Integrative Process in Manager–Employee Negotiations: Relational and Structural Factors

This study examines the effect of relational and structural factors on integrative process involved in manager–employee negotiations. Eighty government employees recalling specific negotiation episodes with a supervisor completed survey items measuring three integrative dimensions of the discussion. Twenty-five divisional supervisors completed measures of work unit rule observation and participation in decision making. Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) and rule observation were both substantial predictors of elaboration and mutual concessions during negotiation. Implications discussed include the importance of organizational members' recognizing the integrative potential in workplace negotiations. These findings illustrate that awareness of interpersonal dynamics and formal rule structure in the work unit can help employees better plan to negotiate elements of their work role with a manager.     

Values,Creativity, and Imagination in Generalizability

Creativity and inspiration are not usually thought of as aspects of generalizability. The quality of our theories about communication is the key to our ability to generalize from the specific to the particular. Imagination and inspiration are critical at every level of theory building, making them also critical to generalizability. In part, our ability to generalize depends on how well we negotiate complex relationships between inspiration and dedication to data. This article will explore some of what we know about creativity in science and about the role of some of those imaginative leaps in developing theory in communication related social research.     

Time pressure: An unexamined issue in organizational newcomers' role development

Although the impact of time pressure on integrative problem solving has been widely explored in traditional negotiation research, little attention has been paid to its effect as organizational newcomers negotiate and coordinate work role expectations with supervisors. This study examines the effect of time pressure on three integrative communication dimensions of supervisory role negotiations: directness, elaboration, and mutual concessions. One hundred seventy employed college undergraduates completed survey items pertaining to recalled supervisory discussions of role expectations. Consistent with the hypotheses, time pressure had a significant positive effect on each of the communicative dimensions of the recalled negotiation.     

Signs Fail to Increase Zoo Visitors' Ability to See Tigers

ZOO exhibits have fairly high attractive power, but often do not engage visitors or hold their attention for long. A drawback of naturalistic zoo exhibits is the frequent inability of zoo visitors to find the animals, as increased animal visibility increases visitor stay time and engagement. Even visible animals can be difficult for visitors to find unaided. In this study, signs pointing out the animals' locations were added to a tiger exhibit at Zoo Atlanta, but they did not increase the number of visitors who found the tigers in the exhibit While the signs were accurate in pointing out the tigers' locations (due to the high predictability of the tigers' resting habits), very few visitors reported even using the signs. Interviews with visitors indicated that visitors did not read the signs, and that animal activity and children's ability to see animals may affect visitors' self‐reports of ability to find tigers.     

Nonverbal communication and marital adjustment and satisfaction: the role of decoding relationship relevant and relationship irrelevant affect

The present study investigates the relationship between nonverbal encoding and decoding of positive and negative affect attributed to relational and nonrelational factors and spouses' marital adjustment. Findings indicate that accuracy in decoding of nonverbal affect was associated with the partner's, but not one's own, marital satisfaction. In regard to specific relational and nonrelational affect, results showed that accurate decoding of relational positive affect and of nonrelational negative affect was associated with the decoder's marital satisfaction, while accurate decoding of relational positive affect was associated with the partner's dissatisfaction. In regard to nonverbal communication and sex differences, we found that husbands' decoding of wives' nonrelational affect was more predictive of marital satisfaction than wives' decoding of husbands' nonrelational affect. Overall, however, we did not find many of the sex differences in nonverbal communication reported in previous studies. Implications of these findings for our current understanding of nonverbal communication in marriages are discussed.     

The Push and Pull of Stepfamily Life: The Contribution of Stepchildren's Autonomy and Connection-Seeking Behaviors to Role Development in Stepfamilies

Role negotiation in stepfamilies is an important process that involves and affects all family members. Although researchers have focused on stepparent role development and the influence of stepparents' behaviors, less attention has been given to the influence and experience of stepchildren in role development. This investigation examined the contribution of stepchildren to the type of stepparent roles developed in stepfamilies, as well as stepchildren's experience of role ambiguity and the impact of stepchildren's role content and clarity on relational quality. Fifty-two stepchildren completed questionnaires about their relationships and interaction with their stepparent during adolescence. Findings indicate that stepchildren's autonomy and connection-seeking behaviors predict stepchildren's reports of stepparent role types, stepchildren's reports of stepparents' warmth displays predict stepchildren's role ambiguity, and stepchildren's behavior and role ambiguity relate to their relational satisfaction. Suggestions for future research in this area are proposed.     

Student Advocacy and the Limits of (Action-) Free Speech: Figurations of Materiality in Tinker,Bethel, and Hazelwood

The US Supreme Court has considered the question of free speech rights for students several times since its landmark Tinker v. Des Moines ruling in 1969. In each case it has confronted the failure of existing precedents to crystallize the imaginary distinction between speech and action in such a way as to satisfactorily negotiate the social relationship between students and educators, youth and adults. This essay analyzes three cases in the student free speech tradition, attending to the ways in which materiality is thematized in the course of a negotiation of the interests of adults vis-à-vis youth.     

