Cynthia A Hoffner
Biographic Data
| ID | 4513989 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Cynthia A Hoffner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Cynthia A |
| FAMILY NAME | Hoffner |
| SIGNATURE | HOFFNER C A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Georgia State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6212-0337 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 100 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Challenging mental health misinformation on social media: The role of eHealth literacy, self-efficacy and presumed media influence
Roles of parasocial relationship with eco-celebrities, motivation attribution, and message framing in virality of climate information on social media
Effects of Parasocial Experiences on Health Outcomes
This chapter synthesizes research on the influence of parasocial experiences in audience health-related perceptions and behavior. Exposure to health messages may be part of routine media use or result from active seeking of health-related information and guidance. Drawing on research in the domains of entertainment–education, media figure health events, and strategic health messaging, this review discusses theoretical mechanisms of parasocial inf…
Parasocial relationships, social media, & well-being
The Impact of Health Narratives on Persuasion in African American Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Tweeting about mental health to honor Carrie Fisher: How #InHonorOfCarrie reinforced the social influence of celebrity advocacy
The Effects of Celebrity Silence Breakers: Liking and Parasocial Relationship Strength Interact to Predict the Social Influence of Celebrities’ Sexual Harassment Allegations
Although likability and parasocial relationships (PSRs) typically go hand in hand, people can dislike media figures they are bonded to, or they can feel disconnected from media figures that they like. To examine the interplay of PSRs and liking, an experiment investigated responses to celebrities who made sexual harassment allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. Participants were assigned to complete a liking or disliking priming task. Tho…
A comedic entertainment portrayal of obsessive–compulsive disorder: Responses by individuals with anxiety disorders
The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects
Perceived media influence, mental illness, and responses to news coverage of a mass shooting
I miss my mobile phone!”: Self-expansion via mobile phone and responses to phone loss
This article explores how mobile phones function as an affective technology for young adults, by adapting the self-expansion model to understand attachment to mobile phones. In an online survey, 272 smart phone users reported on their recalled responses to loss/separation from their mobile phone (not by choice), as well as their use of the mobile phone for self-expansion. Results show that self-expansion via mobile phone was associated with great…
Gifts of giving: The role of empathy and perceived benefits to others and self in young adults' decisions to become organ donors
Trait empathy and self-interest exert a strong influence on different prosocial behaviors, but their role in the promotion of organ donation registration is unclear. A survey examined how perceived benefits of organ donation for others and the self affect people's willingness to register as donors. Perceived other-benefits did not predict registration. Those with lower risk and greater self-benefit perceptions were more willing to donate. Empathi…
Media‐Related Fear: Short‐Term And Enduring Consequences
Fear responses to media exert a powerful influence over people's perceptions, expectations, and behavior. Grounded in emotion theory, this chapter provides a framework for understanding fear responses to mediated threats in three areas of media scholarship: immediate responses to media, risk perceptions, and intergroup relations. First, the chapter examines why and how mediated messages evoke fear, and the consequences of fear during and after me…
Communication and Mental Health: A Conversation from the CM Café
The Communication Monographs Cafe is once again open for business. After stimulating conversations about social justice and public scholarship (Volume 78, Issue 2), about communication and material
Young Voters' Responses to the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election: Social Identity, Perceived Media Influence, and Behavioral Outcomes
Hostile news perceptions, perceived media influence, and behavioral outcomes among Republicans and Democrats were examined before and after the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Predictions were grounded in social identity/self-categorization theories, and influence of presumed influence. Hostile news perceptions were greater among Republicans, especially Fox News viewers. Third-person perceptions (TPPs) for ingroup and outgroup (own party, other …
Parasocial Interaction With Liked, Neutral, and Disliked Characters on a Popular TV Series
In this study, 174 respondents completed an online questionnaire measuring their responses to a liked, neutral, or disliked character from the ABC drama Lost. Specifically, they reported their perceived similarity, identification while viewing, and parasocial interaction with the character, as well as the extent to which they had tried to change aspects of themselves to be more like the character ("change/influence"). Across the whole sample, per…
