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. Empathic concern predicted donation willingness and moderated the effect of other-benefit perceptions, such that other-benefit perceptions predicted donation willingness among those with greater empathic concern. Applications of these findings to organ donation promotion are discussed.
This study explores responses to the death of actor/comedian Robin Williams, focusing on the role of celebrity attachment and exposure to media coverage following his suicide. A total of 350 respondents recruited on Mechanical Turk completed an online survey. Participants who had a stronger parasocial relationship with Williams reported lower social distance from people with depression, greater willingness to seek treatment for depression, and more frequent outreach to other people with depression or suicidal thoughts following his death. Exposure to media coverage of suicide/depression - both informational and stigmatizing - was associated with more frequent outreach to others, but only informational coverage was related to greater willingness to seek treatment. Stigmatizing media exposure was related to greater depression stereotypes. Seeing more media stories celebrating Williams' life and career was associated with reduced depression stigma but also with less willingness to seek treatment for depression and less outreach to others. Implications of the findings for media and mental health are discussed.
Popular media culture fandom is associated with a variety of positive psychological, social, and cultural outcomes, but people who participate in these fandoms may be socially stigmatized because of the object of their fandom. A 2 (Fandom Type: Science Fiction/Fantasy; Sport) ϫ 2 (Target Fan Sex: Female; Male) between-subjects experimental design was used to examine the influence of fandom type and fan sex on the 3 dimensions of interpersonal attraction: social, physical, and task. In general, science fiction/fantasy fans were perceived as less socially and physically attractive compared to sport fans, particularly male science fiction/fantasy fans. However, there were no differences between the groups in task attractiveness. Female sport fans were judged as more physically and socially attractive than female science fiction/fantasy fans.
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