Browsing by Author "Ewell, Patrick Jay"

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    Media effects on implicit and explicit attitudes: an investigation of the linguistic intergroup bias
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Ewell, Patrick Jay; Guadagno, Rosanna E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    The present research investigated the impact of abstraction in language on racial attitudes, a process otherwise known as Linguistic Intergroup Bias (LIB). LIB is a term which describes how the specificity of language used can affect the subject. Specifically, when there are more adjectives and descriptive verbs used in a communication, a person is more likely to recall that information later and associate it with their beliefs (Maass, Salvi, Arcuri & Semin, 2000). Gorham (2006) found that when this type of language appears in print and television news, media viewers will replicate the increased abstraction in their own descriptions of the event. Therefore, if news anchors or copy writers are members of a certain in-group (e.g., Caucasians), they are likely to demonstrate LIB, thereby affecting the viewers - thus this effect has the potential of conveying this subtle bias to millions of people at once. We studied this via news stories in a 2 (LIB: High abstract language vs. Low abstract language) x 3 (Target Race: African American vs. Caucasian vs. not mentioned) between subjects factorial design. Results indicate that high levels of abstraction resulted in a replication of the LIB in target descriptions, along with increased negative explicit attitudes towards African Americans and increased believability in story content. Implications and future directions of this research are discussed.
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    Perspective taking in violent videogames
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Ewell, Patrick Jay; Hamilton, James C.; Guadagno, Rosanna E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    While the relationship between violent videogame play and aggression has been widely investigated empirically, the results have been largely inconclusive and highly controversial. This research synthesizes the current literature and responds to the call for a broader and more ecologically valid approach to videogame research. Two studies examine different aspects of videogame play that were hypothesized to impact the relationship between violent video games and aggression including; different game narratives, the game environment and, most importantly, player perspective. This research utilized action identification theory (AIT; Vallacher & Wegner, 1985) as its theoretical framework. This framework makes predictions on how individuals’ actions are identified when describing their own behavior. The AIT also informed the development of a new individual difference measure of player’s perceptions of their actions, employing the rationale that there are important implications for whether an action is perceived as concrete or abstract (Vallacher & Wegner, 2000). Previous research has shown that cooperation and prosocial goals lead to fewer hostile cognitions and decreased arousal along with increases in prosocial cognitions and behaviors (Ewoldsen et al. 2012; Gitter, Ewell, Guadagno, Stillman & Baumeister, 2013). I hypothesize this is due to the level of abstraction the game player applies to their perceived action. I believe that cooperative play or prosocial intentions lead players to think in a more abstract manner and therefore, perceive their actions as less aggressive or violent. Study 1 manipulated game narrative and context and found evidence that competitive narratives increased hostility in players. It was also found that player performance was a significant predictor of numerous variables including hostility and positive affect. Abstraction was not found to significantly mediate the relationship between experimental condition and aggression. Study 2 manipulated abstraction in an attempt to demonstrate its effect on the relationship between game narrative and aggression. Study 2 replicated the finding from Study 1, that player performance was related to aggression and positive affect. Unexpectedly, participants in Study 2 viewed the competitive condition more abstractly than the cooperative condition. Experts were not found to be more aggressive or hostile than novices. Implications for future research are discussed.