Human Communication Research (ISSN 0360-3989) is published quarterly in September, December, March, and June by the International Communication Association, 8140 Burnet Road, Austin, TX 78758, USA. Sage Publications, Inc., 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, manufactures and distributes the journal for the ICA, Telephone: (805) 499-0721; FAX/Order line: (805) 499-0871. Copyright © 1996 by the International Communication Association. All rights reserved. No portion of the contents may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.
| Volume 24, Number 1 | September, 1997 |
- Message Planning, Communication Failure, and Cognitive Load:
- Further Explorations of the Hierarchy Principle
- -----STEVEN W. KNOWLTON and CHARLES R. BERGER
- Implicit Theories of Persuasion
- -----DAVID R. ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN
- A Guilt-Based Explanation of the Door-in-the-Face Influence Strategy
- ----- DANIEL J. O'KEEFE and MARIANNE FIGGE
- Younger Adults' Communication Experiences and Contact with Elders and Peers
- -----SIK HUNG NG, JAMES H. LIU, ANN WEATHERALL, and CYNTHIA S. F. LOONG
- Family and Workplace Conflict:
- Examining Metaphorical Conflict Schemas and Expressions Across Context and Sex
- -----PATRICE M. BUZZANELL and NANCY A. BURRELL
- Cultural Transmission in Internal Organizations:
- Impact of Interpersonal Communication Patterns in Intergroup Contexts
-----SHINOBU SUZUKI- Call for Papers
Message Planning, Communication Failure, and Cognitive Load:
Further Explorations of the Hierarchy PrincipleSTEVEN W. KNOWLTON
CHARLES R. BERGER
University of California, Davis
The hierarchy principle predicts and research has demonstrated that in response to communication failure, individuals make less cognitively demanding, low-level changes to message plans, such as the vocal intensity at which they are delivered, rather than more demanding alterations to message content and structure. Three experiments examined the effects of different message preparations on cognitive loads associated with high-level message plan alterations. In Experiment 1, individuals who prepared only one highly iconic message before experiencing communication failure demonstrated greater cognitive load when requested to deliver an alternative message than did individuals who prepared three highly iconic alternative messages. No cognitive load differences were found between those who prepared one or three low-iconicity messages. In Experiment 2, individuals who prepared one or six highly iconic message plans demonstrated greater cognitive load after communication failure than those who prepared three alternatives. This U-curve relationship was replicated in Experiment 3.
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Implicit Theories of Persuasion
DAVID R ROSKOS-EWOLDSEN
University of Alabama
This research explores whether individuals have implicit theories of persuasion. The first study sought to understand how persuasive strategies are cognitively represented. Using multidimensional scaling, two dimensions were identified. The first dimension distinguishes the types of tactics used to bring about attitude change. The second dimension differentiated the social acceptability of the persuasive strategies. The second stage of this research explored the nature of people's implicit theories of persuasion. Experiment 1 demonstrated that implicit theories of persuasion are sensitive to the operation of multiple goals in a situation. Experiment 2 found that implicit theories of persuasion reflect the audience's familiarity with the topic. In Experiment 3, implicit theories were demonstrated to be sensitive to the topic-relevant knowledge of the communicator.
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A Guilt-Based Explanation of the Door-in-the-Face Influence Strategy
DANIEL J. O'KEEFE
MARIANNE FIGGE
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
A new explanation is proposed for the accumulated research findings concerning the door-in-the-face (DITF) influence strategy. The explanation treats successful DITF implementations as based on gulit: Refusal of the first request creates guilt, and compliance with the second request reduces guilt. In addition to explaining the known effects of DITF moderator variables, the explanation is consistent with current theoretical and empirical understandings of the nature of guilt and with extant research findings concerning guilt-based social influence. This explanation also suggests a significant role for a new moderator, the identity of the beneficiary of the requests. A reanalysis of previous meta-analytic findings confirms the importance of that moderator.
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Younger Adults' Communication Experiences and Contact With Elders and Peers
SIK HUNG NG
JAMES H. LIU
NN WEATHERALL
CYNTHIA S. F. LOONG
Victoria University of Wellington
Intergenerational communication research has overemphasized dissatisfying experiences and treated elderly conversation partners as an undifferentiated category. To redress these limitation, the authors surveyed 100 younger adults' (16-46 years) satisfying and dissatisfying experiences with both family and nonfamily elders, and compared these with own-age peers. Measures of social contact were also taken. As hypothesized, positivity of experiences and contact increased from nonfamily to family elders and peers. Barriers of communication with nonfamily elders were due to contact more than experiences. For family elders and especially for peers, most measures of contact and experiences were positive. The authors also tested for effects due to respondents' gender and culture (New Zealanders of Chinese or European descent). Females had more positive experiences and contact on some of the measures. Views about elders held by Chinese were more favorable, yet did not translate into improved experiences or contact.
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Family and Workplace Conflict:
Examining Metaphorical Conflict Schemas and Expressions Across Context and SexPATRICE M. BUZZANELL
Northern Illinois University
NANCY A. BURRELL
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
This investigation examined 620 metaphorical conflict expressions generated by 169 participants who either were employed full-time or has previous work experience. First-order metaphorical (schema) analyses indicated that participants predominately used "conflict is impotence" schemas. No sex difference emerged in either schemas or in second-order (linguistic) analyses of metaphorical expressions. However, participants reported different schemas, depending on the conflict context, but particularly for the supervisor and departmental member contexts. The supervisor context also exhibited a pattern of linguistic choices, suggesting that male and female respondents objectified their supervisors. Finally, respondents reported greater frequency and intensity of conflicts in family contexts than in any of the work contexts.
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Cultural Transmission in Internal Organizations:
Impact of Interpersonal Communication Patterns in Intergroup ContextsSHINOBU SUZUKI
Hokkaido Tokai University
This study examined how organizational cultures are transmitted and maintained through interactions among organizational members across intergroup boundaries. The major hypothesis of interest was that the total number of individuals' out-group communication network links predicts the degree of individual-out-group transmission of work-related values and beliefs. The research design involved a survey of workers in international organizations with bicultural workforces (U.S. and Japanese). A total of 118 responses were submitted to a series of multiple regression analysis. The results provided evidence to support the relationship between communication and cultural transmission. Theoretically, it addressed two issues that have not been dealt with in social influence theories. First, it identified different types of social influence: agreement, accuracy, and congruency derived from the coorientation model. Second, it identified specific conditions under which social influence takes place by examining relational proximity in three different types of networks.
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Call for Papers:
Joint special issue on "Communication Processes for Virtual Organizations"
to be published in Organization Science and The
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication concurrently. Submission
deadline - March 1, 1997. Inquiries to special issue editors:
| Peter Monge Annenberg School for Communication University of Southern California Las Angeles, CA 90089-0281 E-mail: monge@usc.edu Phone: (213) 740-0921 Fax: (213) 740-0014 |
Gerry DeSanctis Fuqua School of Business Duke University Durham, NC 27708-0120 E-mail: gd@mail.duke.edu Phone: (919) 660-7848 Fax: (919) 681-6245 |
Call for Papers and Invitation to Delegates:
2nd International Conference on Marketing and Corporate
Communications,
University of Antwerp----RUCA,
April 21-22, 1997
Submission deadline - December 31, 1997
All conference information:
Dr. P. De Pelsmacker, RUCA----Faculty of Applied Economics
Middelheimlaan 1, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Phone: +32-3-218-07-15
Fax: +32-3-218-07-13
E-mail: icmcc@ruca.ua.ac.be
http://www.ruca.ua.ac.be/Research/meetings.html
