This study examines factors associated with the frequency with which users of location-based social networks (LBSNs) "check-in" with their "friends." In addition to a variety of control factors (i.e., sex homophily, race homophily, geographic proximity, length of friendship, and "friendship" type, including non-romantic friend, romantic partner, and family), the central factors of interest were users' background and attitude homophily with, and relational closeness to, their "friends." Results demonstrate that relational closeness and "friendship" type (i.e., romantic partner) were significantly, positively associated with "check-in" frequency.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was basically twofold: 1) to develop an evaluative instrument to measure interpersonal communicative competence, and 2) to determine its relationship to three other supervisory variables—demographic characteristics, self-actualization, and leader behavior. Hypotheses testing, via the Pearson correlation coefficient, indicated the following relationships between interpersonal communicative competence (as measured by the IICC) and supervisory demographics, self-actualization (as measured by the POI), and leader behavior (as measured by the SBDQ): 1) The age of the supervisor was negatively related to the IICC at the .001 level of statistical significance. 2) Years of formal education was positively related to the IICC at the .001 level. 3) The sex of the supervisor (females scoring higher) was related to the IICC at the .01 level. 4) No significant relationship existed between years of supervisory experience and the IICC. 5) Six scales of the POI (I, Ex, Fr, S, A, C) were related to the IICC at the .001 level of statistical significance, one scale (Sy) at the .01 level and two scales (Tc, Sa) at the .05 level. Three scales (SAV, Sr, Nc) were not significantly related to the IICC. 6) No significant relationship existed between the IICC and the two dimensions of leader behavior—structure and consideration.

No description available.

This study investigated the communication experiences of adoptive parents of children transracially adopted from Vietnam. Though adoption has been extensively studied in communication research, transracial adoptions involving children from Vietnam has not. Thus, this study examined adoptive parent communication experiences using dialectic theory and relational dialectics. By examining adoptive parents’ communication with their adopted child and others, we can determine tensions that occur in different communication experiences. Data were collected through eight qualitative in-depth interviews conducted with adoptive parents of children from Vietnam. Openness with both strangers and the adopted child(ren) and preservation of key aspects of the adopted children’s original culture emerged as themes in adoptive parent communication. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

No description available.

<p>The hyperpersonal model predicts computer-mediated communication can allow for relationships formed in that medium to become more intimate than their offline counterparts. Specifically, it combines ideas first presented in social information processing (i.e., that the volume of information exchanged over time within computer-mediated relationship is more important than how long it takes to exchange that volume) with the technological affordances given to the sender, receiver, message, and channel in order to create a feedback loop of assumed good intentions within the CMC medium that allows for online relationships to surpass face-to-face relationships in terms of their emotional intimacy. Existing research has shown that a variety of factors influence how people feel about an online friend, including the richness of the medium, personality, and the amount of emotional self-disclosure that had been exchanged within the relationship. However, studies to date have inconsistently measured self-disclosure and largely rely on survey or experimental methods rather than the examination of existing text-based datasets. This study proposes and tests a model that the relationship between an initial person’s emotional self-disclosure and the reciprocal self-disclosure the friend responds with in a CMC medium is mediated by the degree to which their language converges, or the degree to which they empathize with each other, and is moderated by the volume of text exchanged by the pairs during their relationship. The study uses a corpus of the text messages exchanged between 2,174 pairs of people. The results indicate that there is an indirect relationship between initial self-disclosure and reciprocal self-disclosure which is mediated by is empathetic convergence. Furthermore, the volume of information exchanged may also play a role in some of these interactions. This study offers implications and suggestions for refining the hyperpersonal model to be applicable in the current digital zeitgeist.</p>

