Brigitte Huber

IU Internationale Hochschule, Marketing and Communication, Faculty Member

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Papers by Brigitte Huber

Women Scientists on TikTok: New Opportunities to Become Visible and Challenge Gender Stereotypes

Media and Communication

Today, women scientists are still underrepresented in media coverage and confronted with gender s... more Today, women scientists are still underrepresented in media coverage and confronted with gender stereotypes. However, social media might have the potential to challenge current gender stereotypes of scientists, foster diversity in science communication, and open new ways of becoming visible. We explore this potential by analyzing TikTok accounts of female scholars (n = 50 accounts). Results from content analysis (n = 150 videos) indicate that female scientists from a wide range of different disciplines and at different career stages are visible on TikTok. Building on previous research, we show that female scholars use TikTok mainly to explain scientific facts and concepts and to discuss what being a (female) scholar is like. Moreover, female scholars talk about private life events, give expert advice, and show science in the making. Finally, some of the videos analyzed address gender stereotypes by, for example, challenging assumptions on how a female professor should dress. Implica...

format_quote80% of female scholars on TikTok are in natural sciences, indicating a dominance of scientific fields over social sciences in visibility.format_quote

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Taking corrective action when exposed to fake news: The role of fake news literacy

The journal of media literacy education, Jul 1, 2022

Fake news poses a threat to democracy. The rise of social media and its lax content regulation ha... more Fake news poses a threat to democracy. The rise of social media and its lax content regulation have facilitated a dynamic environment where mis-and disinformation are spread. However, social media is also the place where false information may be corrected. Initial scholarly efforts begin to highlight what is needed for citizens to take corrective action when exposed to fake news on social media. This study is a further step in that direction by introducing the construct of 'fake news media literacy'. Relying on survey data from the U.S. (N = 1338), we show that news media literacy in terms of media locus of control and need for cognition might not be sufficient to take corrective action; individuals rather need to develop specific fake news literacy. Implications for media literacy initiatives are discussed.

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Supplemental_Material – Supplemental material for Fostering public trust in science: The role of social media

Supplemental material, Supplemental_Material for Fostering public trust in science: The role of s... more

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Coverage of the Discipline in Three German-Language Quality Newspapers Wie sichtbar ist die Kommunikationswissenschaft ? Die Presseberichterstattung über die Disziplin in drei deutschsprachigen Qualitätszeitungen

Stimulated by public debates on the media presence of communication studies, the current study is... more Stimulated by public debates on the media presence of communication studies, the current study is the first to examine the media coverage of the discipline. In a quantitative content analysis, the coverage of three German-language quality newspapers in both 1999 and 2009 was analyzed in order to compare news reporting on the discipline’s findings and on experts’ statements. Overall, communication studies was rarely covered in the science section, but was instead reported on by media journalists and chronicle, feature, political and cultural journalists. In their coverage, the journalists show high interest in research and statements on media politics, system and structures, on journalists themselves and on political communication. The findings indicate that communication studies are increasingly used as an additional element in news reporting, particularly in the form of expert statements. Moreover, there is evidence that the initiative of scholars and their willingness to act as ex...

format_quoteAn average of one article every third day on communication studies was published, revealing diverse journalistic coverage modes.format_quote

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Debating "Alternative" Gender Identities: The Online Discourse Triggered by 2014 Life Ball Advertising Posters

International Journal of Communication, 2016

The article examines an online discourse induced by two advertising posters created by photograph... more The article examines an online discourse induced by two advertising posters created by photographer David LaChapelle for the Life Ball, an AIDS charity event in Vienna in 2014, depicting a nude transgender model. We consulted 1,897 posts on highly frequented Austrian online forums to explore and analyze the discourse’s organization, thematic and argumentative patterns, and contrary positions using the sociology-of-knowledge approach. Connected mainly to the “doing gender” perspective, the findings shed light on collective knowledge repertoires of “alternative” gender identities. We inter alia conclude that at least in Austria, transgender and gay people are framed physically rather than socially and indeed as alternative to the overall norm of gender duality and heterosexuality.

