Pew Data Research Articles

Tweeting, talking, or doing politics? Testing the influence of communication on democratic engagement

Being politically and civically engaged is known to benefit society. Using online forums, such as Twitter (the social media platform now known as X), for democratic engagement is now commonplace. However, research is inconclusive on whether offline and online activities similarly result in real-world engagement. Using secondary analysis of Pew data, both types of engagement are compared among Twitter users. Results show Twitter users engaged online, but not offline. However, those who posted about political/social issues democratically engaged both offline and online.

Improving Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: Can Mobile Health Interventions Affect Behavior?

* Abbreviations: LGB+ — : lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority mHealth — : mobile health SRH — : sexual and reproductive health In this issue of Pediatrics , Ybarra et al1 report the results of a national randomized controlled trial of Girl2Girl, a mobile health (mHealth) intervention aiming to reduce pregnancy rates among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority (LGB+) adolescent girls. Researchers randomly assigned 948 girls aged 14 to 18 to the theory-based, user-informed text messaging intervention versus an attention-matched control group. At trial end, 5 months post-enrollment, those in the Girl2Girl intervention group were significantly more likely to have condom-protected sex and use a birth control method other than condoms. The study allows us to reflect on the overall impact of mHealth interventions to date because few mHealth interventions have been successful in affecting adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to the level of Girl2Girl.2 Several reasons likely contribute to this variation. First, behavior change is multifactorial, especially SRH behaviors, affected by a variety of societal and contextual factors. These factors make behavior change challenging to comprehensively address within one intervention. Next, retention rates in mHealth trials can be suboptimal. Adolescents frequently change phone numbers and experience phone disconnections, making patient follow-up challenging and full intervention delivery problematic.3 Lastly, the adoption of any mHealth intervention competes with a host … Address correspondence to Lauren S. Chernick, MD, MSc, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 3959 Broadway, CHN 1-116, New York, NY 10032. E-mail: lc2243{at}columbia.edu

Cross-Cultural Variation in Men’s Beardedness

To test whether cross-cultural variation in men’s facial hair conforms to patterns predicted by processes of inter-sexual and intra-sexual selection. Data were taken from the PEW Research Center’s World’s Muslims’ project that collected information from 14,032 men from 25 countries. An Independent Factor Analysis was used to analyse how suites of demographic factors predict men’s beardedness. Analyses replicated those from past research using the PEW data, showing that beardedness was more frequent under prevailing conditions of lower health and higher economic disparity. These findings contribute to evidence that men’s decision to augment their masculinity via full beardedness occurs under conditions characterised by stronger inter-sexual and intra-sexual selection.

“Accessories included”: Armed Christians and the mythos of heroic violence

The myth of the “good guy with a gun” is a seductive one for Americans, who cite self-defense as the foremost reason for gun ownership, and Pew data show that white, self-identified evangelicals are more likely than members of other faith groups or the average citizen to own and carry a gun. This fantasy of the individual hero’s efficacy is enticing but, I argue, incoherent. Through comparison of past and present Southern Baptist Convention resolutions on gun violence and a close reading of gun rights advocacy rhetoric, I show how biblical language and heroic biblical exemplars are exploited to fuse fantasies of highly individualistic, personal power with a glorification of national power. The iconography of gun manufacturer merchandise perpetrates a misreading of history and Scripture, and, at least implicitly, of medieval romantic texts, as well. Careful attention to gun manufacturer advertising iconography, and to the medieval textual tradition that it appropriates, reveals a warning that the self-authorized hero, lethally “accessorized,” is as likely to threaten the safety of the community he serves as to guard it.

