Showing papers in "Communication Theory in 2006"

Political Communication in Media Society: Does Democracy Still Enjoy an Epistemic Dimension? The Impact of Normative Theory on Empirical Research

Abstract: I first compare the deliberative to the liberal and the republican models of democracy, and consider possible references to empirical research and then examine what empirical evidence there is for the assumption that political deliberation develops a truth-tracking potential. The main parts of the paper serve to dispel prima facie doubts about the empirical content and the applicability of the communication model of deliberative politics. It moreover highlights 2 critical conditions: mediated political communication in the public sphere can facilitate deliberative legitimation processes in complex societies only if a self-regulating media system gains independence from its social environments and if anonymous audiences grant a feedback between an informed elite discourse and a responsive civil society. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00280.x In Aristotle’s Politics, normative theorizing and empirical research go hand in hand. Yet, contemporary theories of liberal democracy express a demanding ‘‘ought’’ that faces the sobering ‘‘is’’ of ever more complex societies. Especially, the deliberative model of democracy, which claims an epistemic dimension for the democratic procedures of legitimation, appears to exemplify the widening gap between normative and empirical approaches toward politics. Let me first compare the deliberative to the liberal and the republican models of democracy, and consider possible references to empirical research. I will then examine what empirical evidence there is for the assumption that political deliberation develops a truth-tracking potential. The main parts of the paper serve to dispel prima facie doubts about the empirical content and the applicability of the deliberative model. The communication model of deliberative politics that I wish to present highlights two critical conditions: Mediated political communication in the public sphere can facilitate deliberative legitimation processes in complex societies only if

Social Identity, Self-Categorization, and the Communication of Group Norms

Abstract: We articulate the role of norms within the social identity perspective as a basis for theorizing a number of manifestly communicative phenomena We describe how group norms are cognitively represented as context-dependent prototypes that capture the distinctive properties of groups The same process that governs the psychological salience of different prototypes, and thus generates group normative behavior, can be used to understand the formation, perception, and diffusion of norms, and also how some group members, for example, leaders, have more normative influence than others We illustrate this process across a number of phenomena and make suggestions for future interfaces between the social identity perspective and communication research We believe that the social identity approach represents a truly integrative force for the communication discipline

From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation: A Review and Reconceptualization of Cultural Appropriation

Abstract: Cultural appropriation is often mentioned but undertheorized in critical rhetorical and media studies. Defined as the use of a culture’s symbols, artifacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture, cultural appropriation can be placed into 4 categories: exchange, dominance, exploitation, and transculturation. Although each of these types can be understood as relevant to particular contexts or eras, transculturation questions the bounded and proprietary view of culture embedded in other types of appropriation. Transculturation posits culture as a relational phenomenon constituted by acts of appropriation, not an entity that merely participates in appropriation. Tensions exist between the need to challenge essentialism and the use of essentialist notions such as ownership and degradation to criticize the exploitation of colonized cultures. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00277.x Cultural appropriation, defined broadly as the use of a culture’s symbols, artifacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture, is inescapable when cultures come into contact, including virtual or representational contact. Cultural appropriation is also inescapably intertwined with cultural politics. It is involved in the assimilation and exploitation of marginalized and colonized cultures and in the survival of subordinated cultures and their resistance to dominant cultures. This essay synthesizes existing literature from critical/cultural studies and related areas to (re)conceptualize cultural appropriation not only for critical analyses of media, rhetoric, and commodification but also for intercultural communication theory and pedagogy. Cultural appropriation is often mentioned in critical analyses of media representations and commodifications of marginalized and/or colonized cultures. Although such works in critical/cultural studies often use the notion of cultural appropriation, the concept is frequently used without significant discussion or explicit theorizing (exceptions are discussed below). Therefore, although cultural

Civic Engagement From a Communication Infrastructure Perspective

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to articulate the concepts and assumptions of communication infrastructure theory (CIT) in its present stage of development and validation. As an ecological approach to communication and community, CIT claims that access to storytelling community resources is a critical factor in civic engagement. When embedded in a neighborhood environment where key community storytellers encourage each other to talk about the neighborhood, individual residents are more likely to belong to their community, to have a strong sense of collective efficacy, and to participate in civic actions. CIT framework offers a way to examine the ecological processes that concern the effects of communication resources on civic community.

An institutional theory of organizational communication

Abstract: For many years, reviewers have argued that organizational communication research is overly concentrated on microphenomena to the neglect of macrophenomena, but macrophenomena have generally remained unspecified. An institutional theory of organizational communication is proposed to fill that gap. Drawing on institutional theory in organizational sociology and on concerns in organizational communication, we define institutions as constellations (i.e., relatively fixed arrangements) of formalized rational beliefs manifested in individuals’ organizing behaviors. Key concepts for the analysis of institutions include membership, rational myths, isomorphism, and decision hierarchies. Based on our definition and armed with these concepts, the paper formally specifies propositions of an institutional theory of organizational communication. Applying the propositions to a published case of organizational identification demonstrates how an institutional perspective offers additional explanatory power, especially concerning professional roles.

