Showing papers by "Howard Giles published in 2018"

Communication Accommodation in Text Messages: Exploring Liking, Power, and Sex as Predictors of Textisms

Abstract: This mixed-methods study applies Communication Accommodation Theory to explore how liking, power, and sex predict one's likelihood for using textisms in digital interpersonal interactions. Textisms are digital cues that convey nonverbal meaning and emotion in text communication. The main experiment used a hypothetical texting scenario to manipulate textism amounts (none/many) and participant's perceived power levels (low/equal/high) during texting interactions to examine the number of textisms participants used in subsequent responses in comparison to the number of textisms they viewed. Primary results show that (1) participants moderately converged to use similar amounts of textisms, and (2) those with low power who viewed many textisms were more likely to use textisms themselves during subsequent responses. Through the examination of adaption behaviors in text messaging, scholars can better understand the contexts in which users will include textisms to intentionally convey nonverbal meaning and emotion in digital communication.

Ethnic Differences in Grandparent–Grandchild Affectionate Communication

Abstract: Researchers have repeatedly called for more careful attention to how ethnicity and culture influence grandparent–grandchild communication. Using affection exchange theory as our guiding lens, we ex...

Intergroup Communication: Identities and Effective Interactions

Abstract: Intergroup relations have been studied systematically for more than 60 years and have become embedded in mainstream communication studies. The intergroup communication (IGC) approach provides a crucial level of understanding beyond the interpersonal and the societal, highlighting the interconnections and mutual influences between groups and individuals. In this paper, we briefly describe the main features and history of IGC, pointing to ways of moving forward in the light of current challenges. We highlight the complexity and messiness of IGC and the need for more diversity in theory and method. The time is right for new thinking in IGC that leads to the improvement of communication within and across groups.

Intersections of Intergroup Communication Research

Abstract: In this prologue to a special issue on intergroup communication, we highlight areas of intersection across its field. To start, we provide a brief history of the field, simultaneously highlighting 6 central principles guiding the work in this area. We then review 4 key themes—areas of intersection uniting the contributions in this special issue: (a) a sustained interest in canonical intergroup theories and topics; (b) the notion that there are various conceptualizations of intergroup communication, both linguistic and nonlinguistic; (c) scholars’ strong interest in intercultural communication processes; and (d) the cross-disciplinary nature of intergroup communication scholarship. Thereafter, we present a 2-path model of inter- and intragroup communication that integrates interpersonal, media, and intergroup communication and overviews other contributions to this special issue.

Toward a Communication Model of Intergroup Interdependence

Abstract: This article seeks to expand the theoretical base of intergroup communication by proposing a new model of interdependence. As a backdrop toward this end, historical and contemporary uses of the con...

Interpersonal Accommodation and Situational Construals: An Integrative Formalisation

Abstract: This chapter provides some existing contributions to sociolinguistic theory from social psychology. It discusses the social-psychological contribution to sociolinguistic theory through a process of formulation and formalisation of existing theoretical ideas and their progressive integration with each other. In a number of theoretical publications, Howard Giles and colleagues have been developing speech accommodation theory. Social-psychological writing on intergroup relations has highlighted the importance of specifically intergroup processes, emergent from the intergroup context itself, as they affect the experience and actions of individual group members. Social psychology’s key theoretical contribution to sociolinguistics has been to elucidate the psychological complexities underlying the distributions of linguistic markers according to setting, participants, goals and other social factors which D. Hymes and others have placed on the taxonomic agenda. Speech is involved in encounter definition by creating some of the data on which definitional models are built, and also as a medium through which they are negotiated and expressed.