Source credibility and presidential candidates in 1996: The changing nature of character and empathy evaluations

This study examines the importance of character, competence, empathy, and leadership in evaluations of presidential candidates in 1996. Public opinion research suggests changes in the importance and meaning of character in candidate evaluations. The results of this study strongly support distinctions between character‐generated liking of a candidate and vote choice among respondents in 1996. Results also suggest that perceptions of candidate empathy played a larger role in evaluations than in previous elections. Implications of these findings include the need for renewed political communication research on the importance and conceptualization of character and empathy, and the extension of current theory to explain differences in affective candidate evaluations and vote choice.     

Facilitating cross-cleavage communication online: Findings from interviews with ultra-Orthodox,religious, and secular participants

One of the key questions addressed by the study of online social media is whether or not they facilitate cross-cleavage communication between users of different nationality, ethnicity, religiosity, and other group affiliations. This study contributes to the literature by addressing communication across religious cleavages, which has scarcely received attention. The study is based on 97 semistructured interviews of a layered sample. Of the respondents, 40 were secular (21 men and 19 women), 28 Modern Orthodox (14 men and 14 women), and 29 ultra-Orthodox (11 men and 18 women). We found that groups differing by their majority/minority status and type of religious observance used the Internet for different purposes. Many secular respondents (members of the majority group in Israel) were motivated to make contact on social media by social needs. On the other hand, ultra-Orthodox respondents (members of the minority group) were exclusively focused on professional objectives as a motivation to use social media. Consequently, their online behaviors were quite different and they more frequently encounter people from groups differing by type of religious observance through social media.     

Examining variation among compulsive communicators in classroom settings

The present study investigates variance among compulsive communicators on the traits of communication apprehension, verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness and the relationship between these three communication traits and self‐perceived competence. Results confirmed a positive relationship between self‐perceived communication competence (SPCC) and argumentativeness and a negative relationship between SPCC and communication apprehension. The hypothesized relationship between SPCC and verbal aggressiveness was not confirmed within the sample studied. These results suggest that compulsive communicators are not a monolithic group but possess a range of competence.     

Communication‐elicited arousal in public speaking,small group and dyadic contexts: Comparisons of change in heart rate

The study examined the effect of situational demands on arousal in public speaking, small group, and dyadic contexts. Heart rate level of nine university students varied significantly according to the demands of the context. The nature of the context was also reflected in subjects’ heart rate variation. The advantages of expanding the physiological communication research in various communication contexts were discussed.     

Corporal punishment and communication in father‐son dyads

This study was based on a communication‐oriented perspective of corporal punishment of children. The perspective posits that physically aggressive influence tactics would be associated with aggressive communication and a set of communication outcomes. The perceptions of 74 father‐son dyads were solicited to test these relationships. Results indicated that when there was lower argumentativeness and higher verbal aggressiveness in father‐son communication there was more corporal punishment as an influence tactic and that fathers and sons perceived the relationship as less favorable in terms of influence success, communication competence, affirming style, and credibility.     

Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate,communication apprehension,and self‐perceived competence

Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate (WTC), communication apprehension, and self‐perceived communication competence were examined using three age cohorts of participants drawn from junior high, high school, and university student populations. Results indicate that junior high females are higher in WTC than their male counterparts and females at the university level are higher in communication apprehension and lower in self‐perceived competence than are male university students. Communication apprehension and self‐perceived competence show a consistent negative relationship that does not vary with age or sex in the present sample. The degree to which communication apprehension arid self‐perceived competence predict WTC varies with age and sex. In all three age cohorts, communication apprehension is a significant predictor of WTC among women. Among men, self‐perceived competence emerges as a significant predictor of WTC in all three age groups.     

