Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Compulsive Talkers: Perceptions Of Over Talkers Within The Workplace, Jason R. Axsom

Student Work

Compulsive talkers have been the focus o f limited communication studies, and those that have been written addressed the need for defining and identifying those considered to be over communicators. To date, no recorded studies has investigated the potentially negative impact compulsive talkers could have on those that work with them. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and reactions of interactants with compulsive talkers in the workplace. Interviews with coworkers of compulsive talkers were conducted to determine their perceptions of these over talkers and their attributes. From these interviews, four distinct patterns emerged. Overall, compulsive talkers …

The Relationship Between Rhetorical Sensitivity, Locus Of Control, And Religiosity Among College Students, Paul J. Hartzell

Student Work

This study looked at the relationship between rhetorical sensitivity, locus of control and religiosity amongst college students at three fundamentally different college institutions. Data were collected from 235 students. Results revealed that students belonging to the most religiously fundamental group have significant differences from students outside that same group. A major finding was discovery of a positive relationship between rhetorical reflectomess and fundamental religiosity as well as a negative relationship between rhetorical sensitivity and fundamental religiosity. Also a significant but modest relationship was found between external locus of control and rhetorical sensitivity and between internal locus of control and noble …

Constructing Identity In Place : Celia Thaxter And The Isles Of Shoals, Deborah B. Derrick

Student Work

This study explores rhetorical constructions of place and self in the non-fiction narratives and letters of Celia Laighton Thaxter. Thaxter was a 19th century poet, journalist and writer who grew up on the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire. Widely published in her day, Thaxter was one of the foremothers of American nature writing. This study considers the significance of place in relation to Thaxter’s development as an individual and as a writer. The study finds that the Isles o f Shoals provided a foundation for Thaxter’s personal and professional identities. Thaxter’s relationship with the Shoals was …

Do Teacher Opinion Leaders Impact Other Teachers, Annette Eyman

Student Work

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were identified opinion leaders among teachers and how those opinion leaders may have influenced teachers’ acceptance levels of the standards and assessment implementation for the language arts curriculum. Three phases of research were conducted. Twenty-four secondary language arts teachers and 109 elementary classroom teachers in the Papillion-LaVista School District were first surveyed to determine their level of acceptance of the standards and assessments for language arts. Each of the respondents was then asked to identify the opinion leaders, or those they turn to and trust regarding the standards and assessment …

The Effects Of Television On The Social Construction Of Body Images By Five- And Six-Year-Old Girls, Kristine M. Gruidl

Student Work

Television images influence individuals (Elliott and Slater, 1980). Cognitive learning theory suggests that during the first five to six years of life, children’s behavior patterns will be set (Donohue, 1975). Television has the potential to be a positive influence on learning. However, typical American media and television have been a negative influence on most children (Williams, 1981).

A 1996 study reported thirty-nine-point-one percent of first graders do not like their appearance and would change their looks, given the opportunity. It has been suggested the mass media are responsible and have taught children fat is bad and thin is good (Flannery-Schroeder …

Communication Stereotypes Of Caucasian College Students, Danna Voorhes Swartz

Student Work

This thesis examined what communication stereotypes are held by Caucasian college students. The literature review focused on defining stereotypes, the function and roles of stereotypes, how stereotypes serve as communication barriers, and findings of previous studies of stereotypes. The research question asked what are the communication stereotypes of African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and Mexican-Americans as maintained by Caucasian undergraduate college students? Participants in the study were 200 Caucasian, undergraduate students who were asked to complete a survey regarding typical communication characteristics of each group in question. The results indicated uniformity in response to Japanese- and African- Americans with less agreement on characteristics …

Humorous Communication In Casual Work Relationships: Self-Perceptions Concerning Humor Orientation, Loneliness, And Verbal Aggressiveness, Maurizio Gagliolo

Student Work

In order to understand humor orientation, loneliness, and verbal aggressiveness better, 14 faculty members and 25 graduate students from the University of Nebraska at Omaha completed measures of humor orientation (HO), loneliness, and verbal aggressiveness (VA). These individuals were asked to have an acquaintance (as opposed to a close friend or relative) complete an adapted version o f the HO scale (HOA). Results indicated that faculty members and graduate students did not significantly differ in HO, loneliness, or HO A, however graduate students were more verbally aggressive than faculty members in 10 different questions concerning VA. No correlation was found …