Why We Watch: Factors Affecting Exposure to Tragic Television News
This study explored the reasons people expose themselves to news depicting tragic events. A total of 376 undergraduates completed anonymous questionnaires about their responses to news coverage of the events of September 11. The study examined the extent to which individual differences in empathy gave rise to news viewing motives (surveillance, reassurance, curiosity), and how these variables, as well as negative emotional responses (anger, sadne…
Adolescents’ Conceptions of Work: What Is Learned From Different Sources During Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory socialization is the process of gaining knowledge about work that begins in early childhood and continues until entering the workplace full-time. On self-administered questionnaires, 64 high school students answered open-ended questions about what they have learned about work from five sources: parents, educational institutions, part-time employment, friends, and the mass media. Responses were coded into four macro categories (genera…
Young Adults' Wishful Identification With Television Characters: The Role of Perceived Similarity and Character Attributes
In this study, 208 young adults completed questionnaires measuring their perceptions of and responses to their favorite fictional television characters, both male and female. Measures included perceived attitude similarity, perceived character attributes (smart, successful, attractive, funny, violent, admired), and wishful identification with the characters. Wishful identification was defined as the desire to be like or act like the character. Re…
Parents' Responses to Television Violence: The Third-Person Perception, Parental Mediation, and Support for Censorship
Extending prior research on the third-person effect, which has focused on perceived media effects on adults, the present study examined parents' beliefs about the effects of televised violence on their own and other children, and how these perceptions are related to two different behavioral responses: parental mediation of television and support for censorship. Respondents were parents of children aged 3 to 18 (N = 70), who were contacted as part…
The Third-Person Effect in Perceptions of the Influence of Television Violence
This study examines the third-person effect (the belief that others are more affected by media messages than oneself) for two different effects of televised violence, mean world perceptions and aggression, using attribution theory as an explanatory framework. In telephone interviews with a random sample of 253 community residents, third-person effects, as predicted, were observed for both aggression and mean world perceptions, but were larger for…
Children's Emotional Reactions to a Scary Film The Role of Prior Outcome Information and Coping Style
An experiment examined the influence of happy outcome information and coping style on children's emotional responses to a frightening film sequence. Fourth and fifth graders viewed a program that included a threatening scene and a happy resolution. Before viewing, they heard an audiotaped introduction that either described the happy outcome or did not. Children's preferred coping style was classified as blunting or monitoring, using Miller's Chil…
Children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters
Children aged 7 to 12 were interviewed about their favorite TV character. Nearly all boys and about half of the girls selected same‐sex favorites. Regression analyses used perceived character traits (attractiveness, strength, humor, intelligence, social behavior) to predict wishful identification and parasocial interaction with characters. For male characters, wishful identification was predicted by intelligence and (for girls only) humor; paraso…
Factors affecting children's enjoyment of a frightening film sequence
An experiment examined the factors that contribute to children's enjoyment of frightening mass media, in an effort to extend recent research with adults. The study focused on suspense (indexed by worry and fear) and character liking as mediators of enjoyment. Children at two age levels viewed a scary program that concluded with either a successful resolution of a threat or no resolution. Forewarning of the threat and information about the happy o…
Children's understanding of adverbs denoting degree of likelihood
Two studies were conducted to examine children's understanding of three terms that denote different degrees of likelihood: possibly, probably and definitely . In Study 1, children in preschool, and first, third and fourth grade completed a comparison task involving pairs of likelihood terms. Twelve stories were created that described the likelihood that each of two children would participate in an activity, and subjects judged which of the two ch…
Parasocial Interaction With Liked, Neutral, and Disliked Characters on a Popular TV Series
In this study, 174 respondents completed an online questionnaire measuring their responses to a liked, neutral, or disliked character from the ABC drama Lost. Specifically, they reported their perceived similarity, identification while viewing, and parasocial interaction with the character, as well as the extent to which they had tried to change aspects of themselves to be more like the character ("change/influence"). Across the whole sample, per…
