Political Discussion on Facebook: An Analysis of Interpersonal Goals and Disagreement

This study investigates the processes that motivate, constrain, and shape political conversations on Facebook. Through an analysis of the Goals-Plans-Action model and the Political Interpersonal Communication index, this study finds that Facebook political conversations are primarily motivated by cognitive engagement and primarily constrained by personal standards regarding the appropriateness of discussing politics on Facebook. These conversations are further shaped by desires to create positive impressions. This study also examines the effects of disagreement on Facebook political conversations. Findings indicate that perceived disagreement does influence political activity on Facebook, though this relationship varies according to individual levels of tolerance for disagreement, political information efficacy, and political extremism. Overall, this study contributes to political disagreement scholarship and demonstrates the unique contributions of both interpersonal and political communication theory in the area of interpersonal political communication

Law Enforcement, Communication Training & Verbal Judo

This study incorporated a mixed method approach using qualitative and quantitative methods to capture a deeper portrayal of Verbal Judo. Verbal Judo emphasizes the use of both verbal and non-verbal communication tactics by the officer (influencer) with specific discourse structures to influence the individual to comply with the officer’s requests in compliance-gaining. This study determined that specific Verbal Judo compliance-gaining tactics must be used to try to prevent conflict such as physical force. Successive repetition by officers (with matching non-verbal tone) of strategic Verbal Judo language when dealing with a difficult person appears to be a major key in diminishing conflict and minimizing escalation of conflict within the compliance-gaining context. Minimizing conflict in compliance-gaining situations between officers and individuals benefits law enforcement agencies, law enforcement officers, city and state governments, and the general public

Active Is as Active Does: Deliberative and Non-Deliberative Political Communication in Context

The development of theories of citizens’ political communication has been hindered by a debate over whether such communication is best characterized as deliberative or non-deliberative. This article aims to overcome that impasse with a new account of citizens’ political communication informed by theories of message production and sense-making: the goals–sense-making–justification (GSJ) model. This model holds that citizens’ political-communicative behavior is influenced by multiple goals and cognitive plans, which generally vary in different contexts. This variation helps to explain why citizens’ informal political discussions during non-election periods rarely feature reason-giving—and so can be understood as non-deliberative—whereas such discussions during major-election campaigns often feature the reason-giving that is characteristic of deliberation. Moreover, the model demonstrates how cognitive plans developed in informal political discussions over repeated major-election cycles enable citizens to engage competently in reason-giving during formal deliberations

Persuasion, Police, and Public Safety: Message Framing, Compliance, and Perceptions of Law Enforcement

In the everyday interactions between law enforcement and the citizens of their communities, officers attempt to gain compliance verbally, before resorting to physical force, if necessary. This dissertation examined the use of persuasive verbal messages by law enforcement officers when encountering citizens. These messages were created to represent a progression of asking, telling, and making, to gain compliance from an individual.;The officers in this study were university police officers, because university police departments are charged with providing a safe learning environment on campus. Due to the visible, community oriented policing in which university police departments tend to engage, it is likely that students would have an interaction with a campus police officer, and that this interaction might call for an officer to make a request or demand of the student. Furthermore, given the ubiquity of communication technology (e.g., social media) on college campuses, it is likely that police and students would communicate not only in-person, but also via computer-mediated channels.;The study in this dissertation utilized a 3 (ask, tell, make) X 2 (emergency, nonemergency) X 2 (face-to-face, computer-mediated communication) experimental design, in which participants (N = 190) were assigned randomly to one of 12 conditions. The measured outcomes were propensity to comply with a police officer, perceptions of the police officer, and perceptions of the officer\u27s conversational appropriateness.;Results indicated a significant main effect for message manipulation, such that participants rated perceptions of officer conversational appropriateness and perceptions of law enforcement more favorably when the hypothetical officer used an ask-framed message, rather than a make-framed message. Furthermore, the results indicated a significant main effect for communication channel, such that participants perceived the police officer to be more conversationally appropriate in the FtF condition than in the CMC condition. Additional post-hoc results, theoretical implications, practical applications, limitations, and future directions for research in this area of communication studies are discussed

