Recently, the role of guilt within interpersonal relationships has come under scrutiny. This research, though informative, has been primarily gleaned from retrospective accounts. This investigation examines guilt virtually as it is elicited in friendship and significant-other dyads, probing the following issues: (a) experienced guilt and perceptions of conversational appropriateness as they relate to relational satisfaction and relational interdependence, (b) the association between elicitors' and targets' perceptions of relational transgression and relational satisfaction, (c) elicitors' perceptions of predicted and actual outcomes of guilt elicitation, (d) effects of guilt elicitation on targets' perceptions of the relationship, (e) self-esteem's effect on targets' experienced guilt, and (f) effects of relationship type (i.e., friends vs. significant others) on the above. Results indicate that relationship type is associated with intensity of the guilt appeal, and is a factor in the link between relational interdependence and perceptions of a guilt appeal's appropriateness. Additionally relationship type, relational interdependence, and relational satisfaction offered some demonstration of moderating the usage and reception of guilt. Relational satisfaction evidenced no association with partners' perceptions of the relational transgression, while self-esteem demonstrated a near significant association with experienced guilt. Content analyses of elicitors' perceptions of predicted and actual outcomes and targets' perceptions of relational meanings of guilt appeals are presented.

Findings from a host of prior cross-cultural studies suggest that those of differing cultural orientations are likely to possess differing motivations for deceiving and truthtelling, and as a consequence, are likely to exhibit differing patterns of behavior when engaging in deceptive communication. Thus, this investigation examined: (a) the impact of cultural identity on one's motivation for deceptive communication, and (b) the impact of cultural orientation on overt manifestations of behavior. In addition, this study investigated the effects of culture and relational familiarity (i.e., strangers versus friends) on truth bias and deception detection accuracy. To test the proposed theoretical relationships, participants from two cultures (i.e., United States and Japan) were employed in an experimental study. Results of the current investigation revealed that degree of independence was the single best predictor of one's motivation to tell the truth and one's motivation to protect the self, whereas degree of interdependence was the best predictor of one's motivation to protect the other. In terms of deceivers'/truthtellers' perceptions of the self under deception, higher interdependence scores were found to be related to self-perceptions of less positive affect, less fluency, and less psychological involvement under truth conditions, but were associated with greater positive affect, greater fluency, and more psychological involvement under conditions of deception. When considering partner perceptions of truthtellers'/deceivers' behavior, higher degrees of independence were found to be associated with less positive affect under deception. When outside-observers viewed the behaviors of truthtellers/deceivers, higher degrees of independence were found to be associated with greater kinesic involvement and pleasantness, less nervousness, and greater vocal pleasantness and vocal relaxation under truth. Conversely, higher scores on independence were found to be related to less kinesic involvement, less pleasantness, greater nervousness, and less vocal pleasantness and vocal relaxation under conditions of deception. Finally, relationship type was not found to be a significant predictor of either accuracy or truth bias, although, higher degrees of interdependence were associated with lower detection accuracy and greater truth bias. The findings of the current investigation strongly suggest that behavioral differences indeed become manifest when research is conducted employing samples of varying cultural orientations.

Almost everyone experiences the desire for privacy occasionally. Achieving privacy, on the other hand, can be more difficult, especially when relational concerns are present. While the topic of privacy has received a good deal of attention in a variety of fields (e.g., communication, law, psychology, architecture, sociology), the impact of the act of seeking privacy has received little study. Privacy-seeking is often considered a selfish act, one that is likely to make the seeker feel guilty and the other affected parties rejected. The purpose of the present study is to examine the aggressiveness of various strategies that people use to gain privacy. In the present study, privacy-seekers described how they tried to achieve privacy in a particular situation, the reasons and motivations behind their actions, their perceptions of the situation and their own behavior, and the consequences of their actions. Results indicated that the use of moderate aggressiveness may be a superior strategy for achieving privacy with relational sensitivity, in comparison to aggressive or nonaggressive strategies. Aggressive strategies were seen as more dominant, less pleasant and less composed, and resulted in more negative relational consequences, than moderately aggressive strategies, while nonaggressive strategies were seen as less dominant, equally pleasant and composed, but less satisfying to use than moderately aggressive strategies. The relationship of the intruder (friend or stranger) also played a role in how participants sought privacy. However, no setting effects were found for perceptions of the environment or type of territory and use of aggressiveness.

