Department of Media and Communication, Yeungnam University, Gyungsan, Gyungsangbukdo, Republic of Korea.
J Health Commun. 2011 Jan;16(1):62-78. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2010.529489.
This study examined the mediated influence of a celebrated religious hero in South Korea, Cardinal Stephen Kim, through two forms of involvement--parasocial interaction and identification--on intention toward cornea donation and volunteerism, and it investigated how the news media diffused of his death. A structural equation modeling analysis with a Web-based voluntary survey of more than 1,200 people in South Korea revealed a multistep social influence process, beginning with parasocial interaction with Cardinal Kim, leading to identification with him, which predicted intention toward cornea donation and volunteerism. Additional investigations found that news of Cardinal Kim's death diffused rapidly through media and interpersonal communication. Results of this study demonstrate that religious leaders who achieve a celebrity hero status can prompt public discussion of important issues rather quickly through extensive media coverage, enabling them to promote prosocial behavior and positively affect public health.
本研究考察了韩国著名宗教英雄金大中枢机主教通过两种参与形式——准社会互动和认同——对眼角膜捐赠和志愿服务意向的中介影响，并探讨了新闻媒体对他去世的报道方式。通过对韩国超过 1200 人的网络自愿调查，采用结构方程建模分析，揭示了一个多步骤的社会影响过程，从与金主教的准社会互动开始，导致对他的认同，这预测了眼角膜捐赠和志愿服务的意向。进一步的调查发现，金主教去世的消息通过媒体和人际传播迅速传播。这项研究的结果表明，那些获得名人英雄地位的宗教领袖可以通过广泛的媒体报道迅速引发公众对重要问题的讨论，使他们能够促进亲社会行为，并对公众健康产生积极影响。