Examining Cyberbullying Bystander Behavior Using a Multiple Goals Perspective

Cyberbullying, defined as any behavior performed through electronic or digital media by individuals or groups that repeatedly communicates hostile or aggressive messages intended to inflict harm or discomfort on others, is a widespread problem. Bystanders play an integral role in the initiation, maintenance, and prolonged presence of such aggressive behaviors, but have thus far been overlooked in cyberbullying literature. Cyberbullying bystanders are defined in this study as those who witness cyberbullying, either within or outside their personal social network(s) and whose available responses range from inaction to intervention. Operating from a social-ecological perspective and guided by multiple goals theories, this study used focus group methodology and found that cyberbullying bystanders have an impact on perpetration and victimization by way of multiple, distinct goals, which impact their choice of behavioral response. Bystanders’ goals and behaviors served to inform the creation of a cyberbullying bystander typology inclusive of five types: the oblivious/distant bystander, the entertained bystander, the conspiring bystander, the unintentional instigating bystander, and the active/empowered bystander. By allowing a thorough, nuanced understanding of bystanders’ role in cyberbullying, the study has significant implications for communication theory and practical application in the development of prevention and intervention efforts

Facebook usage in political communication in Ghana: the case of two political parties.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The emergence and spread of social media are changing activities in many walks of life. These technologies have ushered in a digital era that has transformed communication, engagements and relationships. Social media have revolutionised how political communication and politics, particularly electoral processes are also done. This study is centred in Ghana and investigated how Facebook is used in intra-party elections by New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress. Since the New Patriotic Party took over the reign of political power in 2017, there has been a considerable rise in political vigilantism in Ghana, which some have attributed to lack of direct access to parties and officials due to limited time given to stakeholders during “phone-in” segments on political programmes in traditional media. There are also debates as to whether social media have improved political communication and participation in Africa. More so, studies conducted on political use of social media in Ghana have not explored their appropriation in intra-party elections. The purpose of this study is to shed new light on the debate regarding social media usage in political communication in Africa, examining how Facebook is appropriated by political parties in Ghana. The study employed qualitative and quantitative techniques (mixed methods approach) in sequential triangulation of interviews and content analysis. Underpinned by interpretative and pragmatic paradigms, this study conducted interviews with communication officials of New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress. Contents of Facebook posts of the parties were analysed to corroborate or dispute data collected from interviews. Observations were also made from visits and activities of parties during data collection. The transcribed data was thematically organised for the study to analyse and present in narrative forms. Data from content analysis of Facebook was also coded and put into figures, numbers and tabular formats. This study anchored on the theories of technology appropriation, relationship management, and agenda setting. Generally, this study indicated that political parties in Ghana particularly New Patriotic Party and National Democratic Congress use social media especially Facebook in political communication and intra-party elections. However, the parties were particularly using Facebook for public information purposes instead of establishing mutually beneficial relationships through interactive engagements and two-way symmetrical communication on the social networking site, or perhaps not making good use of Facebook especially in internal elections. Parties considered and delivered social media communication on ad-hoc value without concerted efforts and political public relations strategies to maximise potentials. Inasmuch as political parties in Ghana demonstrated the desire to establish relationships by creating pages on vii Facebook to get closer to stakeholders and the public, they could not achieve this. They have focused their attention on passive traditional communication without reconsidering their activities to improve social media use especially “Facebooking” for interactions and mutually beneficial engagements and relationships. This study suggests that political parties improve interactions and conversations with stakeholders. Parties need to create political public relations units of communication professionals with expertise and skills to advice and manage social media engagements as specialised activities to extend mutually beneficial relationships. Communication officials of parties have to be trained in political public relations and social media for more knowledge and understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with these new forms of communication technologies to harness their utility

