Reading questions week 1
Valkenburg, Peter & Walther (2016)
1. What do the authors mean with indirect media effects? Give an example of such effects in
health campaigns.
An indirect effect is one in which the influence of an independent variable on other variables
works via its influence on one or more mediating variables. Valkenburg, Peter and Walther
(2016) distinguish three types of indirect media effects: when media use itself acts as an
intervening variable between pre media-use variables and outcome variables; when the
effect of media use runs through the cognitive, emotional and physiological processes that
occur during and shortly after exposure to media, and when the effects of media use run
through postexposure variables such as attitudes and beliefs that may themselves be
dependent variables.
Goal of health campaigns: achieve a change in behaviors that promote healthy behavior.
Beliefs about and attitudes toward the behavior (for example attitude towards quitting
smoking) that needs to be changed are in itself an dependent variable of media used to
change this behavior, but also act as indirect factors in the effect media have on the change
in behaviors.
2. How can priming theory or framing explain that certain health campaign messages influence
individuals’ behavior?
Priming theory argues that media effects depend on the preconceptions that are already
stored in human memory. Framing explains that media draw attention to certain topics and
place them within a field of meaning, which in turn influences audience perceptions. The
messages health campaigns convey will have more effect if these messages were already
stored in the memory of the individual which is targeted by the campaign. Furthermore, the
information within the campaign can be presented in such a way that it influences the
perceptions of the person who sees the campaign in a way that promotes the healthy
behavior that is the target of the campaign.
3. What do the authors mean with conditional media effects and give an example of such
effect.
The term conditional media effects conveys that media effects can be enhanced or reduced
by individual difference and social context variables. The way in media is processed is
conditional on dispositional, developmental and social context factors. Examples of this are
that trait empathy and need for affect enhance emotional processing when watching sad
films (Kremar, 2009) and that younger adults invest more cognitive effort in processing
negative stimuli when watching media (Mares et al., 2008), whereas middle and older adults
invest more cognitive effort in processing positive stimuli. Thus
Slater, 2015
1. Slater describes the relationship between media and behavior as bidirectional or as a spiral.
Explain this.
Bidirectional: functioning in two directions. The RSM proposes that media use serves both as
an outcome variable and a predictor variable in many social processes. Thus on the one
Valkenburg, Peter & Walther (2016)
1. What do the authors mean with indirect media effects? Give an example of such effects in
health campaigns.
An indirect effect is one in which the influence of an independent variable on other variables
works via its influence on one or more mediating variables. Valkenburg, Peter and Walther
(2016) distinguish three types of indirect media effects: when media use itself acts as an
intervening variable between pre media-use variables and outcome variables; when the
effect of media use runs through the cognitive, emotional and physiological processes that
occur during and shortly after exposure to media, and when the effects of media use run
through postexposure variables such as attitudes and beliefs that may themselves be
dependent variables.
Goal of health campaigns: achieve a change in behaviors that promote healthy behavior.
Beliefs about and attitudes toward the behavior (for example attitude towards quitting
smoking) that needs to be changed are in itself an dependent variable of media used to
change this behavior, but also act as indirect factors in the effect media have on the change
in behaviors.
2. How can priming theory or framing explain that certain health campaign messages influence
individuals’ behavior?
Priming theory argues that media effects depend on the preconceptions that are already
stored in human memory. Framing explains that media draw attention to certain topics and
place them within a field of meaning, which in turn influences audience perceptions. The
messages health campaigns convey will have more effect if these messages were already
stored in the memory of the individual which is targeted by the campaign. Furthermore, the
information within the campaign can be presented in such a way that it influences the
perceptions of the person who sees the campaign in a way that promotes the healthy
behavior that is the target of the campaign.
3. What do the authors mean with conditional media effects and give an example of such
effect.
The term conditional media effects conveys that media effects can be enhanced or reduced
by individual difference and social context variables. The way in media is processed is
conditional on dispositional, developmental and social context factors. Examples of this are
that trait empathy and need for affect enhance emotional processing when watching sad
films (Kremar, 2009) and that younger adults invest more cognitive effort in processing
negative stimuli when watching media (Mares et al., 2008), whereas middle and older adults
invest more cognitive effort in processing positive stimuli. Thus
Slater, 2015
1. Slater describes the relationship between media and behavior as bidirectional or as a spiral.
Explain this.
Bidirectional: functioning in two directions. The RSM proposes that media use serves both as
an outcome variable and a predictor variable in many social processes. Thus on the one
