Adult Child Perceptions of Communication and Humor When the Parent Is Diagnosed with Cancer: A Suggestive Perspective from Communication Theory

This study examines the function of communication and humor in the older adult parent-adult child dyad when the parent has been diagnosed with cancer. Qualitative data of open-ended data from 46 adult children of a parent recently diagnosed with cancer revealed that discussing diagnosis and treatment procedures was perceived to be a satisfying conversation, whereas withholding information had an adverse affect. The discussion of the parents' feelings during the cancer period was a difficult and complex communicative experience. The Meta-Humorous Interaction Theory (MetaHIT) was used as a conceptual framework to understand the function of appropriate and inappropriate uses of humor in terms of cognitive, affective, and behavioral elements of humor. Humor was often used as a coping or relief function for discussing side effects of cancer treatment. This investigation underscores the importance of understanding how adult children use humorous communication to cope with the unknown conversational territory of a parent's cancer diagnosis.     

Mapping the Health Communication Infrastructure in Rural Senegal: an Assessment to Support Cervical Cancer Screening

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of women's cancer deaths in Senegal, but few medical personnel are trained to perform cervical cancer screening. In rural areas, the situation is worse. To remedy this, a collaborative of researchers and stakeholders trained local health-care workers in cervical cancer screening through the “training-of-trainers” method. However, lack of cancer screening knowledge, barriers, and a hard-to-reach population may jeopardize the collaborative's efforts. The purpose of this study is to map the health communication infrastructure by applying communication infrastructure theory to assess general health and cancer screening knowledge, as well as attitudes and barriers toward screening. Results from focus groups and interviews show that women have minimal knowledge of cervical cancer. Moreover, health workers report detrimental attitudes in menopausal women. Our findings identified routes for information dissemination and attitude change including community radio and local health talks.     

Mothers,Sons and Testicular Cancer: An Exploratory Investigation of Health Communication

This study highlights the importance of parent-child communication of sensitive health-related issues, specifically the importance of cancer prevention discussions. For females, communication about breast cancer has been desensitized; yet, testicular cancer is not being discussed among males, even though it is highly curable when caught early. Testicular cancer primarily impacts males ages 15–40, so introducing the conversation early is important. In this exploratory study, mothers (N = 22) participated in three focus group discussions and described communication with their sons about general health issues and testicular cancer. While the mothers discussed a number of health issues with their sons, they did not mention testicular cancer and believed their sons knew very little about testicular cancer. Mothers' communication about testicular cancer with their sons was characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity. Findings from this study shed light on how little mothers know about testicular cancer as well as the need for comprehensive testicular cancer campaigns that target intervening publics.     

人际传播:学科与概念

人际传播在西方已经成为传播学的一个支柱分支学科,其在理论研究、学科建设以及所提供的就业机会方面都功勋卓著。而包括中国在内的亚洲,人际传播始终难以成为一门学科。本文从清理地基——理解人际传播的核心概念开始,探讨了我国在人际传播学科化方面的障碍以及学科化的必要性。     

Detecting Deceptive Communication Through Computer-Mediated Technology: Applying Interpersonal Deception Theory to Texting Behavior

Interpersonal Deception Theory (IDT) argues that deception is an interpersonal action where people employ communication tactics to achieve various goals. Deception is a global concept; thus, much investigation has been conducted to determine the roots of such deceptive behavior. Through IDT, deception is categorized as a dynamic process where both the sender and receiver need to be engaged for deception to be successful. In extension of IDT, a study was conducted to determine the degree to which undergraduate students engage in deceptive behavior via text messaging. Through a survey design, undergraduate students' deceptive texting behaviors and deceptive detection traits were assessed. Results indicate that among undergraduate students, text messaging is an interpersonal form of communication that circumvents professionalism and power. Further, undergraduate students were much more likely to engage in deceptive texting with family and friends, but did so with significantly less frequency in the organizational setting.     