<p> Telepresence uses the latest video conferencing technology, with high definition video, surround sound audio, and specially constructed studios, to create a near face-to-face meeting experience. A Fortune 500 company which markets information technology has organizations distributed around the globe, and has extensive collaboration needs among those organizations. Having invested heavily in telepresence technology to assist in the collaboration, the company has experienced a broad range of use among departments, but some departments do not use it at all. The purpose of this research was to study the reasons for widely disparate levels of telepresence use. The research is based upon factors contained in the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and assessed the impact of each upon the use of telepresence technology. The results of the research showed some factors affected telepresence acceptance and use while other factors had little or no effect. Underlying practices and conditions, such as the need to multi-task and to telecommute, impacted the factors. The research provided recommendations for assessing the likelihood of technology adoption before making investments, and for positively influencing adoption.</p>

This study combines both descriptive, qualitative analyses of caregiver-child interaction and fine-grained, quantitative analyses of the communicative intentions expressed in conversations between caregivers and their children in two cultural settings. Participants in the study were 10 James Bay Cree families from the northern Quebec communities of Eastmain and Wemindji and 10 Mainstream families from the greater Montreal area. Data were derived from several sources including two-hour videotaped samples of naturalistic caregiver-child interaction, interviews of the caregivers, and informal observation notes. The data from all sources were compared and contrasted to produce qualitative descriptions of the normative structure of caregiving, caregiving activities, and communicative interaction in the two cultural settings. Transcripts of the videotaped data were coded for communicative intention using the Inventory of Communicative Acts - Abridged (Ninio et al., 1994) and were analyzed quantitatively to permit direct cross-cultural comparison of the communicative interaction in the Cree and Mainstream cultures. Three continua of variation between the two cultures in the style of communicative interaction emerged from the qualitative analyses: reactive vs. interactive, comprehension vs. elicitation, and directive vs. child-centred. Comparisons of the communicative intentions expressed in caregiver-child interactions revealed both similarities and differences between the two cultures. The patterns of communicative interaction and the distribution of communicative intentions reflected differences in the structure of caregiving and the stated beliefs and values of the caregivers in the two cultural groups. The implications of the findings for the social interaction theory of language acquisition are discussed.

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Mötley Crüe is a glam metal cult group that was popular mostly during the 1980s. They are still well-known for their decadent lifestyle. Since 2001, the four members of the band (Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil and Mick Mars) have published no less than six autobiographies, amounting to a dense and varied autobiographical project. This doctoral dissertation examines Mötley Crüe's autobiographical project in terms of its performativity, or in other words, its accomplishments. The mythical narratives that are told act on rock culture on four levels in particular: sex, drugs, rock n' roll and wisdom. In order to understand what Mötley Crüe's autobiographical discourses mean, I chose to do close readings of numerous passages which offer us narratives taking us into their debauched lives, and rely on the many "I"'s weaved into the text. As a contribution to cultural studies, my analysis of these different narratives benefits from the theoretical input of many fields of research, including communication studies, gender studies, literature, sociology and art history. This research shows that rock culture has moved to welcome sensational discourses (sensational both in terms of the bodily sensations described and the strong impressions these discourses create), like those articulated in the autobiographies (and the first, in particular) by members of Mötley Crüe. At the same time, the group's later autobiographies reveal another movement: their autobiographical discourses correspond more and more with the values through which rock culture is consecrated, as they speak more and more of their songs, their artistic visions and their creativity. / Mötley Crüe est un groupe culte de glam metal qui a surtout été populaire pendant la décennie 1980, et qui demeure connu à ce jour pour le style de vie débauché de ses membres. Depuis 2001, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil et Mick Mars ont publié un total de six autobiographies, ce qui constitue un projet autobiographique dense et varié. Cette thèse propose d'étudier le projet autobiographique du groupe Mötley Crüe du point de vue de sa performativité, autrement dit, sur le plan de ses accomplissements. Les récits mythiques qui y sont racontés agissent au sein de la culture rock à quatre niveaux : sexe, drogues, rock n' roll et sagesse. Pour comprendre ce que les discours autobiographiques des membres de Mötley Crüe signifient, j'ai opté pour des lectures rapprochées de plusieurs passages, constituant autant de récits immersifs sur leur vie décadante, mettant à profit les différents « je » tissés à même le texte. Mon projet de recherche relevant des cultural studies, l'analyse de ces différents récits passe par l'apport théorique de plusieurs champs de recherche, dont les études en communication, les gender studies, la littérature, la sociologie et l'histoire de l'art. Il ressort de cette recherche que la culture rock est maintenant différente et plus accueillante envers les discours sensationnalistes (compris comme les sensations corporelles et les fortes impressions que ces discours créent), tels que ceux articulés par les membres de Mötley Crüe dans leurs premières autobiographies. Par ailleurs, les dernières autobiographies du groupe révèlent un autre mouvement : leurs discours autobiographiques s'accordent de plus en plus avec les valeurs de la culture rock consacrée, alors qu'ils discourent à propos de leurs chansons, de leurs visions artistiques et de leur créativité.

