The Relationships of Perceived Health Professionals’ Communication Traits and Credibility with Perceived Patient Confidentiality

Patients at a large medical clinic provided data permitting an analysis of the relationships of perceived communication behaviors (nonverbal immediacy, assertiveness, and responsiveness) and source credibility (competence and caring) with perceptions of the confidentiality of their medical records. Perceptions of physicians, nurses, and support staff were employed. The results indicate that patients’ perceptions of the communication behaviors and credibility of physicians, nurses, and support staff are meaningfully related to patients’ perceptions of confidentiality. The problems of actual confidentiality and perceived confidentiality are discussed in relation to the role of communication as part of the problem and a potential part of the solution.     

Teacher Influence in the Classroom: A Preliminary Investigation of Perceived Instructor Power,Credibility, and Student Satisfaction An earlier version of this paper was presented on a program of the Communication Education interest group at the annual convention of the Central States Communication Association,Milwaukee, WI,April 2002.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived teacher power, teacher credibility, and student satisfaction. Respondents were 67 undergraduate students (30 males and 37 females) enrolled in Communication classes at a southwestern university. Students’ perceptions of their teachers’ expert, referent and reward power use were found to be positively related to their perceptions of their teachers’ competence, caring, and trustworthiness. Teacher power use contributed to the prediction of a significant amount of variance in teacher credibility. Additionally, student satisfaction was positively and significantly related to both teacher referent power and expert power. Surprisingly, students’ perceptions of coercive power were not significantly and negatively related to student satisfaction. Implications, limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The Influence of Medical Orientation on Perceived Physician Credibility

This study assessed whether two medical orientations of physicians—biomedical vs biopsychosocial—influenced individuals’ perceptions of physician credibility. Participants read a vignette describing a physician communicating either a predominantly biomedical or a predominantly biopsychosocial orientation and then completed the Measure of Source Credibility in reference to the physician. Results indicate that physicians who display a biopsychosocial orientation were rated higher in perceived competence, character, and caring. Future researchers should address various effects of the medical context on physician credibility and how patients’ preferences regarding physicians’ medical orientation influence choice of and communication with physicians, patient satisfaction, and compliance.     

Advisor–Advisee Communication Two: The Influence of Verbal Aggression and Humor Assessment on Advisee Perceptions of Advisor Credibility and Affective Learning This paper was presented at the 2004 National Communication Association Convention in Chicago,Illinois.

The goal of the current study was to further the research line initiated by the authors that examined the influence of a variety of communication variables in the Graduate Advisor–Advisee interpersonal relationship. The current study examined the relationship between advisee perceptions of advisor verbal aggression and humor assessment and the impact these variables have on advisee affect and advisee perceptions of advisor credibility (competence, caring/goodwill, and trustworthiness). Findings revealed that advisor humor assessment was positively related to both advisee affect and advisee perceptions of advisor credibility. The study further found that advisor verbal aggression was negatively related to both advisee affect and advisee perceptions of advisorp credibility.     

A comparative study on source credibility and use in multinational nuclear talks

This study examines US and South Korean journalists' use of sources and their perceptions of source credibility in covering the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions. In particular, this study analyzes the relationship between journalists' perceptions of source credibility and the media's source use in terms of the aggregate and individual levels. Results of content analysis of US and South Korean newspapers are compared with data from a survey of US and South Korean journalists who covered the six-party nuclear talks. Government officials are dominant sources in media coverage of the talks because of their high level of accessibility and credibility. US and South Korean journalists assigned the greatest credibility to government officials of their own country. The two groups showed significant differences in their perceptions of credibility of South Korean officials, North Korean officials, Japanese officials, and Japanese experts. Moreover, this study finds that individual journalists' perceptions of source credibility were as strongly correlated with their individual use of sources as with the news media's aggregate use of sources. Implications of the findings are discussed in the context of media sociology, in particular gatekeeping.     

Daughters' Perceptions of Communication with Their Fathers: The Role of Skill Similarity and Co-Orientation in Relationship Satisfaction

This study examines the communication skill similarity between fathers and daughters. Participants were 186 daughters who identified perceptions of both their own communication competence and their father's communication competence. Results indicated that perceived similarity was related to relational satisfaction and quantity of communication. Using the Family Communication Pattern (FCP) model, father-daughter relationship satisfaction and communication skill similarity varied depending on the family type (i.e., consensual, pluralistic, protective, laissez-faire).     

The Relationship Between College Students' Self-Reports of Class Participation and Perceived Instructor Impressions

The purpose of this investigation was to identify the extent to which college students' self-reports of their in-class participation are related to their impressions of instructors (i.e., credibility, attractiveness, and homophily). Participants were 223 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory communication course at a large Mid-Atlantic university. Students' self-reports of their in-class participation were positively correlated with perceived instructor social attractiveness, physical attractiveness, background homophily, and attititude homophily, but not with perceived instructor competence, character, caring, and task attractiveness. Furthermore, class size, perceived instructor social attractiveness, and perceived instructor background homophily emerged as significant predictors of in-class participation.     

