Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons^™

Caregiver Perceptions Of Their Influence On Cancer Treatment Decision Making: Intersections Of Language, Identity, And Illness, Janice L. Krieger, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Jessica L. Krok-Schoen, Phokeng M. Dailey, Julianne C. Wojno, Nancy Schoenberg, Electra D. Paskett, Mark Dignan

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Serious illness of a loved one can disrupt a caregiver’s sense of self and relationships. We examined the language caregivers use to describe the cancer treatment decision making of a loved one to understand how caregivers frame their own identity relative to a patient’s illness. We analyzed transcripts from in-depth interviews conducted with caregivers (N = 58) of cancer patients to examine the intersection among language, identity, and illness. Caregivers with a patient-level personal identity frame used phrases such as their body, their decision. Caregivers with a relational identity frame used plural pronouns such as we or our when describing …

Dancing Around Infertility: The Use Of Metaphors In A Complex Medical Situation, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Janice L. Krieger

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

People use metaphors to cognitively frame their experiences as well as to explain those experiences to others, especially in complex medical situations. However, previous research has not fully explored the extent to which metaphors may be helpful or harmful to achieving well-being. This investigation fills this gap by identifying and explaining metaphor use in the context of infertility. Guided by self-determination theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with 22 women and men who had experienced an inability to conceive a child. Analysis of participant narratives yielded 10 prominent metaphors that reflect how participants’ need for competence, autonomy, and relatedness were (and …

Comprehension Of Randomization And Uncertainty In Cancer Clinical Trials Decision Making Among Rural, Appalachian Patients, Janice L. Krieger, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Phokeng M. Dailey, Jessica L. Krok-Schoen, Nancy E. Schoenberg, Electra D. Paskett

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Comprehension of randomization is a vital, but understudied, component of informed consent to participate incancer randomized clinical trials(RCTs). Thisstudy examines patient comprehension of the randomization process as well as sources of ongoing uncertainty that may inhibit a patient’s ability to provide informed consent to participate in RCTs. Cancer patients living in rural Appalachia who were offeredanopportunitytoparticipateinacancertreatmentRCT completed in-depth interviews and a brief survey. No systematic differences in randomization comprehension between patients who consented and those who declined participation in a cancer RCT were detected. Comprehension is conceptually distinct from uncertainty, with patients who had both high and low comprehension experiencing …

Chaos, Reports, And Quests: Narrative Agency And Co-Workers In Stories Of Workplace Bullying, Stacy Tye-Williams, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined narratives that targets of workplace bullying told about their difficult work experiences along with how co-workers were framed in these narratives. Three different narrative types emerged from their accounts: chaos, report, and quest narratives. Co-worker responses of support or lack thereof were related to the construction of various narrative forms and the level of narrative agency evident in target accounts. The study has important implications for the difference co-workers can make in a target’s ability to withstand bullying and narrate his or her experience.

Reconsidering Childfreedom: A Feminist Exploration Of Discursive Identity Construction In Childfree Livejournal Communities, Julia Moore

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This article employs participant definitional analysis, sensitized with feminist poststructuralism and critical ethnography, to understand three identity construction processes that members of childfree LiveJournal communities participate in: (a) naming childfreedom, (b) negotiating childfreedom, and (c) enacting childfreedom. I argue that childfree identities are contested and sometimes activist. Ultimately, I call for scholars to reconsider the definition of childfree to account for the complex and nuanced identities constructed by individuals who identify as such.

How Adolescents Perceive Their Parents' Communication About Sex: Toward Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk, Amanda J. Holman

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

The “sex talk” is often one of the most challenging conversations for parents and children during adolescence. Research has established that parent-adolescent communication about sex can greatly reduce adolescents’ sexual risk (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2012; Miller, Benson, & Galbraith, 2001). However, many parents still avoid these conversations due to uncertainty or lack of confidence in how to best educate their children on topics such as sexual health and relationships. Plus, little is known about family communication about sex from the adolescent perspective. In order to develop more comprehensive strategies for parents to engage in these challenging conversations, the present dissertation …

An Examination Of The Role Of Social Support, Coping Strategies, And Individual Characteristics In Students’ Adaptation To College, Arleen Bejerano

