Reported Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness Levels: The Influence of Type of Argument

Arguments in interpersonal relationships can be divided into two types: public issue arguments and personal issue arguments. This study examines the ability of type of argument, trait argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness, and gender to predict reported argumentativeness and verbal aggressiveness levels related to a particular argument episode. Reported argumentativeness levels were higher in the public argument condition, and reported verbal aggressiveness levels were higher in the personal argument condition. Trait argumentativeness predicted reported argumentativeness levels better in the public argument condition than the personal argument condition, suggesting that type of argument may serve as a moderator for the relationship between trait argumentativeness levels and argument-specific argumentativeness levels. Implications for using these two scales to examine interpersonal argument are discussed.     

Trust in interpersonal communication

The present study investigated communication patterns and subsequent relational outcomes following romantic partners' deception for people with different attachment styles. Information on attachment styles, information importance of the lie, emotional intensity following discovery of the lie, communication patterns following the discovery of the lie, and relational termination outcomes of the 213 participants who reported being deceived by a relational partner were gathered. Analyses revealed that respondents with a secure attachment style were more likely to report talking about the issue, whereas anxious/ambivalents were more likely to report talking around and avoiding the issue. These two attachment groups reported being apt to continue their relationships. Conversely, respondents with an avoidant attachment style reported being more likely to avoid the person after discovery of the lie, and they tended to report terminating their romantic relationships more than the other two attachment style groups. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that communication patterns following discovery of the partner's deception are related to attachment styles, but information importance and avoiding the person were directly related to relational termination.     

Emotion Matters in Serial Arguments: The Effects of Anger and Compassion on Perceived Resolvability and Relationship Confidence in Dating Relationships

This study is designed to examine the effects of emotion on serial argument processes and outcomes. Specifically, it investigates the effects of anger and compassion on perceived resolvability and relationship confidence in dating relationships. Three main findings are reported. First, anger is negatively related to perceived resolvability, but compassion is positively related to it. Second, anger has a negative correlation with relationship confidence, but compassion has a positive correlation with it. Third, perceived resolvability mediates the effects of anger and compassion on relationship confidence.     

线上线下社会资本与社会化问答行为的关系研究——以知乎医学和健康话题为例

[目的/意义]旨在探究线下社会资本水平不同的用户,在问答社区中累积的社会资本和问答社区行为是否存在差异。[方法/过程]以知乎网10个医学、健康类话题的6 927名用户为研究对象,借助职业声望、院校排名对其线下社会资本进行编码和排序,分析不同线下社会资本用户的线上社会资本积累和社区行为模式的特点。[结果/结论]部分线下社会资本如毕业院校名誉度与线上社会资本存在正向关联,但职业声望高低则与线上社会资本无关;线上结构性社会资本高的用户,其提问数量、专栏文章数量和关注人数较高,而线上认知性资本高的用户,其回答数量和专栏文章数量较高。这些结果有助于网站管理者识别、关注核心用户、优化用户激励制度,但样本用户为医学、健康话题参与者,结论普适性还有待验证。     

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

The study reported here explored the social dimension of health-related blogs by examining blogging as a means to marshal social support and, as a result, achieve some of the health benefits associated with supportive communication. A total of 121 individuals who author a blog dedicated to their experience living with a specific health condition completed the study questionnaire. The number of blog posts made by respondents and proportion of posts with reader comments were positively associated with perceived social support from blog readers. The relationship between blog reader support and two outcomes related to well-being depended upon the support available in bloggers' strong-tie relationships with family and friends. Consistent with the social compensation (i.e., “poor get richer”) perspective, blog reader support was negatively associated with loneliness and positively associated with personal growth when support in strong-tie relationships was relatively lacking.     

Correlates between communication apprehension and listening style preferences

Research suggests that initial impressions are important and set the tone for future interactions; however, little is known about which teacher communication behaviors create positive initial judgments by students. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among a set of teacher relational communication behaviors and students' early judgments about the future outcomes of the course. Specifically, students reported perceptions of their instructors' use of power, confirmation, nonverbal immediacy, and communication skills in the beginning of a semester and their predictions about future interactions with that instructor. Results indicated that teachers' use of coercive and legitimate power were negatively related to students' predicted outcome value (POV) judgments, whereas the use of reward, referent, and expert power, along with confirmation and communication skills, were positively correlated with students' POV judgments. Hierarchical regression further revealed unique relational message predictors of these judgments.     

