T. Phillip Madison- Doctor of Philosophy
- Professor (Associate) at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
T. Phillip Madison
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Professor (Associate) at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Uses and gratifications, Instagram, immersive technology, virtual reality, parasocial relationships, Oculus
About
46
Publications
25,601
Reads
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164
Citations
Introduction
Uses and gratifications, Instagram, immersive technology, virtual reality, parasocial relationships, Oculus
Current institution
Additional affiliations
August 2016 - present
University of Louisiana -- Lafayette
Position
- Professor
August 2013 - August 2016
Publications
Publications (46)
Floods are among the most frequent and devastating natural hazards and disasters in many southern states in the United States. This study examined the relationship and reciprocal predictability between two theoretical constructs risk perception attitude (RPA) and information-seeking efficacy (ISE)-in regard to pluvial floods. In addition, this stud...
Since 1808, Brazilian journalism has demonstrated its relevance, not only to public news consumption in the largest country in South America, but also in its coverage of different Latin-American and global topics. Brazil is classified as the ninth-richest country in the world based on its gross domestic product which reflects a country’s purchasing...
Yet again Dr. Pavica Sheldon (this time with coauthors James Honeycutt and Phillipp Rauschnabel) has succeeded in making the peer-reviewed scientific literature on social media accessible to the mainstream. The Dark Side of Social Media is a compelling read rooted deeply in decades of science, and fine tuned for audiences that may be less familiar...
This study examines parasocial relationships (PSRs), perceived credibility Infowars host Alex Jones, and viewing frequency. Through our sample of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (N = 584), we explored which attributes of PSRs are related to perceived credibility of Alex Jones and viewing propensity. Variety in PSR imaginative sequences predict...
In today’s rapidly changing “TV everywhere” environment of ubiquitous and always-connected screens, and instant social media interaction around and with complex and compelling television storylines and characters, perhaps it is time to take another look at media effects from a more social perspective. In this study, we provide that social perspecti...
Purpose This study analyzed the roles of virtual reality experience, travel motivation, travel constraint, and destination image on visiting/revisiting intention to the city of New Orleans. Methodology The present study used a laboratory experiment with a virtual reality headset to investigate these variables through a post-test only survey and to...
Once relegated to a subfield of academic communication research, discussions of parasocial relationships (PSRs) are increasingly diffusing through popular media for consumption and pondering by much larger audiences. In the same technological moment, virtual reality (VR) represents a transformative technology that immerses users in computer-generat...
The aim of this research was to examine the effect that parasocial relationships with lifestyle YouTubers may have on viewers’ level of self-efficacy. The primary research objectives were to determine: (a) if parasocial relationships are being formed with lifestyle YouTubers, (b) how do those relationships effect the self-efficacy of audience membe...
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was extensively covered by the
world’s news media. The present study explores how major newspapers in
four nations: the United States, China, Russia, and the United Kingdom
covered and framed the event. It examines the issue through the lens of
framing theory, using content analysis of the news articles publishe...
EDUCATION Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA • Ph.D. in Mass Communication with advertising concentration awarded December 2013. • Course work and research in philosophy of mass communication, media law, research methods, advanced research methods, digital literacy and technology, advanced theories, experimental methods, public opinion, pu...
This survey study examined the evidence of both the chilling effect and spiral of silence on one college campus and uncovered a ‘link’ between these two concepts of law and social science. Two hundred twenty-six participants responded to a one-time survey measuring general attitudes toward a speech code adopted by the University of Louisiana at Laf...
This narrative inquiry aimed to investigate whether the deliberate use of
positive imagined interactions (IIs) could contribute to the enhancement
of cross-cutting political conflict, and also tested the seventh theorem of
II conflict linkage theory. Undergraduate student participants were
assigned to one of three conditions: positive II, negative...
Poster presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) national annual conference in Washington D.C.
Attitudes held with certainty may serve as powerful determinants of relevant political behavior, such as voting. Despite a large body of research in attitude certainty, minimal work has explored two of its distinct components: attitude correctness and attitude clarity. This study investigated how parasocial interaction (PSI) with former President T...