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

Adaptation, or adjustment, is a psycho-social process that occurs when an individual accepts and integrates into his or her life a transition from one situation to another situation (Schlossberg, 1981). Many individuals struggle with transitions because transitions involve changes in the environment, roles, routines, and/or ways of looking at the world. The present investigation examines the transition from high school to college, and explores the interpersonal and individual ways that students manage the changes accompanying this transition. Using Transition Theory as a framework, students’ social support networks, coping strategies, self-esteem, and depression are posited to influence students’ adaptation to college …

Empowered And Engaged: Exploring Social Media Best Practices For Nonprofits, Tessa Warner, Alexis Abel, Frauke Hachtmann

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Although nonprofits see value and potential in social media, many have not yet mastered social media and harnessed their full potential. This phenomenological study sought to identify the best social media strategies and tactics for effectively engaging existing and potential donors, volunteers and stakeholders, according to social media nonprofit professionals. Six themes emerged: listening to the audience; engaging instead of fundraising; sharing relevant, valuable and actionable content; being honest, accessible and responsive; using social media as part of a multi-channel strategy; and that measuring is mandatory.

“I Need Numbers Before I Will Buy It”: Reading And Writing Qualitative Scholarship On Close Relationships, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Julia Moore, Jenna Stephenson Abetz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The authors highlight important contributions of qualitative research for the study of close relationships, arguing for greater representation of this scholarship in the journals. Four challenges experienced by interpretive researchers trying to publish in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and close relationship journals are discussed.

Stealth Librarianship: Creating Meaningful Connections Through User Experience, Outreach & Liaising, Kiyomi D. Deards, Bohyun Kim, Erin Dorney

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Description: Relationships are at the heart of providing a satisfactory user experience and delivering library services and programs that match with what our users want and need. Many libraries have traditionally spoken with users only when necessary or when a problem has occurred. Looking at user experience, outreach, and liaison librarianship from the perspective of relationship-building between librarians and faculty, staff, or students allows librarians to provide more targeted and desired services while increasing positive perceptions of libraries. This live webcast investigates the benefits of relationship-building in a holistic manner. Instead of focusing on one aspect of librarianship, public, technical, …

The Right Call: Baseball Coaches' Attempts To Influence Umpires, Kevin Warneke, David C. Ogden

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

On-field conversations and confrontations between baseball coaches and umpires have long been a part of the game. An umpire's decision can alter the course of the game, but little has been written about the exchanges between a coach or manager and umpire, especially in relation to theoretical considerations. This study applies management and leadership theories in exploring the strategies baseball coaches use to contest an umpire's decision. By using leadership scholar John E. Barbuto's concept of influence tactics and the various types of social power discussed by sociologists John R. French and Bertram Raven, the study also tests the congruence …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Experiential Interior Design: Branding Entertainment And Nightlife For The Postmodern Young Urban Professional, Niccole S. Skomal

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Past study on Interior Design has been primarily looked at through the lenses of aesthetics and functionality. Only recently have scholars begun to see the influence marketing, in the form of branding, can have on the Interior Design process in targeting specific lifestyle groups. The purpose of this research is to understand the fabric of the postmodern Young Urban Professional lifestyle as a marketing tool for branding and designing services in the form of entertainment and nightlife. With an increasing lack of community and social connectedness in today’s postmodern society, Young Urban Professionals tend to consume entertainment and nightlife as …

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 …

Staying Genuine And Creating Connections: Networking And Involvement For Introverts, Kiyomi D. Deards

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Introversion, often thought of as a negative attribute, can be a tool to build strong personal connections. How can introverts create and maintain professional networks without feeling fake or insincere? How can introverts balance solitude with interpersonal interactions? What are myths about introverts and how can we combat them?

How New Librarians Used Branding And Outreach To Create Communities Of Practice, Kiyomi D. Deards

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Want to get involved and make a difference? Come learn how one librarian got involved and used branding and outreach to promote and increase membership in their professional service organization, and developed their personal community of practice. Find out how you can get involved professionally. Learn how you can define and promote a unique brand for a professional group or yourself, and see how getting involved can exponentially increase your professional network while serving others.

