This study explores citizens' anticipations of wind turbines that may be installed in their vicinity and the experiences of those living near existing turbines - reflecting different stages of the installation process. Findings from a German online survey (N = 2664) reveal that citizens experience considerable uncertainty regarding the impacts of wind farms, both prior to and after construction. Across several dimensions, including ecological and economic effects, experiences with existing wind farms are less negative than expectations of those anticipating future installations. An exception concerns the perceived fairness of the installation process. These results are integrated into a preliminary model of environmental change communication, which draws on insights from organizational transformation research to better understand the dynamics and outcomes of installation-related discourses.
Self-affirmation can reduce defensiveness toward threatening information, thereby increasing receptivity to persuasive messages. Prior research suggests that individuals may experience the benefits of self-affirmation by proxy when they observe a similar other affirm identity-relevant qualities. To extend this line of inquiry, the present study (N = 744) investigated whether such effects vary by affirmation domain (i.e., cognitive, emotional, or values-based) in the context of attitudes towards the human papillomavirus vaccine. Notably, only the emotion-based affirmation improved message-consistent attitudes through increased self-appraisal and reduced message derogation. These effects emerged at low and moderate levels of issue involvement and medical mistrust, suggesting intervention effectiveness even among less invested or skeptical individuals. Findings are discussed in light of both theory and practice.
The Communication discipline has faced criticism concerning the systematic embeddedness of whiteness within its disciplinary norms. This study examined NCA's annual convention presentation titles (2005-2024; N = 39795) using computational and network analysis. Only 9.37% of presentations were race-related. Most large divisions scheduled race scholarship on the first or last conference day or during early morning sessions and empaneled a smaller proportion of race-related scholarship than NCA more broadly. Race scholarship was most often sponsored and co-sponsored by divisions focused on race or critical methodology, or caucuses representing the interests of a racial or social demographic. We discuss our findings considering the marginalization of race-related scholarship, and implications for epistemological racism and NCA's role in guiding the discipline's trajectory.