Students’ perceptions of instructors’ socio‐communicative style and the influence on instructor credibility and situational motivation

This study investigated whether instructors with different socio‐communicative styles differed in their students’ perceptions of their credibility and their students’ Situationen motivation. Students (N = 260) completed a questionnaire on the class/instructor they had immediately before their current class. The questionnaire consisted of measures of assertiveness, responsiveness, credibility, and situational motivation. Instructors with the socio‐communicative style of competent were perceived highest in all three dimensions of credibility (expertise, character, and caring) and in students’ situational motivation. Instructors classified as noncompetent were perceived as lowest in caring and expertise, while instructors classified as aggressive were perceived as lowest in character. Additionally, situational motivation was positively correlated to all three dimensions of credibility. The results support the importance of instructors being able to display assertive and responsive communication behaviors.     

The Expression of Dominance and Perceptions of Supervisor Credibility in Supervisor/Employee Relationships

In the workplace, a supervisor’s communication of dominance can be used to help accomplish tasks and complete work. Further, perceptions of credibility can be integral in influencing employees and creating an open work climate. The goal of this investigation was to understand how supervisors’ messages of dominance were related to perceptions of supervisor credibility. In this study, 303 participants working in various industries completed measures of interpersonal dominance and credibility about their direct supervisor. As hypothesized, influence and focus/poise were positively related to competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness, whereas conversational control was negatively related to goodwill and trustworthiness. Further, self-assurance was negatively related to goodwill. Regression analyses determined that influence and focus/poise had the strongest relationship to all three dimensions of credibility.     

Perceived Source Credibility of Local Television News: The Impact of Television Form and Presence

An increasing number of local news stations are producing and broadcasting their newscasts in high-definition television (HDTV), but to date there has not been an investigation of audience perceptions of news in high definition. This study presents the results from an experiment investigating the influence of television form (image quality and field of view) on presence and audiences' perceptions of source credibility for news anchors and local news. The results demonstrate that improved image quality (HDTV) has a positive influence on audience perceptions of source credibility and the overall credibility of newscasts. Implications are discussed.     

Communication Practices of Professional Service Providers: Predicting Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

This study examined customers' perceptions of personalized service communication performance in relation to their expectations as predictors of their satisfaction and loyalty intentions in four professional service contexts. Survey data were obtained from 253 customers regarding their expectations and experiences with physicians, dentists, auto mechanics, or hairdressers. Multisample covariance structure analysis procedures were performed to assess the level of support for alternative theoretical models across all four professional contexts. Results provided support for one model, specifying that customers' perceptions of communication performance accounted for significant variation in customer satisfaction, which, in turn, predicted customers' loyal behavioral intentions. Customers' expectations did not play an influential role in predicting customer satisfaction and loyalty, as proposed in an alternative model     

Identity on Social Networks as a Cue: Identity,Retweets, and Credibility

The current study investigates how social media affordances influence individuals’ source credibility perceptions in the presence of risk information, specifically examining how bandwagon heuristics interact with different identity heuristics at the individual level. The MAIN model and warranting theory serve as the theoretical framework to examine the effects of bandwagon cues and identity cues embedded in retweets and users’ profile pages for health and risk online information processing. A posttest-only experiment with a self-report questionnaire was administered to participants. Results indicate that different online heuristic cues impact the judgments of competence, goodwill, and trustworthiness. Authority cues strongly influenced source credibility perceptions. A reverse-bandwagon effect was observed in influencing source credibility judgments.     

Understanding Work/Life Blending: Credibility Implications for Those Who Date at Work

This study examined the credibility implications of employees who date at work. A 2 (status dynamic of the romance) × 2 (sex of the peer) design was used to examine effects of workplace romance on perceptions of credibility. One hundred and forty full-time working adults assessed the credibility of a hypothetical coworker who was involved in a workplace romance. Results indicate that peers who date superiors are viewed as less caring and less trustworthy than are peers who date equal status employees. Sex and status interacted such that women dating superiors versus peers were perceived as less caring and less trustworthy, whereas perceptions of men did not differ based on the status of their relational partners. Limitations and future research are discussed.     

Perceived Instructor Credibility and Teaching Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to examine whether perceived instructor credibility (i.e., competence, character, caring) differs based on instructor teaching philosophy. Participants were 244 students who read a short vignette describing an instructor with either a transmissive or a progressive teaching philosophy and completed the Measure of Source Credibility in reference to the vignette. Results indicate instructors with a transmissive teaching philosophy or a progressive teaching philosophy did not differ in their perceived competence, but instructors with a progressive teaching philosophy were rated higher in both perceived character and caring than instructors with a transmissive teaching philosophy. Future research should examine whether student philosophies toward education impact perceived instructor credibility.     