Background and aims
Social network use is widespread, and the study of Instagram seems to have captured more attention in recent years. However, scale development and validation in the field has fallen short of providing sound scales of Instagram motives and usage patterns that consider the uniqueness of Instagram-related behavior. This paper descr...
This study builds on traditional and contemporary uses and gratifications research by exploring the function of Facebook groups for mothers, especially as it relates to vaccine information seeking, as well as the potential moderators for this information seeking behavior. Using a nonprobability sample of mothers 18 or older belonging to at least on...
During the COVID-19 pandemic, disinformation and misinformation shared online enflamed segments of society, caused public division, and increased social tension. As principal conduits of communication, social media platforms acted as “ super-spreaders ” of malignant information. False reports spread more rapidly than valid ones (WHO, 2020); fact-ch...
A survey was administered via Mechanical Turk (N = 424) to examine the effect that parasocial relationships with lifestyle YouTubers have on self-efficacy. The research objectives were to determine: (a) if parasocial relationships are being formed with lifestyle YouTubers, (b) how do those relationships effect the self-efficacy of audience members...
The U.S. capitol hill riot was an unprecedented event in U.S. history. This study investigated how the U.S. capitol hill riot was framed by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today between January 6, 2021, and January 13, 2021. News articles published between January 6, 2021, and January 13, 2021, were the units o...
Research in social media usage is extending beyond analyses of various high-traffic platforms and the average time users spend online. Developments of newer research explore the functions and motivators of social media use integration (SMUI). SMUI assesses the adoption of social media usage into everyday life as well as the emotional components tha...
Attitudes held with certainty may serve as powerful determinants of relevant political behavior, such as voting in an election. Despite a large body of research in attitude certainty, very little work has been done to explore two of its distinct components: attitude correctness and attitude clarity. This study investigated how parasocial interactio...
The present study used semi-structured interviews (N = 23) with college students to explore hate-watching, defined here as repeatedly watching people, things, or content we hate for the purpose of achieving some gratification. Several important themes emerged including a pronounced desire for (and sense of) moral superiority among hate-watchers in...
Humans and agents of artificial intelligence (AI) participate in human-machine communication (HMC) more frequently now than ever before – especially in the U.S. Voice powered assistants (VPAs) are widely accessible software agents that enact various social roles, such as personal assistants, and are increasingly packaged with AI-devices to complete...
This study explored perceptions of Infowars host Alex Jones' credibility, and functions of audience parasocial relationships (PSRs) using a sample of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers (N = 584). Several PSR functions predicted perceived credibility of Alex Jones and viewing of Infowars. The conflict and self-understanding functions predicted p...
Though many studies have addressed interest in celebrities, the extant literature has not directly addressed celebrity hate. The current study sought to investigate the triangular theory of hate as it applies to celebrities, while examining source credibility and belief in a just world as predictors of celebrity hate. College students completed the...
Humans and agents of artificial intelligence (AI) participate in human-machine communication (HMC) more frequently now than ever before-especially in America. Voice powered assistants (VPAs) are widely accessible software agents that enact various social roles, such as personal assistants, and are increasingly packaged with AI-devices to complete s...
This thesis explored Acadiana’s non-profit employees and volunteers through exploring their perceived self-efficacy and perceived social impact. Self-efficacy evaluated the employees’ and volunteers’ confidence levels on their mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, persuasion, physiological states, volunteerism, and their organization. Social...
Explore ownership/financing of three non-governmental propaganda sources in the us
American family association/American family radio
Independent journal review
Conservative tribune/liftable media
Draw conclusions about private capital and interests
Identify the battlefront
Evaluate the components and importance of new media literacy
The Princeton Election Consortium predicted a 99-percent chance of Hillary Clinton winning the 2016 election -- with a 95-percent confidence interval. In October of 2016 America visualized a Clinton win and seemed cocksure of itself, with that cocksureness heavily reinforced by polling agency results favoring Clinton and disseminated through both m...
It's increasingly fashionable to blame societal problems on the pervasiveness and influential nature of fake news. This study examines parasocial relationships (PSRs), perceived credibility Infowars host Alex Jones, and viewing frequency. Through our sample of Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) users (N = 584), we explored which attributes of PSRs are...