When things go wrong at work: expressions of organizational dissent as interpersonal influence

This dissertation examines the types of messages used for organizational dissent, and argues for connections between dissent messages, choice of audience and influence goals. The organizational dissent literature has explored the situations that may trigger dissent and the variables that lead a dissenter to approach various audiences, but few studies have examined dissent messages. Additionally, this line of research has tended to neglect coworkers as a possible audience for dissent and has been characterized as atheoretical (Waldron, 1999). Much of the research on interpersonal influence has examined influence in romantic relationships, but influence may play an important role in workplace relationships as well, suggesting that interpersonal influence is an appropriate theoretical perspective from which to examine dissent. This dissertation examines the messages, audiences, and goals associated with dissent using a two-part study with interviews and surveys. Messages differed according to audience, but, surprisingly, not according to the quality of relationship between the dissenter and the audience. Dissent expressed to supervisors is more likely to involve message types such as assertiveness, rational arguments, solution presentation, humor, ingratiation, sanctions, threatening resignation, while dissent expressed to coworkers is more likely to involve message types such as displaying emotion or coalitions. The primary goal of expressing emotion and the secondary goal of identity were most prevalent in terms of considerations as study participants expressed dissent. The analyses indicate that the goal of expressing emotion was significantly related to messages of displaying emotion, goals of providing guidance or changing opinion were significantly more associated with solution presentation than with asking for information, the goal of gaining assistance was significantly more associated with coalitions, and the goal of relational resource was significantly less associated with messages threatening resignation. These results suggest that interpersonal influence offers a fruitful perspective from which to view dissent messages, and more research is needed to examine the goals associated with workplace influence as the goals that motivate interpersonal interactions differ from the goals that motivate organizational dissent. Additionally, these results indicate that the position of a person is more important than a relationship in determining how a person will express dissent

Régulation de l'intimité au sein des relations conjugales : vers des stratégies plus optimales

