Two-wave Panel Research Articles

News Can Help! The Impact of News Media and Digital Platforms on Awareness of and Belief in Misinformation

Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK ( N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation.

Influencers as Empowering Agents? Following Political Influencers, Internal Political Efficacy and Participation among Youth

ABSTRACT Influencers, characterized by their social-media-made fame, are known for endorsing brands, but are also producing political content, which has been shown to resonate with youth. However, research on how their political messages impact young people’s political involvement is still scarce. To address this lacuna, we conducted a two-wave panel study (N W2 = 496) among youth aged 16 to 25 years to investigate links between following political influencers, young people’s internal political efficacy, and political participation. We draw from the two-step flow of communication and opinion leadership literature to explain influencers’ impact on young people’s political behavior. Moreover, we advance the theoretical argument that influencers may not only relay political news, but also render it more comprehensible for youth. Influencers may thereby raise young people’s confidence in their political self-competence, and consequently affect their level of political participation. We find that followers’ internal political efficacy is predicted by following political influencers at moderate to high levels of perceived simplification of politics by influencers. However, there is no link between internal political efficacy and political participation, which may be explained by influencers’ direct and short-term mobilizing effect on young people. Overall, our findings have important theoretical implications for contemporary understandings of opinion leadership in mediated contexts.

Citizens' economic recovery models for a pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought sudden economic devastation and forced countries to respond with policies to counter the looming economic crisis. What policy response do citizens prefer to combat an economic decline due to a pandemic? We study the preferences of citizens regarding economic policy and changes in these preferences as the pandemic unfolded in Denmark. Denmark passed early and comprehensive legislation with broad support from all political parties to counter the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. We employ a large nationally representative two-wave panel of Danish citizens (N = 12,131) drawn from the administrative registers, from which data was collected at the onset of the economic shock and immediately prior to economic recovery. In both waves the same subjects describe their preferred economic solution to COVID-19 in open-text format. We generate a simple dictionary method to uncover a set of distinct laymen economic policy responses. First, we find that citizens formulated a diverse set of policy interventions. Second, citizens become markedly stronger proponents of economic intervention as the crisis unfolded. Finally, we show how differences in economic preferences across partisanship vanished during the crisis.

News Distribution and Sustainable Journalism: Effects of Social Media News Use and Media Skepticism on Citizens’ Paying Behavior

ABSTRACT News organizations require sustainable business models with reliable revenue streams to perform their intended function in liberal democracies. Since the digital transition, however, many citizens have considerably shown high reluctance to pay for digital content, consequently jeopardizing journalists’ watchdog role and substantially eroding media independence. Based on a two-wave panel survey from the United States, this study seeks to investigate the antecedents of readers’ paying behavior for news, focusing on the role of social media news use and media skepticism. Findings reveal that users’ frequency of social media news use is associated with future paying behavior, while higher levels of media skepticism significantly inhibit readers’ payment. The analyses also show that while those reporting low media skepticism are initially more inclined to pay for news, high levels of social media news use function to largely overcome this gap. The study argues that the role of social media in delivering news should be redefined in light of the new paid content strategies implemented by news organizations.

Investigating the Longitudinal Relationships Between Active Parental and Peer Mediation and Adolescents’ Social Media Literacy on the Positivity Bias

ABSTRACT Adolescents are assumed to develop social media literacy (SML) through interacting with different agents, such as parents and peers. However, research exploring this assumption is lacking. The current two-wave panel study (N = 1,007) partly addressed this gap by exploring the interrelationships between perceived active parental/peer mediation and adolescents’ SML (i.e. a cognitive and an affective dimension). These links were examined within the context of the social media positivity bias. Active parental mediation at Time 1 (T1) related to one aspect of cognitive SML, awareness of the presence of the positivity bias, and affective SML at Time 2 (T2). Active peer mediation at T1 did not relate to SML on the positivity bias at T2. Awareness of the presence of the positivity bias at T1 was associated with active parental mediation at T2. No age differences were found. Results suggest that parents play a role in adolescents’ SML on the positivity bias.

