In my blog post I reference a couple of studies finding mixed item scales to produce both systematic error (shared variance among neg. items) and random error (e.g., due to careless responding or response styles).
Fair point. But what we know is that scales only w pos. items have least measurement error, scales only w neg. items contain more error, and mixed scales contain most error. That would be a pro argument to only use pos. items imo
very interesting paper! I find it hard to tell though, if findings are due to AB or partly the known issues with rev. items. Issues with AB and rev. items may even be partly conflated. I think we need alternative approaches to control for AB because using rev. items can also affect corrs in the end.
🚨 New Blog Post 🚨
I wrote my very first blog post 😊
This post is for quantitative researchers working with negatively worded Likert-scale items and haven't heard that these items can cause problems. I outline key issues, describe alternatives, and recommend lit.
yannicmeier.de/2026/03/03/w...
Interested in a short thread about the main findings? Here you go 👉 bsky.app/profile/ymei...
New in HCR by @ymeier.bsky.social & @masurphil.bsky.social: A 3-wave longitudinal study shows dataveillance relates to privacy resignation between-person, while critical privacy literacy is the key within-person predictor of self-inhibition.
Read the full article: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/...
TLDR: dataveillance chilling effects were measurable but very small. Open questions about meaningfulness or cumulating effects. "Salience shocks" too common? Resignation does not “protect” against chilling effects. Crit. privacy literacy may be an important driver of “rational” chilling effects.
Critical Privacy literacy (ability to criticize, question, and challenge the status quo of institutional surveillance) positively relates to self-inhibition on within-pers. level. Chilling effects may thus be a “rational” behavioral response of critically reflecting barely avoidable dataveillance.
Using Bayesian random-effects models, we find evidence that salience shocks increase self-inhibition and crit. privacy literacy. Within-person effects of perceived dataveillance on self-inhibition are pos. but probably too small to be meaningful. Resignation not associated with self-inhibition.
In a 3-wave panel study w/ 774 German Internet users, we test if making dataveillance salient to users by means of so-called “salience shocks” (articles about dataveillance) increases their a) sense of dataveillance, b) self-inhibition tendency, c) privacy cynicism, and d) critical privacy literacy.
Technology use is inherently associated with pervasive surveillance by online companies, which can lead to panoptic chilling effects. Chilling effects describe the self-inhibition of legal & legitimate behavior due to feelings of surveillance (e.g., limiting information searches or use of services).
Screenshot of the title, author names, and abstract of the new publication in HCR.
🚨Publication Alert🚨
New paper with @masurphil.bsky.social in Human Communication Research! In a longitudinal panel study, we connect chilling effects research with the concepts of privacy cynicism and critical privacy literacy: doi.org/10.1093/hcr/...
Short 🧵 about what we found👇
At this year’s #MePsy25 conference in Duisburg, I presented a position paper about “small” media effects. While our field lacks objective criteria to decide when such effects are practically relevant, I proposed 5 criteria that can help deciding about relevance. Slides & paper on osf 👉 osf.io/d2ah7/
Thank you for these praising words 🙏
You heard it here first (maybe): The CAT/Mobile doctoral consortium will officially be happening again at #ica26 in Cape Town! Are you dissertating? Consider applying for mentorship from top scholars in comm tech / mobile.
🚨Publication Alert🚨
New paper with @nadinebol.bsky.social published in JCMC! We studied inequalities in users’ beneficial and harmful online experiences (3rd level digital divide) and combined this view with arguments about mistrust in online companies and self-inhibited behaviors. Short🧵👇
In the manuscript, we discuss possible reasons for these patterns of inequality including structural disadvantages and power imbalances.
Dig. inequalities: older age relates to both less frequent beneficial and harmful experiences while higher education positively relates to having beneficial experiences. Older age also positively relates to mistrust and self-inhibition. Women are more likely to engage in self-inhibition than man.
The more beneficial experiences someone has, the lower their mistrust and tendency to self-inhibition are. Interesetingly, positive and negative experiences are positively correlated which implies that you cannot only experience the pos. side.
With a sample of 1,410 German participants, we find that having harmful experiences like feeling compelled to give up personal data or accidentally accepting cookies positively relates to mistrust into online companies and the tendency to inhibit one’s digital behaviors (e.g., not using a service).
So far, 3rd level divide studies conceptualized inequality as differences in (not) experiencing benefits by using digital technology. In our view, this ignores harmful experiences such as violations of one’s privacy during tech-use which might be associated with higher mistrust and self-inhibition.
🚨Publication Alert🚨
New paper with @nadinebol.bsky.social published in JCMC! We studied inequalities in users’ beneficial and harmful online experiences (3rd level digital divide) and combined this view with arguments about mistrust in online companies and self-inhibited behaviors. Short🧵👇
Amazing news!! Congrats and welcome to UDE🥳
New Student Column! 🎓✨ Dive into insights from ICA’s new SEC Representative on how student and early career scholars navigate today’s changing academic world. Don’t miss this fresh perspective! buff.ly/qb56Wfl
New special issue, "Comparative Approaches to Studying Privacy," edited by #CPRN is now published in Social Media + Society!
journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
w/ @lutzid.bsky.social, Lemi Baruh, Kelly Quinn, @masurphil.bsky.social, Carsten Wilhelm (comparativeprivacy.org)
graphic with cats on it
We're still seeking nominations for the CAT executive committee . CAT is seeking our next vice-chair, early career rep, and international liaison. Interested? Details are in your ICA email. Questions? Ask anyone on the current executive team. We'd love to have you join us!
🎉 New publication out!
Really happy to share that our article “Privacy calculus, privacy paradox, and context collapse: A replication of three key studies in communication privacy research” is now published in the Journal of Communication.
Full article: doi.org/10.1093/joc/...
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Der Temperaturverlauf auf der Erde relativ zum Vorindustriellen Niveau seit 120.000 Jahren. So warm wie heute war es mindestens seit Beginn der letzten Eiszeit nicht mehr. Die letzten Neandertaler lebten vor etwa 40.000 Jahren. Der menschengemachte Klimawandel heute ist ein senkrechter Strich!! Quelle: Zeit.de https://www.zeit.de/wissen/umwelt/2025-06/klimageschichte-veraenderung-temperatur-entwicklung-daten
Das letzte Mal, dass es so warm auf der Erde war wie gerade, ist mind. 100.000 Jahre her und ich weiß nicht, was ich erschreckender finde - die Tatsache, dass die menschengemachte globale Erwärmung hier einfach ein senkrechter Strich (!) ist, oder dass es immer noch Leute gibt, die sie leugnen. 🌍🔥😐
