Self-Perceived Communication Competence in Iranian Culture

Understanding of how different cultures value intercultural communication and communication competence is of considerable importance (Dilbeck, McCroskey, Richmond, & McCroskey, 2009 Dilbeck , K. E. , McCroskey , J. C. , Richmond , V. P. , & McCroskey , L. L. ( 2009 ). Self-percieved communication competence in the Thai culture . Journal of Intercultural Communication Research , 38 , 1 – 7 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). This research aims to investigate Iranian culture values related to self-perceived communication competence, which is reported to be a strong predictor of willingness to communicate (McCroskey & Richmond, 1990 McCroskey , J. C. , & Richmond , V. P. ( 1990 ). Willingness to communicate: Differing cultural perspectives . Southern Communication Journal , 56 , 72 – 77 .[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]). The Self-Perceived Communication Competence (SPCC) instrument was used to measure the communication competence self-perceptions of more than 700 Iranian university students regarding various contexts and with various receivers. Results indicate that participants feel more competent communicating in dyads and group context and with friend and acquaintance receivers, while less competent when talking with strangers or in public and meetings.     

Should I Stay or Go?: Student Identity Gaps,Feelings, and Intent to Leave

This study examined gaps between students’ personal, enacted, relational, and communal identities. The particular interest was students’ intentions to leave the university as a function of their identity gaps, self-esteem, communication satisfaction, motivation, and general affect. Participants (N = 209 undergraduate students) completed self-report measures while reflecting on their communication with others at the university (e.g., faculty, staff, and peers). Results of path analysis models indicated that personal-communal identity gaps are predictive of students’ communication satisfaction, motivation, general affect, and their intentions to leave the university. This predictive ability is enhanced by the presence of personal-relational gaps.     

Reporting Risk: Perceptions of Fear and Risk from Health News Coverage

Using actual news coverage of an environmental risk, this experimental study examined whether providing unrelated risk comparisons and information about other sources of the same risk influenced readers' reactions to the coverage. The study suggests stories that provide information on other sources of a contaminant may do little to reduce risk perceptions; however, providing information about the magnitude of the risk at hand relative to other risks had several communication benefits. Both comparisons lead readers to feel more informed about the risk and, thus, better able to make decisions than those who did not see the comparisons. Media implications are discussed.     

Matlab在星座图教学中的应用研究

星座图是《通信原理》课程中的一个重点和难点,对于进一步深入掌握数字调制有着非常重要的作用.本文阐述了各种数字调制星座图的基本原理,并借助于Matlab仿真软件,对多种数字调制的星座图进行仿真.最后以QPSK调制为例,对不同信噪比之下的星座图进行了观察,验证了星座图在判断通信系统的误码率性能方面的直观作用.     

Perceptions of Communication With Gay and Lesbian Family Members: Predictors of Relational Satisfaction and Implications for Outgroup Attitudes

This study investigates perceptions of family communication among members with different sexual identities. Specifically, from the perspective of heterosexual family members (N = 129), the study takes an intergroup perspective to determine how accommodative and non-accommodative communication and attitudes toward homosexuality predict intergroup anxiety and relational satisfaction with gay or lesbian family members. Further, the manner in which family communication influences attitudes toward homosexuality is examined. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research on heterosexual–homosexual interaction, family communication, and intergroup communication, in general.     

Beauty and the Machiavellian

The purpose of this experiment was to measure the effects of source physical attractiveness and receiver Machiavellian tendency on receiver attitude change. Subjects were asked to read a persuasive message written by a physically attractive or unattractive source. High and low Machiavellian subjects were randomly assigned to the two attractiveness conditions. Pre‐ and post‐manipulation measures were made to assess attitudes toward the persuasive message. A significant attractiveness effect was obtained—the attractive source being found more persuasive. Moreover, a significant Machiavellian × attractiveness interaction effect was obtained. While low‐Machiavellian subjects were greatly influenced by the attractive source, high Machiavellians were not.     

We Are the Tea Party!: The Use of Facebook as an Online Political Forum for the Construction and Maintenance of in-Group Identification during the “GOTV” Weekend

Researchers have found Facebook to be a viable tool for major party candidates; however, few scholars have sought to investigate how Facebook messages influence an emerging political group's online identity. This study examined how Tea Party supporters used Facebook to construct and maintain an identity during the “Get Out The Vote” weekend. Applying a grounded theory approach, we found that Tea Party supporters engaged in two types of polarization language strategies to construct and preserve their online identity. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the “echo chamber” effect.     

In Defense of the Argumentativeness and Verbal Aggressiveness Scales

The Argumentativeness (ARG) Scale and Verbal Aggressiveness Scale have been used in hundreds of studies over the past quarter century. As expected, psychometric research has examined their validity. Although this article focuses on recent criticisms by Kotowski, Levine, Baker, and Bolt, some major points refute earlier criticisms. This article argues that (a) a large body of research demonstrates validity of the scales, (b) dimensionality of the scales is quite unequivocal, (c) argumentative presumption favors using the original scales (unless and until newer scales demonstrate statistically significant greater criterion variance), (d) critics of the ARG Scale's predictive validity have failed to include 4 situational components of argumentativeness theory in their testing, (e) both scales are designed and supposed to measure extensive sets of relevant behaviors over time, not individual behaviors observed once, and (f) statistical inference cannot confirm nulls, so critics' claims of "no correlation" between scale scores and observable behaviors are not scientific.     

“Facing Threats”: Understanding Communication Apprehensive Instructors' Face Loss and Face Restoration in the Classroom

Noting a lack of qualitative literature devoted to student–teacher interactions, and even less targeting instructor communication apprehension (CA), this study aimed to combine these areas. Interview data were gathered from college instructors who experience CA in the classroom in an effort to garner their unique dealings with face-threatening situations with students. Using the concept of facework as a guide, two main themes arose from data analysis: (a) Threatening Face, and (b) Facing Identity: Managing and Restoring Face. Implications for facework theory and CA conclude this study.     

The Spiral of Silence and Conflict Avoidance: Examining Antecedents of Opinion Expression Concerning the U.S. Military Buildup in the Pacific Island of Guam

The present study examines the role of local news media in influencing perceived public support for a controversial political issue, and merges a key proposition of the spiral of silence theory with literature on conflict avoidance to analyze antecedents of political outspokenness among a representative sample of registered voters in the Western Pacific Island of Guam. Respondents were asked about their perceptions of local news media and public support for, and willingness to express opinions about, the relocation of roughly 8,600 U.S. Marines and about 10,000 of their dependents and civilian support from Okinawa, Japan to Guam. Results show that perceived support from local news media predicted perceived public support. Perceived public support for one's opinions positively predicted, and conflict avoidance negatively predicted, willingness to express opinions. The positive association between perceived public support for one's opinions and willingness to express opinions was stronger among those who had higher conflict avoidance than those who had lower conflict avoidance.