@article{SteinYeo2021, author = {Stein, Jan-Philipp and Yeo, Jiyeon}, title = {Investigating meal-concurrent media use: Social and dispositional predictors, intercultural differences, and the novel media phenomenon of "mukbang" eating broadcasts}, series = {Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies}, volume = {3}, journal = {Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies}, number = {5}, doi = {10.1002/hbe2.306}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-257482}, pages = {956-968}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Meal-concurrent media use has been linked to several problematic outcomes, including higher caloric intake and an increased risk for obesity. Nevertheless, the sociocultural and dispositional predictors of using media while eating are not yet well-understood, including potential cross-cultural differences. Inspired by the recent emergence of a new food-related media phenomenon called "mukbang"—digital eating broadcasts that have become immensely popular throughout East and Southeast Asia—we inquire 296 participants from two cultures (Germany and South Korea) about their meal-concurrent media use. Our results suggest that South Koreans tend to use media more frequently during meals than Germans, especially for social purposes. Meanwhile, younger age only predicts meal-concurrent media use in the German sample. Apart from that, however, many other examined predictors (e.g., gender, living situation, body-esteem, the Big Five) remain statistically insignificant, indicating notable universality for the behavior in question. In the second part of our study, we then put special focus on the emerging mukbang trend and conduct a theory-driven exploration of its gratifications. Doing so, we find that participants' parasocial and social experiences during eating broadcasts significantly predict their enjoyment of the genre.}, language = {en} } @article{WetzelPryssBaumeisteretal.2021, author = {Wetzel, Britta and Pryss, R{\"u}diger and Baumeister, Harald and Edler, Johanna-Sophie and Gon{\c{c}}alves, Ana Sofia Oliveira and Cohrdes, Caroline}, title = {"How come you don't call me?" Smartphone communication app usage as an indicator of loneliness and social well-being across the adult lifespan during the COVID-19 pandemic}, series = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}, volume = {18}, journal = {International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health}, number = {12}, issn = {1660-4601}, doi = {10.3390/ijerph18126212}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-241033}, year = {2021}, abstract = {Loneliness and lack of social well-being are associated with adverse health outcomes and have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Smartphone communication data have been suggested to help monitor loneliness, but this requires further evidence. We investigated the informative value of smartphone communication app data for predicting subjective loneliness and social well-being in a sample of 364 participants ranging from 18 to 78 years of age (52.2\% female; mean age = 42.54, SD = 13.22) derived from the CORONA HEALTH APP study from July to December 2020 in Germany. The participants experienced relatively high levels of loneliness and low social well-being during the time period characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from positive associations with phone call use times, smartphone communication app use was associated with social well-being and loneliness only when considering the age of participants. Younger participants with higher use times tended to report less social well-being and higher loneliness, while the opposite association was found for older adults. Thus, the informative value of smartphone communication use time was rather small and became evident only in consideration of age. The results highlight the need for further investigations and the need to address several limitations in order to draw conclusions at the population level.}, language = {en} }