Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“Evolving Homes, Not Revolving Doors”: Examining Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Foster Parents’ Discursive Construction And Negotiation Of Identity Layers And Identity Gaps, Lucas Hackenburg

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The United States foster care system serves more than half a million children each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHH], 2023). The purpose of this study was to examine how LGB foster parents discursively construct and navigate their identities in the fostering context. The researcher undertook in-depth interviews with 18 LGB people who were currently fostering or had previously fostered at least one child from the foster care system. The researcher analyzed the interview data using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis (2019).

Consistent with the Communication Theory of Identity (Hecht, 1993; 2015; Hecht & Phillips, 2022), …

Communication And Family Identity: Toward A Conceptual Model Of Family Identity And Development Of The Family Identity Inventory, Kaitlin Elizabeth Phillips

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Families serve as a primary socializing agent in the lives of individuals (Soliz & Rittenour, 2012), and the first social identity individuals have in their lives. Given the complexity and importance of identity—and family identity specifically, the goal of this study is to identify the various dimensions of family identity that scholars and practitioners should account for in their work. Through a two-study exploratory sequential mixed-method design I investigate what constructs comprise a conceptual model of family identity, and I develop a corresponding inventory of Family Identity. Through this process, I will also assess the relationships among these communicative processes, …

The Technological Factors Of Reddit: Communication And Identity On Relational Networks, Jennifer Kienzle

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The relational network reddit is one of the most popular and visited websites on a global and national (United States) level. Communication on reddit lends itself to intergroup communication in that reddit users engage with audiences from ingroup, outgroup, and mixed audience compositions. Reddit’s voting system allows for negative and positive feedback to enhance or impede on one’s message. I examine how these technological factors influence a number of communicative and identity processes: (a) identity salience, (b), identity gaps, (c) group and interpersonal evaluation, and (d) accommodative language. Drawn out of intergroup contact literature and theories about group processes and …

You Bring Yourself To Work: An Exploration Lgb/Tq Experiences Of (In)Dignity And Identity, Sara J. Baker

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The workplace can be a hostile space for people who perform their gender, sex, and sexuality in ways that differ from heteronormative expectations. These employees are often met with messages that are particularly undignifying, thereby denying desires for respectful communication with others and damaging an individual’s sense of self-worth and value. Therefore, the goal of my project was to learn about the experiences of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer individuals in the workplace and what kinds of interactions either affirm or threaten workplace dignity, their strategies for resistance, and how the communication of (in)dignity influences processes of LGB/TQ identity …

Communicatively Forming Developed Adoptive Identity: Explicating The Association Between Parental Communication, Developed Adoptive Identity, And Adoptee Adjustment, Colleen Colaner

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adoptive families are inherently discursive, with communication acting as the lifeblood connecting the child to his or her adoptive parents. Adoptive families rely upon communication to create and maintain their relational bond. Communication is also the basis of our understanding of self as our identities are rooted in social interaction. Identity development for the adoptees is a unique process in which adoptees construct both a cohesive definition of the self and an understanding of what it means to be an adopted person. In the current study, I examined the communicative pathways through which adoptive identities are formed. I specifically focused …