During the 21st century, colleges have increasingly leveraged online-based courses as a means of instruction, and although public speaking ability is among employers’ most in-demand skills for college graduates, there exists a scarcity of research measuring students’ public speaking skill development in online courses. Even fewer studies measure public speaking skill development in online courses compared to the same skill development in classroom-based versions of the same courses taught by the same instructors. Given this background, the current study used analysis of variance with repeated measures to determine whether face-to-face Business Communication students’ presentation skills improved more than, less than, or the same as those of online Business Communication students. This design enabled measurement of the dependent variable of presentation skill improvement, in groups of students separated by the independent variable of course delivery format—classroom or online—over time. This design also allowed the researcher to control for the variable of instructor; instructor bias was controlled for by only comparing students enrolled with, and therefore taught and evaluated by, the same instructor in both modalities. Furthermore, to uncover additional findings related to student choice of and success in online courses, two more sets of analyses were conducted. The first computed change scores between the repeated-measures tests for each of the eight assessment criteria, as well as the total across the eight criteria, and correlated these change scores with other student data where this analysis was appropriate (for example, with SAT/ACT scores). The second set of analyses added blocking variables—sex, race, and other background data—to the analysis of variance with repeated measures. Evident from these analyses was that the rate at which public speaking sub-skills developed over the ten-week period between repeated-measures assessments was not uniform. Changes in performance varied by assessment criterion, course modality, and student background. Online student performance tended to improve at a marginally greater rate in assessments of Body Language and tended to diminish at a marginally lesser rate in assessments of Quality & Quantity of Information, whereas face-to-face student performance improved at a significantly greater rate in assessments of Audience & Team Engagement. In this latter criterion, the performance of online male students decreased somewhat, whereas the other subgroups—per sex and course modality—showed essentially no difference in the rate of improvement from pre-test to post-test. Additional findings suggested that online students tended to work more employment hours than classroom-based students and that, regardless of course modality, the higher the education level a student’s parents have attained, the more likely the student was to make learning gains in the course. / Educational Administration

Este estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar referenciais de competências comunicativas interpessoais e propor bases teórico-metodológicas para o aprendizado da comunicação interpessoal no ensino da Enfermagem. Abordando questões norteadoras sobre competência em comunicação interpessoal, utilizou-se referencial teórico de comunicação e método de análise de conteúdo em 13 discursos de professores de Enfermagem, especialistas em comunicação. Os resultados obtidos representam que a competência em comunicação é um processo interpessoal que deve atingir o objetivo dos comunicadores, pressupor conhecimentos básicos de comunicação, ter consciência do verbal e do não-verbal nas interações, atuar com clareza e objetividade, promover o autoconhecimento e, conseqüentemente, ter a possibilidade de uma vida mais autêntica. Os sujeitos relatam que a expressão da competência comunicativa está, necessariamente, no vivenciar o cotidiano profissional e pessoal, ouvindo o outro, prestando atenção na comunicação não-verbal, validando a compreensão das mensagens, sendo capaz de eliminar as barreiras impostas à comunicação, demonstrando afetividade e investindo no autoconhecimento. O desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa verifica-se pelo estímulo recebido desde a graduação, pelas leituras de aprofundamento do tema, pela prática profissional e realização de pesquisas e publicações na área. O ganho alcançado com a competência em comunicação interpessoal resulta em relações profissionais e pessoais mais significativas, maior autoconsciência e aceitação das diferenças do outro, ampliação dos caminhos do ensino e da pesquisa e conquista de um bem-estar. Os teóricos mais citados como referenciais, pelos sujeitos do estudo, foram: Stefanelli MC., Silva MJP., Travelbee J., Littlejohn SW., Davis F., Rogers CR., Sullivan HS., Ruesch J., Peplau HE., Bales RF. e Moscovici F. As bases metodológicas propostas para o aprendizado e ensino da comunicação interpessoal em Enfermagem, são: assumir a comunicação como base para o cuidar, ensinar os fundamentos teóricos da comunicação no início da graduação, desenvolver a competência de todos os professores em comunicação, vincular a prática assistencial com o ensino da comunicação, acompanhar a progressão da competência comunicativa no aluno e vivenciar a comunicação efetiva com as pessoas na escola. Os resultados que emergiram deste estudo permitem considerar a competência em comunicação interpessoal, como uma habilidade fundamental a ser adquirida pelo enfermeiro, sabendo que esta lhe possibilitará um cuidar consciente, verdadeiro e transformador. / This study aimed at characterizing references of interpersonal communicative competence and proposing theoretical methodological bases for interpersonal communication learning on nursing teaching. Through guiding questions about competence on interpersonal communication, the theoretical reference of communication and the method of the content analysis in thirteen communication expert nursing teachers’ speeches were used. The results show that competence in communication is an interpersonal process which must reach the communicator’s objectives, require basic knowledge of communication, have verbal and non-verbal perception in the interactions, act clearly and objectively, develop self-knowledge and, therefore lead to the possibility of a more legitimate life. The subjects report that the communicative competence expression is necessarily, in the living of the professional and personal every day life, listening to the other, perceiving nonverbal communication, validating the message understanding, being able to break communication barriers, showing affection and developing self-knowledge. The development of a communicative competence has been reached by the stimulus received since the undergraduation course, by reading deeply the theme, by professional practice and by accomplishing research as well as publishing in the field. The benefits originated from competence in interpersonal communication lead to a more significant professional and personal relationship, a better self-knowledge and acceptance of the other’s differences, a widening on ways of teaching and researching as well as an achievement of welfare. The most cited theorists as reference by the study subjects were as follows: Stefanelli MC., Silva MJP., Travelbee J., Littlejohn SW., Davis F., Rogers CR., Sullivan HS., Ruesch J., Peplau HE., Bales RF. E Moscovici F. The target methodological bases for interpersonal communication learning and teaching in nursing are: assuming communication as the basis for caring, teaching the communication theoretical principles in the beginning of the undergraduation course, developing the communication competence of all teachers, linking assistance practice to communication teaching, following the student communicative competence progression and living the effective communication with people in the school. The results coming out from this study allow us to consider competence in interpersonal communication as a major ability to be acquired by the nurse, being aware that it will enable a conscious, true, and transforming care.

