The DOI matches its Crossref record; 8 of the 8 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The “Myth” of Media Multitasking: Reciprocal Dynamics of Media Multitasking, Personal Needs, and Gratifications
Abstract
The increasing popularity of media multitasking is frequently reported in national surveys while laboratory research consistently confirms that multitasking impairs task performance. This study explores this apparent contradiction. Using dynamic panel analysis of time series data collected from college students across 4 weeks, this study examines dynamic reciprocal impacts of media multitasking, needs (emotional, cognitive, social, and habitual), and corresponding gratifications. Consistent with the laboratory research, cognitive needs are not satisfied by media multitasking even though they drive media multitasking in the first place. Instead, emotional gratifications are obtained despite not being actively sought. This helps explain why people increasingly multitask at the cost of cognitive needs. Importantly, this study provides evidence of the dynamic persistence of media multitasking behavior.
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Cites
Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models
Blundell, R., & Bond, S. (1998) · Journal of Econometrics · doi:10.1016/s0304-4076(98)00009-8 · Cited by 22,571
Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models
Arellano, M., & Bover, O. (1995) · Journal of Econometrics · doi:10.1016/0304-4076(94)01642-d · Cited by 19,880
An Introduction to the Five‐Factor Model and Its Applications
McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.1992.tb00970.x · Cited by 6,835
Uses and Gratifications Research
Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973) · Public Opinion Quarterly · doi:10.1086/268109 · Cited by 4,012
Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century
Ruggiero, T. E. (2000) · Mass Communication and Society · doi:10.1207/s15327825mcs0301_02 · Cited by 2,810 · cited 2×
“Because this study focuses on general needs that are relevant across all kinds of media uses and activities, we synthesized commonly used needs from previous typologies (e.g., Katz, Haas, & Gurevitch, 1973; Palmgreen, 1984; Ruggiero, 2000) into four basic categories: emotional, cognitive, social, and habitual.”
MethodOn the Use of the Mass Media for Important Things
Katz, E., Haas, H., & Gurevitch, M. (1973) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2094393 · Cited by 1,639 · cited 1×
“Needs are “the combined product of psychological dispositions, sociological factors, and environmental conditions” (Katz et al., 1973, pp. 516-517) that motivate media consumption or exposure.”
BackgroundSlater, M. D. (2007) · Communication Theory · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2007.00296.x · Cited by 1,064
Can students really multitask? An experimental study of instant messaging while reading
Bowman, L. L., Levine, L. E., Waite, B. M., & Gendron, M. (2010) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2009.09.024 · Cited by 411
Cited by
Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying
Rosen, L. D., Mark Carrier, L., & Cheever, N. A. (2013) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.001 · Cited by 875
The Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale: An empirical investigation
Rosen, L. D., Whaling, K., Carrier, L. M., Cheever, N. A., & Rokkum, J. (2013) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.06.006 · Cited by 788
Wilmer, H. H., Sherman, L. E., & Chein, J. M. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00605 · Cited by 736
Misra (2016) · doi:10.1177/0013916514539755 · Cited by 430
Gao, Q., & Feng, C. (2016) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.022 · Cited by 219
Metadata
- Authors
- Wang, Z., & Tchernev, J. M.
- Venue
- Journal of Communication
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2012-04-25
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 493-513
- ISSN
- 0021-9916 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2050870248
- Cited by
- 372
- References
- 8
- FWCI
- 49.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Wang, Z., & Tchernev, J. M. (2012). The “Myth” of Media Multitasking: Reciprocal Dynamics of Media Multitasking, Personal Needs, and Gratifications. Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01641.x
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