format_quoteThe second Life Ball poster, depicting a vagina instead of a penis, prompted significantly less public outrage, highlighting deep societal discomforts with gender norms.format_quote

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Structural Influences on the News Finds Me Perception: Why People Believe They Don’t Have to Actively Seek News Anymore

Social Media + Society, 2021

Using data from a two-wave panel survey among 18 countries worldwide, this study investigates the... more Using data from a two-wave panel survey among 18 countries worldwide, this study investigates the individual- and country-level antecedents of the “News Finds Me” perception (NFM). Results show that older, more educated, and individuals belonging to the ethnic majority are less prone to develop the NFM. However, social media (news) use, incidental news exposure, discussion frequency, and group affiliations lead to a higher NFM. In contrast, information elaboration as well as news use online were found to weaken the NFM. Testing various country-level factors, only gross domestic product was found to be negatively related to the NFM. The findings form a theoretical and empirical basis for future studies that aim at investigating news use in today’s high-choice media environment.

Linking Extraversion to Collective and Individual Forms of Political Participation: The Mediating Role of Political Discussion

Social Science Quarterly, 2021

Objectives. Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens’ personality in activati... more Objectives. Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens’ personality in activating political behavior. We test whether extraversion is associated to collective political activities (i.e., activities that include social interaction) and individual ones (i.e., activities that do not include social interactions). Methods. We use originally collected survey data from five countries (Brazil, Korea, Russia, United States, United Kingdom). Results. We found that extraversion is positively and directly related to collective political activities in Brazil, Korea and Russia. Results show no direct relationship between individual forms of political activities and extraversion. However, political discussion fully mediates the relationship between extraversion and individual forms of political activities in all five countries. Conclusion. This study contributes to growing discussions on the role of personality traits in explaining political participation across countries, arguing that the relationship between extraversion and diverse forms of political participation are also context-driven and nourished by political discussion

Emotionalization in the Media Coverage of Honey Bee Colony Losses

Media and Communication, 2020

Emotionalization is increasingly used in the daily news. However, communication scholars have onl... more Emotionalization is increasingly used in the daily news. However, communication scholars have only just begun to explore how journalists use emotionalization in coverage of scientific and environmental topics. This study contributes to filling this research gap by investigating emotionalization in reporting on honey bee colony losses. The aim of the study is to analyze the amount of emotionalization that took place, as well as to observe changes over time. Emotionalization is assessed in two ways; by analyzing to what extent journalists (1) explicitly mentioned discrete emotions in news stories (joy, hope, fear, anger, etc.) and/or (2) used rhetorical devices to evoke emotions (affective vocabulary, metaphors, colloquial language, superlatives, etc.). Results from a quantitative content analysis of four Austrian newspapers in 2010/2011, 2013/2014, and 2017/2018 show that the coverage is highly emotionalized across all three time periods studied. Emotionalization occurs far more ofte...

format_quote94.5% of coded articles on honey bee losses contained emotionalizing elements, showing high emotional prevalence in reporting.format_quote

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Assessing political second screening behavior and personality traits: The roles of economic development, freedom of expression and monochromatic vs. polychromatic cultures

Telematics and Informatics, 2020

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

format_quoteThree of five personality traits significantly predict political second screening: extraversion, openness, and agreeableness.format_quote

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Fostering public trust in science: The role of social media

Public Understanding of Science, 2019

The growing importance of social media for getting science news has raised questions about whethe... more The growing importance of social media for getting science news has raised questions about whether these online platforms foster or hinder public trust in science. Employing multilevel modeling, this study leverages a 20-country survey to examine the relationship between social media news use and trust in science. Results show a positive relationship between these variables across countries. Moreover, the between-country variation in this relationship is related to two cultural characteristics of a country, individualism/collectivism and power distance.

