Procrastination, Distress and Life Satisfaction across the Age Range – A German Representative Community Study

Addressing the lack of population-based data the purpose of this representative study was to assess procrastination and its associations with distress and life satisfaction across the life span. A representative German community sample (1,350 women; 1,177 men) between the ages of 14 and 95 years was examined by the short form of the General Procrastination Scale (GPS-K; 1) and standardized scales of perceived stress, depression, anxiety, fatigue and life satisfaction. As hypothesized, procrastination was highest in the youngest cohort (14-29 years). Only in the youngest and most procrastinating cohort (aged 14 to 29 years), men procrastinated more than women. As we had further hypothesized,…

Digital Stress over the Life Span: The Effects of Communication Load and Internet Multitasking on Perceived Stress and Psychological Health Impairments in a German Probability Sample

The present study investigated the psychological health effects and motivational origins of digital stress based on a representative survey of 1,557 German Internet users between 14 and 85 years of age. Communication load resulting from private e-mails and social media messages as well as Internet multitasking were positively related to perceived stress and had significant indirect effects on burnout, depression, and anxiety. Perceived social pressure and the fear of missing out on information and social interaction were key drivers of communication load and Internet multitasking. Age significantly moderated the health effects of digital stress as well as the motivational drivers of communi…

Insights Into Aspects Behind Internet-Related Disorders in Adolescents: The Interplay of Personality and Symptoms of Adjustment Disorders

Abstract Purpose Problematic Internet use (PIU) that has recently been referred to as Internet-related disorder is a growing health concern. Yet, it is unclear why some adolescents are developing problematic use, whereas others sustain control. Based on previous research, we hypothesize that personality traits (low conscientiousness and high neuroticism) act as predispositions for PIU. We further hypothesize that PIU can be understood as a maladaptive reaction toward critical life events and that these maladaptive reactions are exacerbated by dysfunctional personality traits. Methods The study investigates the prevalence of distinct subtypes of PIU among a sample of adolescents (n = 1,489; …

Is Facebook driving tabloidization?

In highly commercialized media markets, newspapers must be present on social media whose logic favours user engagement, shareworthiness, and virality. This might foster increasingly tabloid-like reporting, but empirical studies on the actual effects on newspaper content are widely lacking. We investigate how far newspaper type (quality paper vs. tabloid) and distribution channel (print version, website, Facebook page) influences the degree of tabloidization of two newspapers’ political news. In a content analysis of political news articles of FAZ and BILD in their print versions, on their websites, and on their Facebook pages (n=2,441), we measure tabloidization on three dimensions (topic, …

sj-docx-1-hij-10.1177_19401612211026595 - Supplemental material for Common Core in Danger? Personalized Information and the Fragmentation of the Public Agenda

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-hij-10.1177_19401612211026595 for Common Core in Danger? Personalized Information and the Fragmentation of the Public Agenda by Melanie Magin, Stefan Geiß, Birgit Stark and Pascal Jürgens in The International Journal of Press/Politics

Was der Mensch zusammengefügt hat, sollen Plattformen nicht scheiden

Nahezu anderthalb Jahrhunderte lang schien die Sache klar: Journalismus bezieht sich auf „das Produkt oder die Arbeit von professionellen ‚Nachrichtenleuten‘. Als Produkt bezeichnet es in der Regel informative Berichte uber aktuelle Ereignisse, die fur die Offentlichkeit von Interesse sind“. Nachrichtenorganisationen bzw. Journalisten selektieren Ereignisse anhand bestimmter, gesellschaftsweit bekannter Relevanzkriterien.

Loopholes in the Echo Chambers: How the Echo Chamber Metaphor Oversimplifies the Effects of Information Gateways on Opinion Expression

Social media (SM) are often regarded drivers of personalized echo chambers in which only ideas resonante that individuals already hold, leading to more extreme opinions and intensified opinion expression. However, recent theorizing and evidence has cast doubts on the universal applicability of the echo chamber metaphor, pointing out that communication effects on opinion expression are much more complex than the metaphor suggests. Using the refugee crisis in Germany as a background, the current study challenges four implicit premises of the echo chamber metaphor empirically. The findings show a more complex picture than the metaphor implies: (1) Ignoring other information sources beyond SM m…

sj-docx-1-hij-10.1177_19401612211026595 - Supplemental material for Common Core in Danger? Personalized Information and the Fragmentation of the Public Agenda

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-hij-10.1177_19401612211026595 for Common Core in Danger? Personalized Information and the Fragmentation of the Public Agenda by Melanie Magin, Stefan Geiß, Birgit Stark and Pascal Jürgens in The International Journal of Press/Politics

Zusammenhänge zwischen Anpassungsstörungen und Internetbezogenen Störungen im Jugendalter: Ergebnisse einer Längsschnittuntersuchung

Health Information Seeking Among University Students Before and During the Corona Crisis—Findings From Germany

Health information-seeking behavior is the process of gathering information about health and disease and can be influential for health-related perception and behavior. University students are an important target group for prevention and health promotion and largely belong to an age group that is considered to play a leading role in propagating the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Germany. The paper deals with students' health information-seeking behavior before and during the corona crisis, aiming to give insights into its determinants and implications. Using the example of a large German comprehensive university and based on two cross-sectional surveys in the summer of 2019 (n = 4,351) and 2020 (n =…

Mobile (Self-)Socialization: The Role of Mobile Media and Communication in Autonomy and Relationship Development in Adolescence

Two of the most important developmental tasks in adolescence are developing autonomy and establishing relationships (i.e., friendships and romantic relationships). Self-socialization processes are ...