Coaching Efficacy With Academic Leaders: A Phenomenological Investigation, Deanna Lee Vansickel-Peterson

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this psychological phenomenological research was to understand the efficacy of life coaching from the perspective of academic leaders. To date, not one investigation or attempt has been made towards the above stated purpose. This study includes a theoretical overview and a review of the coaching literature from Socrates (469-399 BC) to current day Humanistic theory presented in part by Roger (1902-1987). This process included data collection from five academic leaders who have been coached for at least two years. Levels of analysis of 365 statements, quote and/or comments produced finding of efficacy in life coaching with academic …

Perceptions Of Communication With Gay And Lesbian Family Members: Predictors Of Relational Satisfaction And Implications For Outgroup Attitudes, Jordan Soliz, Elizabeth Ribarsky, Meredith Marko Harrigan, Stacy Tye-Williams

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study investigates perceptions of family communication among members with different sexual identities. Specifically, from the perspective of heterosexual family members (N = 129), the study takes an intergroup perspective to determine how accommodative and non-accommodative communication and attitudes toward homosexuality predict intergroup anxiety and relational satisfaction with gay or lesbian family members. Further, the manner in which family communication influences attitudes toward homosexuality is examined. Results are discussed in terms of implications for research on heterosexual-homosexual interaction, family communication, and intergroup communication, in general.

The Experience And Expression Of Emotion Within Stepsibling Relationships: Politeness Of Expression And Stepfamily Functioning, Emily Lamb Normand

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

While scholars agree there are emotional challenges associated with the divorce and remarriage process, little is known about how stepsiblings interact and manage the experience and expression of emotion within their stepfamily. The current investigation examined the frequency of experience, intensity, and expression of positive, strong negative, and weak negative emotion within stepsibling relationships over time. Using Politeness Theory as a framework, the study also investigated if an association existed between stepsiblings’ use of politeness strategies during the expression of emotion and stepsiblings’ perception of the quality of their relationship and their perception of the entire stepfamily. Participants were 187 …

Communicative Correlates Of Satisfaction, Family Identity, And Group Salience In Multiracial/Ethnic Families, Jordan Soliz, Allison R. Thorson, Christine E. Rittenour

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Guided by the Common Ingroup Identity Model (S. L. Gaertner & J. F. Dovidio, 2000) and Communication Accommodation Theory (C. Shepard, H. Giles, & B. A. LePoire, 2001), we examined the role of identity accommodation, supportive communication, and self-disclosure in predicting relational satisfaction, shared family identity, and group salience in multiracial/ ethnic families. Additionally, we analyzed the association between group salience and relational outcomes as well as the moderating roles of multiracial/ethnic identity and marital status. Individuals who have parents from different racial/ethnic groups were invited to complete questionnaires on their family experiences. Participants (N = 139) answered questions about …

Entrepreneurial Leadership And Teamwork: The Key To Innovation In The 21st Century, Connie I. Reimers-Hild, Susan N. Williams

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Presentations and White Papers

Entrepreneurial leadership and continuous innovation are vital components of 21st century communities and organizations. Entrepreneurial leaders must realize the importance of environmental, social and global issues while creating an atmosphere of innovation designed to help followers become more entrepreneurial themselves.

Entrepreneurial individuals and teams have the ability to recognize and capitalize on opportunities, innovate, take risks, adapt to rapid change and marshal resources to achieve their goals. When individuals come together as an effective team, they can produce a synergy to meet the demands of a rapidly changing and competitive work environment. Therefore, entrepreneurial leaders must develop entrepreneurial individuals and …

The Comparative Effectiveness Of Systematic Desensitization And An Integrative Approach In Treating Public Speaking Anxiety: A Literature Review And A Preliminary Investigation, Ana M. Rossi, William J. Seiler

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

An analysis of the literature related to public speaking anxiety (PSA) and various treatments of it are discussed. PSA is a state or situational type of anxiety which can have tremendous effects on those who suffer from it. Two of the major treatments—systematic desensitization (SD) and the integrative approach (IA)—are reviewed and then experimentally tested to determine which is the more effective in treating PSA. The results are somewhat inclusive, but there is strong evidence to suggest that both SD and IA reduce trait and state anxiety. It was found, however, that IA is more effective in decreasing the symptoms …