The impact of forms of strategic and non‐strategic voir dire questions on jury verdicts

This paper examined the effects of strategic voir dire questions on juror evaluations of trial participants. The influence of three types of voir dire questions was assessed on ratings of defendant guilt, defendant credibility, and defense attorney credibility. Using both a control group composed of non‐strategic questions and a control group with no voir dire questions, results indicated that the use of strategic voir dire questions influenced decisions and ratings of trial participants. In particular, questions asking jurors to disregard the defendant's unsavory past produced a main effect on perceptions of guilt. Among other effects additionally, the absence of any voir dire questions seemed to affect negatively perceptions of trial participants on the competence dimension. On both the ratings of defendant character and competence, an interaction emerged between the use of questions encouraging jurors to hold the prosecution to its burden of proof and questions urging jurors to overlook the defendant's unsavory background. Though use of the defendant background question enhanced credibility ratings when the burden of proof question was omitted, these effects were suppressed when both question types were used. In addition, a significant main effect revealed that competence was reduced when jurors were exposed to the question encouraging them to resist group pressure to convict. Furthermore, a three‐way interaction indicated that the highest ratings of defendant competence occurred when jurors were not asked any strategic questions except those urging them to overlook the defendant's unsavory background.     

The Effects of Viewing Grey's Anatomy on Perceptions of Doctors and Patient Satisfaction

The present investigation applies cultivation theory to describe the role of viewing Grey's Anatomy on patients' predispositions. Results demonstrate that heavy viewers of Grey's Anatomy perceive this program to be credible. Credibility was positively associated with a perception that real-world doctors are courageous. A direct association did not emerge between Grey's Anatomy viewing and a perception that doctors are courageous, although an indirect effect emerged, mediated through credibility. A positive association emerged between perceptions that doctors are courageous and patient satisfaction. Results are discussed with an emphasis on the role of entertainment programs in cultivating patients' predispositions about medical doctors.     

Editor's introduction to the forum on defining applied communication scholarship

Although public meetings are a frequent method of public participation and risk communication, little research investigates what citizens think about their use in environmental management. To examine satisfaction with public meetings, residents of two neighboring communities received questionnaires following a public meeting about a local landfill. Respondents included residents who did and did not attend the meeting. Irrespective of whether respondents had ever attended a public meeting, meeting expectations and perceptions of relational/informational communication at meetings, including whether respondents thought meeting organizers were genuinely interested in participants' comments or meetings were informative, predicted satisfaction. Perceived risk associated with the recent meeting's topic and credibility of government agencies that frequently conduct meetings also predicted satisfaction.     

Determining the Key Dimensions for Evaluating Service Quality and Satisfaction in Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

Offering quality services and evaluating the rate of success in providing users with target services is the pervasive importance of academic libraries. The central purpose of this study is to determine key dimensions of service quality and satisfaction through developing a new item-scale for evaluating service quality and satisfaction in academic libraries. For primary data collection the study used a 28-item instrument based on five dimensional modified version of SERVQUAL. Respondents were asked to indicate their degree of opinions in the three-columns format: desired service expectation, minimum service expectation, and perception of service performance on a 7-point Likert-type scale. The researcher initially conducted a pilot survey to clarify the overall structure of the questionnaire items to be accepted and used. The reliability of the analysis of data with distinct service attributes were taken from ten public and private university libraries in Bangladesh. Subjecting data obtained to exploratory factor analysis shows that academic library service quality and satisfaction is related to four basic dimensions: caring, competence, resources, and library as a place. Twenty-six service items were identified after extraction through exploratory factor analysis, where nine items were shown before “caring,” five items for “competence,” seven items for “resources,” and five items for “library as a place.” The result in fact provides a generic and robust instrument and recognizes a new item-scale, namely “real service expectation” for the librarians and information science practitioners in the assessment of service quality and satisfaction in academic libraries and in the related fields.     

Interpersonal communication motives and message design logic: exploring their interaction on perceptions of competence

Message design logic and interpersonal communication motives were conjointly studied to assess their interaction on receivers' perceptions of senders' competence. Two 8 (motive)×3 (message design logic) repeated measures ANOVAs indicated significant interaction effects for both effectiveness and appropriateness. Nevertheless, the effects of design logic and motive on perceptions of competence were not as expected for some situations. The results of the study fail to support past research suggesting that perceived effectiveness and appropriateness will be enhanced by using a more complex message design. In addition, no pattern emerged for the instrumental versus the ritualistic motivations in terms of the most competent message design.     

Accuracy and Bias in Newlywed Couples’ Perceptions of Conflict Styles and the Association with Marital Satisfaction

Styles of handling conflict are highly consequential to marital success. The behavioral model predicts that spouses’ accuracy in perceptions of each other will be associated with marital quality, whereas the benevolent perception model predicts that benevolent perceptions, even when objectively inaccurate, will be associated with marital quality. To investigate the role of perceptions of marital conflict styles, 194 couples married for less than five years completed self- and partner-reports of conflict styles and marital satisfaction. Results indicated that spouses were both accurate (i.e., seeing the self the same as one's partner sees the self) and biased (i.e., seeing the partner the same as one sees the self) in their perceptions of each others’ conflict styles. Little support existed for the accuracy model of perception and marital satisfaction, but more consistent support was obtained for the benevolent perception model in which more positively toned perceptions, regardless of their consistency with partners’ self-perceptions, were associated with higher marital satisfaction. Results of actor–partner interdependence analyses revealed numerous actor effects for conflict styles and satisfaction, and partner effects for the styles of conflict engagement and withdrawal and partners’ marital satisfaction.