Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

Communication, Romantic Reconciliation, And Emerging Adulthood: A Relational Dialectics Study, Ashley M. Poole

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Building on the extant research of on-again/off-again (on-off) romantic relationships, the current thesis focused on building upon past findings by utilizing a unique theoretical methodology in an emerging demographic. A sample of 22 emergent adult (ages 18-29) participants who were currently in or had recently experienced an on-off relationship completed face-to-face interviews discussing communicative processes during romantic reconciliation. The primary purpose of this thesis was to identify and define discursive struggles found within on-off relationships during reconciliation attempts, and understand how they are used between partners to give meaning to the terms "on" and "off" as a precursor to restructuring …

Coping With Pediatric Cancer: Conversational Methods Utilized By Parents And Children When Dealing With Pediatric Cancer, Chelsi Morgan Walls

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study analyzed how people perceived parents should communicate with their child regarding pediatric cancer treatments. When dealing with pediatric cancer, it is vital that parents and their child communicate about the illness in order to effectively cope with the cancer. Using Uncertainty Management Theory, appraisals, inferences, and illusions, are examined in this study to discover how much affect-management and buffering would be used to manage the illness. Under UMT, the coping mechanisms of affect-management (i.e., religious coping and behavioral disengagement), and buffering (avoidance and child distraction) depend upon how individuals appraise the uncertain situation (positive vs. negative), the inferences …

Empathic Communication: Lifespan Influences And Transgressional Associations In Military Romantic Relationships, Samantha Faith Levan

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the influences and transgressional associations of empathic communication in military romantic relationships. Through varying attachment styles, deployments, and combat experience, soldiers have a unique set of circumstances that impact the use of empathic communication in relationships. Since the effectiveness of empathic communication is also limited by unreliable communicative technologies, infidelity effects were also tested. A 66-item online survey was placed on Survey Monkey with links from social media networking websites, like Facebook and Twitter. Surveys were anonymous and only taken by soldiers who had experienced at least one deployment. The goodness of …

Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Love And Marriage?, Lauren Galloway

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

The present study investigated the connection between romantic movie viewing frequency and endorsement of dysfunctional beliefs for romantic relationships in a university-based sample of 228 participants. Respondents completed a questionnaire in which they reported demographic information as well as responses to the several scales that measure endorsement of romantic ideals. I base this investigation of Segrin and Nabi’s (2002) examination of television viewing habits and proclivity for unrealistic expectations of sex, love, and marriage. Both the current study and the investigation conducted by Segrin and Nabi (2002) support the supposition that media play a part in reinforcing beliefs about coupleships. …

Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse:What Heals And What Hurts In A Couple Relationship, Laura Smedley, Kathy Disney-Fairchild, Stephen Fife, Colleen Peterson

Graduate Research Symposium (2010 - 2017)

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant trauma that affects a person’s self-concept and ability to form healthy intimate relationships later in adulthood. Approximately 20% of adults who experienced childhood sexual abuse go on to evidence serious psychopathology in adulthood (Harway & Faulk, 2005). Knowledge of how relationship partners affect the healing of the survivor may be very beneficial to couples’ therapists, to survivors themselves, and to their intimate partners. The purpose of this qualitative study is to increase understanding of the survivor’s experience of what is helpful and what is counterproductive in their healing process within the construct of …

Chieftaincy-Based Community Dispute Resolution: The Case Of Sierra Leone, Whitney Mcintyre Miller

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Sierra Leone suffered a destructive 11-year civil war that largely left its communities torn apart and in need of vast redevelopment. One of the ways that communities are rebuilding and making efforts to move forward is through the chieftaincy-based community dispute resolution process. Based on historical norms, this process involves the community leader, or chief, helping to resolve disputes within the community. This article reviews this chieftaincy-based community dispute resolution process, discusses the types of disputes settled, and provides broader lessons learned for communities who may be interested in truly community-based dispute resolution.

