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Papers by Bryan McLaughlin

Scholars examining homosexual television characters have typically come to one of two conclusions... more Scholars examining homosexual television characters have typically come to one of two conclusions, either exposure to homosexual characters can lead to increased acceptance or homosexual characters serve to reaffirm negative stereotypes. We seek to bridge these two bodies of research by introducing the concept of stereotyped identification—the idea that cognitively and emotionally identifying with fictional characters can increase acceptance of minorities, while reinforcing implicit stereotypes about how they look, act, and talk. Results from our national survey (N = 972) offer support for this hypothesis.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 2013

Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives.... more Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives. However, this framework may obscure a more complex process, facilitated by the emerging social media environment, which includes the effects of composing and sending messages to others. Accordingly, this study explores the effects of expression and reception of emotional support messages in online groups and the importance of bonding as a mediator influencing the coping strategies of breast cancer patients. Data were collected as part of two National Cancer Institute-funded randomized clinical trials. Eligible subjects were within 2 months of diagnosis of primary breast cancer or recurrence. Expression and reception of emotionally supportive messages were tracked and coded for 237 breast cancer patients. Analysis resulted from merging 1) computer-aided content analysis of discussion posts, 2) action log analysis of system use, and 3) longitudinal survey data. As expected, perceived bond...

The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health c... more The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health communication literature. Although religious support expression is characterized as a typical subdimension of emotional support, we argue that in the context of a life-threatening illness, the inclusion of a religious component creates a unique communication process. Using data from an online group for women with breast cancer, we test a theoretical expression effects model. Results demonstrate that for breast cancer patients, religious support expression has distinct effects from general emotional support messages, which highlights the need to further theorize expression effects along these lines.

Politics and the life sciences : the journal of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences, 2015

The common assumption that female candidates on the campaign trail should not go on the attack, b... more The common assumption that female candidates on the campaign trail should not go on the attack, because such tactics contradict gender stereotypes, has not received consistent support. We argue that in some circumstances gender stereotypes will favor female politicians going negative. To test this proposition, this study examines how gender cues affect voter reactions to negative ads in the context of a political sex scandal, a context that should prime gender stereotypes that favor females. Using an online experiment involving a national sample of U.S. adults (N = 599), we manipulate the gender and partisan affiliation of a politician who attacks a male opponent caught in a sex scandal involving sexually suggestive texting to a female intern. Results show that in the context of a sex scandal, a female candidate going on the attack is evaluated more positively than a male. Moreover, while female participants viewed the female sponsor more favorably, sponsor gender had no effect on m...

Politics and Religion, 2014

Scholars contend that correctly applying religious cues is crucial to winning political elections... more Scholars contend that correctly applying religious cues is crucial to winning political elections. This article examines the effect of general religious cues by conducting an experiment on a national sample (N = 520). Through the use of a fictitious congressional candidate's webpage, we examine how subtle and overt religious cues interact with citizen religiosity to affect political evaluations. The findings demonstrate that politicians who use overt religious cues run the risk of alienating a large portion of potential voters. Religious cues do, however, appear to become more effective as citizens become more religious. We also find some evidence that overt religious cues are more polarizing than subtle religious cues. This article provides a foundation from which to more thoroughly consider how general religious cues can affect political outcomes and how these cues may interact with other factors.

Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects ps... more Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects psychosocial health outcomes. We propose a theoretical model predicting that when women with breast cancer defer control to God they will experience fewer breast cancer related concerns. Deferring control to God, however, should also reduce the likelihood that they take a proactive coping approach, which will be exacerbated by lowered breast cancer concerns. We therefore predict that this passive coping style will ultimately result in lower levels of quality of life.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 2013

Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives.... more Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives. However, this framework may obscure a more complex process, facilitated by the emerging social media environment, which includes the effects of composing and sending messages to others. Accordingly, this study explores the effects of expression and reception of emotional support messages in online groups and the importance of bonding as a mediator influencing the coping strategies of breast cancer patients. Data were collected as part of two National Cancer Institute-funded randomized clinical trials. Eligible subjects were within 2 months of diagnosis of primary breast cancer or recurrence. Expression and reception of emotionally supportive messages were tracked and coded for 237 breast cancer patients. Analysis resulted from merging 1) computer-aided content analysis of discussion posts, 2) action log analysis of system use, and 3) longitudinal survey data. As expected, perceived bond...

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 2014

is a doctoral student in the school of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wis... more is a doctoral student in the school of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include online social networks, public opinion, and political communication. JungHwan Yang (M.A., Seoul National University) is a doctoral candidate in the Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include computational methods and political communication. Young Mie Kim (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research concerns media and politics with an emphasis on the contributions of the digital media environment to the changing foundation of political communication.

Patient Education and Counseling, 2013

Psycho-Oncology, 2013

Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects ps... more Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects psychosocial health outcomes. We propose a theoretical model predicting that when women with breast cancer defer control to God they will experience fewer breast cancer related concerns. Deferring control to God, however, should also reduce the likelihood that they take a proactive coping approach, which will be exacerbated by lowered breast cancer concerns. We therefore predict that this passive coping style will ultimately result in lower levels of quality of life.

