Communication Doctoral Work

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To Correct and Protect: Extending the Masspersonal Communication Model to Social Media Disagreements
(North Dakota State University, 2024) Archer, Samantha
In this dissertation, I explore experiences of disagreements on Facebook with strong ties through a theoretical lens of the Masspersonal Communication Model. The goal of this dissertation is to (a) understand how perceptions of personalization and accessibility influence disagreement decisions on Facebook with strong ties and (b) how relationships with the sender impact the decision to engage. I employ semi-structured, in-depth interviews (n = 27) to assess why people engage in disagreements, their motivations for engagement, and the impact of these interactions on their relationship with their strong ties. In doing so, I propose the personalization-accessibility model of online disagreements to identify motivational types influencing participants’ decisions to engage in social media disagreements. Findings reveal that the interplay of accessibility and personalization perceptions influence the decision to engage in disagreements, especially for the need to correct misinformation and protect marginalized groups from harmful rhetoric. Relationships with strong ties played a role in disagreeing, though participants were more concerned about advocating and informing than preserving their relationship. The implications of this study stress the importance of developing and promoting the use of relationship-conscious social media and identifying the risks that social media disagreements pose to our personal relationships and democracy.
Sexual Harassment and Employee Identification in Radio Broadcasting
(North Dakota State University, 2024) Krause, Jillene
Sexual harassment is often vaguely defined in policy and the purpose of this study was to learn if employees perceive sexual harassment in vague or specific terms. Exploring radio broadcasting employees was a new area of exploration for the multiple ways employees may identify with their employer: professional, organizational, and group identification (Lammers, Atouba, & Carlson, 2013). For this study I primarily drew on interviews with 17 radio broadcasting employees about sexual harassment definitions and employee identification (profession, organization, and group). A survey instrument was used to collect demographic data and to collect baseline data for identification. Results show that interviewees define sexual harassment, and the communicative behaviors that could be perceived as harassing, in vague or non-specific terms, like policy, as well as in specific terms. Interviewees also conflate terms like bullying or discrimination, with sexual harassment. Radio broadcasting employees in this study identified with their work in multiple ways. Although some identified most strongly with the profession, organization, or group, the majority identified with a combination, all, or none. The way employees view sexual harassment with their primary identification appears to be dependent on how they see reports of sexual harassment treated.
Using Conditional and Unconditional Process Approaches to Determine the Effectiveness and Comprehensiveness of Instructional Risk and Crisis Communication Messages
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Beauchamp, Kimberly
Many individuals willingly or unknowingly consume food products that have been implicated in recall announcements. Exposure to potentially contaminated food products puts people at risk for contracting foodborne disease. Given the serious health complications associated with foodborne disease, a new message-design approach was needed that compels and empowers at-risk individuals to take appropriate life-saving actions when food-related, public health crises become imminent. The IDEA protocol was put forth to improve how we instruct and motivate at-risk audiences to self-protect against foodborne disease during food contamination events (T. Sellnow & D. Sellnow, 2013). IDEA-modeled messages, relative to alternative messages, are predicted to address audience diversity and produce more accurate receiver perceptions, which in turn translate into more appropriate behavioral intentions. The IDEA model has not yet been adequately or appropriately tested, despite arguments to the contrary. This study advanced the IDEA model by presenting: (1) a rigorous tool that more appropriately tested hypotheses, (2) a visually-friendly conceptual diagram for depicting a path-analytic framework, (3) important guidelines that scholars should employ to examine the IDEA model’s utility, and (4) justification for theoretical grounding in Witte’s (1992a) extended parallel process model (EPPM) in addition to D. Kolb’s (1984) learning cycle model. Rather than relying on tests based on analysis of variance to test theory, the present message-testing study employed a regression-based approach that more appropriately tested the IDEA model hypotheses. My conditional process model efficiently integrated moderators and mediators into a single path-analytic framework. My unconditional process model excluded the two moderating factors and their interactions from the statistical framework. Both statistical models included six parallel mediating mechanisms and two behavioral intention measures. The results of this message-testing experiment demonstrated how regression-based approaches that incorporate moderation, mediation, moderated-mediation, and moderated-moderated mediation should be employed to test the IDEA protocol. I found that an IDEA message was not consistently superior to an alternative message. My results suggest that an IDEA-modeled message should be thoughtfully designed to prevent inappropriate outcomes among target audiences. Improved message-design approaches should be explored for motivating and empowering at-risk individuals to self-protect against foodborne disease during contamination events.
