Association Between Online Social Influence and Corporal Punishment: An Experimental Study
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Association Between Online Social Influence and Corporal Punishment: An Experimental Study Hue Trong Duong1 · Long Thang Van Nguyen2 · Hong Tien Vu3 · Anh Thuy Trinh4
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Online news stories about child corporal punishment (CP) often receive news user comments that are incongruent with scientific reports and experts’ advice. Recent research suggests that comments and approval ratings on news websites can be sources of social influence that affects perceptions and behaviors. However, little research has investigated the influence of online comments and approval ratings on CP perceptions and behavior. Using the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction, this study employed a 2 (comments: congruent vs. incongruent) × 2 (approval ratings: low vs. high) randomized between-subject experimental design to examine the effect of online comments and approval ratings on intentions to use CP and support for CP prevention policy (N = 458). Findings indicated that while comments exerted an effect on perceptions of CP, approval ratings did not. Specifically, compared to participants who viewed congruent comments, those who viewed incongruent comments reported higher injunctive norms (β = .94, 95% CI [.72, 1.14]), higher descriptive norms (β = .33, 95% CI [.17, .49]), and greater favorable attitudes toward CP (β = .37, 95% CI [.21, 53]). The results of the mediation analyses demonstrated that incongruent comments indirectly increase intentions to use CP via injunctive norms (β = .14, 95% CI [.04, .25]) and attitudes (β = .30, 95% CI [.18, .45]). These comments were also found to decrease support for CP prevention policy via injunctive norms (β = − .10, 95% CI [− .20, − .01]) and attitudes (β = − .18, 95% CI [− .28, − .11]). The findings have implications for research and interventions using mass media to convey CP prevention messages. Keywords Corporal punishment · Social influence · Social norms; attitudes · Media campaign · Integrative model Corporal punishment (CP) refers to the use of physical force to cause some degrees of pain for a child for the purpose of correction of the child’s behavior, such as spanking and * Hue Trong Duong [email protected] Long Thang Van Nguyen [email protected] Hong Tien Vu [email protected] Anh Thuy Trinh [email protected] 1
Department of Communication Studies, University of Georgia, 513 Caldwell Hall, Athens, GA, USA
2
School of Communication and Design, RMIT Vietnam University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
3
William Allen White School of Journalism & Mass Communications, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
4
Department of Business Administration, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
other forms of hitting a child (Straus, 2001). It is a significant predictor of child physical abuse (Gershoff & GroganKaylor, 2016). Although there is a large body of evidence which suggests the harmful effects of CP on children and adolescents, attitudes and social norms that support the behavio
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