An instructor self‐disclosure scale

This ‐paper introduces the Instructor Self‐Disclosure Scale and reports on two initial studies that address the reliability and validity of the scale. The Instructor Self‐Disclosure Scale is an 18‐item measure of the amount of instructor self‐disclosure. In Study One, instructor self‐disclosure was positively related to the student motives of relational, excuse‐making, and sycophancy. In Study Two, instructor self‐disclosure was positively related to out‐of‐class communication, the student interest dimensions of meaningfulness and impact, and cognitive learning. Additionally, the Instructor Self‐Disclosure Scale appears to be a unidimensional, internally reliable measure.     

A bibliography of rhetoric and public address for the year 1967

The purpose of this investigation was to isolate personality correlates of leadership by determining the unique personality profiles associated with autocratic and democratic leadership styles. Based on a multiple discriminant analysis which separated the autocratic from democratic groups on the basis of seven personality variables (of 53 considered), subjects were classified as autocratic or democratic with a 75.66% accuracy. Also, a personality profile emerged from the pattern of scores on the variables from the discriminant analysis which allowed for a useful personality‐based characterization of autocratic and democratic leaders.     

The Watergate cover‐up: Its dynamics and its implications

The Watergate Cover‐up is examined from a group dynamics perspective. The impact of four factors is discussed, including the political climate, psychological similarities among the principal decision‐makers, participants’ perceptions of role requirements, and the adequacy of information employed in making crucial decisions. The interaction among these factors increased the probability of making the wrong set of decisions in the Watergate case.     

Decision‐making collaboration scale: Tests of validity

A trait Decision‐Making Collaboration Scale was discussed and examined for reliability and validity. The scale represents on‐going scale development to measure decision‐making tendencies. The premise is that individuals are generally willing or not willing to participate collaboratively in decision‐making communication interpersonally. The 13‐item measure is described. Support for validity was addressed by investigating the relationships between the decision‐making construct with argumentativeness, verbal aggression, interpersonal communication competence, and willingness to communicate. Willingness to participate in collaborative decision making was moderately related to argumentativeness, competence, and willingness to communicate in a positive manner, while slightly related to verbal aggression in a negative manner. Some construct validity was offered by asking participants to report their decision‐making tendencies and comparing these reports to their friends’ ratings of them. No significant differences were found. Implications for future research are discussed.     

An experimental study of the relationship between opinionated leadership and small group consensus

This study examined the relationship between the opinionated quality of leaders’ statements and small group consensus. Confederates trained to exhibit differing levels of opinionatedness served as “appointed” leaders of policy‐making groups. Groups with unopinionated leaders came closer to total consensus than groups whose leaders exhibited deliberately opinionated communication behavior. In addition, unopinionated leaders were rated more competent and more objective by their group members than were opinionated leaders. Findings relating opinionated leadership to maintenance of influence and member satisfaction were inconclusive.     

Personality,sex, and leadership style

The purpose of this investigation was to isolate individual difference variables predictive of autocratic and democratic leadership styles for males and females. Subjects completed a battery of personality examinations and the Sargent and Miller Leadership Questionnaire. The results of two stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated differences which may be predicted for male and female democratic leader behaviors, but none which may be predicted for differences in autocratic leader behaviors.     

A bibliography of rhetoric and public address for the year 1958

Drawing upon role theory, this essay examines Will Rogers’ use of rhetorical irony as a means of persuasive influence. Through dramatic and Socratic irony, this rhetor “coached” audience members in the assumption of the “god‐role” of superiority. With enactment of the role, audience members theoretically and momentarily transformed their perceptions and modified their adherence to American cultural values, including technological progress, fair play, support for the underdog, anti‐imperialism, self‐determination by small nations, democratic manners, individualism, and anti‐intellectualism. Although attitude change from such role assumption is theoretically fleeting because of the transitory, non‐pervasive nature of the role, more lasting effects may be produced by repeated role assumption and enactment.     