The Effects of 'Nostra Aetate:' Comparative Analyses of Catholic Antisemitism More Than Five Decades after the Second Vatican Council

From Roman Catholicism’s early days, Antisemitism was its Original Sin. With its Second Vatican Council Declaration aetate, many would have hoped that the Church buried the demons of Catholic Antisemitism for good. But just how thick is the ice that now separates global contemporary Catholic publics from the temptations of a re-emergence of Catholic Antisemitism? While the study of global Antisemitism received important new and global empirical insights from the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) 100 study (ADL, 2014) covering more than 100 countries, comparative studies on Antisemitism among global Roman Catholics are rather lacking. But Antisemitism is around in the world again, and it does so in staggering proportions. It is thus extremely important in view of Catholicism’s still existing role in Western society to find out whether or not practicing Roman Catholics are an exemption from these trends. Our study focuses on indicators of Antisemitism of entire countries in comparison with their practicing Roman Catholic communities, i. e. those Catholics who attend Sunday Mass regularly, the so-called Dominicantes, which still make up some 45% of the global 1.3 billion Roman Catholics according to our population weighted data. Our study is based on the rigorous statistical analysis of freely available cross-national opinion data sets, using the SPSS XXIV statistical software. Since our freely available global database, the World Values Survey, does not offer better, alternative Antisemitism indicators, we had to rely in our work on the rates of rejection of Jewish neighbors, which explain 56.16% of the variance of the far superior ADL (2014) data series, for which the original interviews and the background variables are unfortunately not freely available to global publics. Our proxy results about the anchoring of in the hearts and minds of active global Catholics, based on World Values Survey and other global opinion data are unfortunately not optimistic and suggest the following tendencies: On a global scale, about one in five practicing Roman Catholics still reject to have a Jewish neighbor, irrespective of all the Church’s teaching on Judaism since the Second Vatican Council; Ceteris paribus, adherence to Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Islam all are still to be considered as lamentable and significant drivers of the rate of societal Antisemitism (ADL data) in standard OLS multiple regression analyses; A combined Index, developed for this publication, tells us how well active Roman Catholics, attending Church services each Sunday, accepted Jewish neighbors, secondly, whether active Roman Catholics more accepted Jewish neighbors than the society surrounding them, and third, whether the acceptancy of Jewish neighbors increased or decreased over time. Our data show that among the world’s top performing Roman Catholic active communities we find the Dominicantes in the Czech Republic, United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, and Argentina, while among world’s Catholicism worst Nostra aetate performers we find the active Catholic communities in Spain, Poland, Malta, Slovenia, Mexico, and Slovakia. In those countries, social realities among the active Catholic faithful could not be more distant from the ideas and perspectives, expressed in Nostra aetate. In our inter-religious comparison, we also found that only the Catholic Dominicantes in Argentina and the United States were among the world’s top 10% performers in overcoming Antisemitism, while the Catholic Dominicantes in Venezuela, Bosnia, Nigeria, Slovakia, South Africa and South Korea were among the world’s lamentable bottom 2/3 of communities in overcoming Antisemitism. We also analyzed PEW data on the support or rejection of the Jewish State, and European Social Survey data on the acceptancy of Jewish immigration to Europe among religiously active Roman Catholics in comparison to the respective total populations. We also highlight the drivers of Antisemitism by interreligious comparison, using an OLS regression procedure applied to World Values Survey data and analyze the connections between general religious tolerance and Antisemitism. Efforts of public diplomacy by states, transnational media corporations and transnational centers of higher learning concerned with these developments should be undertaken.

The Role of Sharia and Religious Leaders in Influencing Violent Radicalism

As non-state actors, Muslim religious leaders have become influential in many communities through the non-violent action of popularizing sharia narratives. This is despite these leaders having had less influence about 50 years ago, due to the encroaching of modernity backed by science. Science not only contests religious leaders’ worldview, but it also offers a credible alternative. However, beginning in the 1970s, thanks to Saudi Arabia’s backing, religious leaders began growing in power due to the popularization of a self-serving theme that sharia is all-encompassing divine law and an essential guide to life. A new analysis of the 2003 Pew data shows us that religious leaders’ political and religious influences correlate with sharia’s popularity, and in turn, can correlate with politically motivated violence. Calling the sharia bluff as a core part of a counterterrorism approach – the Pew data tells us – is central to undermining the influence of radical religious leaders and the ideology of radicals. Not least of all, this approach, as history suggests, has a good chance of reinvigorating modernity in affected Muslim communities.