Common Core in Danger? Personalized Information and the Fragmentation of the Public Agenda

The diversification of information sources has reignited the controversy on media-induced fragmentation endangering social integration. The media's capability to set the public agenda and create issues as a common core is a pivotal part of the public sphere and contributes fundamentally to society's cohesion. Algorithm-driven sources like social media that personalize content to the preferences of individuals and their social networks are considered agents of fragmentation of the public sphere. Politically extreme individuals relying on them may be particularly vulnerable to losing touch with society's common core. We employ an innovative operationalization of fragmentation on the individu…

Uneasy Bedfellows. Comparing the Diversity of German Public Service News on Television and on Facebook

News consumption has shifted increasingly to new platforms and gateways such as social network sites (SNS) with Facebook leading the way. Accordingly, journalists must cope with this “uneasy bedfellow” and provide news on Facebook to attract otherwise hard-to-reach audiences. This is even more relevant for public service broadcasters (PSBs), whose mission is to serve the interests and needs of every citizen. Bound to their public service mission, PSBs have to generally fulfill specific normative requirements such as diversity within their coverage, particularly to a higher degree than their commercial counterparts. Consequently, these requirements should be transferred to public service onl…

The relationship between trait procrastination, Internet use, and psychological functioning : results from a community sample of German adolescents

Adolescents with a strong tendency for irrational task delay (i.e., high trait procrastination) may be particularly prone to use Internet applications simultaneously to other tasks (e.g., during homework) and in an insufficiently controlled fashion. Both Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet usage may thus amplify the negative mental health implications that have frequently been associated with trait procrastination. The present study explored this role of Internet multitasking and insufficiently controlled Internet use for the relationship between trait procrastination and impaired psychological functioning in a community sample of N = 818 early and middle adolescent…

Supplemental Material, Jurgens_online_supplement - Two Half-Truths Make a Whole? On Bias in Self-Reports and Tracking Data

Supplemental Material, Jurgens_online_supplement for Two Half-Truths Make a Whole? On Bias in Self-Reports and Tracking Data by Pascal Jürgens, Birgit Stark, and Melanie Magin in Social Science Computer Review

Two Half-Truths Make a Whole? On Bias in Self-Reports and Tracking Data

The pervasive use of mobile information technologies brings new patterns of media usage, but also challenges to the measurement of media exposure. Researchers wishing to, for example, understand the nature of selective exposure on algorithmically driven platforms need to precisely attribute individuals’ exposure to specific content. Prior research has used tracking data to show that survey-based self-reports of media exposure are critically unreliable. So far, however, little effort has been invested into assessing the specific biases of tracking methods themselves. Using data from a multimethod study, we show that tracking data from mobile devices is linked to systematic distortions in sel…

Permanently online and permanently procrastinating? The mediating role of Internet use for the effects of trait procrastination on psychological health and well-being

A growing number of studies suggest that Internet users frequently utilize online media as “tools for procrastination.” This study thus investigated the relationship between trait procrastination, Internet use, and psychological well-being in a representative sample of N = 1,577 German Internet users. The results revealed that trait procrastination was associated with an increased use of leisure-related online content and impaired control over Internet use. As a result, Internet users high in trait procrastination showed a higher risk of experiencing negative consequence of Internet use in other life domains. These negative repercussions of insufficiently self-regulated Internet use partia…

Maßlos überschätzt. Ein Überblick über theoretische Annahmen und empirische Befunde zu Filterblasen und Echokammern

Seit einigen Jahren sind zwei einpragsame Metaphern im offentlichen und wissenschaftlichen Diskurs allgegenwartig – Filterblasen und Echokammern. Beide beschreiben plakativ die Gefahr, dass Menschen sich in eine Welt zuruckziehen oder in sie befordert werden, in der sie nur noch Themen, die sie interessieren, und Meinungen, die sie selbst vertreten, zur Kenntnis nehmen (mussen). Bei der Entstehung solcher Enklaven wird algorithmisch gesteuerten Informationsquellen (insbesondere sozialen Medien und Suchmaschinen) eine Schlusselrolle zugewiesen. Der Beitrag gibt einen Uberblick uber theoretische Annahmen und empirischen Forschungsstand zu Filterblasen und Echokammern. Er macht deutlich, dass …

More Relevant Today Than Ever: Past, Present and Future of Media Performance Research