Adolescents’ Conceptions of Work: What Is Learned From Different Sources During Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory socialization is the process of gaining knowledge about work that begins in early childhood and continues until entering the workplace full-time. On self-administered questionnaires, 64 high school students answered open-ended questions about what they have learned about work from five sources: parents, educational institutions, part-time employment, friends, and the mass media. Responses were coded into four macro categories (genera…
Developmental differences in responses to a television character's appearance and behavior
I miss my mobile phone!”: Self-expansion via mobile phone and responses to phone loss
This article explores how mobile phones function as an affective technology for young adults, by adapting the self-expansion model to understand attachment to mobile phones. In an online survey, 272 smart phone users reported on their recalled responses to loss/separation from their mobile phone (not by choice), as well as their use of the mobile phone for self-expansion. Results show that self-expansion via mobile phone was associated with great…
Gifts of giving: The role of empathy and perceived benefits to others and self in young adults' decisions to become organ donors
Trait empathy and self-interest exert a strong influence on different prosocial behaviors, but their role in the promotion of organ donation registration is unclear. A survey examined how perceived benefits of organ donation for others and the self affect people's willingness to register as donors. Perceived other-benefits did not predict registration. Those with lower risk and greater self-benefit perceptions were more willing to donate. Empathi…
Forewarning of a Threat and Prior Knowledge of Outcome Effects on Children's Emotional Responses to a Film Sequence
An experiment examined the influence of prior information on children's emotional responses to a frightening program. Children at two age levels (5–7 and 9–11 years) viewed a program that included a threatening scene and a happy resolution. Before viewing, they heard one of four audiotaped introductions created by factorially varying information about the threat (forewarning, no forewarning) and the happy outcome (prior knowledge, no prior knowle…
Why We Watch: Factors Affecting Exposure to Tragic Television News
This study explored the reasons people expose themselves to news depicting tragic events. A total of 376 undergraduates completed anonymous questionnaires about their responses to news coverage of the events of September 11. The study examined the extent to which individual differences in empathy gave rise to news viewing motives (surveillance, reassurance, curiosity), and how these variables, as well as negative emotional responses (anger, sadne…
Children's Emotional Reactions to a Scary Film The Role of Prior Outcome Information and Coping Style
An experiment examined the influence of happy outcome information and coping style on children's emotional responses to a frightening film sequence. Fourth and fifth graders viewed a program that included a threatening scene and a happy resolution. Before viewing, they heard an audiotaped introduction that either described the happy outcome or did not. Children's preferred coping style was classified as blunting or monitoring, using Miller's Chil…
Factors affecting children's enjoyment of a frightening film sequence
An experiment examined the factors that contribute to children's enjoyment of frightening mass media, in an effort to extend recent research with adults. The study focused on suspense (indexed by worry and fear) and character liking as mediators of enjoyment. Children at two age levels viewed a scary program that concluded with either a successful resolution of a threat or no resolution. Forewarning of the threat and information about the happy o…
The Effects of Celebrity Silence Breakers: Liking and Parasocial Relationship Strength Interact to Predict the Social Influence of Celebrities’ Sexual Harassment Allegations
Although likability and parasocial relationships (PSRs) typically go hand in hand, people can dislike media figures they are bonded to, or they can feel disconnected from media figures that they like. To examine the interplay of PSRs and liking, an experiment investigated responses to celebrities who made sexual harassment allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. Participants were assigned to complete a liking or disliking priming task. Tho…
Perceived media influence, mental illness, and responses to news coverage of a mass shooting
Communication and Mental Health: A Conversation from the CM Café
The Communication Monographs Cafe is once again open for business. After stimulating conversations about social justice and public scholarship (Volume 78, Issue 2), about communication and material
Children's Responses to Conflicting Auditory and Visual Features of a Televised Narrative
Children at three age levels (5–6, 8–9, and 10–12 years) were exposed to a televised story in which the auditory and visual content conflicted at the semantic level: a character was depicted as behaving kindly in one channel and cruelly in the other. Comparison groups were exposed to audio-only and video-only versions of the program. It was found that awareness of the auditory-visual discrepancy, assessed at the end of the testing session, increa…