Measuring Online Communication Attitude: Instrument Development and Validation

This paper reports a series of studies that develop an empirically-derived instrument for assessing online communication attitude, a multidimensional set of individual cognitive-affective constructs that influence media choice. The first study inductively develops an initial item pool and tests dimensional structure via exploratory factor analysis. The second study further refines this structure and also tests the association between online communication attitude and media use in same-sex friendships. Finally, the third study deductively tests global model fit via confirmatory factor analysis, and establishes concurrent validity with theoretically related communication constructs. Beyond identifying motives underlying media choice, the instrument developed here possesses heuristic potential for clarifying media choice theory and elaborating the association between communication competence and media choice.     

Communication anxiety and teacher communication competence among Native American and Caucasian students

This study compared self‐reported communication anxiety and student perceived teacher communication competence among fifth and sixth grade Native American and Caucasian students being taught by Caucasian teachers. A survey of 67 Native American and 51 Caucasian students was conducted in an elementary school located on a Northwestern reservation. Native American and Caucasian students differed significantly only on their communication anxiety associated with approaching new people. No significant difference was found on factors of communication anxiety more specific to classroom communication. Native American students perceived the teachers to have significantly less communication competence. Additionally for Native American students, perceived teacher communication competence predicted reported enjoyment of classroom communication, fear of classroom communication and willingness to approach new people. For Caucasian students perceived teacher communication competence only predicted willingness to approach new people.     

The Relationship between Self- and Other-Perceptions of Communication Competence and Friendship Quality

This study explored dyadic effects of communication competence, assessed through self-perceptions and other-perceptions, on relationship quality in same-sex platonic friendships. Undergraduate students recruited a same-sex platonic friend to participate in this study along with them. Participants (N = 310; dyads = 155) completed an online questionnaire assessing their own and their partner's communication competence as well as their own relationship satisfaction and commitment. Results from actor-partner interdependence model analyses revealed both actor and partner effects for self-perceptions and other-perceptions of communication competence on relationship satisfaction and commitment. Additionally, partners’ other-perceptions of communication competence moderated the relationship between actors’ other-perceptions of communication competence and relationship commitment.     

Measuring Social Exchange Constructs in Organizations

Although social exchange has been frequently referred to as a framework for exploring employee-organization relationships, the role of potentially important exchange related variables such as communication climate and change communication are less understood. The present research aimed to assess the measurement properties of an expanded set of social exchange constructs. The measurement properties of change communication, communication climate, perceived organizational support, procedural justice, affective commitment, and cynicism toward organizational change were tested using competing confirmatory factor analytic models. After appropriately defining items and refining individual scales, confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence in support of an expanded set of social exchange constructs. Despite high correlations between some of the variables, tests for discriminant validity established that respondents (N = 500) could reliably distinguish between the full set of constructs. Furthermore, Harman's One Factor Test for common method variance suggested that the variance in the data could not be explained by a single construct. Practical implications for the use of this set of social exchange constructs in organizational contexts are discussed.     

Using the Web to Snowball Discussants of Survey Respondents

Research has shown that the study of interpersonal communication is severely limited by relying on information provided by main respondents only and by not interviewing their discussants. This study presents an experiment (N?=?684, random selection) that tests three different approaches for snowballing discussants in a web-based survey by varying both the type of invitation sent to the discussants and the level of privacy protection. The major challenge is to obtain contact information on discussants from main respondents while discussants are willing to participate in surveys. Results show no major differences between the different methods of snowballing discussants. Implications and suggestions for future survey research are discussed.     

Exploring the Communication of Evangelical Families: The Association Between Evangelical Gender Role Ideology and Family Communication Patterns

This study examines the relationship between the Evangelical gender role ideologies termed Complementarianism and Egalitarianism and conversation- and conformity-orientation communication patterns stemming from the general theory of family communication. A nonrandom group (N = 124) of Evangelical parents were surveyed using a cross-sectional, self-report survey design. Specific differences were discovered in the perceptions of communication in families for individuals holding conservative Complementarian and progressive Egalitarian gender role ideologies. Evangelical parents who endorsed a more Egalitarian family gender role ideology reported greater use of conversation-oriented communication patterns in their families whereas respondents holding a more Complementarian family gender role ideology reported more use of conformity-oriented communication patterns in their families.     