Occidentalism, Terrorism, and the Shariia State: New Multivariate Perspectives on Islamism Based on International Survey Data

Our article attempts to be yet another empirical contribution to the evolving international debate about global Islamist terrorism. We rely on the analysis of PEW and World Values Survey data from Muslim publics in different countries around the globe to analyze by multivariate promax factor analysis and standard OLS multiple regression which factors contributed to the approval or the rejection of terrorist acts, measured by such variables as the opinion on suicide bombing, Shari’a law and the favorability of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. We also analyze the drivers of general opinions on Islamic extremist groups and reactions to the ambitions of Iran and its nuclear program. We arrive at the conclusion that it would be wrong to define radical Islamism only in terms of the identification with outright support for the immediate “bomb-throwing terror”, while neglecting the underlying ideological and dangerous radicalism and also ongoing radicalization of such organizations as the Muslim Brotherhood or the Turkish Milli Gorus, which both start, like the most radicalized factions of Islamist terrorism, from the intense hatred of “Jews and Free Masons” and Western civilization as such, and which for many on both sides of the Atlantic appear as “moderate Islamists” and worthy partners of dialogue, while in reality they provide the fertile ground from which the armed terrorist groups only can develop. We highlight the role of the omnipresent hatred of America and the West which we term “Occidentalism”, but also the intense competition between Islamist and secular, Marxist terror groups which still exist in the Middle East and the entire Muslim world, and the Sunni/Shia competition as well as regional quests for hegemony. With Bassam Tibi we also analyze the close connection between the Islamist sharia ideology and the overall aspects of Islamism. Based on PEW data, we show that the two main drivers of Muslim opposition against suicide bombing are the rejection of honor killing and the death penalty against Muslims who chose to leave the Muslim community altogether. Our promax factor analyses confirm the relevance of this approach.

The Role of Sharia and Religious Leaders in Influencing Violent Radicalism

As non-state actors, Muslim religious leaders have become influential in many communities through the non-violent action of popularizing sharia narratives. This is despite these leaders having had less influence about 50 years ago, due to the encroaching of modernity backed by science. Science not only contests religious leaders’ worldview, but it also offers a credible alternative. However, beginning in the 1970s, thanks to Saudi Arabia’s backing, religious leaders began growing in power due to the popularization of a self-serving theme that sharia is all-encompassing divine law and an essential guide to life. A new analysis of the 2003 Pew data shows us that religious leaders’ political and religious influences correlate with sharia’s popularity, and in turn, can correlate with politically motivated violence. Calling the sharia bluff as a core part of a counterterrorism approach – the Pew data tells us – is central to undermining the influence of radical religious leaders and the ideology of radicals. Not least of all, this approach, as history suggests, has a good chance of reinvigorating modernity in affected Muslim communities.

Transforming the news value chain in the social era: a community perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to understand the influence that the social era is having on the value chain of the local news industry. The authors theoretically advance value chain theory by, firstly, considering the influence of community type and age on consumption and, secondly, exploring the role that consumers can play in value-adding activities. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in moving from a transactional approach towards consumer relationships in the value chain towards managing consumers as a source of relational value (e.g. co-creation and integrated perspectives). Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is theoretically positioned in relation to community and digital community practices in the social era. A series of research questions are presented, then these questions are explored drawing on empirical data from the Pew database. The authors then advance the framework further to consider news firm strategy towards its consumers. Fifteen in-depth executive interviews were conducted with local news organizations in the Manchester area of the UK. Findings – The authors illustrate that different types of communities (merging cohorts and locations) are influencing levels of technological and social connectivity within the value chain. The authors also found that the news industry is experimenting with reconfiguring its consumer relations from a purely transactional to a co-created and participatory value-added activity in the social era. In terms of its policy impact, the findings in this paper show that the whole strategic value chain ideology of the news industry needs to change radically; away from its largely transactional (and lack of trust) approach in the ability of consumers to create value in the supply chain (other than to buy a product) and, move towards much greater consumer involvement and participation in value chain processes (creation, production and distribution of news products and services). Originality/value – The change associated with social media and connectivity is changing the way that different community types and consumer groups are now consuming and participating in news content creation. Unlike previous studies, the authors show that there is variance and complexity in the levels of consumer participation by community type/age group. Using the Pew data, the authors contribute to knowledge on the value creation strategy of news firms in the social era, by identifying how communicative, social and communicative logics influence value and co-creation activities in the local news supply chain. Through interviews, the authors advance value co-creation theory from its strategic and marketing origins to operational and supply chain implementation.