The Physician/Patient Interaction: Patient Satisfaction, Communication Apprehension, And Health Locus Of Control, Darian Allicia Galyon

Student Work

The purpose of this investigation was to discover the nature of the relationships between a patient’s communication apprehension with physicians and health locus of control and his/her satisfaction with the physician/patient interaction. No significant relationship was found between communication apprehension and a patient’s health locus of control. However, a positive correlation was found between communication apprehension and overall patient satisfaction and patient satisfaction with information. Possible explanations exist for this unexpected result within the uncertainty literature, and by considering that individuals with high communication apprehension may still communicate well despite their anxiety. Statistical analysis also showed that communication apprehension predicts …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Communication Competence And Interactive Strategies For Coping With Romantic Jealousy, Amy J. Bull

Student Work

This thesis investigated the relationship between communication competence and interactive jealousy coping strategies. Two hypotheses were proposed and tested utilizing the Interactive Reactions to Jealousy Scale and a subscale of Wiemann’s Communication Competence Scale. Results indicated a significant positive relationship exists between the level of communication competence and the use of integrative communication, which is considered a positive and helpful coping strategy. However, no significant relationships were found between the level of communication competence and the use of potentially destructive coping strategies. Discussion and interpretation of results and general future areas for research on jealousy and communication competence are proposed.

Communication Apprehension And Exercise Adherence: An Exploratory Study, Janette Thomas Carr

Student Work

This thesis explored whether adhering to an exercise program could significantly predict an individual’s level of communication apprehension (CA). The project expands the study o f CA by analyzing a potentially new treatment option for alleviating this fear of communication. Specifically, it asked if an individual’s level o f exercise adherence (EA) - as measured by the four components of intensity, frequency, duration, and longevity - could significantly predict an individual’s level CA in each o f the four contexts - interpersonal conversations, group discussion, meetings and public speaking - and overall. Five research questions were posited (one for each …

Personnel Staff Attitudes Toward The Employment Of Persons With Physical Disability, Mental Retardation, Or Mental Illness, Karol Ruth Oldenburg

Student Work

This thesis describes a measurement of personnel staff attitudes and perceptions toward the employability of disabled job applicants. More specifically, direct comparisons among three types of disability categories were made using Osgood's Semantic Scaling Method.

Sixty employment professionals of the Lincoln Human Resources Management Association rated a job applicant with physical disability, with mental retardation, and one with mental illness on the basis of 15 paired opposite adjectives. These adjectives described a variety of attributes which could be grouped into evaluative, potency, and activity dimensions of semantic space.

Respondents completed a four-page questionnaire which rated physically disabled, mentally retarded, and …

Communication Attitudes And Job Effectiveness Of Debt Collectors, Robert S. Embrey

Student Work

This study investigates the relationship between rhetorical sensitivity attitude sets (rhetorical sensitive (RS), noble self (NS), and rhetorical reflector (RR)), effectiveness and debt collectors. The questions to be answered are: (1) do debt collectors hold predominantly one attitudinal set more than another, and (2) does collector effectiveness correlate with any specific attitudinal set held. The measurement of attitudinal sets was accomplished using the RHETSEN instrument operationalized by Hart, Carlson, and Eadie in 1980. Collector effectiveness was determined by the collectors' manager or supervisor rating them from 1 through 7 on a semantic differential scale (1 labeled Poor and 7 labeled …

Cigarette Smoking And Its Effect Upon Perceptions Of Source Credibility, Cari L. Tokheim

Student Work

This thesis examined the effect of cigarette smoking on perceptions of source credibility. Twenty-five bi-polar adjectives were used to measure five dimensions of credibility (competency, character, sociability, composure, and extroversion) developed by McCroskey and Jenson. Subjects recruited from students enrolled at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (n = 272) were assigned one of four versions of a photograph depicting either a male or female model holding a cigarette, or those same models in identical photographs with the cigarette removed. Subjects were then asked to complete the credibility scales, based upon the person depicted in the photograph.

Results from the …

A Communication Methodology For Subordinates-Supervisors To Coactively Generate Heuristic-Leadership Decisions In Commercial Banking, Mary Ann Danielson

Student Work

This thesis neither advocates nor strictly adheres to the dominant, top-down style of leadership often used in commercial banking institutions. Rather, while working within the commercial bank setting, this thesis focuses on the subordinatesupervisor relationship and emphasizes a heuristic approach to leadership.

