Rituals in Committed Romantic Relationships: The Creation and Validation of an Instrument

Rituals are widely studied in interpersonal communication research, but no instrument for assessing the preceived use of rituals among couples in committed romantic relationships exists. The purpose of this investigation was to create and validate such a measure (Rituals in Committed Romantic Relationships; RCRR). Five-hundred-sixty individuals in committed romantic relationships responded to a 50-item questionnaire that measured 5 sets of rituals pertaining to daily routines and tasks, idiosyncratic behavior, everyday talk, intimacy, and couple-time. In addition, they completed measures of perceived relational quality and perceived relational intimacy. Multiple analyses supported a 5-factor model consisting of 30 of the original 50 items. Perceived use of rituals was predictive of alterations in both perceived relational quality and perceived relational intimacy.     

Powerless Language in Health Media: The Influence of Biological Sex and Magazine Type on Health Language

Powerless language influences how media consumers perceive the believability and trustworthiness of news sources. Past studies have suggested females use more powerless language, which can negatively influence credibility. However, previous research also suggests powerless language may be preferred in certain contexts. To investigate powerless language use in written health media, a content analysis investigated health-related articles in issues of 12 magazines between October 2008 and September 2009. Analysis compared differences in powerless language frequencies relative to three variables: biological sex of the author, biological sex of the audience, and the magazine's overall topic focus. Female authors and health-focused magazines used more powerless language than male authors and generic-focused magazines, and powerless language was more often directed towards a female audience than a male audience.     

The Use of Relational Maintenance Behaviors and Relational Characteristics Among Sibling Types

The purpose of this investigation is to apply Gold's (1989 Gold, D. T. (1989). Sibling relationships in old age: A typology. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 28, 37–51.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) typology of sibling relationships to the study of adult-sibling use of relational maintenance behaviors and perceptions of relational characteristics. Participants were 196 adults who targeted a sibling whose birthday was closest to their own and completed a series of instruments in reference to the targeted sibling. It was found that whether individuals classified their sibling relationships as intimate, congenial, loyal, or apathetic/hostile was reflected in their self-reported use of relational maintenance behaviors, their perceptions of their targeted siblings' use of relational maintenance behaviors with them, and their perceptions of the relational characteristics associated with the sibling relationship.     

The Role of Relational Uncertainty in Topic Avoidance among Couples with Depression

To address a key gap in theorizing and research, we consider relational uncertainty as an explanation for why individuals experiencing depressive symptoms may be reluctant to talk about sensitive issues. We report closed-ended online survey data from 126 romantic couples in which one or both partners had been professionally diagnosed with depression. Results indicated that relational uncertainty mediated the positive association between depressive symptoms and topic avoidance. Partner effects from men to women also emerged. These findings are valuable for identifying relational uncertainty as a mechanism that may explain people's unwillingness to discuss challenging topics when they are experiencing depressive symptoms.     

Relational Maintenance Behavior and Shared TV Viewing as Mediators of the Association Between Romanticism and Romantic Relationship Quality

Nearly a century of research has demonstrated a positive association between romanticism—a relationship-type schema that emphasizes idealistic and positive experiences in romantic relationships—and quality of romantic relationships. This investigation examined whether relational maintenance behavior and shared TV viewing mediate that association. The sample contained 202 participants, including college students and older adults. Results demonstrated that relational maintenance behavior mediated the association between romanticism and relationship quality, but shared TV viewing did not. Nevertheless, shared TV viewing independently and positively predicted variance in relationship quality. These results both clarify the mechanism by which romanticism may operate and support shared media use as a maintenance behavior that may be meaningful in close relationships.     

