<p> Thinspiration and pro eating disorder (&ldquo;pro ana&rdquo;) social media content is prevalent and widely used by sufferers of eating disorders (ED). The risks associated with thinspiration and pro anorexia social media include continued disordered eating, poor self-esteem and perpetual body image dissatisfaction leading to depression and other psychological problems. However, little is known about why females continue to seek out this media or what are the reported impacts of continued usage. The goal of this research is to expand on current knowledge of the influence of social media imagery such as &ldquo;thinspiration&rdquo; and &ldquo;pro ana&rdquo; on disordered eating. The researcher qualitatively examined if sufferers use thinspiration to further their eating disorders (ED) and if sufferers report negative uses, feelings, behavior, family problems, life choices, body-image satisfaction or dissatisfaction when using social media platforms that promote or participate in thinspiration or pro ana. The study employed a confidential internet survey of 20 females, 18 years or older. Feedback was evaluated using a qualitative content analysis. Additionally, the author used the &ldquo;uses and gratification theory&rdquo; to explain how sufferers gravitate toward and participate in damaging social media platforms to prolong their ED. Young females suffering from ED reported using social media as part of their daily lives and reported negative impacts from this influence such as trouble with school, relationships, negative self-esteem, guilt, depression and body image dissatisfaction. The implications of these findings are discussed throughout the paper. It was concluded that thinspiration and pro ana social media represent a powerful and often damaging communication medium for those suffering from ED and can be a contributing factor to the severity and length of disordered eating.</p>

<p> Today people are more connected by technology than ever, but the impact of changing preferences for interacting on communication is still largely unknown. Differing levels of richness in modes of communication as determined by media richness theory were examined as a function of participants' accuracy and certainty in interpreting ambiguous messages. A sample of 111 undergraduate student participants were randomly assigned to text, audio, or video condition groups where they read, heard, or viewed ambiguous stimuli in four emotional tone categories (affection, aggression, sarcasm, and wit/humor) in an online survey. Findings included significant positive correlations between accuracy and certainty overall; when separated by condition, the association between accuracy and certainty was significant in the richest communication condition (video) across all four emotional tone categories and in the leanest condition (text) for affectionate messages only. Overall, there was a significant main effect for condition on accuracy scores, with the richest (video) condition having highest accuracy scores across the majority of emotional tone categories. Affectionately toned message accuracy was the exception, with higher accuracy scores in the moderately rich audio condition. Generally, the moderately rich condition produced accuracy rates that were lower than the richest condition but higher than the leanest (text) condition. Across all emotional categories, the leanest condition had significantly lower accuracy scores. There were no significant differences in certainty scores between conditions. In summary, while accuracy decreased in leaner forms of communication, individuals' confidence in their ability to accurately perceive messages remained stable across all communication mediums and emotional categories. This suggests people tend to be overconfident in their ability to accurately perceive messages; they may be unaware interpretational accuracy can vary significantly both across emotional tone and by medium, with accuracy decreasing most in text-based interactions. These findings could be used to help individuals better predict when to use richer forms of communication mediums to avoid misunderstandings, or to at least be more aware when their messages may be less clear. Additionally, the certainly findings support that richness alone does not predict media choices as participants did not appear to consider richness as a factor in effectively conveying meaning in their perceived understanding of information. </p>

<p> Knowledge sharing has been shown in studies to positively impact team performance. Understanding methods that could lead to deliberate knowledge-sharing could be beneficial for teams. Reflexivity is the degree to which team members communicate the team&rsquo;s objectives, strategies, and limitations in order to mitigate unexpected situations. Reflexivity was examined with a motivational theory of goal orientation to test how team motivation influenced reflexivity&rsquo;s impact on knowledge sharing and team performance. Furthermore, diversity in goal orientation was studied to gauge how diverse motives of team members influenced team performance. Results indicated no support for reflexivity improving knowledge sharing; however, the experiment found performance-oriented teams performed faster on tasks and motivational diversity decreased knowledge sharing. These results give a better understanding towards how reflexivity and team motivation impacts knowledge sharing and team performance. </p><p>

An effective nonverbal delivery style is generally recognized as vital to the success of persuasive communications. However, surprisingly little research has examined the role of nonverbal behavior in actual attitude change. The current research investigated whether the nonverbal behavior closely associated with communication influenced message processing and attitude change. In two studies, participants were exposed to videotaped persuasive messages about an issue of low involvement. These messages varied in verbal content and nonverbal delivery style. In Experiment 1, participants were exposed to strong or weak arguments delivered expressively or unexpressively. The effects of these message factors on impressions, attitudes, and message memory were assessed. In Experiment 2, participants either high or low in need for cognition (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) were exposed to the target message and a distractor message. Their impressions, attitudes, message related thoughts and message memory were assessed. Converging evidence from both studies indicated that the nonverbal behavior of a speaker acted as a message processing cue which influenced the motivation of observers to thoughtfully process the persuasive messages. This effect was moderated by individual differences in need for cognition in a manner consistent with the idea that a speaker's nonverbal behavior affects motivation to process message related information.

