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Social Sciences and Humanities

D-Index
44
Citations
9214
World Ranking
4112
National Ranking
1958

Overview

Stephen A. Rains is affiliated with the University of Arizona in the United States. Their research spans multiple areas within social sciences and psychology, with a focus on how communication influences social behavior and public health.

Their recent scholarly contributions include the following papers:

  • "Social Norms and the Dynamics of Online Incivility," 2021, published in Social Science Computer Review
  • "Affectionate communication and health: A meta-analysis," 2020, published in Communication Monographs
  • "When Machine and Bandwagon Heuristics Compete: Understanding Users' Response to Conflicting AI and Crowdsourced Fact-Checking," 2022, published in Human Communication Research
  • "Public responses to COVID-19 mask mandates: examining pro and anti-Mask anger in tweets before and after state-level mandates," 2022, published in Communication Monographs
  • "Psycholinguistic Markers of COVID-19 Conspiracy Tweets and Predictors of Tweet Dissemination," 2021, published in Health Communication

Frequently collaborating with others, Stephen A. Rains has coauthored multiple publications with Echo L. Warner and Juliana L. Barbati, each with nine joint works, followed by Eric Tsetsi with seven collaborations, Yotam Shmargad with six, and Kevin Coe also with six.

The main venues for their research publications include:

  • Human Communication Research (6 publications)
  • Health Communication (6 publications)
  • Communication Monographs (5 publications)
  • Journal of Communication (4 publications)
  • Journal of Health Communication (2 publications)

Their research primarily focuses on topics such as:

  • Social Media and Politics
  • Misinformation and Its Impacts
  • Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Media Influence and Health
  • Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection

The principal fields of study encompass:

  • Social Sciences
  • Psychology

Within these, the scientist's subfields include:

  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Social Psychology
  • Communication
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Literature and Literary Theory

Stephen A. Rains's work contributes to understanding the interaction between communication processes and social behavior, particularly in the context of digital media, public health communication, and misinformation. Their research intersects with emerging concerns involving artificial intelligence and computational methods in communication studies.

Best Publications

  • Online and Uncivil? Patterns and Determinants of Incivility in Newspaper Website Comments

    Kevin Coe;Kate Kenski;Stephen A. Rains

  • The Nature of Psychological Reactance Revisited: A Meta‐Analytic Review

    Stephen A. Rains

  • A Meta-Analysis of Research on Inoculation Theory

    John A. Banas;Stephen A. Rains

  • Psychological Reactance and Persuasive Health Communication: A Test and Extension of the Intertwined Model

    Stephen A. Rains;Monique Mitchell Turner

  • Perceptions of Traditional Information Sources and Use of the World Wide Web to Seek Health Information: Findings From the Health Information National Trends Survey

    Stephen A. Rains

  • A Meta-Analysis of Research on Formal Computer-Mediated Support Groups: Examining Group Characteristics and Health Outcomes

    Stephen A. Rains;Valerie Young

  • Smartphone Internet access and use: Extending the digital divide and usage gap:

    Eric Tsetsi;Stephen A. Rains

  • Health information-seeking and perceptions of website credibility: Examining Web-use orientation, message characteristics, and structural features of websites

    Stephen A. Rains;Carolyn Donnerstein Karmikel

  • An Evaluation of Two Characterizations of the Relationships Between Problematic Internet Use, Time Spent Using the Internet, and Psychosocial Problems

    Robert S. Tokunaga;Stephen A. Rains

  • The Social Dimension of Blogging about Health: Health Blogging, Social Support, and Well-being

    Stephen A. Rains;David M. Keating

  • Communicating Social Support in Computer-mediated Contexts: A Meta-analytic Review of Content Analyses Examining Support Messages Shared Online among Individuals Coping with Illness

    Stephen A. Rains;Emily B. Peterson;Kevin B. Wright

  • The Impact of Anonymity on Perceptions of Source Credibility and Influence in Computer-Mediated Group Communication: A Test of Two Competing Hypotheses:

    Stephen A. Rains

  • Perceptions of Uncivil Discourse Online: An Examination of Types and Predictors:

    Kate Kenski;Kevin Coe;Stephen A. Rains

  • Weak-tie support network preference and perceived life stress among participants in health-related, computer-mediated support groups

    Kevin B. Wright;Steve Rains;John Banas

  • Examining the Scope of Channel Expansion A Test of Channel Expansion Theory With New and Traditional Communication Media

    Scott C. D'Urso;Stephen A. Rains

  • The Implications of Stigma and Anonymity for Self-Disclosure in Health Blogs

    Stephen A. Rains

  • What can we learn about social network sites by studying Facebook? A call and recommendations for research on social network sites:

    Stephen A Rains;Steven R Brunner

  • Seeking Health Information in the Information Age: The Role of Internet Self-Efficacy

    Stephen A. Rains

  • Health at High Speed Broadband Internet Access, Health Communication, and the Digital Divide

    Stephen A. Rains

  • Information Sources and the Health Information-Seeking Process: An Application and Extension of Channel Complementarity Theory

    Erin K. Ruppel;Stephen A. Rains

Frequent Co-Authors

Kevin B. Wright
Kevin B. Wright George Mason University
Chris Segrin
Chris Segrin University of Arizona
Kory Floyd
Kory Floyd University of Arizona
Timothy R. Levine
Timothy R. Levine University of Oklahoma
Jake Harwood
Jake Harwood University of Arizona
Jörg Matthes
Jörg Matthes University of Vienna

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