Unwanted escalation of sexual intimacy: Male and female perceptions of connotations and relational consequences of resistance messages

In heterosexual dating situations, males sometimes attempt levels of sexual intimacy that exceed the threshold desired by the female partner. For the woman, these situations often are extremely unpleasant. Most explanations of these episodes assume that the offending male has ignored or disregarded the messages by which his partner has indicated her resistance to escalated intimacy. The present study supports an explanation whereby males do not understand certain sexual resistance messages to indicate resistance. Indeed, it appears that the resistance messages most often used by some women are the least understood by most men. This suggests that unwanted sexual escalation efforts might be minimized if men were to better understand women's resistance messages, and/or if women were to use the clearer messages. Ironically, the resistance messages that males understand best happen to be messages that often are avoided by women because of anticipated relational consequences. The study suggests, however, that males perceive these relational consequences as very unlikely outcomes of resistance messages. The study has implications for a communication‐based explanation of unwanted sexual escalation behaviors, and has pragmatic implications for reducing the frequency of these episodes via the reduction of certain male/female misunderstandings.     

Crafting the message: Controlling content on agency Web sites

While much research has focused on the new opportunities that government Web sites offer for greater citizen involvement and improved agency efficiency, less attention has been given to agency decisions about what to post on these Web sites. Here we use interviews with content managers in seven federal agencies to investigate the political and institutional influences behind decisions about Web content. We analyze the approval processes for new content and the emerging governance structures for evidence of greater centralization and political control or greater decentralization and autonomy for Web posters. In the end, it appears that institutional factors persist to influence content governance.     

A typology of disengagement strategies and an examination of the role intimacy,reactions to inequity and relational problems play in strategy selection

An inductive analysis employing cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling was conducted in Study I to develop, in conjunction with previous literature, a five‐factor typology of disengagement strategies: behavioral de‐escalation, de‐escalation, justification, positive tone and negative identity management. In Study II, perceived intimacy, anger and guilt over the allocation of resources in the relationship and three general factors of relational problems (target's behavior constrained the disengager, target had personal faults and target failed to compromise) were employed as independent variables influencing strategy selection. Intimacy, factors of problems and felt anger influenced the selection of strategies. Comparison of methods (rated usage of strategies vs. constructed strategies) uncovered discrepancies in the two methods for negative identity management and positive tone strategies. Recommendations concerning future research were noted.     

Conflict management satisfaction and relational and sexual satisfaction

This study examines predictors of relational, and sexual, satisfaction. Specifically, it is hypothesized that the discrepancy between real and ideal conflict management style is antecedent to relational satisfaction, which is a direct antecedent of sexual satisfaction. It is suggested that communicating in the manner that one sees as ideal is important in predicting relational satisfaction. Surveys including measures for conflict management style, relational satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction were administered to 290 participants. These data were consistent with the proposed model.     

The role of relational interdependence,relationship thinking,and relational communication in three stages of romantic relationships

Relational interdependence, relationship thinking, and relational communication are theorized to distinguish among the stages of dating relationships. This study analyzes their comparative ability to distinguish dating relationship stages and suggests some of their related‐ness. Results indicate that relational interdependence (indexed in the perception of relationship alternatives, satisfaction, investment, and commitment) distinguishes among each stage of the dating relationships. Relationship thinking (measured in positive affect thinking and partner thinking) and relational communication (measured in trust and composure) also distinguish among relational stages, but differences in relational interdependence appear to predate and predicate the positive development of relationship thinking and relational communication.     

Routine and strategic maintenance efforts: behavioral patterns,variations associated with relational length,and the prediction of relational characteristics

The goal of the present study was to examine the patterns of relationships between routine and strategic maintenance enactment. Data were collected from 189 individuals in a romantic relationship. Results indicated that positivity and sharing tasks were more often performed routinely than strategically. Second, moderate to strong, positive correlations were found among the strategic use of maintenance behaviors, and also moderate to strong, positive correlations among the routine use of maintenance behaviors. However, virtually no relationships emerged between the routine and strategic use of maintenance. Next, both strategic and routine maintenance efforts were important in predicting satisfaction and commitment, but routine maintenance was slightly more important in predicting both satisfaction and commitment. Finally, three significant, positive correlations were found between the length of the relationship and routine maintenance performance (network, conflict management, and sharing tasks), and one significant, negative correlation was found between the length of the relationship and the strategic use of openness.     

A relational database for bibliometric analysis

In this article a relational database schema for a bibliometric database is developed. After the introduction explaining the motivation to use relational databases in bibliometrics, an overview of the related literature is given. A review of typical bibliometric questions serves as an informal requirement analysis. The database schema is developed as an entity-relationship diagram using the structural information typically found in scientific articles. Several SQL queries for the tasks presented in the requirement analysis show the usefulness of the developed database schema.     

Anxiety,construct differentiation,and message production

Neuliep and Hazleton have reported a significant negative relationship between a general measure of trait anxiety and interpersonal construct differentiation. The study reported in this paper failed to find a significant relationship between a more specific measure of interpersonal trait anxiety and interpersonal construct differentiation, and also found no significant relationships between state anxiety and construct differentiation, or either interpersonal trait or state anxiety and the production of messages considered more or less competent by constructivist conceptions in an anxiety‐producing interpersonal context. The study did find a significant positive relationship between interpersonal construct differentiation and the production of such messages. These results are discussed with particular emphasis on the lack of conceptual relation between notions of anxiety and construct differentiation.     