Political social media engagement: Comparing campaign goals with voter behavior

This study combines campaign interviews with secondary analysis of Pew data from the 2010 U.S. election to examine both social media expectations from the campaign side and fulfillment of those expectations from the public side. The results indicate that engagement with a campaign on social media dramatically increases the likelihood of voters’ engagement in key political participation outcomes.

The Myth and the Reality of the Evolving Patron

Mary P. Popp, 2012-2013 RUSA President, provided the leadership and inspiration for this annual program which drew a large audience that filled all the seats and spilled over onto the floor of the McCormick Place convention center room for five hundred in Chicago on June 29 at the ALA annual Conference. Lee Rainie, the Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project was the big draw, and he delivered. His dynamic and informative speech was laced with humor that was warmly received by the audience. Rainie was also generous with his time. He participated in a follow-up discussion forum on June 30 where he was joined in a panel discussion by Emily Ford, Urban and Public Affairs Librarian at Portland State University; Marie L. Radford, Chair, and Information Science Department, at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Joyce Valenza, teacher-librarian at Springfield Township High School, PA, and part-time professor. Joseph Thompson, Associate Director of the Western Maryland Regional and chair of the program committee, moderated the program and discussion forum. Other program committee members were Dianna McKellar, Emily Kornak, Sherri Michaels, Mary Mintz (cochair), Matthew Neer, and Mary Popp. A summary of Rainie's presentation follows along with reactions from Ford, Radford, and Valenza who not only participated in the discussion forum as panelists, but also generously agreed to describe their reactions to his presentation for this report.--Editor Lee Rainie, Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project (www.pewInternet.org), spoke at the 2013 RUSA President's Program at the Annual Meeting of the American Association, Chicago. To experience the full impact of Rainie's presentation, readers may view the program recording (www.ala.org/rusa/rusa-presidents-program-video) and slides (www.slideshare.net/ PewInternet/2013-6-29-13-evolving-library-patron-rusa-atala-pdf). Additionally, one can read the Pew reports on libraries (www.pewInternet.org/Topics/Activities-and-Pursuits/ Libraries.aspx?typeFilter=5), including Library Services in the Digital Age (www.pewInternet.org/Topics/Activities-and-Pursuits/Libraries.aspx?typeFilter=5). This article highlights Rainie's key points from Pew survey data on America's library use. Following this summary, responses from leading library thinkers Emily Ford, Marie L. Radford, and Joyce Valenza, discuss their takeaways and thoughts from Rainie's presentation. SUMMARY OF LEE RAINIE'S PRESENTATION Rainie began by noting that the technology revolution has changed patron expectations of public libraries and experiences with libraries in five different ways. These expectations and experiences have undergone an evolution driven by patrons' (1) engagement or need, (2) life stage, (3) life stressors, (4) demographics, and by (5) library innovations. Librarians find it challenging to meet user expectations to both retain traditional services while embracing new service innovations, which can create a world full of pain, for librarians. Pew data found that 53 percent of Americans aged 16 or older visited a public library in the previous year. Women account for 59 percent of library users with parents of minors accounting for 63 percent of overall use. Somewhat surprisingly, among seniors 65 or older, only 40 percent reported visits. Sixty-three percent of library visitors have some college education. Based on the data, Rainie suggested that libraries may want to romance the moms among their potential users. What do library users do when they visit public libraries? The top three reported activities were borrowing books (73 percent), browsing books/media (73 percent), research (54 percent), and get help from a librarian (50 percent). Interesting demographic data characterized some of these activities. For instance, people under age 30 were more likely to do research. African Americans, especially seniors, were among those most likely to request assistance from librarians. …

Social media, social causes, giving behavior and money contributions

In the present study we examine the effect of online social networks on voluntary engagement, giving behavior and online money contributions. The study is a secondary analysis based on the PEW data set (2008). We draw upon a combination between pro-social theories of voluntary engagement and communication theories of the Internet and show that (a) participation in social media and networking-blogging, Face book and journaling-significantly increase both online, and offline money contributions; (b) social causes moderate the link between socio-demographic characteristics and money contributions. We conclude that social media and networking are an effective means to increase “ethical consumption” both online and offline enhancing voluntary engagement and money contributions. These results assess the social diversification hypothesis suggesting that online behavior complements, and in some cases reinforces offline behavior. Differences in the type of affiliated social cause moderate the effects of social media on online pro-social behavior and giving behavior.