Presentation Style and Beyond: How Print Newspapers and Online News Expand Awareness of Public Affairs Issues

This study examines the interaction effects of camera perspectives used to portray a victim of a social problem and the sex of audience members on empathy and intentions to help people sharing the victim's problem. As predicted, the study found interaction effects for camera perspectives and viewers' sex on empathy and care for the victim group. The findings corroborate not only the role played by empathy in inducing care for people in need but also the parallels between one's real and mediated experiences. Most importantly, the findings contribute to our understanding of how media portrayals of human suffering can increase empathy for those in need.     

Cultural Competence and Institutional Contradictions: The Hydropower Referendum

This study explores a corporate campaign to pass a referendum to enable the development of a hydropower plant in a small Swedish community. In the changing institutional context that grounds this case, the organization needed to develop communicative practices that embodied “cultural competence,” a set of processes identified as critical for the legitimacy and success of business organizations in the emerging global/intersectoral environment. Findings suggest that the MNC's communication strategy captured important components of cultural competence. However, institutional contradictions impeded enactment of the strategy and resulted in delegitimizing paradoxical communication. The results indicate that organizational awareness of institutional change and culturally competent strategy are insufficient without special attention to contradictions and resultant communicative paradoxes embodied within a particular institutional context. The importance of a reflective communication approach that engages contradictions and tensions in the surrounding micro–macro institutional contexts is underscored.     

Can Empathy Improve Concern for Secondary Group Members? Testing an Emotionally Engaging Video Intervention

Media presentations that attempt to improve intergroup relations often portray stigmatized group members in a sympathetic light in order to induce empathy. Emotion priming research suggests that induced empathy may not only affect reactions to those portrayed, but also to a wide range of secondary others. In order to test this possible secondary or transfer effect, the present study assessed whether empathy induced by a video of a boy with cancer could also increase caring for an unrelated stigmatized group member. Although the video was not found to have a direct effect, it did have a significant indirect effect on caring for the stigmatized group member, mediated by concern for the boy. In addition, this indirect effect was also moderated by both age and gender.     

Effect of timing of communicator identification and level of source credibility on attitude

This study investigated whether roommates who were similar in their communication traits would express more satisfaction with and affinity for their roommates. Specifically, the communication traits of willingness to communicate, interpersonal communication competence, and verbal aggressiveness were considered. Participants (college students and their roommates) completed measures of their own communication traits and their feelings about their roommates. Results showed that roommates who were prosocially similar (when both roommates were high in willingness to communicate, when both roommates were high in interpersonal communication competence, and when both roommates were low in verbal aggressiveness) reported the highest roommate satisfaction and liking.     

The Physiology of Argumentative Skill Deficiency: Cognitive Ability,Emotional Competence,Communication Qualities,and Responses to Conflict

This study drew upon the argumentative skill deficiency model to advance hypotheses linking cognitive ability and emotional competence to the prominence of loudness, criticism, disagreement, and sarcasm in conflict interactions between dating partners. Hypotheses also predicted that these communication qualities amplify physiological stress responses to conflict interactions, as indexed by measures of salivary cortisol. One hundred college-aged students (50 romantic couples) participated in a dyadic interaction in which they discussed a source of conflict in their relationship. Structural equation analyses evaluated an actor–partner interdependence model in which personal qualities predicted communication qualities that, in turn, predicted amplitude of cortisol change. Results indicated partial support for our hypotheses.     

大学生网络协作学习中的认知策略研究

[目的/意义]分析大学生网络协作学习中的对话文本,从而识别出大学生协作学习所采用的认知策略。[方法/过程]基于信息检索课程,设计网络协作学习任务,收集30名学生完成任务中的对话记录并对其进行编码和分析。[结果/结论]大学生在网络协作学习过程中,应用中层次的分析型认知策略最多,其次是低层次的直觉型认知策略,高层次的认知策略应用得非常少。研究表明中层次与高层次认知策略的应用与小组学习效果具有正相关性。     

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).