Scholars examining homosexual television characters have typically come to one of two conclusions... more Scholars examining homosexual television characters have typically come to one of two conclusions, either exposure to homosexual characters can lead to increased acceptance or homosexual characters serve to reaffirm negative stereotypes. We seek to bridge these two bodies of research by introducing the concept of stereotyped identification—the idea that cognitively and emotionally identifying with fictional characters can increase acceptance of minorities, while reinforcing implicit stereotypes about how they look, act, and talk. Results from our national survey (N = 972) offer support for this hypothesis.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 2013

Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives.... more Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives. However, this framework may obscure a more complex process, facilitated by the emerging social media environment, which includes the effects of composing and sending messages to others. Accordingly, this study explores the effects of expression and reception of emotional support messages in online groups and the importance of bonding as a mediator influencing the coping strategies of breast cancer patients. Data were collected as part of two National Cancer Institute-funded randomized clinical trials. Eligible subjects were within 2 months of diagnosis of primary breast cancer or recurrence. Expression and reception of emotionally supportive messages were tracked and coded for 237 breast cancer patients. Analysis resulted from merging 1) computer-aided content analysis of discussion posts, 2) action log analysis of system use, and 3) longitudinal survey data. As expected, perceived bond...

The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health c... more The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health communication literature. Although religious support expression is characterized as a typical subdimension of emotional support, we argue that in the context of a life-threatening illness, the inclusion of a religious component creates a unique communication process. Using data from an online group for women with breast cancer, we test a theoretical expression effects model. Results demonstrate that for breast cancer patients, religious support expression has distinct effects from general emotional support messages, which highlights the need to further theorize expression effects along these lines.

Politics and the life sciences : the journal of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences, 2015

The common assumption that female candidates on the campaign trail should not go on the attack, b... more The common assumption that female candidates on the campaign trail should not go on the attack, because such tactics contradict gender stereotypes, has not received consistent support. We argue that in some circumstances gender stereotypes will favor female politicians going negative. To test this proposition, this study examines how gender cues affect voter reactions to negative ads in the context of a political sex scandal, a context that should prime gender stereotypes that favor females. Using an online experiment involving a national sample of U.S. adults (N = 599), we manipulate the gender and partisan affiliation of a politician who attacks a male opponent caught in a sex scandal involving sexually suggestive texting to a female intern. Results show that in the context of a sex scandal, a female candidate going on the attack is evaluated more positively than a male. Moreover, while female participants viewed the female sponsor more favorably, sponsor gender had no effect on m...

Politics and Religion, 2014

Scholars contend that correctly applying religious cues is crucial to winning political elections... more Scholars contend that correctly applying religious cues is crucial to winning political elections. This article examines the effect of general religious cues by conducting an experiment on a national sample (N = 520). Through the use of a fictitious congressional candidate's webpage, we examine how subtle and overt religious cues interact with citizen religiosity to affect political evaluations. The findings demonstrate that politicians who use overt religious cues run the risk of alienating a large portion of potential voters. Religious cues do, however, appear to become more effective as citizens become more religious. We also find some evidence that overt religious cues are more polarizing than subtle religious cues. This article provides a foundation from which to more thoroughly consider how general religious cues can affect political outcomes and how these cues may interact with other factors.

Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects ps... more Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects psychosocial health outcomes. We propose a theoretical model predicting that when women with breast cancer defer control to God they will experience fewer breast cancer related concerns. Deferring control to God, however, should also reduce the likelihood that they take a proactive coping approach, which will be exacerbated by lowered breast cancer concerns. We therefore predict that this passive coping style will ultimately result in lower levels of quality of life.

Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 2013

Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives.... more Emotional support has traditionally been conceived as something a breast cancer patient receives. However, this framework may obscure a more complex process, facilitated by the emerging social media environment, which includes the effects of composing and sending messages to others. Accordingly, this study explores the effects of expression and reception of emotional support messages in online groups and the importance of bonding as a mediator influencing the coping strategies of breast cancer patients. Data were collected as part of two National Cancer Institute-funded randomized clinical trials. Eligible subjects were within 2 months of diagnosis of primary breast cancer or recurrence. Expression and reception of emotionally supportive messages were tracked and coded for 237 breast cancer patients. Analysis resulted from merging 1) computer-aided content analysis of discussion posts, 2) action log analysis of system use, and 3) longitudinal survey data. As expected, perceived bond...

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 2014

is a doctoral student in the school of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wis... more is a doctoral student in the school of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include online social networks, public opinion, and political communication. JungHwan Yang (M.A., Seoul National University) is a doctoral candidate in the Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include computational methods and political communication. Young Mie Kim (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research concerns media and politics with an emphasis on the contributions of the digital media environment to the changing foundation of political communication.

Patient Education and Counseling, 2013

Psycho-Oncology, 2013

Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects ps... more Objective: This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how and why religion affects psychosocial health outcomes. We propose a theoretical model predicting that when women with breast cancer defer control to God they will experience fewer breast cancer related concerns. Deferring control to God, however, should also reduce the likelihood that they take a proactive coping approach, which will be exacerbated by lowered breast cancer concerns. We therefore predict that this passive coping style will ultimately result in lower levels of quality of life.