<p> The workforce in today&rsquo;s organizations is increasingly diverse, including racial, ethnic, cultural, gender, age, sexual orientation, personality, motivation, values, and a multitude of other differences. These differences are often a source of friction and conflict in work groups, whether or not the conflict is openly expressed. Yet they can also add significant value to groups by providing a richer work experience and a broader pool of knowledge from which to solve problems and make decisions. The literature on this topic crosses multiple disciplinary boundaries, and includes social psychology, conflict studies, linguistics, political science, and management. Research on the performance of diverse work groups has been inconclusive, and has left us with limited understanding of the way in which difference plays out in groups, how group members make meaning of their differences, and how these differences shape and are shaped by group interactions. The research, using a social constructionist frame, analyzed videotapes of actual group interactions using a CMM methodology and compared group interactions to group member perceptions of difference and performance to achieve a deeper understanding of the dynamics of difference and performance in work groups. It found that groups that were relationally generative (i.e., that achieved better results than those of their individual members) had unique patterns that included a description of differences as strengths, better listening, stronger consensus, balanced participation, and inviting and building on each others&rsquo; ideas.</p>

<p> Research has demonstrated that gossip meets many social and individual needs and serves several functions, often conflicting in the literature. The current study focused on examining the experiences of mothers as they publicly share and privately consume celebrity gossip to better understand celebrity gossip's functions. Motherhood is a demanding role filled with uncertainty and information seeking, as mothers seek to understand what constitutes a "good mother." Given that mothers may selectively seek and expose themselves to content to gain information, reduce uncertainty and to find validation they are a "good mother," this study revealed that participation in celebrity gossip plays a functional role by meeting both social and individual needs in these mothers' lives. Of particular interest however, was the exploration of the relationship between the public sharing and private consumption of celebrity gossip. Three focus groups and six individual interviews were conducted with mothers who enjoy sharing and consuming celebrity gossip. A Grounded Theory approach was used to analyze the data, revealing eight emergent categories. The study found that while celebrity gossip does meet social and individual functions, the process is also more complex, involving a simultaneous interaction taking place when mothers publicly share and privately consume celebrity gossip. </p>

<p> This study investigated the role of pre-deliberation leading to a group consensus-based decision in government planning. Six people from local municipalities in Skagit County participated in a 5-question in-person interview study process with qualitative measures. Existing literature on consensus decision making and informal pre-meeting discussions, identified in the study as pre-deliberation, is limited. The researcher was concerned with understanding elements from communication theory that support a communication process leading to group decisions in a recent government planning project. Therefore, five variables were measured in this study: needs and concerns, understanding the positions of others, facilitating group decisions, accountability, and successful partnerships. In analyzing the empirical data, the researcher found evidence to support the notion that pre-meeting discussions improve decision making. Future research may further address gender and age implications, and the role or impact of open meeting laws in government planning.</p>

<p> This thesis is a partial replication of a previous study by Lee, Choi, Kim, and Kim (2014). This study was conducted in order to better understand how young American voters ages 18&ndash;35 interacted with their political social networks and how those networks influenced their political behavior through the lens of their social network sites&mdash;such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Social Network Theory was used as a foundation for this study because it provides a theoretical explanation as to how social networks are formed and how humans typically interact with their networks. The variables Network Heterogeneity, Opinion Polarization, Social Network Site Usage, and Political Discussion were measured. A series of Pearson&rsquo;s r correlation and stepwise multiple regressions were run in order to ascertain the relationships between the four variables. The major result of the study found a significant relationship between Network Heterogeneity and Opinion Polarization, which potentially indicates that having a diverse social network can lead to polarized political opinions. The results of this study lead to multiple opportunities for future study in both the fields of communication and political science.</p><p>

<p> This study investigates how professional sports organizations are using social media to develop long-term relationships with supporters as well as to explore additional functionalities social media have within their marketing and communication strategies. This qualitative comparative case study uses relationship marketing as the base theory and semi-structure interviews as the method of data collection. The interviews were performed to key marketing and communication personnel of the Saint Louis Rams (Rams) of the National Football League (NFL) and the LA Galaxy (Galaxy) of the Major League Soccer (MLS) in order to gather valuable insight into this phenomenon.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.