“You Are an Experience!”: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Characters in Children's Animated Series
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Vogt, Olivia
Western society has slowly evolved to accept the identities of LGBTQ+ people. With strides forward in laws and public opinion, queer people are overall more accepted now than they have been in previous decades. However, there remains a social resistance to accepting transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people. While queer sexualities are more widely embraced, queer genders are not. Public debate surrounding the rights of TGNC people provide evidence to the prejudice, as cisgender people discuss whether transgender people should be allowed to participate in sports or hold any position of recognition in the social sphere. This discrimination can be seen reflected and perpetuated by popular culture. Television in particular serves as both a mirror and teacher of social norms (Herek, 1990; Luther & Legg Jr., 2010), including the consensus around queer identities. As such, this study approaches popular television from a critical discourse analysis framework in order to understand the power dynamics that exist within television communication. Specifically, I focus on the affordances and audience considerations of children’s cartoons, which are often the first media socialization that children encounter. Because of this, children are apt to learn social norms from whichever cartoons they consume. When children watch television programs containing positive depictions of queer people, they can learn to understand and respect the existence of queer people, and possibly even understand their own gender and romantic identities more thoroughly. Likewise, children who watch television featuring TGNC people can learn more specifically what it means to exist outside of arbitrarily mandated binaries of sex and gender. My analysis considered a sample of episodes from 20 children’s cartoons which featured TGNC characters. In the subsequent discussion, I concluded that the series analyzed often represented five major themes: TGNC people as exceptional at all costs, the backgrounded roles of TGNC people, TGNC characters favoring masculinity as a default, the rebellions of TGNC characters, and utopian series contexts which included TGNC characters. I end by presenting implications and recommendations of the study.
Voting Technology, Democracy, and Propaganda: Ontological Considerations for the 2020 Presidential Election
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Gustafson, Erik
The 2020 United States Presidential election was considered one of the most tumultuous political contests in the 21st century. During an international pandemic, travel restrictions and social distancing requirements created uncertainty about whether to vote in person or via absentee-mail-in ballot. The present study sought to investigate how voters experience different technologies in the 2020 United States Presidential election. Selected concepts in media ecology supplemented Fox and Alldred’s (2013) framework for new materialist inquiry to explore the technical material characteristics of voting technology and the discursive elements of voter fraud propaganda. By tracing the history of voting technologies and voter fraud propaganda, the analysis argued that the vast array of technologies and experiences of voting in the 2020 election rendered the idea of an archetypal or monolithic voting method insufficient. Therefore, the present study suggests an ontological revision for the ways we conceptualize the relationship between voters, voting technologies, and democracy writ large.
Journalists' Framing of Terrorist Attacks and Audience Reaction: A Longitudinal Case Study of The Boston Globe
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Mou-Danha, Seseer Prudence
This study aimed to elaborate on the presentation of news about the Boston Marathon bombing on The Boston Globe’s Facebook page and people’s reaction to it. A social crisis such as this invites people’s attention to online news sources for seeking details. Reports presented by journalists can encourage, elicit fear, strengthen communities, and/or foster cooperation. As much as journalists try to be objective in their reporting, the ways in which they frame a story can influence audiences’ responses. The primary objective of this study was to understand how news frames align with audience response. The analyses of news posts and audience comments were guided by theoretical frameworks of Framing and the Six-Segment Strategy Wheel. Content and interpretive analyses were performed to identify and explain the primary themes in The Boston Globe’s news texts and images, and the responses of their audience. Data related to the Marathon bombing were collected from The Boston Globe’s Facebook posts and comments, dated April 15, 2013–April 30, 2014. The study employed a constructionist approach, arguing that reality is created through interactions on social platforms. Content analysis was done by applying traditional news frames: economic, human interest, responsibility, morality, and conflict, as well as Taylor’s SSSW. Interpretive analysis was carried by interpreting the findings through a societal context. This study demonstrated that framing a terrorist attack through a criminal justice model as opposed to a war-based model had milder implications for punitive action. In addition, journalist’s identification of a suspect as a terrorist did not seem to mitigate the justice view of the case. More importantly, social identification of the suspects played a salient whole in perceptions of guilt and penalty.
"Cause You Don't Really Need a Teacher to Learn Stuff": Theorizing a ‘Lanes of Learning' Model of Informal, Self-Directed Learning
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Vareberg, Kyle Robert
The goal of this dissertation was to explore how self-directed learners assess their learning in informal contexts. Self-directed learners experience high intrinsic motivation and learner control, so studying these learners’ experiences provides valuable insights into learning. I pose four questions: 1) How do self-directed learners in informal contexts satisfy their need for a) autonomy, b) relatedness, c) competence, and d) prioritize the satisfaction of these needs? 2) How do self-directed learners in informal contexts self-regulate their learning? 3) What affordances are perceived by informal learners during self-directed learning? 4) What relationships exist between the satisfaction of learners’ basic needs, self-regulation, and perceived affordances during self-directed, informal learning? I employ multiple methodologies, including interviews (N = 19) and an open-ended survey (N = 154), and based on this evidence, theorize a Lanes of Learning model to explain how learners regulate learning, assess competence, involve others, and use tools to meet their needs. Participants’ needs also influenced which learning tools they integrated and, from those, what they perceived as possible, including accessibility, personalizability, and adaptability. Evidence shows learners in 1) Lane A prefer efficiency, collect confirming cues, involve others to meet a goal, and use tools that provide a set of correct steps; 2) Lane B prefer structure, collect confirming cues and add affirming cues, involve others for functional purposes, and used tool that resemble the real thing; 3) Lane C prefer depth and chase information as it becomes relevant, collect affirming cues, involve others for emotional reasons, and use tools that provides more information to chase; and, 4) Lane D prefer innovation, collect affirming cues and add confirming cues, involve others to build a network, and use tools that are inspirational, not educational. I argue people are motivated to learn when that learning is on their terms, and this motivation manifests in the strategies and processes taken by individuals during learning.