Relational Maintenance and the Influence of Commitment in Online and Offline Relationships

The study of relational-maintenance behaviors has sometimes included the impact of medium as a peripheral variable, but rarely has the impact of medium been tested directly. Participants (N = 1336) delineated themselves into four separate groups depending on the initial and continued use of mediated communication. They reported their use of relational-maintenance behaviors, as well as feelings of commitment towards the relationship. The medium had an impact on the use of relational-maintenance behaviors, primarily between people who had only met their partners in a mediated environment and those who had met them face-to-face. However, commitment level appears to strongly moderate the relationship between group and use of maintenance behaviors.     

Men and Women Holding Hands Revisited: Effects of Mutual Engagement and Hand Dominance on Attributions of Cross-Sex Handholding

In line with the social meaning orientation to nonverbal behavior, the current study conceptualized handholding as a multidimensional nonverbal cue with the potential to signal relational meaning to outside observers. Results support the hypotheses that individuals attribute varied levels of intimacy to a cross-sex couple based on the mutual engagement of handholding type and the distance between elbows. In addition, the results corroborate observational studies claiming that hand dominance serves to signal relational power distribution. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for our knowledge of handholding as a form of nonverbal communication as well as their implications for the broader theoretical question of how relational meaning is signaled by nonverbal behavior.     

Attachment and Relational Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Emotional Communication

This study investigated associations among one partner's relational satisfaction and the other partner's style of attachment and emotional communication. Findings from a questionnaire study involving 581 couples showed that participants reported more relational satisfaction when their partners scored high in security and low in dismissiveness and preoccupation. These associations between one's relational satisfaction and the partner's attachment style were partially mediated by how the partner reported communicating emotions. Specifically, participants were less satisfied in relationships with preoccupied partners who reported expressing anger using destructive communication. Participants were less satisfied with dismissive partners who reported using detached emotional communication. Finally, participants were more satisfied with secure partners who reported using prosocial emotional communication. These findings suggest that the often-cited relationship between attachment and relational satisfaction is partially explained by emotional communication.     

When Online Meets Offline: The Effect of Modality Switching on Relational Communication

Collaborative partnerships developed via text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) commonly shift interactions to alternative formats. Extant research indicates that shifting from one modality to another, or “modality switching,” can have profound positive and negative effects on relational outcomes. Drawing on social presence theory (Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976 Short, J., Williams, E. and Christie, B. 1976. The social psychology of telecommunications, London: Wiley.  [Google Scholar]) and social information processing theory (SIPT; Walther, 1992 Walther, J. B. 1992. Interpersonal effects in computer-mediated interaction: A relational perspective. Communication Research, 19: 52–89. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 1996 Walther, J. B. 1996. Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Communication Research, 23: 3–43. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the present study examined the influence of meeting FtF after varying lengths of time interacting via CMC on relational communication. Consistent with predictions, remaining online yielded greater intimacy and social attraction than the other conditions in which FtF contact occurred. With respect to the CMC conditions, modality switching modestly enhanced relational outcomes in the “early” switching partnerships but more strongly dampened those of “late” switching ones.     

An Examination of Relational Uncertainty,Romantic Intent,and Attraction on Communicative and Relational Outcomes in Cross-Sex Friendships

This investigation explored the impact of relational uncertainty and its correlates (i.e., attraction and romantic intent) on cognitive, communicative, and behavioral outcomes in cross-sex friendships. Participants included 352 people who reported on a current cross-sex friendship. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that social attraction increased relational satisfaction while relational uncertainty decreased relational satisfaction. Further, social attraction decreased topic avoidance while romantic intent and relational uncertainty increased topic avoidance. Finally, social attraction increased the use of relationship talk, routine contact and activity, and emotional support maintenance behaviors, while relational uncertainty decreased the use of these maintenance behaviors. This study provides researchers with a starting point for understanding the consequences associated with interpersonal attraction, romantic intent, and relational uncertainty in cross-sex friendships.     

The Effect of Anticipated Future Interaction and Initial Impression Valence on Relational Communication in Computer-Mediated Interaction

This study applies the critical paradigm of “rhetorical enterprise” to the case of nineteenth‐century British reform efforts, particularly the organization and the “gospel” of the Birmingham Political Union, and concludes that cases of rhetorical enterprise challenge critics to account for the enterprising consistency of tactics and creed regardless of the relatively inconsistent factors of men andevents.     