Normative and Informational Influences in Online Political Discussions

Abstract: How do the statements made by people in online political discussions affect other people's willingness to express their own opinions, or argue for them? And how does group interaction ultimately shape individual opinions? We examine carefully whether and how patterns of group discussion shape (a) individuals’ expressive behavior within those discussions and (b) changes in personal opinions. This research proposes that the argumentative “climate” of group opinion indeed affects postdiscussion opinions, and that a primary mechanism responsible for this effect is an intermediate influence on individual participants’ own expressions during the online discussions. We find support for these propositions in data from a series of 60 online group discussions, involving ordinary citizens, about the tax plans offered by rival U.S. presidential candidates George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000.

Toward a Theoretical Model of Communal Coping in Postdivorce Families and Other Naturally Occurring Groups

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretical model of communal coping in postdivorce families and other naturally occurring groups. This framework builds upon previous models of communal coping (C. A. Berg, S. P. Meegan, & F. P. Deviney, 1998; R. F. Lyons, K. Mickelson, J. L. Sullivan, & J. C. Coyne, 1998) in its identification of appraisal and action dimensions. However, the current model extends this work in five important ways by: (a) providing a more complex picture of the interdependent nature of coping; (b) extending current thinking about the transactional and fluid nature of the coping process; (c) addressing the different levels of responsibility for stressors within groups; (d) articulating how coping is affected by group dynamics, like group norms, power, and differences in perspectives; and (e) demonstrating the influence of context and the type of stressor on the coping process. The dimensions of the model are discussed in terms of the literature on communal coping and group processes.

Coevolution of communication and knowledge networks in transactive memory systems: Using computational models for theoretical development

Abstract: This study focuses on the initial conditions of work teams and the impacts of these conditions on the development of teams’ transactive memory (TM) systems through computational modeling. TM theory describes the conditions under which team members retrieve and allocate information to accomplish collective tasks. Previous research has shown evidence for teams developing TM systems over time, but field research does not allow for the extensive manipulation of initial conditions a team might face when working together; conversely, this experimental research allowed for such manipulations without negatively impacting the ongoing productivity of organizations. Initial knowledge, initial accuracy of expertise recognition, and network size are explored as predictor variables on the development of a TM system as mediated through communication. System development is measured by the degree to which team members accurately perceive other members’ expertise and the extent to which the system has differentiated its stored knowledge. This study includes theoretically derived propositions tested through a path analysis of computationally generated data. The analysis validates the five propositions and is consistent with the developmental mechanisms of TM theory. Three additional paths proved to be significant and directly connect the initial conditions with the developmental indicators at the end state model.

The Social Diffusion of Influence Among Adolescents: Group Interaction in a Chat Room Environment About Antidrug Advertisements

Abstract: One route to influence in mass communication campaigns to reduce risky behavior is through interpersonal discussion of the content of the campaign and other behaviors pertinent to those targeted by the campaign. The goal of this study was to test the effects of online group interaction among adolescents about antimarijuana advertisements on relevant attitudes and behaviors. A between-subjects post-only experimental design was used to test two crossed factors, online chat and strength of arguments in antidrug ads. A sample of 535 students was randomly assigned to one of four conditions: chat and strong-argument ads, chat and weak-argument ads, no chat and strong-argument ads, and no chat and weak-argument ads. The group interactions about antidrug ads lead to negative effects such that those who chatted reported more promarijuana attitudes and subjective normative beliefs than those who just viewed the ads. No support was found for the hypothesis that strong-argument ads would result in more antidrug beliefs relative to weak-argument ads in either the chat or the no-chat conditions. Overall, these findings suggest that viewing antidrug ads and discussing them with peers may result in deleterious effects in adolescents.

Who’s Watching Us at Work? Toward a Structural–Perceptual Model of Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance in Organizations

Abstract: Nearly 80% of organizations now employ some form of employee surveillance. This significant level of use infers a salient need for additional theory and research into the effects of monitoring and surveillance. Accordingly, this essay examines the panoptic effects of electronic monitoring and surveillance (EM/S) of social communication in the workplace and the underlying structural and perceptual elements that lead to these effects. It also provides future scholarly perspectives for studying EM/S and privacy in the organization from the vantage point of contemporary communication technologies, such as the telephone, voice mail, e-mail, and instant messaging, utilized for organizational communication. Finally, four propositions are presented in conjunction with a new communication-based model of EM/S, providing a framework incorporating three key components of the panoptic effect: (a) communication technology use, (b) organizational factors, and (c) organizational policies for EM/S.