Attitudes of young people in Germany towards parental involvement in paid work: evidence of intergenerational transmission

This article examines young people’s attitudes towards parental involvement in paid work and their association with two channels of intergenerational transmission – parents’ employment arrangements and gender ideologies – the relative importance of these channels and if young people’s gender moderates the association. The data came from a German two-wave panel study of 609 adolescents (aged 15–21) surveyed in 2018 and their mothers in 2013–15. Analyses show that young people’s preferred weekly working hours for mothers were positively related to their parents’ employment arrangements and gender ideologies four years earlier. In contrast, the more progressive their mother’s gender ideology was, the fewer working hours young people preferred for fathers. The two transmission channels were nearly equally important and their impact did not differ between female and male adolescents. Our findings suggest that the intergenerational transmission of gender roles might be one of multiple factors contributing to stalling trends in gender equality.

Determinants of Adoption and Dis-Adoption of Integrated Pest Management Practices in the Suppression of Mango Fruit Fly Infestation: Evidence from Embu County, Kenya

This study evaluates the drivers of the adoption and dis-adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices in the suppression of mango fruit-fly infestation in Embu County, Kenya. It employs a Correlated Random Effects Probit Model and a Discrete-time Proportional Hazard Model on two-wave panel data of 149 mango farmers selected using a cluster sampling technique. The descriptive results show that 59% and 17% of the respondents were adopters and dis-adopters of mango fruit fly IPM practices, respectively. Empirical findings reveal that the cost of IPM and training on IPM positively and significantly influenced adoption, while the unavailability of the technology had a negative and significant effect on adoption. For dis-adoption, the results indicate that farm size and the quality of IPM positively influenced the hazard of exit from IPM use, and hence, enhanced the sustained adoption of IPM. The study recommends capacity building for mango farmers through training and increased access to extension services to enhance the adoption of this technology and prevent dis-adoption.

Explaining recently arrived refugees' labor market participation: The role of policy characteristics among Syrians in the Netherlands

Various studies have indicated the disadvantaged positions of refugees on the labor market and studied various characteristics explaining this. Yet, little is known about the impact of settlement policy characteristics on recent arrivals' labor market participation, despite them being heavily subject to such policies. We argue such policies, next to individual characteristics, can serve as a means to gather resources relevant to the host country and consequently labor market positions, but can also serve as a post-migration stressor obstructing this. Using the Netherlands as an example, we contribute to studies on the refugee gap and provide insight into key policy characteristics explaining recently arrived refugees' (finding) employment. We use two-wave panel data of 2,379 recently arrived Syrian refugees in the Netherlands, including data on key policy and individual characteristics combined with administrative data. Employing a hybrid model, we show both within- and between-person variation. Results indicate policy matters: short and active stays in reception, complying with the civic integration obligation and a lower unemployment rate in the region refugees are randomly assigned to are beneficial for Syrians' (finding) employment. Like for other migrants, various forms of individual human capital also play a role.

A tale of two concepts: differential temporal predictions of habitual and compulsive social media use concerning connection overload and sleep quality

AbstractGiven how strongly social media is permeating young people’s everyday lives, many of them have formed strong habits that, under specific circumstances, can spiral out of control and bring harmful experiences. Unlike in extant literature where habitual and compulsive behaviors are often conflated, we report findings from a two-wave panel study examining the individual predictive value of both habitual and compulsive social media use on connection overload (i.e., information and communication overload) and sleep quality. Longitudinal structural equation modeling reveals that only compulsive social media use is related to enhanced feelings of connection overload and to poorer sleep, whereas habitual social media use had no significant associations with either indicator over time. These differential findings highlight a conceptual imperative for future approaches to further clarify the nature of people’s media habits to prevent spurious (and potentially overpathologizing) conclusions.