The impact of communication apprehension and fear of talking with a physician on perceived medical outcomes

This study examined the relationships among trait CA, state CA (fear of interacting with a physician), and patient perceived satisfaction with quality of medical care and physician. The results indicated that trait CA and fear of the physician were positively related. However, trait CA was not significantly related to patient perceived satisfaction with quality of medical care or physician. State CA, in contrast, was significantly negatively related to both patient perceived satisfaction with medical care and satisfaction with physician. It is concluded that future research should investigate the impact of physicians’ engaging in positive communication behaviors on patients’ apprehension and medical outcomes.     

The Self Online: The Utility of Personal Home Pages

This study aims at finding viewer and program characteristics that determine repeat viewing rates, the extent of audience overlap between subsequent episodes of broadcast programs, and comparing them to the results of American and British studies. Results do not support the concept of ritualized viewing behavior: On average not even a third of the viewers of a given TV program watch the consecutive episode. However, several characteristics of the program influence the extent of repeat viewing.     

The Attributes of Relational Maximizers

Using Schwartz’s (2000) conceptualization of decision maximization, we sought to understand how an individual’s propensity to maximize in relationships factored into personal, relational, and communication outcomes. In Study 1, 343 participants currently involved in romantic relationships completed measures of relational maximization along with measures of regret, life satisfaction, closeness, trust, relational satisfaction, and relational uncertainty. In Study 2, 272 participants were surveyed about their tendency to maximize in relationships along with affectionate communication and relational maintenance behaviors. Results from both studies revealed that the tendency to maximize in relationships was negatively correlated with relational outcomes (closeness, trust, satisfaction) and communication outcomes (affection and some relational maintenance behaviors). Furthermore, relational maximization was positively related to regret and relational uncertainty.     

Workplace Relationship Quality and Employee Information Experiences

This study examined the extent to which the amount and quality of work‐related information employees received was associated with the quality of their relationships with peer co‐workers and their immediate supervisors. Results indicated that supervisor–subordinate relationship quality was positively related to both the amount and quality of information employees received from their immediate supervisor. In addition, employees’ proportions of information peer relationships were negatively related, and their proportions of collegial peer relationships were positively related, to the quality of information they received from their co‐workers. Regression analyses also indicated that the quality of information employees received from their supervisors and co‐workers was positively related to their job satisfaction and commitment to the organization.     

The Language of Laughter: A Quantitative/Qualitative Fusion Examining Television Narrative and Humor

This study utilizes multiple methods to analyze the effects of a laugh track on audience response to four episodes of the classic sitcom, “The Andy Griffith Show.” An experimental design and a narratological approach are used in concert. One of the four episodes stood out quantitatively in terms of perceived humor and overall enjoyment, and was the only episode for which the laugh track had a negative impact. Narratological richness might explain the anomalous episode, as it was found to possess a more complex story structure, higher levels of satire, and other distinctive elements found to have high audience appeal.     

Continual evolution: the experience over three semesters of a librarian embedded in an online evidence-based medicine course for physician assistant students

This column examines the experience, over three years, of a librarian embedded in an online Epidemiology and Evidence-based Medicine course, which is a requirement for students pursuing a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Pace University. Student learning outcomes were determined, a video lecture was created, and student learning was assessed via a five-point Blackboard test during year one. For years two and three, the course instructor asked the librarian to be responsible for two weeks of course instruction and a total of 15 out of 100 possible points for the course. This gave the librarian flexibility to measure additional outcomes and gather more in-depth assessment data. The librarian then used the assessment data to target areas for improvement in the lessons and Blackboard tests. Revisions made by the librarian positively affected student achievement of learning outcomes, as measured by the assessment conducted the subsequent semester. Plans for further changes are also discussed.     

基于本体知识库的模糊信息检索研究

信息检索采用知识组织可提高返回语义相关的文档数量与初始用户查询相关度的质量。文章提出的模糊信息检索模型可为信息检索提供一种编码知识库结构,该知识库由多相关本体组成,本体的关系表示为模糊关系。在这种知识组织中使用一种新方法来扩展用户初始查询和索引文档集,独立表示本体以及概念间的关系。实验结果表明,与另一经典的模糊信息检索方法相比,提出的模型具有更好的整体性能比。     

Students’ Discrete Emotional Responses in the Classroom: Unraveling Relationships With Interest and Engagement

Recent instructional communication research reveals that the communication and emotional processes at play in the classroom can influence class-specific emotions experienced by students. Students’ enjoyment and pride were positively related to their emotional interest, while students’ enjoyment, hope, and pride were positively associated with their cognitive interest. While students’ anger and boredom were inversely related to their emotional interest, students who reported greater hopelessness and anger indicated decreases in cognitive interest. Students’ hope and pride were positively associated with their overall engagement behaviors. Anger, anxiety, shame, and boredom led students to report decreases in their engagement. Follow-up tests highlighted challenges in the assessment of specific emotional responses; exploratory factor analysis simplified the measurement of these variables and provided additional insight into expected relationships.     