Crisis negotiations: A Preliminary investigation of facework in naturalistic conflict discourse

This article views crisis negotiations from an interaction goal perspective, with facework constituting a significant and heretofore unexplored dimension of interaction. We present a three‐dimensional model of facework used in coding perpetrator and negotiator discourse for face behaviors within three authentic negotiation interactions. Results indicate that Restore Other's Face and Restore Self's Face were the two predominant facework behaviors. While negotiators were the primary users of Restore Other's Face acts, perpetrators used mostly Restore Self's Face behaviors. No Attack Other's Face acts were observed. However, of five Attack Self's Face behaviors enacted, four occurred in a negotiation which ended in the suicide of the perpetrator. Lag sequential analysis revealed a general cycle of perpetrator use of Restore Self's Face and negotiator use of Restore Other's Face. Implications of these findings for future research and for training crisis negotiators are discussed.     

“If They're Trying to Say Something About My Culture … I'm Confused”: Recognizing and Resisting Authenticity in Latino-Themed Television

The television landscape has expanded to include an ever-increasing crop of culturally themed programs aimed at the Latina/o audience. Assumptions about the audience have shaped this trend, resulting in questions about the effectiveness of niche programming to satisfy viewer taste. This project investigates LatiNation with specific focus on the differences in the reception process based on participants' connection to their ethnic identity. In-depth interviews were conducted with self-identified Latina/o students who were also given a survey with scaled items to measure their connection to their ethnic identity. In general, the findings indicate that audience members produce varied readings of the text showing the participants actively negotiate identity by using LatiNation as an opportunity to both embrace and critique Latinidad.     

Learning to be confident and capable journal reviewers: an Australian perspective

Journal peer review has been the subject of much research. However, the learning process through which reviewers acquire their reviewing ability, and reviewers' own perceptions of their capability have rarely been a focus. This interview study asked three questions about reviewer capability and training. At what stage did you gain confidence in reviewing? How did you learn how to review? Is formal training necessary? The interview is part of a mixed‐method project studying experienced Australian reviewers. The respondents indicate that learning to review is a continuous cycle in which formal training will not work. Following a mostly self‐guided initiation, new reviewers establish personal reviewing patterns. By trial and error, the patterns are consolidated and the reviewers eventually feel ‘confident’. ‘Decisiveness' is a good sign of becoming confident. Most respondents emphasized that journals could play a crucial role in producing good reviewers, e.g. by specifying unambiguously their expectations of ‘good reviews’.     

Modes of Engagement Among Diasporic Audiences of Asian New Zealand Film

The formation of a diasporic community within a host society may be signalled through community members’ creative contributions in the realm of cultural production. The ways in which diasporic audiences engage with diasporic cultural texts potentially offers social and cultural trajectories of their understandings of themselves as they negotiate their new environment. This article examines these trajectories, focusing on the ways New Zealand audiences of Asian descent engage with Asian diasporic films. It addresses three key questions: How do audiences’ referential reflections on diasporic films intersect with and contribute to their diasporic journeys and perceptions of themselves in New Zealand society? What kinds of values and beliefs do diasporic audiences feel are important to affirm and negotiate, both within representations of diasporic communities and in their New Zealand-based lives? And what roles do diasporic films play in this ongoing negotiation process?     

Modelling Quoting in Newswriting: A Framework for Studies on the Production of News

ABSTRACT

The Mediated Social Communication (MSC) approach considers mass media a venue for opposing and complementary societal groups to publicly negotiate socially relevant topics. This negotiation is conducted through representatives of these groups and mediated by journalists. Inspired by the MSC approach, this paper presents an empirically grounded model that structures the mediating process through the process of quoting. By identifying the key phases of newswriting as sub-processes of quoting, the paper argues that journalists (1) decide on a topical issue to be addressed (topicalisation), (2) identify groups of people who are linked to this issue (societal localisation), (3) pick some people as representatives of these societal groups (personalisation), and (4) verbalise these people's points of view, often by means of quoting, inter alia (verbalisation). The four-phase model is then operationalised into a data collection method that facilitates access to and fosters new insights into the subtle dynamics of newswriting. Hitherto, these dynamics have often remained obscure, because the craft ethos is adopted as tacit knowledge through implicit socialisation and is therefore difficult for journalists to verbalise. The paper concludes by calling for reconsideration of journalists’ role as gatekeepers who decide which issues and voices are heard in public discourse.     

Mediating Frida: Negotiating Discourses of Latina/o Authenticity in Global Media Representations of Ethnic Identity

This article analyzes the discourses of Latina/o identity embedded in the movie Frida, the Latino news coverage about the film, and an on-line chat stream about the film. Comparing the identity discourses circulated by the movie's producers, Latina/o journalists, and Latina/o audiences when discussing the film shows how different communities negotiate the meanings of ethnic identity. The study concludes that the discourses of ethnic identity circulated through the movie, news coverage, and chat stream disrupt notions of Latina/o ethnic identity as a stable and commodifiable demographic category.     