Developmental differences in responses to a television character's appearance and behavior
Film Violence and Perceptions of Crime: The Cultivation Effect
(1987). Film Violence and Perceptions of Crime: The Cultivation Effect. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 10, Communication Yearbook 10, pp. 384-394
Children's Responses to Conflicting Auditory and Visual Features of a Televised Narrative
Children at three age levels (5–6, 8–9, and 10–12 years) were exposed to a televised story in which the auditory and visual content conflicted at the semantic level: a character was depicted as behaving kindly in one channel and cruelly in the other. Comparison groups were exposed to audio-only and video-only versions of the program. It was found that awareness of the auditory-visual discrepancy, assessed at the end of the testing session, increa…
Children's understanding of adverbs denoting degree of likelihood
Two studies were conducted to examine children's understanding of three terms that denote different degrees of likelihood: possibly, probably and definitely . In Study 1, children in preschool, and first, third and fourth grade completed a comparison task involving pairs of likelihood terms. Twelve stories were created that described the likelihood that each of two children would participate in an activity, and subjects judged which of the two ch…
Forewarning of a Threat and Prior Knowledge of Outcome Effects on Children's Emotional Responses to a Film Sequence
An experiment examined the influence of prior information on children's emotional responses to a frightening program. Children at two age levels (5–7 and 9–11 years) viewed a program that included a threatening scene and a happy resolution. Before viewing, they heard one of four audiotaped introductions created by factorially varying information about the threat (forewarning, no forewarning) and the happy outcome (prior knowledge, no prior knowle…
Factors affecting children's enjoyment of a frightening film sequence
An experiment examined the factors that contribute to children's enjoyment of frightening mass media, in an effort to extend recent research with adults. The study focused on suspense (indexed by worry and fear) and character liking as mediators of enjoyment. Children at two age levels viewed a scary program that concluded with either a successful resolution of a threat or no resolution. Forewarning of the threat and information about the happy o…
Children's wishful identification and parasocial interaction with favorite television characters
Children aged 7 to 12 were interviewed about their favorite TV character. Nearly all boys and about half of the girls selected same‐sex favorites. Regression analyses used perceived character traits (attractiveness, strength, humor, intelligence, social behavior) to predict wishful identification and parasocial interaction with characters. For male characters, wishful identification was predicted by intelligence and (for girls only) humor; paraso…
Children's Emotional Reactions to a Scary Film The Role of Prior Outcome Information and Coping Style
An experiment examined the influence of happy outcome information and coping style on children's emotional responses to a frightening film sequence. Fourth and fifth graders viewed a program that included a threatening scene and a happy resolution. Before viewing, they heard an audiotaped introduction that either described the happy outcome or did not. Children's preferred coping style was classified as blunting or monitoring, using Miller's Chil…
The Third-Person Effect in Perceptions of the Influence of Television Violence
This study examines the third-person effect (the belief that others are more affected by media messages than oneself) for two different effects of televised violence, mean world perceptions and aggression, using attribution theory as an explanatory framework. In telephone interviews with a random sample of 253 community residents, third-person effects, as predicted, were observed for both aggression and mean world perceptions, but were larger for…
Parents' Responses to Television Violence: The Third-Person Perception, Parental Mediation, and Support for Censorship
Extending prior research on the third-person effect, which has focused on perceived media effects on adults, the present study examined parents' beliefs about the effects of televised violence on their own and other children, and how these perceptions are related to two different behavioral responses: parental mediation of television and support for censorship. Respondents were parents of children aged 3 to 18 (N = 70), who were contacted as part…
Young Adults' Wishful Identification With Television Characters: The Role of Perceived Similarity and Character Attributes
In this study, 208 young adults completed questionnaires measuring their perceptions of and responses to their favorite fictional television characters, both male and female. Measures included perceived attitude similarity, perceived character attributes (smart, successful, attractive, funny, violent, admired), and wishful identification with the characters. Wishful identification was defined as the desire to be like or act like the character. Re…
