The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which geographic distance and RCCUs predict relational turbulence. Specifically, following Knobloch's (2007) relational turbulence model, I examined the extent to which relational uncertainty and partner interference mediate these associations. The sample consisted of 169 participants involved in local (n = 79) and long-distance (n= 90) romantic relationships. Participants included undergraduate students completing the survey for course or extra credit and users of online romantic relationship forums. Overall, the results suggest that distance and RCCUs do predict relational turbulence, including indirect effects through relational uncertainty (for RCCUs) and partner interference (for geographic distance). The present study extends RCCUs to the experience of relational turbulence and, more practically, may help partners and practitioners mitigate turbulence in romantic relationships.

This study explored young adult siblings' use of confirming behaviors as a moderator of sibling rivalry and relational outcomes in the sibling relationship (i.e., closeness and satisfaction). Participants included 329 young adults who completed online questionnaires concerning their perceptions of their sibling relationship, including their parents' treatment of them and their siblings, sibling confirmation, sibling challenge, and closeness and satisfaction with the sibling relationship. Bivariate correlations supported the hypothesized negative associations among perceptions of parents' differential treatment (i.e., an indicator of rivalry) and sibling confirmation, challenge, closeness, and satisfaction, as well as the positive associations among sibling confirmation, challenge, closeness, and satisfaction. Multivariate tests were conducted separately for participants' perceptions of differential parental treatment that favored them and/or their siblings, and the results of these tests provided partial support for the hypothesis that sibling confirmation would mitigate the negative effects of a sibling rivalry on sibling closeness and satisfaction. Specifically, moderate to high levels of sibling confirmation from the target sibling helped mitigate the negative effect of parents' differential treatment of the target sibling on the participant's closeness and satisfaction with the target sibling. Among the more important implications of this study is the finding that confirmation moderates the negative effect of rivalry on the sibling relationship, but only when young adults report that their sibling perceives that s/he is the recipient of their parents' differential treatment.

This study explored predictors of relational maintenance behaviors within the context of friendships. Several theoretical frameworks were compared--equity theory, self-expansion theory, the relational turbulence model, and the interaction enjoyment approach. Participants included 371 young adults who completed online questionnaires concerning their perceptions of friendship maintenance behaviors with a close or casual friend. Results supported self-expansion theory, the relational turbulence model, and the interaction enjoyment approach as significant theoretical explanations of friendship maintenance behaviors. The central goal of this study was accomplished in that relational uncertainty and interaction enjoyment emerged as complementary, and even stronger, predictors of relational maintenance behaviors than the other theoretical explanations. Overall, interaction enjoyment was the strongest predictor of friendship maintenance. Conversely, the traditional equity approach received minimal support. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of these findings were discussed.

Organizational dissent is associated with a myriad of positive organizational outcomes including job satisfaction (Lutgen-Sandvik, Riforgiate, & Fletcher, 2011) and overall organizational success (Hegstrom 1990; Redding, 1985). This study investigates the relational variable of teamwork schema similarity and the organizational level variables of group atmosphere as factors which affect the expression and appropriateness of organizational dissent. Results indicate that upward dissent is considered more conversationally appropriate than lateral dissent, and that the five dimensions of group atmosphere (trust, respect, liking, open discussion, and cohesiveness) are each positively related to the expression of upward dissent.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between family characteristics and communication apprehension. McCroskey (2009) has argued that communication apprehension is the brain's response to a threat to self. Hsu (1998) asserts that the family of origin is one of the primary factors influencing an individual's proclivity to develop communication apprehension. That is, one's family of origin has the power to shape the development of positive and negative affects including anxiety about communication. Consequently, this study examined the influence of familial factors, such as birth order and family communication patterns, on communication apprehension. Results suggest that there is a relationship between family communication patterns, birth order, and communication apprehension. Future research should continue to examine birth-order from both a traditional and modified perspective and its relationship to an individual's tendency to develop trait anxiety and how a family's communication pattern reinforces the development or prevention of such.

