Citation

Xie W, Newhagen JE. Commun. Res. 2014; 41(3): 375-403.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0093650212448670

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This experiment investigates effects of communication interface proximity, which was conceptualized as three different media platforms (desktop, laptop, and hand-held device), on college students' anxiety when receiving emergency alerts about on-campus crimes via emails and text messages. It proposes a new dimension of proximity, interface proximity, and suggests a shift in the emphasis of proximity from audience to event to user to interface. Ninety seven students received alerts on one of the three devices for 2 days. User anxiety increased for news-like information such as crime alerts and varied according to the proximity of the media platform. A three-level model of anxiety, including trait anxiety, media exposure to negative compelling news, and a trigger event, all contributed to participants' anxiety.

Language: en