“The information war is real,” Westneat (2016) argues, “and we’re losing it.” Parasocial relationships (PSRs) are one-sided relationships that individuals have with mediated personae (Horton & Wohl, 1956). Between fake news, currently enflamed divisions in western civilization, and foreign-backed bots, trolls, and social media pages, media effects...
Exploitation of Americans’ information diets by foreign powers for the purpose of creating civil unrest is a well-documented practice and relies on “knowing” people whom we will never meet. Much of our responses to fake news, whether we buy into it or not, center around the one-sided relationships we have with people whom we see in the media. Such...
Communication is a connecting process that goes beyond our contact with the living. Death is an event that makes us feel our mortality, realize we are not in control and really don’t know what comes after life – if anything at all. We look for signs to reduce uncertainty and get relief from the anxiety of the unknown that death provokes. It is not...
Television featuring positive portrayals of marginalized groups may increase viewers' tolerance toward those groups (Schiappa, Gregg, and Hewes, 2006). This study explored attitudes in response to different portrayals of polygamists, while filling research gaps regarding the role of social comparison in parasocial processing (PSP). We hypothesized...
A primer in mass communication theory and the processes designed to influence public opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Invited guest presentation: Psi Chi (National Honor Society in Psychology)
A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study reported Americans spend more time watching television than engaging in interpersonal activities. At the same time, television content is increasing in both complexity and quality, and important questions are emerging. With viewers spending increased time with television content through omnipresent screens...
In America, socializing with friends has become a functional alternative to watching television. Such a drastic change in how we spend free time demands a closer look at media effects. The study at hand invokes intrapersonal communication research and parasocial interactions and relationships from the media effects literature, synthesizing a new li...
ABSTRACT
This study looks at partisan voting in light of imagined interactions (IIs).
Imagined interactions are a form of daydreaming that allows us to build
scripts for use in our interpersonal relationships. II research has generally
come from a functionalist perspective, and continues to prove its value in
counseling and therapy, as well as to h...
The focus of the Fall 2013 issue of the Global Media Journal--American Edition is the impact of digital media on the pedagogy of broadcast and other electronic media. This is a study of the convergence of large studio equipment vs. handheld digital devices and the students who love them. In this issue of Global Media Journal, the editors encouraged...
A recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study reported that Americans now spend more time watching television than we do engaged in interpersonal activities. As television content is increasing in both complexity and quality, some important questions are emerging. With viewers spending increased time with television content and with the content becomin...
Walter Lippmann (1922) suggested our opinions come from “the picture in our heads.” Where do those pictures come from? Popular entertainment provides an avenue through which various organizations and governmental entities can reach the viewing audiences. Talk show hosts such as David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey thrive on inviting guests to appear o...
The Minuteman movement is an activist movement aimed at stopping the flow of illegal immigrants to the U.S. and drawing attention to the issue. This exploratory work analyzed the websites of Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project (JGMMP) and the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) to determine how these groups are using the Internet to encourage civic...
Questions
Questions (6)
I see many scales for assessing one's susceptibility to social influence but am having trouble finding one that assesses how influential on others one believes themself to be.
Hello -- I'm seeing many articles on using VR headsets and related immersive technology for education in hard sciences. I am not seeing too much literature on these technologies and their use or potential for use in informing or marketing to audiences, although there are a variety of studies on VR and journalism. I would like to meet other researchers interested in this area, as I believe the drop in price of VR headsets (as well as the third and forurth generations of Oculus currently in development) will make immersive technology more accessible than ever before. Is anyone looking at the intersection of VR/immersion and mass communication? What do the possibilities look like for broadcasting and strategic communication, and what do you imagine journalism will look like in 5 years as this technology diffuses?
I'm running a survey for a local library and they want to feel out support for increasing taxes to fund library maintenance and operation.
I am planning a PR campaign for a suicide prevention organization in Louisiana and am looking for regional peak months. Various other studies, although often conflicting, tend to identify Spring and Autumn as peak periods, but I need data specifically for Louisiana and don't know where to look.
I am working on a PR campaign for a suicide prevention organization and assessing how best to reach groups at greater risk for suicide as well as those around them.
I'm on the hunt for abbreviated depression and anxiety (self-report; <10 items each) scales. Preferably ones that have been through the wash a few times. Any leads?
