Perceptions of communication in a family relationship and the reduction of intergroup prejudice

From a contact theory perspective, links between variation in young adults' perceptions of communication with their grandparents and attitudes towards older adults are examined. The analysis pays particular attention to variation in communication with multiple grandparents, and finds links between that and perceived variability in the older adult population as a whole. More variation in perceptions of communication with grandparents is associated with perceptions of older adults as more heterogeneous. However, variation in grandparent relationships is associated with more negative attitudes towards older adults on measures of attitudinal central tendency. The results are discussed in terms of intergroup communication processes, contact theory and possible interventions to reduce prejudice in this and other contexts.     

Towards an integrated model of strategic environmental communication: advancing theories of reactance and planned behavior in a water conservation context

This study demonstrates how communication research can be strategically applied to address environmental problems in modern societies. To accomplish this goal, this research advances an integrated communication model based on psychological reactance theory and the theory of planned behavior to explain negative attitude change that can occur when people are exposed to water conservation campaigns [Liang, Y. J., Henderson, L.K., & Kee, K. F. (2017). Running out of water! Developing a message typology and evaluating message effects on attitude toward water conservation. Environmental Communication. doi:10.1080/17524032.2017.1288648]. The data fit the hypothesized model, synthesizing message-, social-, and individual-based processes to predict their effects on behavioral intention towards water conservation. Interestingly, data show that (1) combinations of message strategies affect reactance differently, and (2) subjective norm and perceived behavioral control negatively correlated with threat to freedom. These results point to the practical implication that environmental communication to promote voluntary water conservation are effective when campaign messages are designed to reduce threat to freedom, induce social norms, and increase self-efficacy. We call the documented research process strategic environmental communication, which focuses on the joint application of evidence and theory towards addressing environmentally motivated problems.     

Examining the quality of social support messages produced face-to-face and in computer-mediated communication: The effects of hyperpersonal communication

ABSTRACT

The hyperpersonal communication model was used to investigate the implications of the reduced social cues in computer-mediated communication (CMC) for the production of social support messages. Participants were randomly assigned to interact with a confederate seeking help about a problem for which the confederate was or was not responsible. The interactions took place either face-to-face or in one of two CMC conditions. The results were partially consistent with the intensification effect proposed in the hyperpersonal model. Participants evaluated the confederate most negatively, but produced the highest quality support messages, in the CMC condition with visual anonymity followed by the CMC condition and face-to-face condition. Participants’ evaluations of the confederate were also influenced by the confederate’s responsibility for their problem.     

The effect of issue obtrusiveness,issue congruence,and response strategies on the acceptance of crisis communication messages

Based on issue ownership theory, this study identifies the effects of issue obtrusiveness, issue congruence, and crisis response strategies on the level of acceptance of crisis communication messages employing 2 × 2 × 3 (issue obtrusiveness × issue congruence × response strategies: scapegoat, justification, reminder) experimental research. Two large Korean business groups (Hyundai and SK) were selected. There was a main effect in crisis response strategies and a three-way interaction effect. A crisis communication message was effective when a corporation owns congruent and unobtrusive issues. Implications for public relations research and practices were discussed.     

传播研究范式与中国传播学的发展

本文通过对范式概念的辨析,将目前学界公认的三种传播研究范式———社会科学研究、诠释研究以及批判研究———进行梳理;并结合中国的社会历史语境,探讨这三种研究范式在我国的发展状况;最后针对传播学多元范式并存的现状,提出要正确理解范式之间的张力,避免其负面影响,以促进我国传播学的发展。     

高校图书馆流通窗口的非语言交流与服务

非语言交流对于把握和正确处理高校图书馆馆员与读者的关系具有重要意义.文章论述了非语言交流的特点、作用,提出了在图书流通窗口实现非语言交流的具体方式.     

The use of information and communication technologies in public libraries in South Africa as tools for bridging the digital divide: the case of the Kempton Park public library

ABSTRACT

The information and knowledge society has resulted in the exponential growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs), thus creating a gap between those who use ICTs and those who do not; hence the emergence of the term “digital divide” in the 1990s. One of the milestones of South Africa’s National Development Plan, a policy that charts the country’s development up until 2030, is to ensure that high-speed broadband internet is universally available at competitive prices. Notwithstanding the importance of ICTs in public libraries, the provision of such is still taking place on a limited scale in South Africa. This article investigates the use of ICTs in public libraries in South Africa as a tool in bridging the digital divide. It also examines the inequalities in access and use and suggests ways in which ICTs may be used to reduce the digital divide. A qualitative research methodology was adopted. In order for public libraries to function as an important tool in bridging the digital divide, there is a need to standardize the provision of public library services with regard to the digital divide.     

Unspeakable PrEP: a qualitative study of sexual communication,problematic integration,and uncertainty management among men who have sex with men in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

This study explored how men who have sex with men (MSM) communicated their use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) on smartphone applications. Informed by the theory of problematic integration and uncertainty management, we asked if revealing ‘HIV negative, on PrEP’ status on smartphone applications might increase one's uncertainty in communicating about safe sex with others. We conducted interviews with 31 Taiwanese MSM currently taking PrEP who participated in a national demonstration project. We identified three types of PrEP-related uncertainty: condition, information, and stigma uncertainty. Applied implications of our findings indicate the importance of the feasibility of medical infrastructure in implementing PrEP, the complication in translating scientific and medical jargon into everyday language, and dynamics of negotiating stigmas associated with HIV and AIDS in the context of HIV prevention.     

Information as a basic element of the modern information society and its place in the system of philosophical knowledge

Problems are considered associated with the philosophical understanding of the information concept as applied to the realities of the modern information society. The evolution of the notion [idea] of information is presented and on its basis the main philosophical concept of the concept “information” is elucidated. Various, sometimes opposing, scientific viewpoints on the problems under study have been analyzed. The role of social information and the specifics of its relation with social processes are shown. The great significance of information systems and technologies for the development of modern society is demonstrated, which are at the same time the products of information processing and the means of its production. The important role of information systems in the management of information processes in modern society is explained.