Negotiation Pedagogy As Communication Methodology Focused On Conditionality And Recursivity In Third-Order Coupling, Eroca Gabriel

Student Work

This study is not a prescribed method of communication techniques for learning how to negotiate. It is not designed to teach the reader various and sundry negotiation strategies or tactics. Neither is this a study in East Indian communication theory or cross-cultural communication. The result of this study is a negotiation pedagogy as communication methodology—a distinctly heuristic design intended to lead the student of negotiation to discover his/her own capacities for negotiating. In the broad realm of negotiation, this study serves to introduce a new approach—actually a meta-approach to negotiating— that provides a systematic means whereby students can direct themselves …

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationships Among Sex-Role Orientation, Communicative Attitudes And Perceptions Of Communicative Behaviors, Roberta J. Mcbride

Student Work

Communication, whether in spoken language, written form or nonverbal behavior, has been the object of scrutiny for as long as it has been practiced. The study of communication has become increasingly specialized and occasionally compartmentalized as the interest in communication and its effects has grown. Interpersonal, small-group, non-verbal and organizational are just some of the divisions within communication study and research.

Environmental Persuasion And Roman Catholic Church Interior Design After Vatican Council Ii, 1963-Present: A Case Study Of Notre Dame Chapel, Omaha, Nebraska, James M. Gaughan

Student Work

For an environment to produce a change in attitude, or at least begin that transformation, it is necessary to view it as part of the communication/persuasion process. Environments both reflect communication and modulate it, channel it, control it, facilitate it, or even inhibit it (Rapoport, 1982). Environmental meaning is often expressed through signs, materials, colors, forms, sizes, furnishings, landscaping, maintenance, and even in some instances, by people themselves (Bachelard, 1969; Blomeyer, 1979; Cralik, 1976). Therefore, spatial meanings or messages can be conveyed by walls or other sharp breaks, or by transitions (Reed, 1974). Thus, environment can produce a sense of …

An Exploratory Study Of The Relationship Between Communication Apprehension And Personal Construct Theory In The Context Of A Public Speaking Fundamentals Course, Linda Wilkins

Student Work

Many psychologists, philosophers, and educators agree that individual self-concepts develop, in large part, through perceptions gained from communicative transactions. If the nature of the transaction changes, perceptions can change, and self-concept can be altered. Self-concept combines with many influences including cultural heritage, environment, and past experiences to form the basis of an individual’s unique communicative and behavior patterns.

An Exploratory Study Of Adolescents' Communicative A Ttitudes, Perceptions Of Behavior, And Life Change Events As Potential Factors In Development Of Essential Hypertension, Susan Heath Falvo

Student Work

In the past 50 years, social scientists and medical researchers have explored many aspects of human behavior and the psyche which appeared related to various physical disorders. This endeavor evolved into a discipline known as "psychosomatic medicine." Methodologies and perspectives within this discipline have varied widely over the years and many studies have yielded Inconclusive findings (Lipowski, 1977; Lazarus, 1980). However, a review of the psychosomatic literature reveals a t least one common dimension: the nature of one's face-to-face transactions is vitally linked to one's physical well-being.

One medical researcher who described the relationship between human Interaction and physiological processes …

A Study To Determine The Effects Of A Speech Communication Course In Junior High On An Adolescent's Self Concept, Sherilyn Marrow Filkins

Student Work

Human behavior is a reflection of the many attitudes, beliefs, values, and cognitive processes of the individual. It has been theorized that self concept, or the way a person perceives his self image, acts as an integral force in directing many of those behaviors.¹ According to research by Brownfain, a person with a high regard for self, or a positive self concept, exhibits more socially acceptable behaviors. Conversely, when a person has a low regard for self a variety of maladjusted and neurotic behaviors are displayed. ² A conclusion of research concerning behavior and self concept may be summarized: …

A Descriptive Study Of The Listening Skills Of Chief Probation Officers For The State Of Nebraska, Patricia A. Crosby

Student Work

Twenty years ago the place of listening in our educational system was neglected. Instruction in listening skills, even at the college level, was virtually nonexistent. Today, at all educational levels, training in listening is "coming of age." Listening is beginning to be recognized as an area of important communication skills. More important, it is being considered as fundamental skills which can and must be taught.