Este estudo objetivou conhecer as expectativas do paciente fora de possibilidades terapêuticas e sob cuidados paliativos com relação à assistência de enfermagem durante o processo de morrer, assim como identificar as necessidades destes pacientes relacionadas à comunicação com a equipe de enfermagem. Os dados foram coletados no primeiro semestre de 2005, por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas com questões norteadoras, junto a trinta e nove pacientes oncológicos sem prognóstico de cura, com limitação na capacidade de realizar atividades e submetidos à quimioterapia paliativa em uma instituição hospitalar da cidade de São Paulo. Após transcrição fiel das falas, os dados foram analisados segundo a metodologia de análise do conteúdo. Dos discursos dos entrevistados emergiram seis categorias, que evidenciaram o sofrimento multidimensional do câncer e seu tratamento, o fato de que apesar do sofrimento, a vida continua; a espiritualidade e a família enquanto fontes de apoio e estímulo para o enfrentamento da doença oncológica avançada. Revelam ainda a assistência de enfermagem desejada e o papel de destaque que representam a comunicação e o relacionamento interpessoal para quem enfrenta o processo de morrer. Concluiu-se que os pacientes entrevistados resgataram o valor da relação humana baseada na empatia e compaixão como base para o cuidado que esperam, desejando do profissional de enfermagem habilidade técnico-científica para a realização de ações que aliviam o sofrimento, especialmente o adequado controle da dor, comportamento empático e compassivo, informação e suporte emocional. A comunicação interpessoal comprovou ser importante atributo do cuidado paliativo à medida que o valor atribuído à mesma sobressaiu-se dos discursos, evidenciando a atenção dada aos sinais não–verbais do profissional para o estabelecimento do vínculo de confiança, a necessidade da presença compassiva, o desejo de não focar a interação e o relacionamento apenas na doença e morte e a valorização da comunicação verbal alegre, que privilegia o otimismo e o bom humor. / The objective of this study was to know the expectations of the patients who have no therapeutic possibilities and who are under palliative care regarding nursing assistance during the dying process, as well as to identify these patients’ needs related to communication with the nursing team. The data were collected during the first semester of 2005, through half-structured interviews with guided questions, among 39 oncologic patients without healing prognosis, having a limited capacity to perform activities and subjected to palliative chemotherapy in a hospital institution of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. After loyal transcription of the speeches, the data were analyzed according to the methodology of content analysis. From the interviewee speeches six categories emerged that proved the multidimensional suffering of cancer and its treatment, the fact that regardless of the suffering, life goes on; that spirituality and the family while acting as sources of support provide stimulation for confronting an advanced oncologic disease. The interviewees also revealed the nursing assistance which they desire and the role of note which represented the communication and interpersonal relationship for those who face the dying process. Therefore, it can be concluded that the interviewed patients redeemed the value of human relationships based on empathy and compassion as basis for the care they expect, desiring from the nursing professional a technical-scientific ability to perform actions necessary to relieve the suffering, especially an adequate control of pain, empathy and compassionate behavior, well informed and emotionally supportive. Interpersonal communication proved to be an important attribution to palliative care as long as its value has been prominent in the speeches, paying particular attention to the non-verbal signs of the professional for establishing a link of trust, the necessity of compassionate presence, the desire of not focusing the interaction and the relationship only on the disease and death and in its place concentrating on a cheerful verbal communication favoring optimism and good humor.