Educational TV Consumption and Children’s Interest in Leisure Reading and Writing: A Test of the Validated Curriculum Hypothesis

The relationship between children’s TV consumption and literacy outcomes is currently unclear, as past research has identified both linear and curvilinear trends. One explanation for the contradictory results is the varying content children consume; specifically, researchers have argued that research-based educational TV programming should be positively related to literacy outcomes whereas non research-based programming should be negatively related to literacy outcomes (what we refer to as the validated curriculum hypothesis). To test this hypothesis, students in grades 4 and 5 N = 120) completed a survey assessing educational TV consumption and leisure reading/writing behaviors. The results upheld the validated curriculum hypothesis and revealed several key moderators including composite TV consumption and parents’ reading behavior.     

Swearing by Peers in the Work Setting: Expectancy Violation Valence,Perceptions of Message,and Perceptions of Speaker

Swearing is a frequent language form in a number of contexts, including the work setting. This investigation extends research on expectancy violations theory as an explanation for how people perceive swearing by examining violation valence. Study 1 concludes that violation valence is positively related to perceptions of message appropriateness and effectiveness and to perceptions of the speaker. Study 2 replicates these findings using a national sample. These results provide support for the role of expectancy violations in swearing and show that swearing is not always perceived as negative in work settings.     

Knowledge bases: improving the information supply chain

In early 2006, information industry association UKSG commissioned a research report ‘to identify the new relationships and information exchange requirements … [necessary] to maximize the benefit of OpenURL linking'. Central to the efficient operation of the OpenURL is the knowledge base, which consists of data supplied by content providers including publishers. The report found that a lack of awareness on the part of many publishers of the OpenURL's capabilities and requirements is impacting the quality and timeliness of the data they provide to populate knowledge bases, and thus undermining the potential of this sophisticated technology. A programme of education and advocacy, particularly among smaller publishers, will be key to improving the efficacy with which OpenURL is currently implemented. The study's findings and suggestions will be taken forward by the KBART (Knowledge Bases And Related Tools) working group co‐chaired by UKSG and NISO; this article reviews the initial report and summarizes the planned remit and expected outcomes of the working group.     

Automatic responses,target resistance,and the adaptation of compliance-seeking requests

Based upon politeness theory and a cognitive rules perspective, it is argued that anticipated resistance to a persuasive message should effect compliance-seeking message behavior. Using controlled interviews to elicit persuasive messages, results indicate that persuaders used a greater number of strategies when confronting a positively predisposed target who refused to comply. Beyond an initial opening gambit, negative sanctions were employed more extensively against positively predisposed targets. Overall, a pattern of compliance-gaining behaviors involving a gradual shift to negative sanctions was observed. The findings are explained in light of current perspectives on information processing, possibly shedding light on past failures to find evidence of strategic adaptation based on situational factors.     

Explicating factual and subjective science knowledge: knowledge as a mediator of news attention and attitudes

Communication scholars have conflicting views on the relationship between exposure to science news and knowledge, and its subsequent influence on attitudes. Such mixed sentiments could arise from the vague definition of knowledge. Therefore, this paper explicates science knowledge into factual knowledge and subjective knowledge. It also compares the mediating roles of both types of knowledge between news attention and public support for science and technology (S&T). A survey of 967 Singaporeans showed that news attention was positively related to both factual and subjective knowledge. The findings revealed a stronger relationship between subjective knowledge and news attention than factual knowledge and news attention. Additionally, factual knowledge was positively related to public support for S&T, but subjective knowledge was negatively related to public support for S&T. The contrasting directions of these associations demonstrate that factual and subjective knowledge are two distinct dimensions of knowledge. Practically, the findings can inform policymakers and communication practitioners about effective public education and engagement initiatives. This study also provided guidelines for newsmakers in news reporting about S&T.     

The Relationship Between Counseling Self-Efficacy and Communication Skills of Volunteer Rape Crisis Advocates

This research examines the relationships between communication competence, communication anxiety, and five subdimensions of counseling self-efficacy. The sample consists of volunteers trained at two rape crisis centers (n = 63) over a one-year period. As hypothesized, communication anxiety was negatively related and communication competence positively related to the subdimensions of counseling self-efficacy. Results suggest that training programs need to be aware of how personality characteristics may affect a volunteer's ability to become an efficacious counselor. Implications for how rape crisis centers can integrate these communication issues into their training programs and improve the self-efficacy of their advocates are discussed.