Adolescents’ Conceptions of Work: What Is Learned From Different Sources During Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory socialization is the process of gaining knowledge about work that begins in early childhood and continues until entering the workplace full-time. On self-administered questionnaires, 64 high school students answered open-ended questions about what they have learned about work from five sources: parents, educational institutions, part-time employment, friends, and the mass media. Responses were coded into four macro categories (genera…
Why We Watch: Factors Affecting Exposure to Tragic Television News
This study explored the reasons people expose themselves to news depicting tragic events. A total of 376 undergraduates completed anonymous questionnaires about their responses to news coverage of the events of September 11. The study examined the extent to which individual differences in empathy gave rise to news viewing motives (surveillance, reassurance, curiosity), and how these variables, as well as negative emotional responses (anger, sadne…
Parasocial Interaction With Liked, Neutral, and Disliked Characters on a Popular TV Series
In this study, 174 respondents completed an online questionnaire measuring their responses to a liked, neutral, or disliked character from the ABC drama Lost. Specifically, they reported their perceived similarity, identification while viewing, and parasocial interaction with the character, as well as the extent to which they had tried to change aspects of themselves to be more like the character ("change/influence"). Across the whole sample, per…
Young Voters' Responses to the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election: Social Identity, Perceived Media Influence, and Behavioral Outcomes
Hostile news perceptions, perceived media influence, and behavioral outcomes among Republicans and Democrats were examined before and after the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Predictions were grounded in social identity/self-categorization theories, and influence of presumed influence. Hostile news perceptions were greater among Republicans, especially Fox News viewers. Third-person perceptions (TPPs) for ingroup and outgroup (own party, other …
Media‐Related Fear: Short‐Term And Enduring Consequences
Fear responses to media exert a powerful influence over people's perceptions, expectations, and behavior. Grounded in emotion theory, this chapter provides a framework for understanding fear responses to mediated threats in three areas of media scholarship: immediate responses to media, risk perceptions, and intergroup relations. First, the chapter examines why and how mediated messages evoke fear, and the consequences of fear during and after me…
Communication and Mental Health: A Conversation from the CM Café
The Communication Monographs Cafe is once again open for business. After stimulating conversations about social justice and public scholarship (Volume 78, Issue 2), about communication and material
Gifts of giving: The role of empathy and perceived benefits to others and self in young adults' decisions to become organ donors
Trait empathy and self-interest exert a strong influence on different prosocial behaviors, but their role in the promotion of organ donation registration is unclear. A survey examined how perceived benefits of organ donation for others and the self affect people's willingness to register as donors. Perceived other-benefits did not predict registration. Those with lower risk and greater self-benefit perceptions were more willing to donate. Empathi…
Perceived media influence, mental illness, and responses to news coverage of a mass shooting
I miss my mobile phone!”: Self-expansion via mobile phone and responses to phone loss
This article explores how mobile phones function as an affective technology for young adults, by adapting the self-expansion model to understand attachment to mobile phones. In an online survey, 272 smart phone users reported on their recalled responses to loss/separation from their mobile phone (not by choice), as well as their use of the mobile phone for self-expansion. Results show that self-expansion via mobile phone was associated with great…
The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects
A comedic entertainment portrayal of obsessive–compulsive disorder: Responses by individuals with anxiety disorders
Tweeting about mental health to honor Carrie Fisher: How #InHonorOfCarrie reinforced the social influence of celebrity advocacy
The Effects of Celebrity Silence Breakers: Liking and Parasocial Relationship Strength Interact to Predict the Social Influence of Celebrities’ Sexual Harassment Allegations
Although likability and parasocial relationships (PSRs) typically go hand in hand, people can dislike media figures they are bonded to, or they can feel disconnected from media figures that they like. To examine the interplay of PSRs and liking, an experiment investigated responses to celebrities who made sexual harassment allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. Participants were assigned to complete a liking or disliking priming task. Tho…
The Impact of Health Narratives on Persuasion in African American Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Psychology (25 works) · Media Influence and Health (22 works) · Social Psychology (21 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Computer Science (8 works) · Developmental psychology (8 works) · Media Studies and Communication (7 works) · Media, Gender, and Advertising (7 works) · Perception (6 works) · Child Development and Digital Technology (5 works)