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Social Media as a Sphere for “Risky” Political Expression: A Twenty-Country Multilevel Comparative Analysis

The International Journal of Press/Politics, 2018

In the context of the United States, research shows a positive relationship between network heter... more In the context of the United States, research shows a positive relationship between network heterogeneity and political expression on social media at the individual level. This study builds on that research, relying on multilevel analysis that (1) leverages a twenty-country comparative survey and (2) includes country-level data on freedom of expression. Results show a positive relationship between network heterogeneity and political expression on social media across countries, but that relationship is stronger where freedom of expression is more limited.

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The Citizen Communication Mediation Model Across Countries: A Multilevel Mediation Model of News Use and Discussion on Political Participation

Journal of Communication, 2019

Since introduced by Professor McLeod and the Wisconsin School at the turn of the century, a large... more Since introduced by Professor McLeod and the Wisconsin School at the turn of the century, a large body of research has employed the communication mediation model. Yet, most of these studies rely on cross-sectional and individual-level survey data collected in the United States. This paper seeks to address these shortcomings by testing a specification of the model—the citizen communication mediation model—across cultures. Relying on panel survey data from 19 countries, this study advances a multilevel citizen communication mediation model. Our findings indicate that discussion remains a strong mediating predictor of political participation across countries and political contexts, though the relationship is moderated by macro-level repressive democratic expressive norms.

Personality Traits and Social Media Use in 20 Countries: How Personality Relates to Frequency of Social Media Use, Social Media News Use, and Social Media Use for Social Interaction

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 2017

This study examines the relationship between peoples' personality traits and social media uses wi... more This study examines the relationship between peoples' personality traits and social media uses with data from 20 societies (N = 21,314). A measure of the ''Big Five'' personality traits is tested on key social media dimensions: frequency of use, social interaction, and news consumption. Across diverse societies, findings suggest that while extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are all positive predictors of different types of social media use, emotional stability and openness are negatively related to them.

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Social media and democracy

El Profesional de la Información, 2018

His research addresses the influence of new technologies and digital media over people's daily li... more

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Effects of Second Screening: Building Social Media Social Capital through Dual Screen Use

Human Communication Research, 2019

Second screening politics is an emerging communication practice for engaging with public affairs ... more Second screening politics is an emerging communication practice for engaging with public affairs content. Scholars are increasingly interested in exploring pro-democratic effects of dual screening during news events and election cycles. This paper examines the potential for second screening practices to develop social capital on social media platforms through online and offline political discussion: a key component of maintaining social resources. More specifically, this manuscript focuses on the development of community-related social capital. Relying on two waves of panel data from 19 countries , the results suggest that dual screening contributes to the proliferation of building social capital on social media over time. This relationship is also partially mediated through online political discussion. Moreover, the between-country variation in the relationship between second screening and social media social capital is related to country-level freedom of expression indicators.

Linking Extraversion to Collective and Individual Forms of Political Participation: The Mediating Role of Political Discussion

by Brigitte Huber, Manuel Goyanes, and Homero Gil de Zúñiga

Social Science Quarterly, 2021

Objectives. Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens' personality in activati... more Objectives. Scholars are increasingly investigating the role of citizens' personality in activating political behavior. We test whether extraversion is associated to collective political activities (i.e., activities that include social interaction) and individual ones (i.e., activities that do not include social interactions). Methods. We use originally collected survey data from five countries (Brazil, Korea, Russia, United States, United Kingdom). Results. We found that extraversion is positively and directly related to collective political activities in Brazil, Korea and Russia. Results show no direct relationship between individual forms of political activities and extraversion. However, political discussion fully mediates the relationship between extraversion and individual forms of political activities in all five countries. Conclusion. This study contributes to growing discussions on the role of personality traits in explaining political participation across countries, arguing that the relationship between extraversion and diverse forms of political participation are also context-driven and nourished by political discussion.

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