En tant que partenaires amoureux, les individus font l'expérience d'une tension entre leur désir d'ouverture (c.-à-d., partager de l'information personnelle à son conjoint) et de fermeture (c.-à-d., maintenir un espace privé). Ces tendances opposées varient quotidiennement, créant ainsi des tensions auxquelles les partenaires doivent s'ajuster (Canary & Yum, 2015; Montgomery, 1993). La façon dont les partenaires communiquent à propos de ces désirs contradictoires serait déterminante pour la qualité de la relation (Baxter, 1990). Étonnamment, peu de stratégies de communication sensibles et efficaces ont été proposées pour aider les couples à négocier cette importante dialectique. Ceci est malheureux considérant que les problèmes de communication et d'intimité sont parmi les motifs de consultation les plus répandus en thérapie conjugale (Doss, Simpson, & Christensen, 2004). Afin de pallier à ce manque, l'Article 1 examine les perceptions des partenaires amoureux quant à l'acceptabilité et l'efficacité de deux types de stratégies de régulation (soutenant l'autonomie [SA] c. contrôlant [CTL]), présentés dans le contexte de deux scénarios hypothétiques (ouverture c. fermeture). Les stratégies SA sont définies comme des stratégies de régulation qui démontrent une considération et un respect pour l'individualité du partenaire en étant empathiques, informationnelles et en soutenant sa participation active (Deci, La Guardia, Moller, Scheiner, & Ryan, 2006; Grolnick & Ryan, 1989; Mageau, Ranger, Joussemet, Koestner, Moreau, & Forest, 2015), tandis que les stratégies CTL réfèrent à des stratégies de régulation qui sont intrusives, impliquent une domination ou induisent une pression (Grolnick & Pomerantz, 2009). Obtenus auprès d’un échantillon de 268 jeunes adultes en relation amoureuse, les résultats de cette première étude démontrent que la majorité des participants considèrent les stratégies SA comme étant plus acceptables et efficaces que les stratégies CTL, malgré la présence d’interactions impliquant le type de scénarios (ouverture-fermeture), des variables démographiques et le style interpersonnel SA du partenaire. Ces interactions révèlent, en retour, que bien que ces différences soient observées de façon constante, elles sont accentuées pour certains participants et dans certains contextes. Poursuivant ces travaux, l'Article 2 examine les liens entre l'utilisation de stratégies d'ouverture et de fermeture SA lors de conversations réelles entre partenaires amoureux et la quantité et la qualité de la révélation de soi observée, la réduction des demandes de dévoilement et des indicateurs de qualité relationnelle. Soixante-dix-huit couples ont pris part à une conversation filmée d'une durée de 20 minutes, lors de laquelle l'un des partenaires avait le rôle d'investigateur. Les résultats démontrent d'abord que les partenaires utilisent très peu de stratégies de fermeture, comparativement aux stratégies d'ouverture et, lorsqu'ils le font, ces stratégies sont principalement contrôlantes. Pour les stratégies d'ouverture, les résultats révèlent que, même en contrôlant pour leur style général SA et la quantité d'interventions d'ouverture, les investigateurs qui utilisent plus de stratégies d'ouverture SA ont des partenaires qui se dévoilent davantage et dont le dévoilement est de nature plus personnelle. Finalement, les stratégies d'ouverture SA sont liées à certains indicateurs de qualité relationnelle, mais pas tous. Les contributions théoriques de cette thèse à la documentation sur la communication conjugale de même que ses implications pratiques pour les thérapeutes sont discutées.When involved in romantic relationships, individuals experience a dialectical tension between their desire for openness (i.e., sharing information with their partner) and for closedness (i.e., protecting one's privacy). These opposite tendencies vary from day-to-day, creating tensions that partners must adjust to (Canary & Yum, 2015; Montgomery, 1993). The way partners communicate about these contradictory positions has been shown to greatly determine the quality of relationships (Baxter, 1990). Surprisingly, few effective and sensitive communication strategies have been proposed to help couples manage this important dialectic. This is unfortunate given that communication and intimacy problems are the most commonly reported reasons for seeking marital therapy (Doss et al., 2004). To fill this gap, Article 1 investigates romantic partners' perceptions of the acceptability and effectiveness of two different types of regulation strategies (autonomy-supportive [AS] vs. controlling [CTL]), presented in the context of two different hypothetical scenarios (openness vs. closedness). AS strategies are defined as regulation strategies that show consideration and respect for the partner’s individuality by being empathic, informational and supportive of active participation (Deci et al., 2006; Grolnick & Ryan, 1989; Mageau, et al., 2015), while CTL strategies refer to regulation strategies that involve pressuring, dominating and intrusive tactics (Grolnick & Pomerantz, 2009). Based on a sample of 268 young adults involved in a romantic relationship, results show that the majority of participants consider AS strategies as more acceptable and effective than CTL ones, despite significant interactions involving the type of scenarios (openness; closedness), demographic variables, and the AS interpersonal style of the actual partner. These interactions in turn reveal that, although these differences are constantly observed, they are accentuated for some participants and in some contexts. Extending these findings, Article 2 examines the associations between the use of AS openness and closedness strategies during real-life conversations between romantic partners and the quantity and quality of observed disclosures, the reduction of requests for disclosure and relationship outcomes. Seventy-eight couples engaged in a twenty-minute filmed conversation, with one partner playing the role of investigator. Results first show that, compared to openness strategies, partners use very few closedness strategies and when they do, these strategies are mostly CTL. For openness strategies, results reveal that, even when controlling for their general AS style and the quantity of openness interventions, investigators who use more AS openness strategies have partners who disclose more and whose disclosures are of a more personal nature. Finally, AS openness strategies were associated with some, but not all, relationship quality indicators. The theoretical contributions of this thesis to the literature on couples' communication, as well as its practical implications for therapists are discussed