The Role of Digital Skills in the Formation of Generalized Trust Among Latinos and African Americans in the United States

A number of scholars have noted a digital skill divide among racial and ethnic groups in the United States (e.g. Hargittai, 2002). The ability to leverage information communication technologies (ICTs) in productive ways has been linked to greater levels of prodemocratic attitudes and behaviors (Horrigan, Wellman, & Rainie, 2006; Valenzuela, Park, & Kee, 2009; Vitak et al., 2011 ). However, no work to date has explored how this relationship between digital skills and political behavior is mediated by racial and ethnic identity. Using an ordered logistic regression to analyze a 2010 PEW data set of social media use, we test the proposition that proficiency in digital skills enhances generalized trust among Latinos and African Americans. We find that the acquisition of digital skills is associated with generalized trust for African Americans but not for Latinos or Anglo-Americans. Our work suggests that ICTs in general and digital skills in particular might provide a distinct pathway to enhance generalized trust for African Americans, a key precondition for civic engagement for historically marginalized groups in the U.S. society. We discuss the implications of this research for enhancing generalized trust among historically marginalized groups in the United States.

Predicting Dissemination of News Content in Social Media

Social media are an emerging news source, but questions remain regarding how citizens engage news content in this environment. This study focuses on social media news reception and friending a journalist/news organization as predictors of social media news dissemination. Secondary analysis of 2010 Pew data ( N = 1,264) reveals reception and friending to be positive predictors of dissemination, and a reception-by-friending interaction is also evident. Partisanship moderates these relationships such that reception is a stronger predictor of dissemination among partisans, while the friending-dissemination link is evident for nonpartisans only. These results provide novel insights into citizens’ social media news experiences.

Clarifying Relationships Between Ideology and Ideologically Oriented Cable TV News Use

Much recent debate in political communication has centered on the influence of ideologically oriented media outlets. Some argue that the current media environment is creating partisan echo chambers, while others contend that today’s political media afford citizens increased contact with a diverse range of opinion. The current study seeks to clarify relationships between political ideology, conservative cable TV news viewing (i.e., FOX News), and liberal cable TV news viewing (i.e., MSNBC), arguing that ideology serves as a suppressor of the relationship between the two seemingly disparate forms of cable TV news consumption. Analyses of primary 2009-2010 statewide survey data ( N = 305) reveal the relationship between FOX News and MSNBC consumption to be positive and this association increases substantially once the role of ideology as suppressor is addressed. A secondary analysis of 2010 PEW data ( N = 3,006) reveals a strong replication of the primary analysis results.

Why Europe Has to Offer a Better Deal Towards its Muslim Communities: A Quantitative Analysis of Open International Data

Why Europe Has to Offer a Better Deal Towards its Muslim Communities: A Quantitative Analysis of Open International Data

L'argent ne fait pas toujours le bonheur

In the present study we examine the effect of online social networks on voluntary engagement, giving behavior and online money contributions. The study is a secondary analysis based on the PEW data set (2008). We draw upon a combination between pro-social theories of voluntary engagement and communication theories of the Internet and show that (a) participation in social media and networking-blogging, Face book and journaling-significantly increase both online, and offline money contributions; (b) social causes moderate the link between socio-demographic characteristics and money contributions. We conclude that social media and networking are an effective means to increase “ethical consumption” both online and offline enhancing voluntary engagement and money contributions. These results assess the social diversification hypothesis suggesting that online behavior complements, and in some cases reinforces offline behavior. Differences in the type of affiliated social cause moderate the effects of social media on online pro-social behavior and giving behavior.