay, I find that unearthing a lost archive devoted to Maine art reveals a great deal, including the critical revaluation of regionality since the 1960s. Julia Bryan-Wilson, however, argues for not allowing the information we uncover in archives to determine solely the meaning of art. She focuses on her own archival find: notes on possible titles for Louise Nevelson’s abstract sculptures.In closing, I wish to note that Liza Kirwin, deputy director of the Archives, has been integral to the editorial team since we relaunched the journal in 2015, working on every issue alongside me and Emily D. Shapiro. It is in grateful acknowledgement of her efforts and support that we add her name to the masthead. Previous articleNext article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Archives of American Art Journal Volume 58, Number 2Fall 2019 Sponsored by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/706830 Views: 95 © 2019 by The Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved. Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Communicating for conservation: circumventing conflict with communities over domestic dog ownership in north Morocco

Conservationists consider open and direct communication as best practice even when their data conflict with local beliefs. However, ensuring the effective delivery of a controversial message without overtly challenging community identity is difficult. Such a scenario needs high levels of meaningful contact and trust-building dialogue between conservationists and communities as well as innovative means of communicating controversial information. Indirect communication is one such strategy, allowing people to draw their own conclusions about controversial information. We present an example of successful indirect communication of such information in the context of a long-term Barbary macaque community conservation project in Morocco. Dogs in the area kill macaques and domestic livestock in the forest, and local shepherds believed these dogs to be feral. However, our observations identified these dogs as being owned, free-roaming village dogs rather than feral dogs. To impart this controversial information, we developed a dog health programme to communicate our findings and improve the health of domestic dogs to safeguard human and animal health. We administered rabies vaccinations to dogs in three villages and provided their owners with brightly coloured dog collars. After observing collared dogs hunting in the forest, the shepherds realised the dogs had owners. Community participation was high and we vaccinated 242 dogs achieving 60–81% vaccination coverage. An additional benefit of the activity was to successfully convey the message that the conservation team is committed to local people’s welfare as well as to Barbary macaque conservation.

Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and barriers for its continuation up to six months in Kandy district, Sri Lanka

BackgroundSince 2005, the national policy on breastfeeding in Sri Lanka is exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months, as recommended by World Health Organization. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and barriers for its’ continuation up to 6 months, in Kandy District, Sri Lanka.MethodsA clinic based cross-sectional study was conducted from August to November 2016, in six randomly selected Medical Officer of Health areas in the Kandy District. The sample was selected proportionate to the population of each Medical Officer of Health area and 354 mothers with infants aged 6 months, attending the child welfare clinics were recruited. Data were collected by an interviewer administered questionnaire using mother recall data since birth. A focus group discussion was conducted on 21 mothers who discontinued exclusive breastfeeding early. The infant taking only breast milk and no additional food, water, or other fluids with the exception of medicines and vitamins or mineral drops for the first 6 months was used as the definition of exclusive breastfeeding.ResultsThe prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months was 50.8% (180/354) while the median duration was 6 months. Mother being employed (AOR 3.01; 95% CI 1.45, 6.29), mother’s poor knowledge on what she meant by exclusive breastfeeding (AOR 3.75; 95% CI 2.14, 6.54) and mother’s poor attitudes towards exclusive breastfeeding (AOR 2.98; 95% CI 1.76, 5.03) were independently associated with early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. Unsupported environment in public places was not significantly associated with early cessation of exclusive breastfeeding. Focus group discussion revealed controversial health messages on exclusive breastfeeding delivered at different points of healthcare delivery, cultural practices which discouraged exclusive breastfeeding and difficulties in obtaining maternity leave as barriers for exclusive breastfeeding.ConclusionsThe prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months was not satisfactory and there were barriers identified in healthcare system, family and work places towards exclusive breastfeeding. For further improvement in the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding these issues need to be addressed and necessary changes in legislation implemented.

Uncivil Twitter

AbstractUsing four tweets by Steven Salaita about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that resulted in the retraction of his academic job offer in September 2014 as our case study, we investigate the role of Twitter in the shaping and reception of the controversial messages. Our analysis combines Gricean pragmatics with im/politeness and hate-speech research to reveal a complex layering of potential meanings stemming from what is linguistically encoded in each tweet. Their construal as hate speech, in particular, depends on which of these potential meanings critics chose to focus upon. We account for this finding by considering the diversity of potential audiences of a tweet and suggest that the effects of context collapse on implicated meanings can be especially detrimental. Competition for attention among incoming tweets, Twitter’s central affiliative function and applicable length restrictions can, nevertheless, place a premium on communicating such meanings.