BETWEEN POLITICS AND PROFESSION

This article examines the key factors shaping the opportunities for feminist journalism in large, mainstream media organizations. It shows how journalists' notions about gender, different professional journalistic ideals, and feminist media activism advance or hinder feminist journalism at different levels of media production. The impact of these factors is explored further in the particular contexts of the post-authoritarian societies of contemporary Serbia and Croatia. While individual Serbian and Croatian pro-feminist journalists were often able to pursue socially committed journalism in their day-to-day choice of topics, sources and approaches, their opportunities to affect programme, departmental or channel policy were more limited. Such opportunities depended on a constellation of the following factors: the strength of women's non-governmental organizations' media activism; media management's support for gender equality initiatives and/or critical forms of journalism; and the broader political developments concerning gender and media politics in the two countries.     

Rational actions or institutional actions: A study on the rationality in academic librarians' decision-making processes when purchasing e-book products

It is important for academic librarians to demonstrate that they are trusted stewards of public money when purchasing e-book products; however, prior studies seldom examine the rationality in librarians' decision-making processes. Interviews including 20 librarians from 19 different institutions were conducted to collect data about their decision-making processes when purchasing e-book products. Institutional theory was used as a framework to analyze interview data. Librarians' perceptions of the environment where their decision process occurred were described as full of uncertainty, with the e-book market viewed as non-competitive with limited alternative products. Seven strategies the interviewees adopted to justify their purchase decisions were then identified, including experimentation, incorporating users' input, reliance on written documents, learning from past experiences, learning from other libraries, group decision, and aggressive negotiation. Decision-making processes were a mixture of institutional and rational actions. Factors affecting rationality in librarians' e-book purchase decisions could be applied to other types of decision-making in library settings, allowing stakeholders to better understand and interpret the situations that either help or hinder the rationality in library's decision-making.     

Factors affecting users' intention to use mobile health services of public libraries

Mobile health services are a new direction for public libraries development. However, it is unclear which factors affect users' intention to use the mobile health services of public libraries (MHSPL). Integrating the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology theory along with trust and privacy concerns. This study proposes a conceptual model to investigate factors that affect users' intention to use MHSPL. The conceptual model is empirically examined, and the hypotheses are tested using a survey sample (N = 415). The findings indicate that users' intention to use MHSPL is directly influenced by performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and trust. Trust also mediated users' intention to use MHSPL, leading to an indirect effect of social influence and privacy concerns. Additionally, people with different experiences using MHSPL have significant differences in their intention to use MHSPL. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of users' behavior of MHSPL and can help facilitate and improve health services provided by public libraries.     

Testing a model of value argument and evidence

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of negotiation rule use that incorporates both content and relational dimensions of communication and focuses upon interaction as the dependent variable. Fourteen negotiation rules are hypothesized to structure the negotiation interaction. From these rules fourteen interaction analysis categories are developed—with seven assessing how negotiators respond to one another and seven assessing how negotiators cue or constrain the opponent's next utterance. Interactions in mock negotiations are coded using this category scheme and placed into cue‐response transition matrices. The differences in interaction patterns among winners and losers are used to assess the extent to which the rules structure the negotiation interaction.     

Communication Ethics and Ethical Culture: A Study of the Ethics Initiative in Denver City Government

This article examines the work of the ethics initiative in the City of Denver to see how talk about ethics contributes to an ethical culture. By paying particular attention to the communication in the city's Code of Ethics, ethics training discussion, employee interviews, and formal documents relaying the Board of Ethics’ views, we show how ethics emerges within communication. We argue that the emergent quality of ethics is dialogically refined in communication. For practitioners and officials interested in advancing organization-wide ethics training, we urge pursuing dialogical means so that people can negotiate among competing interests to shape future policy and action reflective of their ethical concerns.     

Communication Efficacy and Couples' Cancer Management: Applying a Dyadic Appraisal Model

The purpose of the present study was to apply Berg and Upchurch's (2007) developmental-conceptual model to understand better how couples cope with cancer. Specifically, we hypothesized a dyadic appraisal model in which proximal factors (relational quality), dyadic appraisal (prognosis uncertainty), and dyadic coping (communication efficacy) predicted adjustment (cancer management). The study was cross-sectional and included 83 dyads in which one partner had been diagnosed with and/or treated for cancer. For both patients and partners, multilevel analyses using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) indicated that proximal contextual factors predicted dyadic appraisal and dyadic coping. Dyadic appraisal predicted dyadic coping, which then predicted dyadic adjustment. Patients' confidence in their ability to talk about the cancer predicted their own cancer management. Partners' confidence predicted their own and the patient's ability to cope with cancer, which then predicted patients' perceptions of their general health. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Negotiating Personal and Cultural Significance: A Theoretical Framework for Art Museum Education

This article presents a theoretical framework for those who facilitate engagements with works of art. The aim is to help facilitators negotiate potential differences between the original meaning(s) of an artwork and the fresh interpretations spectators articulate. The author applies Umberto Eco's ideas about literary texts to instances of interpretation in the visual arts. Eco suggests that the implications of unexpected readings change in different situations. Therefore, the facilitators' challenge is in discovering how to handle each individual encounter. To this end, facilitators may wish to ponder: What meaning does the new interpretation conflict with? And what is the distance between the cultural conventions of spectators and the conventions that framed the creation of the work? Real world examples are used to shed light on these questions and their significance.