A Grounded Theory of Control over Communication Among Individuals with Cancer

This study explored the meanings that people attribute to talking about their cancer. Framed by interpersonal and health communication scholarship on privacy management and multiple meanings, we asked cancer survivors to describe how and why they discussed their cancer with others. Interviews (focus group or one-on-one) were conducted with 40 survivors. Using a grounded theory approach, we developed a conceptual framework that describes how communication about cancer may be particularly meaningful because it is something that people feel as though they can control during a highly stressful and turbulent time. However, attempts to manage communication are challenged by constraints imposed by others, such as unfavorable and unpredictable reactions to disclosure, which ultimately place limits on survivors’ control.     

Interpersonal Communication Motives as a Predictor of Early and Middle Adulthood Siblings' Use of Relational Maintenance Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine whether early and middle adulthood siblings' use of relational maintenance behaviors (i.e., positivity, openness, assurances, networks, tasks) is predicted, after controlling for relational closeness, by their interpersonal communication motives (i.e., affection, inclusion, control, pleasure, relaxation, escape). Participants were 122 individuals who reported on their relationship with a sibling. Results indicated that for the positivity relational maintenance behavior, psychological closeness, the affection motive, and the control motive were significant contributors; for the openness, assurances, and tasks relational maintenance behaviors, psychological closeness and the affection motive were significant contributors; and for the networks relational maintenance behavior, psychological closeness was a significant contributor.     

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Hispanic Youth: A Study of Communication Patterns,Functional Fitness,and Psychological Health

This study examined the role of communication in the adaptation of Hispanic youth to the dominant cultural values and practices embodied in US American public schools. Seven hypotheses predicted positive interrelationships among four theoretical constructs identified in Y. Y. Kim's integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation: host communication competence, host interpersonal communication, psychological health, and functional fitness. Structured, closed-ended questions were administered in face-to-face interviews with 112 Hispanic adolescents in the upper Midwestern United States. Structural equation modeling results supported all seven hypotheses, indicating Hispanic youth with greater host communication competence were more actively engaged in host interpersonal communication and enjoyed greater psychological health and functional fitness with respect to US public schools and the larger US society.     

美国的人际传播研究及代表性理论

本文在前人研究的基础上,对美国人际传播的研究视角进行了划分,并梳理出每种视角的代表性理论。本文认为,美国人际传播研究的视角有情境、能力、关系、过程、规则、功能、文化和心理八个方面的视角。这些研究视角对我国学者从事人际传播研究,建立具有中国特色的人际传播理论具有重要的借鉴价值。     

Observations of Dyadic Power in Interpersonal Interaction

Power and dominance are widely recognized as fundamental concepts in the study of human relationships. A theory of power, Dunbar's dyadic power theory (DPT), was tested experimentally by manipulating power in interactions with confederate strangers. Participants' verbal and nonverbal dominance behaviors were coded from videotapes of their interactions. DPT proposes that individuals will display more dominance in equal power relationships than in unequal relationships and increasing an individual's relative power will increase that individual's satisfaction with the encounter. The results revealed that the equal-power and unequal high-power conditions displayed more dominance and were more satisfied than those in the unequal low-power conditions but those in the unequal-high power condition were the least affected by their partners and maintained the most control over the partnership's decisions. Implications for DPT and the relationship between microlevel dominance behaviors and the macrolevel impressions of dominant interactants are discussed.     

Listening and Experiences of Interpersonal Transcendence

Interpersonal transcendence is a phenomenon marked by total immersion in an interaction, a deep sense of understanding, feelings of mutuality, new insight, and playfulness. Such experiences can be exhilarating, memorable, and rare. This study examines relationships between various listening dispositions and people’s propensity to experience interpersonal transcendence. Participants (N = 300) completed the Interpersonal Transcendence Scale (ITS) along with the Listening Styles Inventory (LSI), the Active Empathic Listening scale (AEL), and the Listening Styles Profile–Revised (LSP-R). Results indicated substantial relationships between ITS responses and the LSI and AEL. The LSP-R dimensions of Relational Listening and Analytical Listening were also related to ITS responses. Other results indicate that propensity to experience interpersonal transcendence is associated with minority group status and age.     