The distraction effect. Political and entertainment-oriented content on social media, political participation, interest, and knowledge

There are grounds to assume that the use of nonpolitical, entertainment-oriented Social Media (SM) may dampen democratically relevant outcomes. However, research has largely ignored the political effects of such entertainment-oriented SM content as well as its interaction with exposure to political SM content. Based on the distinction between political and entertainment-oriented SM use, we developed a fourfold theoretical typology, “the Inactive”, “the News Avoiders”, “the Distracted”, and “the Focused”. Using data from a two-wave panel study (N = 559), we found that “the Focused” scored highest while the “the Inactive” and the “the News Avoiders” scored lowest on democratically relevant outcomes. Autoregressive panel analyses further revealed a positive effect of political SM exposure on low-effort political participation, but not on high-effort participation, political interest, and knowledge over time. Exposure to entertainment-oriented content on SM was associated with a decrease in high-effort political participation over time. For low-effort participation and political interest, the over-time effect of political SM exposure was dampened with rising levels of entertainment-oriented SM exposure, suggesting a distraction effect. Implications are discussed.

Spirituality as a Buffer Between Negative Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Life as Well as Job Satisfaction?

The COVID-19 pandemic has various consequences on employees that negatively affect their work and personal lives. According to previous research, spirituality helps one to cope with negative life events relating to uncertainty and Unverfügbarbeit. We investigate whether spirituality at work moderates the relationship between the pandemic's negative consequences and both job and life satisfaction. In a large-scale two-wave panel study with 1,468 participants (December to November 2019 and June to July 2020) in Germany, participants were surveyed for the severity of individual negative consequences of the pandemic, their job and life satisfaction, and their spirituality at work. The results show that job and life satisfaction are negatively related to the pandemic's negative consequences. Spirituality at work significantly moderates the relationship between negative consequences and life satisfaction as well as job satisfaction. However, the moderation effect on the job satisfaction model is only weakly significant. Thus, within the (work) life-changing circumstances of the pandemic, high spirituality at work can help one to cope with the negative consequences, buffering their impacts on job and life satisfaction. Employers can help to maintain or strengthen their employees' well-being by facilitating and supporting spirituality at work via HRM.

Urban Rebels? A Gendered Approach to Domicile and Protest Participation in Nine European Countries

Engaging with research on protest participation and gender inequalities, we examine how gender dynamics play a crucial role in shaping patterns of protest participation across the rural/urban divide. We argue that moving from a rural toward an urban setting leads to an increase in protest participation for women, but not for men. Using an original two-wave panel survey dataset collected for the same individuals between 2018 and 2019 and covering nine European countries, we are able to go beyond traditional correlation analyses and measure our key variables over time, thus developing a dynamic approach that links differences in gender, socio-geographical positioning and protest participation. Our findings demonstrate that the rural/urban divide as a driver of protest participation affects women and men differently, because it might be shaped by different experiences of political socialization, socio-economic status and structures of domination and discrimination, leading to different opportunities and incentives for mobilization.

THE LONGITUDINAL EFFECT OF FINANCIAL DIFFICULTY ON CAREGIVER DEPRESSION

Abstract Informal caregivers are the backbone of the long-term healthcare system in the United States and crucial in supporting the rapidly increasing aging population. Previous studies have illustrated the negative effects that the caregiving role can have on caregiver mental health, but few studies have examined the singular role of experiencing financial difficulty on caregiver mental health. The aim of this study was twofold: to measure how financial difficulty in 2015 correlates with caregiver depression in 2015, and to examine whether financial difficulty in 2015 can predict caregiver depression in 2017. We used two-wave panel data from the National Study on Caregiving (N=1,125) to conduct both regression and lagged dependent variable (LDV) regression analyses to investigate the cross-sectional and longitudinal effect of financial difficulty on caregiver depression, respectively. Caregiver depression was measured using the 2-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-2), and financial difficulty was self-reported. Results show that caregivers who did not experience financial difficulty in 2015 had 0.46 times the odds of not being depressed (CI 0.30-0.70, p-value= 0.00) in 2015, compared to those who noted that they did experience financial difficulty. In performing a LDV analysis, outcomes showed that financial difficulty in 2015 was significantly associated with caregiver depression in 2017 (p-value< 0.05), implying that current reported financial difficulty may influence caregiver depression two years later. Conclusions from this work provide support for the development of financial interventions for caregivers experiencing financial difficulty that could play a role in alleviating their depressive symptoms.