A descriptive investigation of the possible communication‐based reasons for effective and ineffective group decision making

The present study sought to compare the nature and content of interaction within a number of “effective” and “ineffective” decision‐making groups in an effort to identify consistent differences which might account for the differences in the quality of their group decisions. The goal of the investigation was to generate data which will help us better understand the communication‐based reasons for “effective” and “ineffective” group decision making. Using basically a qualitative approach, six “effective” groups and five “ineffective” groups were compared. The study found that the discussions of those two sets of groups can be distinguished on the basis of at least four communication‐related characteristics: (1) The manner in which the groups examined opinions and assumptions advanced by group members; (2) The manner in which the groups evaluated alternative choices; (3) The nature of the premises which served as the basis for the groups’ decisions; and (4) The nature of influence exerted by the most influential members of the groups. These four differences are discussed in terms of specific empirically‐testable propositions regarding the relationship between group interaction and quality of group decision making.     

Product Owners at Hesburgh Libraries: Increasing Stakeholder Engagement and Accountability through Continuous Organizational Enhancement

Abstract

The hierarchical decision making structure of academic libraries and consequently established cultural norms can affect the implementation of project management, hindering effective stakeholder engagement and ongoing ownership of and accountability for library products and services. The Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame offers a strategy for navigating structural issues which emphasizes making incremental organizational changes that empower agile decision making responsive to stakeholder demands at appropriate levels. This study, a discussion of the Libraries’ experience, focuses on the implementation of one specific role designed to improve the development and maintenance of library products and services, the product owner.     

Note-taking as communication design: promoting democratic processes

ABSTRACT

Whereas notes are ubiquitous to democratic meeting designs, note-taking practices within public participation processes remain taken-for-granted. We argue that note-taking is a communication practice that calls for cultivating expertise and critical reflexivity. Employing Communication as Design (CAD) we analyze communication design logics for note-taking active in public processes and the problems encountered enacting these design logics. CAD analysis illuminates four design logics underpinned by democratic values: notes as summary, data points, quotables, and critical voice. Building from this empirical analysis, democratic note-takers must be sensitive to the need for coordinating design logics to process goals; yet multiple design logics are often necessary to uphold multiple democratic values.     

Self‐report scales of communication apprehension and autonomic arousal (heart rate): A test of construct validity

Previous research has typically relied upon self‐report scales of communication apprehension without assessing construct validity. This study attempts to assess the construct validity of selected scales and the constructs “communication anxiety” and “communication fear.” The results indicate higher levels of physiological arousal increase for females. Only scales purporting to measure communication fear were able to predict an a priori product of communication apprehension autonomic arousal.     

What's Your Type? Using the Myers–Briggs Personality Inventory to Improve Team Performance

Objective: This activity is designed to improve team performance by giving students a better understanding of their own and their peers’ personality traits. Consequently, the exercise is intended to: (1) improve communication between team members; (2) increase understanding of and appreciation for the diversity of personality traits; and (3) reduce the misunderstandings and frustrations that often impede successful teamwork.

Courses: This exercise can be used for any high school, undergraduate, or graduate course that requires students to work in a team setting for an extended period of time.     

A comparison of distributional and sequential structure in cooperative and competitive group discussions

This study examined the sequential and distributional structures emerging in cooperative and competitive group discussions in an effort to determine whether group motivations or time of preparation accounted for earlier findings reported by Gouran and Baird. Both explanations received support. Analyses of obtained data suggested that the amount of preparation time allowed a group affects the overall degree of interaction structure, while the group members’ motivations determine specific structural patterns.     

Digitalization as a policy response to social acceleration: Comparing democratic problem solving in Denmark and the Netherlands

Social acceleration – the progressively faster rate of technological, social and life-pace change – poses a dilemma for democratic problem solving: It increases the amount of new social problems emerging on the political agenda and hence amplifies the demand for rapid and effective policy solutions. Democratic politics is, however, slow. So either the political system speeds up decision making at the cost of democracy, or it holds on to democracy at the cost of problem solving. Obviously, neither option is desirable. How do governments try to solve this dilemma and provide positive-sum solutions that are both effective and democratic? We present two so-called paradigm cases of governments, in Denmark and the Netherlands, that have developed a remarkably quick and effective digitalization response to social acceleration. By focusing on four markers – (1) awareness and timing; (2) motivation; (3) new strategic goals; and (4) goal-directed strategic policy action – we theorize how governments aim to solve the dilemma for democratic problem solving under conditions of social acceleration.     