Skype’S The Limit Testing The Value Of Cross-Cultural Relationship-Building In International Development, Charley Allegar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study aims to explore the value of cross-cultural relationship-building and international friendship in development. By connecting two groups of Americans each with a group of low-income Kenyans over Skype and by presenting the written expression of Kenyans’ hopes and struggles to a third American group, the research analyzes whether face-to-face interaction and personal information sharing affects one’s perception of people’s needs. Though due to small sample sizes the results are generally inconclusive, qualitatively, the data suggest that relationship-building is a useful tool for development, defined as the improvement of a population’s fundamental welfare. Moreover, the study finds that deliberate …

The Story Of Your Life On A Single Page: Assessing The Narrative Coherence Of Life Storytelling Through Facebook's Timeline Profile Design, Joseph Marcus

Masters Theses

Facebook's transition to the Timeline profile design brought with it a new focus: Life storytelling. Walther Fisher posited the narrative paradigm as a way of understanding all communication in the form of stories. The paradigmatic component of coherence assesses the structural integrity of a narrative, the characters, and the encompassing themes found within. This study applies narrative coherence to the Timeline profile design to assess the coherence of life narratives told through individuals' Facebook Timelines. The researcher observed the Timeline profiles of 15 participants on the basis of three research questions. The researcher's observation yielded data suggesting that life narratives …

"And Do You Take This Stranger To Be Your Lawfully Wedded Wife?": The Usefulness Of Social Penetration Theory Within Premarital Counseling, Katherine Beich-Forkner

Masters Theses

With fifty percent of today's marriages ending in divorce, one begins to wonder if engaged couples should be more prepared when entering into a marriage commitment. This mixed-methods study investigates the function of social penetration theory within premarital counseling programs. The research was designed to address three questions: (1) Do engaged couples believe they know the depth and breadth of their partner adequately enough to be prepared for marriage after receiving premarital counseling? (2) Do counselors indirectly support the basic premise of social penetration theory by actively using strategies to help engaged partners reveal important aspects of the breadth and …

A Women's Talking Circle: A Narrative Study Of Positive Intergenerational Communication, Pamela Ferris-Olson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Narrative inquiry was used to understand how women’s experiences with their mothers, grandmothers, and daughters and as mothers, grandmothers, and daughters contribute to their meaning making of communication and connectedness with unrelated women. A purposeful sample of nine women aged 31-69 from a small Midwestern city was studied. Six African American and three white women were chosen for their membership in a group that has regularly engaged in positive intergenerational communication for nearly two years. The women’s narratives of personal communicative experiences within their families and with the other women were recorded and interpreted to gain a deeper understanding of …

Sectarianism In Northern Ireland: Youth Work And The Art Of Having The Difficult Conversation, Dan Knishkowy

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This report is the outcome of a month-long exploratory study on youth work in Northern Ireland regarding sectarian issues. It is an investigation of how sectarianism transfers from generation to generation, and how this often results in cycles of violence. The goal of this exploration was to find out what efforts are being made to combat this cycle at a youth level, and gain a more nuanced understanding of how these efforts can be effective. Data was obtained through literature, structured interviews, and participation and observation in a youth workshop. It is concluded that cross-community contact at a youth level …

More Than Just Openness: Developing And Validating A Measure Of Targeted Parent-Child Communication About Alcohol, Michelle Miller-Day, Jennifer A. Kam

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Research addressing parent-child communication on the topic of alcohol use relies heavily on assessing frequency of discussions and general assessments of openness in parent-child communication, ignoring the complexity of this communication phenomenon. This study adds to the literature by articulating a conceptualization and developing a measurement of parent-child communication—targeted parent-child communication about alcohol—and comparing the efficacy of targeted parent-child communication about alcohol in predicting positive expectancies of alcohol use and recent alcohol use. The predictive power of general openness in parent-child communication and frequency of communication about alcohol also were assessed. Students in 5th and 6th grade (N = 1407) …

Cumulating Evidence About The Social Animal: Meta-Analysis In Social-Personality Psychology, Blair T. Johnson Dr., Marcella H. Boynton Dr.

CHIP Documents

Like most scientific fields, social-personality psychology has experienced an

explosion of research related to such central topics as aggression, attraction, gender,

group processes, motivation, personality, and persuasion, to name a few. The

proliferation of research can be a monster unless it is tamed with the scientific

review strategy of meta-analysis, literally analyses of past analyses that produce

a quantitative and empirical history of research on a particular phenomenon. The

purpose of this article is to outline the basic process and statistics of meta-analysis,

as they pertain to social-personality psychology. Meta-analysis involves: (i) defining

the problem under review; (ii) gathering qualified …

The Relationship Between Daytime Experiences And Nighttime Marital Behaviour ; Spillover Of Daytime Emotions On Marital Interactions, Katherine J. Fitzsimmons

Theses : Honours

This review outlines literature on the influence of daytime experiences on nighttime marital behaviour. Researchers propose that experiences at work and home spillover into and influence the other domain. Factors affecting spillover included gender, job characteristics, role satisfaction, negative affect and marital satisfaction. Outcomes of spillover included withdrawn and angry marital behaviour. Results of the current research suggest that husbands tend to withdraw, whilst wives tend to display anger during marital interactions following a negatively arousing day. Individual differences and situational theories have been proposed to explain this gender difference. Limitations ofthe studies include the focus on married individuals living …

Idiomatic Expressions And Marital Relationships Over Three Stages Of The Family Lifespan, Meredith T. Raynor

Institute for the Humanities Theses

In interpersonal communication language shared between two people becomes important in the everyday life of relational participants. Even more so, the language shared between married couples is vital because of their "unique relationship". Part of that language involves the symbols, gestures and words called idioms that have specialized meaning for the marital dyad.

