Media as social influence: Racial differences in the effects of peers and media on adolescent alcohol cognitions and consumption.

Racial differences in the effects of peer and media influence on adolescents' alcohol cognitions and consumption were examined in a large-scale panel study. With regard to peer influence, results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the relation between perceived peer drinking and own drinking was significant for both Black and White adolescents, but it was stronger for the White adolescents. With regard to media influence, structural modeling analyses indicated that exposure to drinking in movies was associated with more alcohol consumption 8 months and 16 months later. These effects were mediated by increases in the favorability of the adolescents' drinker prototypes, their willingness to drink, and their tendency to affiliate with friends who were drinking. Multiple group analyses indicated that, once again, the effects (both direct and indirect) were much stronger for White adolescents than for Black adolescents. The results suggest media influence works in a similar manner to social influence and that Whites may be more susceptible to both types of influence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social learning in planning: Seattle's sustainable development codebooks

This paper investigates the power and potential of studying planning and policy innovations from a social learning standpoint. Social learning is an important but under-investigated feature of planning and policy processes, and a particularly critical goal in the adaptation of innovations. While often cited as part of the desired outcomes of planning and policy processes, social learning is rarely investigated from a process-based perspective able to reveal how and why it occurs to different degrees in different contexts. At the same time, such process-based understanding is precisely what is needed by theorists and practitioners alike in order to improve the impact factor of plan and policy changes, to improve the transferability of ‘best practices,’ and to bolster public support and engagement in public affairs. This kind of research requires a new, comprehensive theory of social learning within planning and policy contexts as well as new analytical tools for studying social learning processes in particular cases.