The Perceived Threat and Resolvability of Serial Arguments as Correlates of Relational Uncertainty in Romantic Relationships

This study explored the degree to which the perceived threat and resolvability of a serial argument are associated with relational uncertainty in a romantic relationship (i.e., self, partner, and relationship uncertainty). Participants included 147 individuals who were currently in a romantic relationship. Results revealed positive associations between argument frequency and relationship uncertainty, the perceived threat of the argument to the relationship and all three forms of relational uncertainty, and inverse associations between the perceived resolvability of the issue and all three forms of relational uncertainty. Interaction effects emerged for perceived threat by perceived resolvability for self and partner uncertainty, such that the resolvability of the issue diminished the strength of the positive association between the perceived threat of the argument and self and partner uncertainty.     

中国传媒产业发展的人口质量因素分析

本文基于2006年全国31个省市传媒产业发展数据和第五次人口普查数据定量分析了人口质量对我国传媒产业发展的作用和影响。研究结果表明,报业发展与人均受教育年限显著相关,特别是与高中以上文化程度人口比重更为显著相关;广播电视业发展与人口总体受教育水平呈显著相关,它在一定程度上实现了不同文化层次人群对媒体的平等接近的机会;人口受教育水平也是影响网络业发展的重要因素,高中以上文化程度人口越多,网络业越发达。     

参考咨询服务的质量控制与评价

对参考咨询服务的质量进行控制的目的是为了提高服务质量,从而在更高的层面上提高用户满意度.在逐一介绍了参考咨询服务的几种常见形式的基础上,总结了用户对所授予参考咨询服务感到满意(过程满意和结果满意)的各项评价指标,并就图书馆参考咨询服务的质量控制提出了一些建议.     

馆员素质:制约高校图书馆发展的主体因素

论述了目前高校图书馆馆员的素质不能满足知识经济时代需求的状况,提出在新形势下图书馆员应该具备良好的思想道德品质,不断更新自身的知识结构,加强信息意识与信息能力的培养,以适应知识经济时代信息急剧增长、知识迅猛更新的需求,更好地为高校的教学、科研服务。提出了一系列有针对性的措施,如实现管理的制度化、规范化,努力向人本主义管理转化等,对如何提高馆员的素质作了深入的探讨。     

档案数字化的质量和安全保密控制

档案数字化是数字档案建设最基础的工作,本文首先简要介绍了我国档案数字化的现状,在此基础上,分别对档案数字化的质量控制和安全保密控制的内容和手段进行重点阐述,以期为确保数字化工作的质量和安全保密性提供一定的参考.     

在线知识协作行为研究:团队成员亲密度及协作倾向的影响

[目的/意义]帮助学者深入了解团队成员亲密度、协作倾向对小规模在线知识协作行为的影响,以及小规模用尸在线知识协作的行为模式.研究成果可以应用于在线教育、科研协作等领域,为在线知识协作工具、平台功能改进提供参考.[方法/过程]通过用户实验,对小型团队的任务规划、信息检索、信息共享、信息使用和沟通交流5种类型行为进行分析,...     

档案编研中的编校质量管理

文章讨论档案编研工作的意义以及编校质量管理的重要性,给出档案编研出版物编校质量控制的统计方法。该方法有助于制订量化的质量管理方案。     

图书馆服务质量的本土化模型：高阶因子结构与测量

在回顾图书馆服务质量测评当前研究状况的基础上,建立了五维度(因子)的本土化图书馆服务质量模型,并证实存在高阶因子主宰五维度的表现。经过严谨的信度与效度检验,该模型不仅有效揭示了图书馆服务质量测量的高阶因子结构关系,而且可以确定测量指标对各因子的影响程度。据此,将图书馆服务质量指数化,为其改进提供依据。