An autonomous lightweight conditional privacy-preserving authentication scheme with provable security for vehicular ad-hoc networks

ABSTRACTVehicular ad hoc network (VANET) is an emerging technology in wireless communications which has the prospect to improve traffic safety and efficiency, as well as reduce air pollution. The traffic-related messages transmitted between vehicles and roadside units must be signed and verified without revealing the real identities of the vehicles. However, an authorized trusted party must be able to obtain the real identity of a vehicle on a controversial message. Existing conditional privacy-preserving authentication (CPPA) schemes in VANETs either rely on a tamper-proof device or complex mathematical operations such as bilinear pairing and map-to-point hash function or cannot meet the privacy and security requirements in VANETs. In this work, we propose an efficient CPPA scheme for VANETs based on the elliptic curve cryptography without relying on any hardware device. The scheme satisfies the security and privacy requirements of VANETs, solves private key compromise problem, and provides countermeasure against privilege escalation. We show that the scheme is existentially secure against an adaptive chosen message and identity attacks in the random oracle model based on the hardness of the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem. The performance results show that the proposed scheme is more efficient than previous schemes in VANETs.

Politics of Bricolage and the Double-Sided Message of the LEGO Movie

With the release of The Lego Movie in 2014, Frankfurt School’s critical theory once again finds an application in the contemporary media landscape. Its main postulates articulated by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer have never lost significance and relevance. New media products provide a convenient platform to engage in the discussion and reinforce some of the most influential critiques of the culture industries. Although with less negative dialect, the paper approaches Horkheimer’s and Adorno’s critique of mass culture in a contemporary media landscape referencing their most influential work of critical theory - Dialectic of Enlightenment. The paper carefully examines the script of The Lego Movie and producers’ interviews and relates those to the critical concepts of the culture industries. From the onset, The Lego Movie brings up a few controversial messages. First, the idea of creativity and imagination appears to be limited to the use of the brick, namely the Lego brick. Secondly, although the basic maxim of the movie is the promotion of self-identity and individuality, the development of these personal traits through the storyline is debatable. Finally, the producers’ aim to criticize American mass culture and the culture industry is dubious as much as their claim to have no intention for the movie to serve as a commercial. The paradox of the latter is poignant since the critique of mass culture is embedded in the product of the same culture — the medium of the screen — the movie. The Lego movie uses a powerful medium to convey the message of the consumer culture – the colorful brick, which is easily recognized by kids all over the world. It is arguable whether the medium intensifies the messages disseminated through the movie. A massive increase in the sales of Lego sets after the movie’s release may suggest an affirmative answer.

The Discrepancy-Induced Source Comprehension (D-ISC) Model: Basic Assumptions and Preliminary Evidence

Despite the importance of source attention and evaluation for learning from texts, little is known about the particular conditions that encourage sourcing during reading. In this article, basic assumptions of the discrepancy-induced source comprehension (D-ISC) model are presented, which describes the moment-by-moment cognitive processes that readers undergo when reading-to-understand controversial messages. We then review supporting evidence from single and multiple text comprehension research. In the discussion, we draw conclusions based on the theoretical and empirical research, highlight limitations of what is known to date, and suggest how further investigations of D-ISC might address these concerns.

Experiencing Racial Humor with Outgroups: A Psychophysiological Examination of Co-Viewing Effects

Research on co-viewing (or group viewing) is scarce. Yet, co-viewing has important implications for the viewers’ entertainment experience and the way viewers respond to and evaluate entertainment—especially those with controversial messages. The present study investigated responses to racial humor content among racial in-group and out-group viewing contexts. Specifically, the study examined the extent to which Blacks and Whites would experience discomfort when viewing racial slurs in comedies with in-group compared to out-group members. Employing real-time psychophysiological data and multilevel time series models, the study found a significant increase in emotional arousal (indicated by SCRs) and distraction (indicated by RSA) among Blacks in the context of out-group viewing compared to in-group viewing, but not for Whites. Implications of findings are discussed.

Strategia zarządzania kampanią na przykładzie przekazów audiowizualnych ruchu pro­‑life

W niniejszym artykule został poruszony problem kampanii, które nie są zorientowane na dobra konsumpcyjne, lecz promują takie wartości jak życie od naturalnego poczęcia. Analizie pragmatyczno­‑kontekstowej zostały poddane przekazy, które – mimo że przynależą do komunikacji o charakterze przekonywającym, ich przedmiotem nie są żadne dobra materialne, ale pewne idee. Przeprowadzone analizy komunikatów reprezentatywnych dla poszczególnych typów (reklama wizualna i audiowizualna, oparta na emocjach negatywnych i na odczuciach pozytywnych) wskazują na silny trend korzystania z tradycyjnych strategii reklamowych. Po pierwsze jest to bazowanie na przekazie kontrowersyjnym, mogącym naruszać granice odbiorczej estetyki, zmierzającym w kierunku shockvertisingu, po drugie – plasująca się na przeciwległym biegunie komunikacja oparta na przekazie o cechach charakterystycznych dla takich gatunków jak np. dokument. Wnioski, jakie powstały w wyniku przeprowadzonych analiz, wskazują na zapotrzebowanie na tego typu kampanię, która opiera się nie na nachalnej komunikacji perswazyjnej, ale na – zwiększającym atrakcyjność odbioru – przekazie pozytywnym i życzliwym. Wskazany został kierunek, w jakim – zdaniem autorki – powinni zmierzać specjaliści, odpowiedzialni za przygotowanie i przeprowadzenie strategii medialnej i wizerunkowej w strukturach ruchów pro­‑life.