The relationship of gender and topic intimacy to decisions to seek advice from parents

This study explored the impact that respondent gender, parent gender, and perceptions about a topic's intimacy had upon 311 undergraduate students’ likelihood of seeking advice from their parents. Overall, respondents felt they were more likely to seek advice about low‐ than high‐intimacy topics. Both sons and daughters reported a higher likelihood of seeking maternal than paternal advice. However, respondents did indicate a willingness to seek paternal advice in certain conditions. Sons were more likely than daughters to seek advice from fathers about high‐ intimacy topics; daughters were more likely than sons to seek advice from fathers about topics low in intimacy. Possible explanations for and implications of these findings are discussed.     

The effects of power and message variables on compliance

It has long been recognized in the nonverbal communication literature that individual differences in extraversion are expected to be most clearly evident in expressive forms of nonverbal behavior. Although several studies designed to examine the correlation between extraversion and nonverbal behavior have been conducted, most attempts to summarize these studies reflect the inconsistent nature of the research findings. Indeed, correlations range from ?.36 to .73. The extant literature summaries are limited to narrative reviews, however, which tend to be highly selective. The purpose of this study was to meta‐analyze the relevant studies. Results indicated that the mean correlation coefficient weighted for sample size was .13 for the entire sample of studies. Although 63% of the variance was attributable to sampling error, the distribution of correlations was heterogeneous. The remaining variance was due to two methodological artifacts: sample size and the number of nonverbal behaviors coded. For example, hierarchical breakdowns by moderator indicated that the mean correlation was .50 for highly focused studies—those in which researchers concentrated on a few behaviors and limited coding to 40 or fewer subjects. A cognitive‐overload model for these findings is offered and corroborated by findings from other research domains. Implications for communication research and theory are discussed. In addition to clarifying the empirical relationship between extraversion and nonverbal behavior, the contributions of this study reside, in part, in its implications for large samples and large numbers of nonverbal behaviors coded in research and for meta‐analyses of such research literatures.     

Perceived outcomes of public libraries

The outcomes of public libraries as perceived by individuals in the major areas of their lives are analyzed and the benefits as outcome types are systematized. The data are based on a representative sample of 1000 Finnish adults, ranging in age from 15 to 79. The results give a systematic account of the benefits in 22 areas of life that adults derive from using public libraries. These 22 benefits were reduced by factor analysis into three major outcome types: benefits in everyday activities, cultural interests, and career. The association of these outcome types with gender, educational levels, and age is also explored.     

Teacher e-mail message strategies and students' willingness to communicate online

In light of the prevalent use of e-mail between teachers and students, researchers have highlighted the need to assess its uses and effects. Relying on the research and thinking of teacher immediacy and extra-class communication, we developed a scale that measures those e-mail message strategies that influence students' willingness to communicate online with their teachers. Next, we isolated those reasons that students use e-mail to interact with their teachers: (1) to clarify course material and procedures, (2) as a means of efficient communication, and (3) for personal/social reasons. Finally, we examined student characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, and history of e-mail use that may (or may not) influence their attitudes toward e-mail exchanges with teachers.     

The impact of supervisor and subordinate immediacy on relational and organizational outcomes

Hypotheses were advanced based on the immediacy principle, accommodation theory, reciprocity theory, and previous research in another applied context which argue that increased nonverbal immediacy behaviors of supervisors have the potential to enhance subordinates’ perceptions of that supervisor, increase subordinate satisfaction with the supervisor and communication with the supervisor, and increase motivation and job satisfaction on the part of the subordinate. All of the hypotheses were supported by the results. The “principle of immediate communication” received strong support. It is concluded that increased immediacy on the part of either the supervisor or the subordinate is likely to generate reciprocity and accommodation leading to a more positive work environment and more desirable outcomes.     

Teacher e-mail message strategies and students' willingness to communicate online

In light of the prevalent use of e-mail between teachers and students, researchers have highlighted the need to assess its uses and effects. Relying on the research and thinking of teacher immediacy and extra-class communication, we developed a scale that measures those e-mail message strategies that influence students' willingness to communicate online with their teachers. Next, we isolated those reasons that students use e-mail to interact with their teachers: (1) to clarify course material and procedures, (2) as a means of efficient communication, and (3) for personal/social reasons. Finally, we examined student characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, and history of e-mail use that may (or may not) influence their attitudes toward e-mail exchanges with teachers.     

信息反馈意识及其在信息服务系统中的应用

从反馈、信息素养及信息意识等方面论述了信息反馈意识的涵义，总结了信息反馈意识的作用，提出了提高信息反馈意识的必要性和途径。     

Subjective message constructs: A theory of persuasion

Subjective message construct theory maintains that the underlying constructs, or cognitive tests, that receivers apply to persuasive messages require that message information be perceived as important, novel, and plausible for belief change to occur. In three different studies a total of six complete replications of the theory were performed. For each replication respondents indicated their subjective beliefs in the probability of the claim, datum, claim given the datum, and claim if not the datum. These subjective probabilities were subsequently placed in a mathematical formulation that represented a multiplicative combination of importance, novelty, and plausibility. The results from six replications indicated that between 25 and 50% percent of the variance in belief change can be explained by subjective message construct theory. Additionally, the results from validity checks indicated that subjective probabilities can be used to construct valid operational measures of importance and novelty.     

图书馆用户感知价值的提升策略

用户感知价值是图书馆服务水平和服务质量的一种感知状态，它影响着用户对图书馆服务的总体评价，检验着图书馆的服务。文章分析了用户感知价值的特性，并从用户期望管理、服务过程管理、服务情境管理三方面就如何提升用户感知价值进行了探讨。