Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Money, Family, Happiness: Financial Beliefs And Relational Satisfaction In Parent-Young Adult Children Relationships, Keely M. Algya

Masters Theses

This study is framed through the lens of communication accommodation theory and examined the effects of accommodative and nonaccommodative communication on relational satisfaction and identity gaps when discussing finances in young-adult child (YAC)-parent relationships. The sample consisted of 276 young-adult college students who completed a self-report survey about how their parent communicates with them about finances. The cross-sectional survey results provided support for two forms of (non)accommodative communication as being significantly associated with relational satisfaction and identity gaps. Respecting divergent values was one type of accommodative communication that was positively associated with relational satisfaction and negatively associated with personal-relational identity …

Stakeholders And Stakeseekers’ Perceptions Of Cultural Violations And International Crisis Communication, Najwa Nishaa Albaqami

Masters Theses

Applying the expectancy violation theory (EVT) to the crisis communication context, this research explores to what extent stakeholders and stakeseekers’ perceive violations in an international crisis context. Specifically, this study investigated to what extent organizations stakeholders and stakeseekers’ perceive cultural and expectancy violations in an international crisis. Through a case study that analyzed tweets, web blogs, and The New York Times articles, this study identified that the cultural violation theme has two components, including (1) perceived responsibility and harshness of the violation and (2) damage done by the company’s transgression. Whereas expectancy violation theme included (1) frequent use of verbal …

Emotional Destruction: How Supervisors Can Transform A Subordinate’S Emotions Towards The Workplace, Diane K. Carr

Masters Theses

Workplace emotions have become an increasingly important area for researchers and organizations. Organizational structures and interpersonal interactions activate emotional responses for employees. This emotional strain can lead employees to search for outlets, such as social media, to express their emotions and seek emotional support. This thesis uses a content analysis to examine how macro level policies and procedures and micro level interpersonal interactions between supervisors and subordinates impact the messages expressed on Twitter.

The Relationship Between Parent Communication Orientations And The Self-Efficacy Of Student-Athletes, Sara Marie Erdner

Masters Theses

The influence of parent(s)/guardian(s) communication on a student-athlete’s self-efficacy has received limited attention despite its potential implications for the athlete’s sport performance. Student-athlete participants (N = 290) completed measures to report their level of self-efficacy along with the student-athlete perceptions of their parent(s)/guardian’(s) communication orientation. Further, efficacy-enhancing techniques were measured to report frequency-of-use and effectiveness as these strategies were administered by the parent(s)/guardian(s). Significant relationships were found between conformity- and conversation communication and a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. However, these communication orientations did not interact to influence a student-athlete’s self-efficacy. Mean scores are reported to demonstrate which efficacy-enhancing techniques are the most …

Factors Impacting Ffa Involvement After High School, Danielle Eve-Marie Sanok

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence FFA members to continue or discontinue with their FFA experience past high school. The specific objectives of this study were to determine the reasons why students discontinue with their FFA experience past high school, determine membership needs from the Collegiate and Alumni FFA Organization and ways to overcome membership attainment barriers.

Data collection methods included three sets of focus groups: (a) one for inactive FFA members, (b) one for current Collegiate FFA members, and (c) one for current and past State Officers. Data was analyzed using the thematic …

The Role Of Leader Communication Patterns, Lmx, And Interactional Justice In Employee Emotional Exhaustion And Outcomes, Ashley Danae Nelson

Masters Theses

Employee burnout contributes to employees’ job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and organizational commitment and it can also cause a variety of serious health issues. Evidence has linked leaders’ transactional and transformational communication patterns, quality of leader-member exchange (LMX), and employees’ perception of justice, and each can affect employee burnout. However, very few researchers have studied the relationships among these variables. This paper provides an overview of the research on the various relationships between transformational and transactional leadership, LMX quality, and interactional justice, and explores how these factors influence employee burnout. Following the literature review, a proposed model of employees’ perceived leader …

Student-Teacher Relationships And Impacts Of Goal Orientation, Personality, Socio-Economic Status, And Performance: An Examination Of Those Served By Project Grad Knoxville, Kensey Ruth Parker

Masters Theses

This study seeks to understand the importance of teacher student relationships and the impacts of goal orientation, personality, socio-economic status, and student achievement. The study used a sample of students served by Project GRAD Knoxville, a non-profit organization that serves students in the heart of the city. The sample consisted of 110 college students who have received a scholarship from the organization. The results show that learning goal orientation is a significant predictor of student-teacher relationships. Knowing a student’s LGO and time spent discussing social topics can predict whether or not students will end up on academic probation 64% of …

The Effects Of Prior Knowledge And Stealing Thunder On Interpersonal Social Attraction, Kathrine Amanda Williams

Masters Theses

This study first examines the effectiveness of stealing thunder in increasing the target’s liking for the discloser. The study further inspects liking relative to the amount of information known about the discloser prior to their initial interaction. Additionally, the target’s perception of the negativity of the information revealed is observed. 120 subjects participated in an experiment during which they were either exposed to the negative information via the confederate or the experimenter or were not exposed at all. Results, although interesting, were largely inconsistent with the hypotheses. This could have been due to several factors namely, poor experimental execution and …