The Perception of Distance in the Cultivation Process: A Theoretical Consideration of the Relationship Between Television Content, Processing Experience, and Perceived Distance

Abstract: This article proposes an integrative theoretical perspective of the cultivation process, starting from the notion that subjective social reality is organized in “zones of relevance,” with some social elements being closer, and some more remote, to an individual’s everyday life (L. P. Berger & T. Luckmann, 1967; A. Schutz, 1970b). Media effects are assumed to depend on such a perception of distance that modifies the mode in which television content is processed, stored, and integrated into existing beliefs and attitudes. Two notions of closeness are elaborated for television viewing: experiential closeness, emphasizing the personal biographical situation, and mediated closeness, focusing on the narrative experience. Recent theoretical approaches to cultivation and research on transportation into narratives are integrated within the framework of perceived distance.

Communication and normative influence: An introduction to the special issue.

Abstract: In recent years we have witnessed a resurgence of interest in the study of normative influences. The multitude of scholars who approach the topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives widely share the convention backed by strong empirical evidence that social norms exert a great deal of influence on human behavior and that processes of normative influence exist in a variety of contexts and situations that people encounter in their everyday lives. Still despite several efforts to link norms to behavior more explicitly much about the actual mechanisms and processes through which normative influence is exerted remains unclear. Much more work also needs to be done in specifying the role that human communication processes play in how norms are understood and disseminated in a social group. (excerpt)

A Social Judgment Theory Approach to Conducting Formative Research in a Social Norms Campaign

Abstract: The social norms approach predicts that campaign messages providing true normative information about widely misperceived health behaviors will reduce the gap between distorted perceptions versus actual practices and consequently reduce behaviors based on exaggerated norms. Formative evaluation of messages designed to effectively convey true norms informed by social judgment theory (SJT) should measure the boundaries of the latitudes of acceptance, noncommitment, and rejection for normative information. This study found that these latitudes were significantly different from one another in believability. SJT predicts that a campaign based on a norm falling in the latitude of noncommitment will be likely to be effective. A series of messages using the true norm, which fell within the latitude of noncommitment, were part of a campaign. The gap in perceived versus actual drinking and the difference in perceived number of drinks was reduced, while self-reports of consumption of five or fewer drinks increased significantly.

The Role of Positive and Negative Signaling Communication by Strong and Weak Ties in the Shaping of Safe Sex Subjective Norms of Adolescents in South Africa

Abstract: We propose the theory that subjective (injunctive) social norms are shaped through two intertwined processes: positive and negative signaling communication by the personal social network and construal of the communicated social norm. Construal is evoked by the strength of the relation between a tie and the individual. With strong ties, individuals conform to the communicated injunctive norm, while with weak ties individuals do not conform to the communicated injunctive norm. We assessed the validity of the theoretical framework in a study on condom-use norms among 98 adolescents from different cultural backgrounds in South Africa. Parent injunctive norms were significantly related to positive and negative signaling about condoms of strong ties but not to positive and negative signaling of weak ties.

On Ethics and Documentary: A Real and Actual Truth

Abstract: This article brings recent psychoanalytic theory to bear on contemporary moral opinion about ethical practice in documentary film and video. A critical distinction is made between ethics and morals, and Alain Badiou’s (1993/2001) philosophical conception of an ethic of truths is used to challenge the restrictions put upon documentary. It is argued that visual perception remains the truth of any documentary, and three modes are proposed according to which an ethic of disclosing this truth may be practiced with a view to overcome the obstacles of morality-based ethical systems.

Intermedia Processes in the Adoption of Tobacco Control Activities Among Opinion Leaders in California

Abstract: This study uses the Diffusion of Innovations Theory to examine the role of mass media–generated interpersonal communication in the adoption of antitobacco norms among opinion leaders in California. Data were collected from 503 key community opinion leaders within 18 California counties in 1997 as part of the Independent Evaluation of the California Tobacco Control Program. Results provide support for the proposition that tobacco control policies and behaviors of opinion leaders can be categorized according to stages in the innovation decision process. As hypothesized, the level of mass media–generated interpersonal communication was dependent upon an individual’s stage of adoption such that the frequency of ad discussion increased with advancing stages on the continuum. Regression analyses also confirmed a strong positive associative trend between ad discussion and stage of adoption. Further analysis provided evidence that the impact of campaign exposure on adoption of antitobacco norms was mediated through discussion of the ads, highlighting the importance of social diffusion processes. This study provides evidence regarding the importance of using a stage-based framework to understand the role of communication channels at distinct stages of innovation adoption and among various community opinion leaders.