Media performance is constitutive for functioning democracies. But what is the situation regarding media performance in the age of digitalisation? And how can media performance continue to be assured under the current difficult economic conditions for the news industry? In this essay, we give a short overview of how media performance research has developed from the introduction of private broadcasting to the spread of the Internet and social media. In the course of this development, the initial focus of media performance research on media content has broadened to include media quality from the user perspective. We show how the contributions to this thematic issue relate with existing lines …

Neuer Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit durch Informationsintermediäre: Wie Facebook, Google & Co. die Medien und den Journalismus verändern

Der Begriff der Filterblase hat es in den Duden geschafft. Alle drei bis funf Jahre entscheidet die Duden-Redaktion uber die Aufnahme neuer Worter. In der aktualisierten Auflage, die im August 2017 erschienen ist, findet sich die Filterblase in den Bereichen «Technologisches» bzw.

‘I’m still the master of the machine.’ Internet users’ awareness of algorithmic decision-making and their perception of its effect on their autonomy

Algorithms are an integral part of our everyday lives and shape the selection and presentation of information and communication on the internet. At the same time, media users are faced with a lack of control and transparency when interacting with these systems because algorithms largely remain black boxes to end users. Relying on the notion that algorithms are socio-technical systems that comprise both technical and human components, this paper examines internet users’ awareness of algorithms in different areas of internet use and inquires into users’ perceptions of the impact of algorithms on their autonomy when interacting online. Empirically, we rely on qualitative interviews with 30 Ger…

Public Network Value for the Next Generation am Beispiel von funk

Die Debatte um die Legitimation des offentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks hat im digitalen Zeitalter eine neue Dimension erreicht: Insbesondere das junge Publikum wendet sich nicht nur verstarkt den privat-kommerziellen Sendern zu, sondern konsumiert immer haufiger Bewegtbildinhalte im Netz, wo internationale Player wie YouTube oder Netflix an Bedeutung gewinnen. Die Sorge, das junge Publikum komplett zu verlieren, ist deshalb gros. Mit funk – dem „jungen Angebot“ von ARD und ZDF – sollen die 14- bis 29-Jahrigen mithilfe von zielgruppenspezifischen Inhalten nun wieder an die offentlich-rechtliche Marke gebunden werden. Der vorliegende Beitrag nimmt die Markteinfuhrung zum Anlass, die Ausgestaltu…

Grassroots-Demokratie via Twitter?

„Was lange gart, wird endlich Wut.“Mit diesem umformulierten Sprichwort lasst sich die Entwicklung der Proteste um Stuttgart 21 (S21) treffend charakterisieren. Das Projekt ist eines der umstrittensten Verkehrs- und Stadtebauprojekte in Deutschland und beschaftigt die Bevolkerung – insbesondere die Stuttgarter Burger – seit Jahrzehnten: Zum einen soll der bestehende Kopfbahnhof in einen Durchgangsbahnhof sowie die Neubaustrecke zwischen Wendlungen und Ulm ausgebaut und zum anderen sollen durch die Umwandlung des Hauptbahnhofs freiwerdende Gleisstrecken stadtebaulich verandert werden. Bereits in den 1980er Jahren gab es hierzu erste Beratungen und Plane auf Bundes- und Landesebene. In einem …

Challenge Accepted! a Critical Reflection on How to Perform a Health Survey Among University Students—An Example of the Healthy Campus Mainz Project

Background: Universities represent an important setting of everyday life for health promotion. The Healthy Campus Mainz project aims to develop an evidence-based and comprehensive student health management program covering physical, mental, and social health promotion. Hence, an initial health survey was performed in order to identify the students' health concerns and resources. Up until now, it remains unclear which topics to choose in a health survey among university students and which strategies can be recommended to receive an acceptable response rate or representative student sample within a university setting. The present paper contributes to the call for the present research topic “P…

Seek and you shall find? A content analysis on the diversity of five search engines’ results on political queries

Search engines are important political news sources and should thus provide users with diverse political information ��� an important precondition of a well-informed citizenry. The search engines��� algorithmic content selection strongly influences the diversity of the content received by the users ��� particularly since most users highly trust search engines and often click on only the first result. A widespread concern is that users are not informed diversely by search engines, but how far this concern applies has hardly been investigated. Our study is the first to investigate content diversity provided by five search engines on ten current political issues in Germany. The findings show t…

The Many Faces of Interactivity in Convergent Media Environments. Assessing Uses and Effects of Interactivity from a User and Management Perspective

Digitization has blurred the distinctions between producers and audiences. Thus, research on interactivity as a key element of convergent media environments has grown dramatically over the past three decades. However, despite this strong research interest there is currently no consensus about the multi-faced and hard-to-grasp concept. Obviously, interactivity is used to describe numerous processes in convergent media environments that are related to communication in general, and online communication and practices like online journalism in particular. This article highlights the main strands in the conceptual development of interactivity and explores some of the effects of interactivity by s…