Browsing by Subject "Interpersonal communication"
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Item Mass media campaigns and conversation: testing short-term and long-term priming effects of topic-related conversation on conversational participants.(2009-08) Wirtz, John GarfieldThis dissertation investigates how participating in a topic-related conversation (i.e., a conversation focused on a specific event-related topic) may create short-term and long-term priming effects. In the case of topic-related conversations occurring prior to message exposure, it was expected that those conversations would function as a priming task and influence how subsequent mass media messages were evaluated. In the case of long-term engagement in topic-related conversation, it was expected that frequency of topic-related conversations and topic-related media use would predict current and future topic-related behavior. The dissertation presents the results of three studies that test hypotheses suggested by this line of reasoning. In Study 1, the basic hypothesis was that topic-related conversation would act as a priming task and influence how ensuing mass media messages would be evaluated. Consistent with what was predicted, prior topic-related conversation did influence how subsequent stimuli (i.e., two anti-binge drinking public service announcements) were evaluated. Study 2 was informed by the active-self account of prime-to-behavior effects (Wheeler, DeMarree & Petty, 2007, 2008). The study tested multiple hypotheses, including whether self-monitoring (Snyder, 1974) moderated the topic-related conversation--message evaluation relation and whether a measure of the active self-concept mediated the topic-related conversation--message evaluation relation. Consistent with what was predicted, self-monitoring did moderate the topic-related conversation--target stimulus evaluation relation. However, the hypothesis that scores from a measure of the active self-concept would mediate the topic-related conversation--target stimulus evaluation relation was not supported. Study 3 examined some longer-term effects of topic-related conversation. Influenced by prior research indicating that media use and conversation about the news can predict political participation (e.g., McLeod, Schuefele & Moy, 1999), the hypotheses for this study proposed that topic-related conversation about exercise and exercise-related media use would predict concurrent and future exercise-related behavior. Analyses indicated that at Time 1 increases in overall television use were associated with decreases in exercise, while increases in exercise-related conversation were associated with increases in exercise. A second analysis indicated that higher levels of sports television viewing and exercise-related conversation at Time 1 were associated with higher levels of exercise behavior at Time 2.Item Presence of Uncertainty in Friendships: A study on Morocco and the United States(2017) Grev, VictoriaThis study seeks to understand how culture influences people’s level of uncertainty and information seeking strategies in interpersonal relationships. The general premise is cultures experience different levels of uncertainty and, therefore, the uncertainty reduction theory can be observed in different ways. Hypotheses were formed regarding how aspects of culture may change the level of uncertainty and information seeking present in Morocco and the United States. A study was conducted through the distribution of a survey asking questions about friendships between Moroccan students (N=25), and friendships between American students (N=46). It was found that American students have more certainty, and use the interactive information seeking strategy more, than Moroccan students. Furthermore, certainty within friendship leads to more direct and interactive information seeking strategies. Relationship length was positively associated with more certainty in friendships, as was relationship closeness. The authors conclude the study by discussing how these findings influence the future research of culture and the uncertainty reduction theory.Item Social representations, social networks, and public relations effects: the consequences of exposure to sided media content in different interpersonal settings.(2011-06) Lee, Hyung MinBased on the theoretical framework of social representations, the possibility that exposure to sided news coverage of an organization and subsequent interpersonal communication might affect audiences directly as well as interact in their effects was experimentally assessed in this research. Also, following a social network analysis perspective, the extent to which social network characteristics, such as social network density and presence of strong ties, determine the degree of independent as well as interactive effects of media information and subsequent interpersonal communication on public relations outcomes was examined. Sided media exposure significantly affected audiences' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward an organization covered in the media. Also, sided media exposure significantly accounted for intensity of subsequent interpersonal communication in a social network, as a two-sided media information flow with mixed evaluative cues led to more intense subsequent interpersonal communication than did a one-sided media information flow. Intensity of subsequent interpersonal communication, in turn, helped predict duration of audiences' attitudes toward as well as their future WOM intentions about the covered organization in the media. Interpersonal communication after media exposure caused rather non-intuitive effects. When allowed to talk with others in a social network, audiences reported significantly less amount of knowledge, weaker personal issue stance, less durable attitudes/behavioral intentions, and less media influence. Such negative effects of interpersonal communication after media exposure, however, varied in its magnitude across different levels of social network density. In a disconnected social network, negative effects of subsequent interpersonal communication on attitudes and behavioral intentions disappeared, whereas effects of sided media exposure prevailed. In a connected social network, on the contrary, subsequent interpersonal communication exerted significantly negative influence on attitudes and behavioral intentions, while effects of sided media exposure were completely nullified. Social network density also significantly accounted for intensity of interpersonal communication after media exposure; such interpersonal communication was more intense in a densely connected social network than in a loosely connected social network. Presence of strong ties in a social network, in addition, helped predict the degree of interpersonal influence that network members perceived in terms of determining their opinions about the covered issue and organization. Despite some limitations, the findings of this research offered both public relations scholars and practitioners considerable implications in their future work. Demonstrating an occasion when media effects may not be pronounced as theoretically expected, because of different interpersonal influence on audiences across different interpersonal settings, this research calls for more scholarly as well as practical attention to the social interaction of media and interpersonal communication in understanding and evaluating public relation outcomes.Item Transitioning from an Open to a Closed Office Environment: Case Study of a University Admissions Office(2010) Winchester, Tara; Hyman, Randy; Rauschenfels, DianeThis case study examined the ways in which the communication habits of a group of people (admissions counselors) in an admissions office at a university were influenced as the office's physical location transitioned from an open to a closed office environment. The participants were surveyed during the open environment and then again after the office had moved into the closed setting. This research relied heavily on participant observation before, during and after the transition. It was determined that participants in the open office setting felt more socially connected to their colleagues, less isolated, and had more opportunities to learn through observation of their peers than in the closed environment. The closed environment afforded the participants more privacy, and possibly allowed for more productivity, but ultimately they felt less connected and informed by the work of their peers. Recommendations for further research center on balancing the best of both office environments in order to gauge productivity and employee satisfaction.Item Using social learning theory as a conceptual framework to examine determinants of teen marijuana use.(2010-02) Depue, Jacob BjornThe present research assesses determinants of teen marijuana use. It uses social learning theory as a conceptual framework to examine the impact of sensation seeking, usage status, interpersonal communication, social networks, and media use on attitudes about marijuana and intention to use among teens. Results show significant main effects and mediation effects for many of these variables. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to both the literature and future antidrug campaigns.