This thesis sought to discover what idioms are identified among married couples at three stages of the family lifespan, newlyweds, couples with children and empty nest couples as they seek to maintain a system of "personalized communication" as it relates to their marital satisfaction (Breuss & Pearson, …

Intimate Gatherings Something Old, New, Borrowed And Blue: A Small Wedding May Be Right For You!, Hakisha Lashea Thomas

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Aggressive Communication, Parental Communication, And Sibling Communication, Kristi K. Eustice

Masters Theses

The family is often seen as the center of instruction for children and the base for learning communication patterns. Aggressive communication is often seen in the family, especially as a parenting method. In this thesis, the current state of available literature on aggressive communication in the family is examined. This includes parenting styles, communication relationships between one parent and one child, and the negative effects verbal aggressive communication has on children. A t-test is used to research the responses of 100 students who have verbally aggressive parents. At 2.59, the t-test supports the hypothesis that parenting communication styles concerning aggressiveness …

Social Support Among Women In Families: A Descriptive Study Of Support In Intergenerational Relationships, Gina L. Bauswell

Masters Theses

This study examines the effects of social support in intergenerational relationships among women in families. The research examines ethnography as a study, some of the benefits of research done in intergenerational communication, changes in this communication over the time span of the intergenerational relationships, the transmission of this communication, social support, the positive effects of the phenomenon of this type of communication for all those participating in this dynamic process, and the heuristic value of this research. The participants were forty women in my extended family, and this study is based upon their answers to a questionnaire and focus group …

A Home Of Her Own: (Writing) A Family Story Of Separation And Second Chances, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

On March 16, 1996, I interviewed my mother, Beth Tillmann, about her parents' divorce and her life as a foster child. From detailed notes taken during our phone conversation and from family stories told to me throughout my life, I constructed a narrative titled "A Home of Her Own." Its structure and tone mimic the way my mother speaks about the dissolution of her family of origin and her attachments to and separations from those who tried to help her rebuild a sense of home. After the story, I discuss what narrative representations of loss offer the writer, the participant, …

Test Of An Argumentative Skill Deficiency Model Of Interspousal Violence, Dominic A. Infante, Theresa A. Chandler, Jill E. Rudd

Communication Faculty Publications

Presents a study that examined a model of communication and interpersonal physical violence among married people. Relation between communication and violence; Review of related literature on interspousal violence; Application of the model on abused wives and abused husbands.

Ua68/10/1 Sociological Symposium No. 7 – Childhood Life Cycle Series, Wku Sociology

WKU Administration Documents

Table of Contents:

• Bachelor, David L. & Rosalie S. Donofrio. Poor Children: Images & Interpretations
• Birenbaum, Arnold. The Recognition & Acceptance of Stigma
• Denzin, Norman K. Childhood as Conversation of Gestures
• Miller, James Jr. A Comparison of Racial Preference in Young Black & Mexican American Children
• Rath, Robert A. & Douglas J. McDowell. Coming Up Hip: Child Rearing Perspectives & Life Style Values Among Counter Culture Families
• Thomas, Darwin L. & James M. Calonico. Birth Order & Family Sociology: A Reassessment

Ua68/10/1 Sociological Symposium No. 6 – Adolescence, Wku Sociology

WKU Administration Documents

Table of Contents:

• Cogswell, Betty E. Communication with Adolescents: A Study of Sex Information Sessions
• Dickinson, George E. Sex Information Sources of Black & White Adolescents in a Southern Community
• Huth, Mary Jo. Drug Abuse & American Youth
• Levin, Martin L. Intra-Familial Patterns of Political Socialization: The Model of Male Dominance Re-examined
• Newman, John J. & Martin L. Levin. Patterns of Agreement Between Adolescents & Their Parents on Adolescent Rules
• Schwartz, Michael. Education & Adolescent Adjustment
• Wilkinson, Doris Y. Racial Beliefs of White Adolescents: An Exploratory Inquiry
• Wells, J. Gipson. A Selected Bibliography on the Sociology of Adolescence