Is Seeing Believing? Hallmark Movie Viewership and Relationship Beliefs.

The Hallmark Channel, a highly watched cable network, is known for its consistently idealistic portrayals of romantic relationships. Despite its popularity, no research has examined whether increased viewership of Hallmark movies covaries with endorsement of relationship beliefs. According to cultivation theory, what we watch impacts our beliefs and perceptions of reality. Additionally, the Differential Susceptibility to Media Effects Model (DSMM) proposes that certain variables, such as developmental (i.e., age, relationship length) and dispositional factors (e.g., attachment style, gender), may make certain viewers more or less susceptible to the effects of media viewership. Based on this grounding, the main purpose of this study was to determine if watching more Hallmark movies is associated with endorsing certain beliefs about romantic relationships and opposite-sex friendships when controlling for several susceptibility factors. A nationwide sample of heterosexual, married participants (N = 279) completed measures of Romantic Beliefs, Implicit Theories of Relationships, and beliefs about opposite-sex friendships and reported on their media consumption. More frequent Hallmark movie viewership was associated with increased endorsement of several relationship beliefs, above and beyond susceptibility factors (e.g., attachment, relationship length) and daily television consumption. Specifically, greater Hallmark movie viewership was positively associated with greater endorsement of multiple unrealistic relationship beliefs, destiny beliefs, and believing that opposite-sex friendships are problematic. The findings of the current study provide further support for cultivation theory and DSMM.

Navigating the unknown: A content analysis of the unique challenges faced by adults with rare diseases.

Living with a rare disease can present unique challenges not shared by individuals with common diseases. A content analysis explored which challenges, in participants' own words, are most prevalent across a sample of individuals (n = 1157) with diverse rare diseases in the United States. Symptoms, activity limitations, treatments, uncertainty, and companionship support were mentioned most. Differences across the most frequently mentioned codes were found among disease types, gender, income, years since diagnosis, and symptom duration. Results suggest a need for improved medical care to reduce activity limitations, increased awareness, social support, and access to information for people with rare diseases.

"Rare place where I feel normal": Perceptions of a social support conference among parents of and people with Moebius syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Moebius syndrome is a rare congenital disorder resulting in impaired facial and eye movement. People with rare diseases like Moebius syndrome experience stigma and a lack of specialized information. Support conferences may provide important forms of social support for people with rare disorders. AIMS: To examine reasons for attending, benefits, and limitations of support conferences. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: 50 adults with Moebius syndrome and 57 parents of people with Moebius syndrome completed open-ended items in an online study. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Mixed- methods content analysis revealed that companionship and informational support were most frequently mentioned as reasons for and benefits of attending. Finances were the most frequently mentioned reason for not attending. Parents were more likely than people with Moebius to describe instrumental support as a conference benefit. When describing conference limitations, parents were significantly more concerned by lack of information relevance, while people with Moebius noted more often that conference attributes were not relevant to their age. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Being surrounded by others who share one's condition offers a unique opportunity for destigmatizing companionship support, which normalizes, reduces isolation, and promotes solidarity. Ways to increase facilitators and decrease barriers to accessing support for rare disorders should be investigated.