Traits Attributed To Female Somatotypes, Edward C. Hill

Student Work

The subject of female somatotypes Is one which has been largely neglected. No studies to date have used the female somatotypes. This study of college students measured character traits attributed to the three different female somatotype silhouettes; endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph. Sixty undergraduate students were asked to rate the three female somatotype silhouettes on a list of twentyfour bi-polar adjective scales. In only one case did males and females disagree significantly on what trait should be assigned to a particular body type. The subjects rated the three silhouettes differently on fourteen of the twenty-four adjectival scales. In most cases the male …

The Effects Of Race And Potential For Conflict On Eye Behavior In Females, Deborah J. Barclay

Student Work

The number of studies in the area of nonverbal communication has increased rapidly during the last ten years. Researchers have investigated various codes people use to communication (nonverbally: body movement, vocal characteristics, touch, eye contact, and gestures). The influence of nonverbal communication on human interaction has led one researcher to conclude that no more than 35 percent of the social meaning of a message is carried in the verbal portion of a message, while 65 percent of a message's meaning is transmitted nonverbally (Harrison, 1965).

A Study Of The Effect Of Preoperative Communication Between Operating Room Nurses And Patients Having Total Hip Replacement Surgery, Barba J. Edwards

Student Work

Communication and interpersonal relations are two vital elements of the nursing process. The basic unit of nursing consists of two persons, the patient and the nurse; in this interpersonal relationship the individuals bring their past experiences and expectations to the present situation and attempt to find ways to communicate their thoughts and feelings.

A Descriptive Study Of Nonverbal Communication Between And Within The Professions Of Nursing And Medicine, Anne M. Fangman

Student Work

Due to the feminist movement, male-female communication has become a topic of increased interest, especially in the area of nonverbal communication. Julius Fast (1970) made 51 body language” a household phrase, for better or for worse. But the study of nonverbal behavior has.only recently become a serious subject of research. As Randall Harrison (l97l) put it, We have important problems to solve. In short, I see us on the threshold of an exciting era of research in nonverbal communication (p. 2).”

An Experimental Study Of The Impact Of Clinical Psychodiagnosis, Diagnostic Concept And Dogmatism On The Perception Of Psychopathology., Jane Ellen Stilwell Smith

Student Work

The subject of psychiatric diagnosis and the ramifications of a person being labeled as "mentally ill" has attracted increased attention in the past decade. Personal testimony from psychiatric patients about the difficulty in securing employment, returning to familiar abodes, and re-entering a scholastic environment because of rejection by "normal" society, has been documented in confidential case files, witnessed by friends and relatives, and published for lay consumption (Rubin, 1960; Salinger, 1951; and Green, 1964). Other literature has been devoted to the apparently negative psychological aspects of being an in-patient in a mental institution (Caudwill, 1958; Goffman, 1961; and Gordon, 1971). …

A Study Of Relationships Between Machiavellianism, Dogmatism And Perceived Persuasiveness Of Messages, Marilyn Henderson Ihle

Student Work

Psychologists and researchers in communication have shown much interest in personality variables such as Machiavellianism and dogmatism. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between these two traits and perceived persuasiveness of different message types. Four hundred and twenty-six students enrolled in Speech 101, Fundamentals of Speech Communication, at the University of Nebraska at Omaha were administered the Mach V scale and the Dogmatism Scale-Foxm E. They were also presented two hypothetical, news releases to read and to rate on persuasibility. One release was based cm authority and the other on reason.

The results of this study …

The Effects Of The Use Of Antithetical Statements On Attitude Change And Terminal Source Credibility Ratlings, Larry Newell Willis

Student Work

Style is the distinguishing factor which provides a speaker with a singular and unique identity (Carpenter & Seltzer, 1970). As such, the elements comprising "style” have been recognized and recommended by classical as well as contemporary rhetoricians. For example, Wilson and Arnold (1964, PP. 260-265) state that one such element of personal style is the broad category "figures of speech". These figures'of speech or stylistic devices are inclusive of but not limited to; parallel repetitions, inversions, and antitheses. Of these, antitheses are the focus of this empirical study.

Concurrence With Persuasive Suggestion As A Function Of The Sex Of The Speaker, Sex Of The Listeners And The Form Of Persuasive Suggestion Used, John A.G. Klose

Student Work

Twelve groups of Ss participated in twelve different conditions to assess the relationship of concurrence to the sex of the speaker, sex of the listener and form of suggesttion used by a speaker. None of these independent variables was significantly related to the number of concurrent and nonconcurrent responses of Ss. However, nonconcurrent responses increased significantly for all groups of Ss with each suggestion in a series of four suggestions. This finding lends support to the theory of psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966).