Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Examining The Role Of Family And Marital Communication In Understanding Resilience To Family-Of-Origin Adversity, Kristen Carr Aug 2012

Examining The Role Of Family And Marital Communication In Understanding Resilience To Family-Of-Origin Adversity, Kristen Carr

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

Resilience, or the “successful adaptation to adversity,” is often investigated as an individual response to stressful experiences (Zautra, Hall, & Murray, 2010, p. 4). After the experience of stress or adversity, most people seek to return to some degree of normalcy, but their ability to do so varies widely. To understand this variation in individuals’ responses to adversity, most researchers have focused on resilience as a process that occurs within individuals, rather than between them. However, in the current study, resilience is positioned as an interpersonal process as well as an individual one, in that people interpret and respond to …


Changes In Narrative Sense-Making Over Time: The Role Of Mother-Daughter Communication During Conversations About Difficulty, Haley Kranstuber Horstman Aug 2012

Changes In Narrative Sense-Making Over Time: The Role Of Mother-Daughter Communication During Conversations About Difficulty, Haley Kranstuber Horstman

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

The mother-daughter relationship is one of the first and often most important sites for (effective and ineffective) social support in women’s lives. Effective mother support helps daughters to make sense of and cope with life’s stressors, which leads to improved physical and psychological health. Narrative theorizing suggests that individuals cope with and make sense of their (difficult) experiences through creating and telling stories with others. Likewise, research shows that when individuals’ sense-making increases over time, they are likely to experience higher rates of well-being (Pennebaker, 1993). Yet, although narrative meaning-making is largely an interpersonal process (Koenig Kellas, 2005) that often …


Formational Relational Turning Points In The Transition To College: Understanding How Communication Events Shape First-Generation Students' Relationships With Their College Teachers, Tiffany R. Wang Apr 2012

Formational Relational Turning Points In The Transition To College: Understanding How Communication Events Shape First-Generation Students' Relationships With Their College Teachers, Tiffany R. Wang

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

The purpose of the present study was to explore teacher-student interaction, teacher-student relationship formation and development, and the ways in which teacher- student interaction and relationships facilitated support and ultimately persistence to graduation for first-generation students in the transition to college. In this study I sought to better understand the nature of interaction in the teacher-student relationship of these first-generation students during their transition to college. I took an interpretive communication-centered approach to identify the teacher messages that first-generation students perceived to be relational turning points with their teachers as well as their perceptions of teacher messages and relational turning …


Risks And Benefits Of Seeking And Receiving Emotional Support During The Divorce Process: An Examination Of Divorcee Individual Adjustment, Closeness, And Relational Satisfaction With Multiple Partners From A Social Network, Sarah E. Wilder Jan 2012

Risks And Benefits Of Seeking And Receiving Emotional Support During The Divorce Process: An Examination Of Divorcee Individual Adjustment, Closeness, And Relational Satisfaction With Multiple Partners From A Social Network, Sarah E. Wilder

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

Divorce is one of the most difficult life events an individual may face. Divorce impacts not only the individual who has to adjust to new physical and psychological conditions following divorce, but also extends to the many relationships in the divorcee’s social network. Central to divorce processes and relational outcomes is communication. One aspect that may influence the quality of divorcees’ post-divorce relationships and ability to adjust following the divorce is the provision of emotional support. In the current study, I examine a social network model of adjustment to divorce by examining the role of risk in seeking, and effectiveness …


“If You Can Dream It, You Can Achieve It.” Parent Memorable Messages As Indicators Of College Student Success, Haley Kranstuber, Kristen Carr, Angela M. Hosek Jan 2012

“If You Can Dream It, You Can Achieve It.” Parent Memorable Messages As Indicators Of College Student Success, Haley Kranstuber, Kristen Carr, Angela M. Hosek

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

This study investigated various aspects of parents’ memorable messages about college as they relate to indicators of college student success. Findings revealed that parents’ memorable messages about college focused on working (and playing) hard, the necessity of attending college, providing encouragement and support, and general advice based on parents’ own experiences. Although these message themes were not uniquely predictive of college student success, the students’ perceptions of message and sender characteristics emerged as significant predictors of cognitive learning indicators, learner empowerment, college motivation, and satisfaction with college. Theoretical and practical implications for findings are discussed.


Negotiating Forgiveness In Nonvoluntary Family Relationships, Kristen Carr, Tiffany R. Wang Jan 2012

Negotiating Forgiveness In Nonvoluntary Family Relationships, Kristen Carr, Tiffany R. Wang

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

This study examined the ways in which individuals communicatively negotiate the process of forgiveness in nonvoluntary (family) relationships. Drawing from relational dialectics theory (RDT) as well as other dialogic perspectives on forgiveness (e.g., Waldron & Kelley, 2008), we examined the complexity of communicating forgiveness in nonvoluntary relationships. Participants’ experiences supported the idea that forgiveness is an ongoing process of communicative negotiations between and among family members. Consistent with previous research, participants also noted that they generally did not explicitly verbalize forgiveness of a family member. Ultimately, the degree to which participants judged their forgiveness as successful often depended on whether …