The Effect of Interruptions and Dyad Gender Combination on Perceptions of Interpersonal Dominance

The argument put forth in this study is that interruptions and dyad gender combinations will have an effect on perceptions of interpersonal dominance. Participants were asked to listen to a series of recorded dialogues with six intentionally embedded intrusive interruptions. After each pair of interruptions, participants completed a survey measuring their perception of the interrupter's interpersonal dominance. Analyses showed that the accrual of interruptions results in a curvilinear increase in perceptions of dominance. Female interrupters in a female/female dyad were consistently perceived as the most dominant and male interrupters in a male/female dyad were consistently perceived as the least dominant.     

Interpersonal communication motives and message design logic: exploring their interaction on perceptions of competence

Message design logic and interpersonal communication motives were conjointly studied to assess their interaction on receivers' perceptions of senders' competence. Two 8 (motive)×3 (message design logic) repeated measures ANOVAs indicated significant interaction effects for both effectiveness and appropriateness. Nevertheless, the effects of design logic and motive on perceptions of competence were not as expected for some situations. The results of the study fail to support past research suggesting that perceived effectiveness and appropriateness will be enhanced by using a more complex message design. In addition, no pattern emerged for the instrumental versus the ritualistic motivations in terms of the most competent message design.     

Measuring Online Communication Attitude: Instrument Development and Validation

This paper reports a series of studies that develop an empirically-derived instrument for assessing online communication attitude, a multidimensional set of individual cognitive-affective constructs that influence media choice. The first study inductively develops an initial item pool and tests dimensional structure via exploratory factor analysis. The second study further refines this structure and also tests the association between online communication attitude and media use in same-sex friendships. Finally, the third study deductively tests global model fit via confirmatory factor analysis, and establishes concurrent validity with theoretically related communication constructs. Beyond identifying motives underlying media choice, the instrument developed here possesses heuristic potential for clarifying media choice theory and elaborating the association between communication competence and media choice.     

Student Communication Motives and Interpersonal Attraction Toward Instructor

Instructional communication research has not specifically focused on the impact of student classroom communication behaviors on the student-teacher relationship. The current study investigated the relationship between student motives to communicate with instructors and interpersonal attraction toward them. Canonical correlation results indicated student levels of physical, social, and task attraction were positively related to their motivation to establish a relationship, and expressing interest in class and task attraction was inversely related to participatory, excuse-making, and sycophantic motives. Regression analyses determined students' relational motivations as the greatest predictor of social and physical attraction, while excuse-making was the greatest predictor of task attraction.     

Predictors and Consequences of Conversations About Health Promoting Media Messages

Female college students (N=104) in friendship dyads were exposed to radio advertisements promoting the HPV vaccine—narrative or advocacy in format—after which they completed a questionnaire. Half the dyads were instructed to engage in a conversation about the advertisement prior to completing the questionnaire. Analyses showed that interpersonal discussion was related to normative perceptions, attitudes and intentions regarding the vaccine, but only under certain conditions. Conversation partner, conversation valence and positive opinion sharing were related to those outcomes. In a follow-up questionnaire, participants who discussed the ad in the days after exposure reported more positive intention change. Participants with stronger emotional reactions to the ads were more likely to discuss them during this period.     

Connecting Interpersonal and Mass Communication: Science News Exposure,Perceived Ability to Understand Science,and Conversation

We present experimental data (n?=?667) supporting three hypotheses that link science news, perceptions about science, and talk with other people. Regular television news viewers were recruited from a midsize Designated Market Area using random digit dialing, and were randomly assigned to one of three science news exposure conditions. As hypothesized, science television news exposure appears to boost perceived ability to understand science. We also find that perceived ability to understand science, in turn, predicts conversations about science. We note connections to literature on the role of talk in mass communication effects and encourage future work in this vein.     

Anonymity and Interaction in an Online Breast Cancer Social Support Group

Despite the benefits of using online social support groups, prior research does not provide a solid understanding of the online factors related to an individual’s supportive interaction. Accordingly, this study aims to explore how various aspects of anonymity predict different levels of social support engagement. The current study uncovers that visually identifiable group members are more likely to get supportive responses than are visually anonymous members. Also, when support group members are visually and discursively identifiable, they are more likely to get supportive messages than those who are visually and discursively anonymous. Additionally, the more identifiable support group members are, the more they receive positive messages. Practical implications for the role of social support group members’ anonymity/identifiability on the overall social support process are presented.