<p> This study explores the lived experience of civilian nontherapists who voluntarily bear witness to veterans' first-person narratives of war in the United States. Mythology and anthropology demonstrate that listening to warriors' war stories was a common practice in many ancient and aboriginal societies. A growing body of contemporary study suggests today's veterans are best served by returning to civilian societies who listen to veterans and know their experiences. This research sought to document and understand the experience of civilian witnessing, its impact on witnesses, and whether or not the experience was valuable or perspective changing for the witnesses. The research deepens the understanding of the relationship between war veterans and civilian society and the communal holding of war memories. </p><p> Ethnographic, autoethnographic, and hermeneutic phenomenological methodological approaches were used, with the research process and data being viewed through the lenses of depth psychology and liberation psychology. Subjects for ethnographic study and opportunities for autoethnographic study were found through Soldier's Heart, a small nonprofit organization that regularly brings together civilians and veterans in retreat settings and in journeys that take veterans and civilian to places where wars were fought. Data were gathered through observation, conversation, formal interview, and the experiences of the researcher. </p><p> Bearing witness to the first-person narratives of veterans was a powerful and valuable experience for the witnesses represented in this study. Witnesses described the experience as a journey in which they moved from not listening to listening, from listening to hearing, from hearing to recognition, and from recognition to bearing witness. Witnesses reported gaining new insights about war, veterans, themselves, psyche, society and the importance of community. Witnesses reported new or deeper connections to veterans. For most witnesses, the experience challenged contemporary beliefs and practices about the relationship between veterans and civilians, and it brought new perspectives on the role nontherapists may play in veteran homecoming. While witnesses reported that the experience was at times difficult and painful, all found the experience personally valuable and saw the need for more civilians to become involved in listening to veterans. Keywords: witness, witnessing, bearing witness, veterans, narratives, storytelling, civilians.</p>

<p> How an organization responds to victims is central to crisis communication management and protecting organizational reputation. While there is significant literature about best practices for crisis response, one area which has not been explored is the relationship of empathic communication and corporate reputation during times of conflict. This study examined this relationship through a study of the British Petroleum Gulf Oil crisis of 2010. The qualitative study used focus groups with working professionals and personal interviews with communication experts. The research is grounded in Coombs' (1998) Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), and Benoit's (1977) image restoration theory, which is used to describe how organizations respond to accusations to maintain a favorable reputation. The study found that empathy during a crisis has a positive influence on corporate reputation. This study supplements the existing literature on best practices for crisis response strategies. The application of this research is valuable to organizations because it will help them handle crises, protect its stakeholders, improve the conditions of its victims, and preserve their reputation. Further research is necessary to determine if the use of empathy during non-crisis situations also has an impact on organizational reputation, and to explore the relationship between the role of empathy and corporate financial performance.</p>

<p> The study investigated the relationship between perceived levels of positive and negative employee interpersonal communication and morale within a large public school system in Tennessee (<i>N</i> = 714) using the Workplace Morale Questionnaire. Correlational research during Phase 1 (<i>n</i> = 187), using Pearson <i>r</i> tests and qualitative data, suggested significance among all findings, including a strong, direct relationship between expressed appreciation and morale; strong, indirect relationship between backbiting and morale. Pre-experimental, one-group pretest/posttest research, during Phase 2 (in-service, <i>n</i> = 48; two-month challenge, <i> n</i> = 54; follow-up survey, <i>n</i> = 291), using qualitative data, chi square and independent samples <i>t</i> tests, examined whether changes in employee interpersonal communication altered perceived levels of morale, suggesting no difference based on condition.</p>