This study examines text messaging behavior of ETSU undergraduates. Data come from a survey of 485 students enrolled during the 2010 fall semester. The current study explores the effects of sex, age, and extroversion on (1) the volume of texts a person sends and (2) preferences for texting or calling. The study also explores the use of cell phones as a means of avoiding others during co-present interaction. Findings reveal that age is the strongest predictor of text messaging, with younger respondents being more likely to text. The study also finds that women prefer texting, while men prefer voice calls. Age affects preference as well, with younger respondents preferring texting and older respondents preferring voice calls. The study also finds that women are much more likely to use cell phones to avoid others during co-present interaction.

Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The use of communication technologies has brought changes to our daily ways of doing things. Youth use technology for different purposes at different locations. As technology grows everyday with various advantages, its benefits come along with some disadvantages. Road accidents are one of the major problems that South Africa experiences. The focus of this study was to explore the danger of texting and driving and its potentials for road accidents. This research focused on the negative impact of technology, mainly technological distraction, while driving. Broadly, this research looks at the social and cultural impact of texting and mobility, with specific focus on distracted driving. This study is significant in the social analysis of technology use and distraction; this significance is made more important considering that there is very limited study of this social issue in South Africa. The always-available communication culture (such as texting while driving) should be viewed as a problematic phenomenal. For data collection, the researcher conducted a survey with adults and youth drivers to explore the perceptions and attitudes of drivers towards cell phone use, texting and driving. The researcher also conducted roadside observations of drivers to investigate the occurrence of distracted driving due to technology use, and interviews were conducted with Traffic Officers to share their professional experience on observing incidences of texting and driving. The study reveals that technology use, texting and driving is a common problem among young drivers, while adults tend to be more careful and engage less in this activity. Aspect of the findings of the study shows that 60% of drivers report that they have sent a text while driving. Moreover, the study explores ways of curbing cell phone use texting and driving on South African roads. There should be more research on distracted driving and technology use, so that more suggestions on how to curb technology use while driving can be offered

Using a modified still-face procedure the present study explores 3-6-month-old infants' behavioral and physiological responses to mothers' screen distractions during mother-infant interactions. In the modified phone still-face procedure the neutral face of the traditional still face procedure was replaced with mothers' texting on their mobile phones. Infants' cortisol stress responses to mothers' device use were assessed through the collection of 3 infant saliva samples. Infants' behavioral responses including facial expressions, vocalizations, gaze and self-comforting behaviors were also explored. All mother-infant interactions were videoed recorded and coded for analysis. Thirty-four mother-infant dyads participated, average ages for mothers was 29 years and 4.4 months for infants. As predicted, infants demonstrated the changes in affect associated with the still-face effect, with significant differences in positive and negative affect during the play phases and the phone still face phase. As a whole, infants did not respond with increased cortisol responses, however, when individual differences were explored 47% responded with increased stress during mothers' phone distractions. Mother's frequency and attitudes towards device use were also assessed but were unrelated to infant responses. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

No description available.

The impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on relational behavior is a topic of increasing interest to communication scholars (McQuillen, 2003; Tidwell & Walther, 2002). One of the most interesting issues that CMC raises concerns the impact of CMC on relational maintenance and development. Using dialectical theory, social exchange theory, social information processing theory, and the hyperpersonal perspective as theoretical frameworks, this study used quantitative and qualitative analyses to identity potential effects of CMC on relationships. Study 1 (n=317) examined the effects of CMC on relational closeness, satisfaction, and social support. Study 2 (n=196) explored the reasons individuals provide for privileging computer-mediated forms of communication, and the perceived effects of using CMC in relational communication. Results indicated that quality of CMC predicted increased perceptions of social support and relationship satisfaction. Results further suggested that CMC enabled participants to manage more effectively relational tensions of autonomy-connection and openness-closedness. Specifically, individuals used CMC to retain higher levels of conversational control, and to maintain greater numbers of relationships with decreased levels of investment. This paper concludes with a discussion of implications and directions for future research.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Emotional communication is fundamental to everyday interaction. How well emotions are communicated is crucial to interpersonal relationships and individual well-being. Emotional communication in instant messaging (IM), however, can be challenging because of the absence of visual and aural nonverbal behaviors. Despite the growing number of technologically-focused solutions for supporting emotional communication in IM, limited design research has been done to study the actual users’ behaviors in communicating their emotion in IM and strategies they use to adapt emotional communication in this medium, with the purpose of establishing design solutions to support users' emotional communication. Connecting several bodies of HCI, design, and communication literature in the context of IM, this dissertation critically examines how users communicate emotion in IM and accordingly establishes user-centered multi-touch gesture based design solutions to support emotional communication in this medium. Understanding how users communicate their emotion in IM, the design issues, and corresponding design solutions help researchers and designers to support the user's emotional needs, resulting in the improvement of emotional communication strategies in IM.