Negative video as structure: Emotion,attention, capacity,and memory

This paper uses a limited capacity information processing theory of television viewing to investigate the effects of graphic negative video at four levels of processing (attention, capacity, encoding, and retrieval) and on two dimensions of emotional experience (arousal and valence). Results indicate that the presence of negative video in news stories increases attention, increases the amount of capacity required to process the message, increases the ability to retrieve the story, facilitates recognition of information presented during the negative video and inhibits recognition for information presented before the negative video. Results also indicate that the introduction of negative video increases the self‐reported negative emotional impact of the story — making it more arousing and more negative.     

Human information processing in four modes of response

This study investigated four discriminately different responses in information processing. Messages associated with neutral, supportive, and threatening communication climates served as the stimuli. Subjects’ responses were measured by (1) an information test; (2) a physiological measure of pupillary size; (3) a denotive measure using an oral questionnaire; and (4) a connotative measure employing a semantic differential. The results of the study were as follows: significant differences exist between information processing under a supportive climate and a threatening one on the first three measures; the fourth measure, the semantic differential, produced no significant differences between the three levels; the four tests gave significantly different results, a significant difference between treatment levels, and a significant interaction between test results and treatment levels.     

Vowel quality before and after an operation for an occluded nasal passage

Anxiety experienced while in a public speaking situation (speech anxiety) is discussed within the framework of Trait‐State Anxiety Theory. Speech anxiety may be considered a dispositional variable designed to measure individual differences in speech anxiety proneness (Speech A‐Trait) or a measure of anxiety experienced during a particular speech (Speech A‐State). Physiological and behavioral measures of speech anxiety are typically viewed as A‐State measures. Self‐report indices may be considered either state or trait anxiety measures depending on the context in which the measures were obtained. The development of a scale to measure both Speech A‐State and Speech A‐Trait, including initial normative, reliability, and validity data, is reported.     

Politics and publishing in a democratic society: Technical breakthroughs and research agendas

Publishing flourishes best in a democratic society. Technological changes alter the relationship of forces so that opportunities for publishing expand. A broader range of information channels, for example, increases choice and makes authoritarian rule more difficult. Publishing also enhances democracy when decisions are made on the basis of merit rather than top-down legislation. Research should reflect awareness of the interaction of publishing and politics. Such areas as the relationship between public and private sectors, the impact of internationalization, non-U.S. ownership of information, mergers and acquisitions, and conflict between the First Amendment and copyright law, are examples of areas in which democratic outcomes are critical. Decision making in publishing would benefit from heightened awareness of the political consequences of publishers’ activities. Irving Louis Horowithz is the author ofCommunicating Ideas: The Politics of Publishing Mary E. Curtis has written widely on subjects of concern to professional publishing.     

Body sensations of higher and lower anxiety sensitive speakers anticipating a public presentation

The purpose of this study was to determine if higher and lower anxiety sensitive speakers would exhibit differential levels of four types of body sensations (gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary, disorientation, and numbness) while anticipating giving a public speech. The participants were eighty‐seven undergraduate students who gave five‐minute informative speeches. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index was used to measure anxiety sensitivity, and the Body Sensations Questionnaire was used to measure body sensations during the anticipatory period. The results showed a significant difference in body sensations between higher and lower anxiety sensitivity speakers for gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary and numbness sensations. There were no significant differences found for disorientation between higher and lower anxiety sensitive speakers.     

Shaw,Caesar, and the critics

This study examined the extent to which the destruction of trust of one group member by another, influenced the quality of communication in a small group discussion. A nonfluency category system was applied to verbal data. Under trust‐destroying conditions, results indicated substantial decreases in verbal fluency of a naive subject, as well as the remaining group members.