The role of different “media diets” on the perception of immigration: Evidence from nine European countries

Abstract A better understanding of media effects on immigration attitudes is crucial for policy development and innovation. While many studies have focused on immigration discourses or the salience of this issue in print media and broadcast TV, few have looked at how different “media diets” influence immigration attitudes. Using two-wave panel data composed of 14,480 observations (7,240 individuals) from nine EU countries, this article specifically analyses the role of online and social media news consumption as well as media diet diversity on Europeans’ perceptions of the economic and cultural impact of immigration. The results show that relying primarily on online or social media (compared to print newspapers) to get news, consuming news less frequently, or having a less diverse media diet all significantly and negatively influence people’s perceptions of the impact of immigration. Results and implications are discussed in light of today’s changing media landscape and news consumption habits.

Living is Easy With Eyes Closed: Avoidance of Targeted Political Advertising in Response to Privacy Concerns, Perceived Personalization, and Overload

Political parties increasingly rely on sophisticated targeting strategies to persuade potential voters. However, questions have been raised about the effectiveness of targeted political ads, considering that citizens frequently oppose the use of their data for political purposes. In this study, we investigate three avoidance behaviors that citizens might employ in order to circumvent targeted political ads: cognitive avoidance, blocking behaviors, and privacy-protective behaviors. We test if privacy concerns, perceived personalization, and overload explain why individuals resort to avoidance behaviors. Moreover, we explore interrelations between the different avoidance strategies. Findings from a two-wave panel study ( N = 428) in the context of the Viennese state election showed that privacy concerns increased cognitive avoidance and privacy-protective behaviors. In contrast, perceived personalization decreased cognitive avoidance and blocking behaviors. Cognitive avoidance further reduced privacy-protective behaviors over time, indicating that low-effort strategies might inhibit preventive actions against data collection practices.

Still going strong? The role of traditional media in the 2021 Dutch parliamentary elections

Previous research has demonstrated that both visibility of parties, party leaders, candidates, and topics, and the sentiment of this coverage can affect people’s decision in the ballot box. Most of this research was, however, done in the period before social media gained importance which has drastically changed the media consumption of citizens. The main aim of this paper is to investigate whether, and if so to what extent, traditional media use during the 2021 Dutch parliamentary elections has (still) affected vote choice in this era of social media. To study this, two-wave panel survey data from the Dutch Parliamentary Election Survey (DPES) are combined with an automated content analysis of newspaper articles (N = 35,511). We created respondent-specific content variables to conduct a linkage analysis. Our analysis, relying on a pooled analysis of respondent–party combinations (N = 54,162), demonstrates that political parties profit electorally from being visible in both newspapers and online outlets. This is in particular true for parties that are not part of parliament yet, thus increasing the further fragmentation and division in Dutch politics. Contrary to the expectations, sentiment in online media has a negative effect, with negative coverage increasing electoral support.