The future participation of political volunteers is examined using the theoretical lenses of social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982) and stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984). These theories have been applied to the volunteers of non-profits (Dwiggens-Beeler, Spitzberg, & Roesch, 2012; Scott, 2007) and corporations (Donaldson & Preston, 1995), but they have not been used to examine political volunteers. The results of the non-profit research suggest that the identification, commitment, and organizational role of political volunteers should impact a volunteer's willingness to volunteer again. As these variables can be communication-based, the communication satisfaction of the volunteers is also hypothesized as a factor in future participation. Results indicate that these four variables all predict the likelihood of political volunteers to continue their work with a campaign. This result is discussed in terms of theoretical and practical implications, and future directions are suggested.

Using family communication patterns theory (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002a), this study tested the degree to which joint family storytelling mediates the relationship between family communication patterns (i.e., conversation and conformity orientations) and family strength. Participants consisted of 267 young adults from first-marriage families. The results indicated that conversation orientation is positively associated with both joint family storytelling behaviors (i.e., engagement, polite turn-taking, perspective-taking and coherence) and family strength, while conformity orientation is negatively associated with various joint family storytelling behaviors and family strength. The results also indicated that joint family storytelling partially mediates the relationship between family conversation and conformity orientations and family strength. Specifically, the level of engagement and politeness of turn-taking mediate the relationship between conversation orientation and family strengths, while perspective-taking and the politeness of turn-taking mediate the relationship between conformity orientation and family strength.

Walt Disney's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (released May 28, 2010) and Sophia The First: Once Upon a Princess (released November 18, 2012) are two entertainment pieces marketed as fantasies for mass audience consumption that use White actors/representations to tell the story of a non-White character. After historically placing race in film, defining whitewashing and its relation to Eurocentrism, and revealing the scarcity of leading roles for minorities, analysis of both The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess utilizes John Fiske's Three Levels of Coding with insight through Stuart Hall's interpretation of Antonio Gramsci's hegemony. Eurocentrism is therefore identified within whitewashing and revealed as a continuation of White favortism in modern entertainment media.

Churches provide a structured medium for human spiritual experiences (Ammerman, 2005) and as such are structured around a set of organizationally unique purposes and beliefs. This research project focuses on the leadership teams of a start-up church organization founded in Denver, CO. Guided by Structuration Theory (Giddens, 1984), Communicative Constitution of Organization through the Four Flows (McPhee & Zaug, 2000), and Organizational Identification (Scott, Corman, & Cheney, 1998), the bi-directional relationship between leaders and the organization was qualitatively examined and analyzed. Specifically, membership negotiation is seen through the constructs of formal structure and identity. The negotiation process was evident in the team through the process of communicating and enacting a DNA metaphor. Membership negotiation is found to encompass the negotiation of individual and organizational identity, as well as organizational identification. The church leadership team, as it currently functions, demonstrates the complexity of identity construction and maintenance within a highly participative and belief driven organization. Through this research there are implications for concertive control and organizational identification negating some of the role tensions for organizational leaders. Overall, structure and agency within the Pearl Church organization is the result of communicative negotiation of importance, belonging, and purpose.

This dissertation examines if and how technological innovation influences market structure of the media industry. The empirical focus is twofold: 1) to measure and quantify the level of ownership concentration and competition (i.e., market structure) of the U.S. media industry, and 2) to examine the market structure of the media industry as a function of the adoption of three different media technologies, including television, cable television, and the Internet. OLS regression analysis is employed to address the following research question: How do technological innovations affect the market structure of the media industry? Results of the study provide support for the idea that changes in the adoption rates of television and cable television lead to changes in the market structure of the media industry. The study, however, identifies challenges associated with collecting sufficient data to reach solid conclusions. Finally, the study makes recommendations for future studies that could overcome these challenges and building upon the findings resulting from this study.