This purpose of this study was to examine the basic trait assumption of the Willingness to Communicate-Trait Form instrument (McCroskey & Richmond, 1985) in the university environment. McCroskey and Richmond's instrument contains only one target type. In order to test the trait assumption, an instrument was created to measure subjects' willingness to communicate with a different target type: university authority figures.The trait assumption posits that persons with a high level of willingness to communicate in one context or with one receiver type should also have a high level of willingness to communicate in other contexts and with other receiver types. It was found that subjects who scored high on the Willingness to Communicate-Trait Form also had high willingness to communicate with authority figures in all communication contexts tested (dyad, meeting, small group, public). Thus, support was demonstrated for the assumption that willingness to communicate is a traitlike phenomenon.The conceptual definition of willingness to communicate is discussed and conceptual correlates were introduced. It was recommended that future research be continued in the willingness to communicate and related communication areas. / Department of Speech Communication

There is a dearth in the literature examining the relationship between emotion and indirect language interpretation. The present research examined the influence of mood, using Forgas’ (1995) affect infusion model (AIM), on the interpretation of indirect meaning (Holtgraves, 1998). Following a mood induction task, participants engaged in a computerized language task (Holtgraves, 2000). Following the AIM, it was predicted that as reply-type became more complex and ambiguous, mood would have a greater influence on the interpretation of the reply-type as positive or negative. The results of the study did not follow from the predictions and the reasons for this are discussed. / Department of Psychological Science

Thesis (MTech (Public Relations Management))--Cape Technikon, 2004. / This case study set out to determine the extent to which communication satisfaction exists amongst the employees of a Gauteng based utility. This is important firstly, because employees influence the quality of external relationships and secondly, employees are critical stakeholders in organisational goal achievement. The Utility has a critical, strategic, public function in supplying potable water daily to about 12 million people in Gauteng. The Utility's Corporate Business Plan for the period 2003 to 2008 expressed the strategic intent to transform the organisation into a customer orientated organisation. This transformation is underpinned by, inter alia, Organisational Culture Change. The improvement of internal communication was amongst the initiatives undertaken by the Company to promote an organisational culture more reflective of its values. The management communication issue of not knowing whether communication satisfaction exists amongst the employees of The Utility militates against the effectiveness of The Utility's internal communication. In turn, the effectiveness of its internal communication impacts on the organisation's intentions of affecting an organisational culture change and transforming into a customer orientated organisation. To determine the extent to which communication satisfaction exists is therefore important in the facilitation of such a culture change. The study was positioned in the communication domain, more specifically the sub-domain of management communication. The meta-theoretical framework of the study was the Excellence theory of public relations and communication management. The literature study clarified the major concept of communication satisfaction, as well as its constructs. The second concept of the study, relating to supervisory communication skills, was also described.

This study involves an examination of hospital personnel's self-perceived ability to communicate with each other. In the process of pursuing this investigation, information on the perceived and observed ability to communicate was gathered to allow comparisons. The purpose of the study was to add to the existing body of knowledge regarding perception and communication in a hospital organization. The study was planned to test the following hypothesis: There is no significant difference between hospital personnel's self ratings of their communication effectiveness as measured by means of an Interstaff Communication Questionnaire, and their observed communication act scores which were obtained through Bales' Interaction Process Analysis. Data on the self-perception of hospital personnel's ability to communicate was secured by means of a questionnaire. Data on the observed effectiveness of communication came from another researcher, (McGill) who utilized Bales' Interaction Process Analysis. Both studies were conducted simultaneously on the same population. The study population included 165 members of different staff categories who were considered major communicators within the hospital organization. Analysis of data included frequency tables converted into relative values expressed in percentages. These results were depicted in bar graphs to facilitate comparison between the perceived and observed ability to communicate. The findings of the study showed that no hospital staff group is able to accurately access or evaluate its own communication effectiveness. Thus, the findings fail to support the hypothesis of the study. The study recommends that health team members progress in their understandings of what constitutes accurate perception and effective communication. Furthermore, since 40-50% of some categories of hospital staff think that no communication takes place, further investigation of this area of health team communication should be initiated. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of doctor of literature and philosophy in the subject communication science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2000. / This study investigates the ontological and psychological conditions of the process of prevenient message making leading to the constitution of the communicative self. It articulates the dimension of prevenience involved in the process of message making contextualized within the emerging computer-mediated communication milieu. The study clarifies the significance of associating prevenient message making with the development of the communicative self with respect to constituting oneself as a contemporary in contradistinction to the contingent. In the context of human communication, the study presents a • particular focus on authenticity associated with the communicator as a genuine individual. In developing a linkage between prevenient message making and the communicative self, the study traces the traditional Christian theological concept of prevenient grace in its ultimately spiritual roots. It situates prevenient message making in the context of a more fundamental understanding of intra and interpersonal communication, and orientates the thesis within the work of key thinkers such as Simone Weil, Soren Kierkegaard, George Simmel, and Martin Versfeld.

No description available.

The following Chapters present an account and evidence that development direction, a previously unexplored characteristic of performance feedback, reveals asymmetries in the transmission and acceptance of feedback. In short, I argue that feedback advising development in the direction of a decrease (e.g., “be less assertive,” “stop overanalyzing decisions”) is less likely to be transmitted by feedback providers, and less likely to be acted upon by feedback recipients, than feedback advising development in the direction of an increase (e.g., “be more assertive,” “analyze decisions more”). In a series of studies concerning roleplay negotiations, leadership effectiveness, and workplace behavior, I find people are more likely to transmit and embrace feedback to “do more” rather than “do less.” The first Chapter focuses on the behavioral dimension of assertiveness. Especially in workplace and negotiation contexts, assertiveness can lead to harmful consequences if over-or under-exhibited. Thus, breakdowns in the transmission and acceptance of assertiveness feedback, whether it directs the target to “be more assertive” or “be less assertive”, are consequential and merit special attention. The scope of the second Chapter is broadened beyond assertiveness, gauging feedback of opposing development directions that pertains to a wider set of behavioral dimensions. Here, the account in Chapter I is revisited and two processes that may underlie the asymmetric effect are tested. In short, Chapters I and II present evidence that not all “bad news” in feedback is treated equally. Instead, “do less” (vs. “do more”) feedback is especially susceptible to communication failures. Chapter III contains an overarching discussion of the findings as well as theoretical implications for the feedback and assertiveness literatures and practical suggestions for improving workplace development dynamics. Finally, additional questions are addressed in the Appendix with further analyses of data presented in Chapters I and II as well as examination of additional data.

This study examined state-receiver apprehension and uncertainty as they relate to each other and to information seeking and confirmation of relational predictions in initial interactions.

No description available.

This study examines the differences between interaction in Internet chat rooms and face to face communication and the effect those differences have on the development of social capital. Much has been written recently regarding the decline of social capital as evidenced by decreasing membership in small organizations. However, relatively little has been written about the potential for social capital to be_ developed through other forms of interaction. Results of this study indicate that though there are differences in the two experimental groups, there are no statistically significant differences between them. / Department of Political Science