How Partisanship Matters: A Panel Study on the Democratic Outcomes of Perceived Dirty Campaigning

Uncivil campaigning and deceitful campaign techniques are increasingly relevant phenomena in politics. However, it remains unclear how they share an underlying component and how partisanship can influence their associations with democratic outcomes. We introduce the concept of dirty campaigning, which is situated at the intersection of research on negative campaigning and political scandals. Dirty campaigning involves violations of social norms and liberal-democratic values between elite political actors in terms of style and practices, such as uncivil campaigning and deceitful campaign techniques. In a two-wave panel study (<em>N</em> = 634) during the 2021 German federal election campaign, we investigate the associations of perceived dirty campaigning by the least and most favorite party with distrust in politicians, trust in democracy, attitudes toward dirty campaigning regulation, as well as perceived harmful consequences of dirty campaigning for democracy. We find that perceived dirty campaigning by the least favorite party increases perceptions of harmful consequences of dirty campaigning for democracy over time. In contrast, perceived dirty campaigning by the most favorite party decreases perceptions of harmful consequences of dirty campaigning for democracy as well as attitudes toward dirty campaigning regulation over time. Perceptions of harmful consequences of dirty campaigning for democracy increase distrust in politicians over time and vice versa. Our findings suggest that the outcomes of dirty campaigning can depend on partisanship and can have important implications for the quality of democracy.

Time counts? A two-wave panel study investigating the effects of WeChat affordances on social capital and well-being

AbstractDrawing from the social capital framework and socioemotional selectivity theory, this study examines how individuals’ future time perspective (FTP) alters their social capital processes, which further influences their well-being. A two-wave survey was conducted across WeChat users possessing different FTPs. The findings showed that bonding and bridging social capital accumulation were attributed to differential WeChat affordances, which in turn exerted disparate influences on individuals’ positive affect and psychological well-being. Importantly, multigroup analyses revealed that future-oriented users were more fulfilled from the broadcasting affordance, whereas present-oriented users derived more emotional gains from the association affordance. Notably, frequent engagement with the reviewability affordance was found to diminish WeChat bonding social capital only for those who possessed open-ended FTP. The findings contribute to theoretical knowledge of social media affordances and provide practical implications for social media developers in harnessing social media to improve users’ well-being across lifespans by considering their priority of social goals.

Bored or burning out? Reciprocal effects between job stressors, boredom and burnout

Boredom and burnout are suggested to develop from opposite conditions: Whereas boredom is associated with low job stressors, burnout is driven by high job stressors. However, little empirical research exists on the relations between different types of stressors and boredom at work vis-à-vis burnout. Moreover, the direction of these relations has not been previously examined. Drawing from control – value theory and the challenge – hindrance stressor framework we used two-wave panel data from 1730 employees to examine cross-lagged relations between two types of job stressors (i.e., workload and red-tape), boredom and burnout. Results of structural equation modelling revealed that both workload and red-tape positively predicted burnout, while only red-tape positively predicted job boredom over the follow-up period. Furthermore, we found that while burnout positively predicted both perceived workload and red-tape, boredom negatively predicted both types of stressors. We also found a positive reciprocal relation between boredom at work and burnout. These results imply that boredom and burnout may have partly distinct antecedents and outcomes, but they may also fuel each other in a way that requires further research. Implications for practice are discussed.

Examining the Role of Online Uncivil Discussion and Ideological Extremity on Illegal Protest

In recent years, there has been an increased academic interest revolving around the beneficial or pernicious effects of ideological extremity and (uncivil) political discussion over democracy. For instance, citizens’ ideological predispositions and higher levels of political discussion have been linked with a more active and vibrant political life. In fact, ideological extremity and uncivil discussion foster institutionalized political engagement. However, less explored in the literature remains whether such polarization and uncivil discussions may be related to unlawful political behavior such as illegal protest. This study contends that one of the main drivers of illegal protest behavior lies in online uncivil political discussion, specifically through the normalization and activation of further incivility. We tested this through a two-wave panel data drawn from a diverse US sample and cross-sectional, lagged, and autoregressive regression models. Mediation analysis was also conducted to test whether uncivil online discussion mediated the relationship between frequency of online political discussion and illegal protest engagement. Overall, we found that illegal protest was particularly associated with online uncivil discussion, while ideological extremity and other forms of online and offline discussions seemed to have no effect on unlawful protest over time.