Scope of Self: Toward a Model of Television’s Effects on Self-Complexity in Adolescence

Abstract: Identity complexity has been associated with resilience, such that people with multidimensional self-concepts appear to suffer fewer emotional and physical health problems in response to stress. Adolescence is a time to build identities and manage new stressors; therefore, self-complexity is an important topic for research concerning adolescents. Studies have explored media effects on the content of the self-concept but have largely ignored its structural properties, one of which is self-complexity. Existing communication theories, moreover, have limited applicability to self-complexity as an outcome of media exposure. Thus, theory building is needed. This article presents cross-sectional data from two studies with adolescents, the first diverse in gender, the second diverse in race. Although television viewing was linked with different self-descriptors for different gender and racial groups, it predicted decreased self-complexity for all groups except African American females. In both studies, the downturn in self-complexity occurred at about 20 hours per week. Based on these findings, the development of a new model of television’s effects on self-complexity, the Scope of Self model, is proposed. Discussion focuses on key assumptions, constructs, and processes within the model, along with its predicted applicability to different groups.

Decision Structure and the Problem of Scale in Deliberation

Abstract: Deliberation has been limited to small groups because coherence seems to require full reception, meaning that all participants receive all messages sent. Assuming that full reception actually leads to coherence ignores fundamental limits of human memory and group processes. Full reception is also not the only route to coherence because the forms of coherence desired in deliberation are decision specific and because all deliberations at least implicitly contain a structure of subdecisions. Coherent deliberation is plausible at large scales, without full reception, via a theoretical model called decision-structured deliberation. This model allows coherent contributions by participants who are unaware of large parts of the discussion and may reduce negative effects of limits of memory and group processes on the quality of deliberation.

Ritualized Transmission of Social Norms Through Wedding Photography

Abstract: This article explores the applicability of ritual theory to social norms research. Wedding photography is used as a test case to demonstrate how gender norms are perpetuated and resisted through ritualized communication practices. The author concludes that looking at social norms transmission through the lens of ritual performance brings to light three theoretical approaches that might be usefully applied to future social norms research. First, the transmission of social norms may be perpetuated and contested through the conventions associated with ritualized communication performances, rather than through the simple communication of information from one person to another. Second, since ritual performance allows or requires a degree of distancing from the ideal, individuals may resist or play with notions of injunctive norms, perhaps embracing opposing descriptive norms. Finally, since ritual communication is performative, evidence of compliance with social norms may occur symbolically rather than literally.

Friends, Judaism, and the Holiday Armadillo: Mapping a Rhetoric of Postidentity Politics

Abstract: Critical communication literature that problematizes postfeminism, therapeutic rhetoric, Whiteness, and representations of marginalized groups all point to a comprehensive rhetoric of postidentity politics, a rhetoric characterized by the assumption that identity politics are no longer relevant. In this essay, I analyze an episode of the popular television program, Friends, in which Jewish identity politics are represented. I situate my critique of this episode first within the history of Jewish representation on television but primarily as a starting point to map out the characteristics of a rhetoric of postidentity politics.

Checking the Map: Critiquing Joanne Martin's Metatheory of Organizational Culture and Its Uses in Communication Research

Abstract: Joanne Martin’s scholarship has significantly influenced the study of organizational culture by communication scholars. Martin’s recent metatheory seeks to ‘‘map’’ the ‘‘terrain’’ of perspectives commonly used to study organizational culture and argues for the use of multiple perspectives to produce more fruitful research. While acknowledging the benefits of this metatheory, we critique 2 of its problematic elements. Both arise from Martin’s claims about the phenomena of organizational culture and the various perspectives through which they might be known. The first problem involves Martin’s decoupling of ontology and epistemology, as well as her subsequent oscillation between 2 conflicting clusters of ‘‘onto-epistemological’’ claims. Partly as a result, Martin also overemphasizes the ideational dimensions of organizational culture, thereby inhibiting analysis of its production in and through communication. These problems may negatively affect how communication scholars conceptualize organizational cultural phenomena and analyze data. To mitigate these problems, we offer 2 readings derived from social constructionism, poststructuralism, and critical realism. These readings aid communication scholars in successfully using Martin’s metatheory. We conclude by considering the implications of this critique for the development of metatheory in communication.

Davidson’s Philosophy of Communication

Abstract: Donald Davidson, one of the main figures in 20th-century analytic philosophy, can be justifiably described as a philosopher of communication. In the first part of this paper, a key concept in Davidson’s philosophy—radical interpretation—is presented and explicated. Then, the second part shows how this notion bears upon key issues and problems in communication theory. It is argued that Davidson’s ideas provide support for a constitutive view of communication and that his account of the relation between communication and social convention promotes the unity of communication as a field of research. The final part of the paper discusses the ramifications of radical interpretation for the domain of intercultural communication.