Relational Maintenance Strategies, Positivity, and Constructive Financial Conversations in Romantic, Committed Partnerships
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Bourdeaux, Renee Jeneanne
Although a large body of research on financial management in marriages and conflict/divorce as outcomes of financial problems exists, the topic of how individuals describe the communicative processes leading to positive outcomes regarding financial conversations remains understudied. Because financial conversations emerge as a strong “tug-of-war” opponent to the successful partnership couples hope to achieve, this study sought to understand how romantic pairs talk about money in ways that lead to positive results. By using an interpretive approach, this study used online, open-ended survey questions to gather stories to better understand how married couples effectively discuss finances. The participant stories explained how individuals in committed romantic partnerships described successful conversations they had with their partner about money. The data were thematically coded using Spradley’s (1979) taxonomic coding categories. The stories from the 100 participants revealed specific strategies that couples used during positive financial conversations that led to positive relational outcomes. This study first reveals a taxonomy of tactics that individuals use in positive conversations about finances. Second, this study supports and offers new contributions to relational maintenance literature (Canary & Stafford, 1992; Stafford, 2011; Stafford & Canary, 1991; Stafford et al., 2000) regarding how maintenance strategies are used when talking about money. Finally, this study offers a taxonomy of reported relational outcomes for couples who have positive financial conversations. The knowledge gained from this study will be helpful to all couples who wish to positively navigate financial matters.
A Rhetorical Consideration of Christian Nationalism, Secular Society, and the Need for a Civic Religious Pluralism
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Jason, Malcolm Andrew
This dissertation considers the place of religious argument in the public sphere. While deliberation about religion’s place in the formal public sphere within the United States has often been seen as taking place in a two-dimensional space, with Christian nationalism and pure secularism representing the opposite deliberative positions, I argue that in reality, rhetorical engagements over the place of religion often are contested by arguments hewing to Christian Nationalism on one side, but a kind of civic religious pluralism on the other. This dissertation explores the tensions that exist within public discourse in the United States between Christian nationalism and larger secular society. Rather than seeing secularism as a counterweight to Christian nationalism, I argue that instead a civic religious pluralism that allows for religious thought to enter the domain of public deliberation is present in arguments about religion’s role in the democratic process. I also argue that this problem is extended into the three-dimensional space through an added tension between religious citizens who wish to remain isolated from secular culture and the state which must maintain some sense of cultural participation among all of its citizens. Through rhetorical analyses of three cases, I develop a more nuanced perspective on this deliberative space and contend at the end that the civic religious pluralism I find in two of my cases represents a more effective response to nationalist rhetoric than a pure secularist opposition.
Latching on to Information: Effects of Information-Seeking Behavior on Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy
(North Dakota State University, 2020) Duchsherer, Amy Elaine
Recommendations on breastfeeding in the United States suggest that infants should be exclusively breastfed for six months with continued breastfeeding in conjunction with complementary foods for at least one year. However, only 22.30% of women are exclusively breastfeeding when their infant reaches the age of six months, which indicates the existence of barriers hindering prolonged breastfeeding. In this study, I consider the factors related to information-seeking behavior that may influence breastfeeding rates. Specifically, I focus on the relationship between the sources a woman selects to receive information about breastfeeding and her level of breastfeeding self-efficacy, which has been shown to be a significant predictor of breastfeeding success. A sample of 222 breastfeeding women was recruited for participation in this study. Participants completed a mixed-methods survey, and the results of the survey were analyzed using applied thematic analysis, correlation, and regression analysis. Women who participated in this study used non-expert online information sources most frequently when searching for information related to breastfeeding. Criteria women used most frequently when choosing an information source included source affordances (e.g., convenience and quickness), information characteristics (e.g., variety of information and information quality), and source characteristics (e.g., source expertise). Hypotheses for this study posited a relationship between source characteristics (i.e., expertise, trustworthiness, goodwill, and social support) and breastfeeding self-efficacy; all hypotheses were supported, and expertise, trustworthiness, goodwill, and social support were found to have a significant positive relationship with breastfeeding self-efficacy. Source expertise was found to be the strongest predictor of breastfeeding self-efficacy among those that were measured for this study; however, it is not an individual significant predictor when modeled alongside the remaining source characteristics. Implications of this study stress the importance of access to quality information related to breastfeeding and continued research on the development of breastfeeding self-efficacy in various demographic populations and over the span of a breastfeeding relationship.
I’m Not Who I Am: Self-Presentation In Online Communities
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Cross, Aaron Christian
This dissertation was performed with the aim of understanding more about how people interact with and deceive one another in an online context. To build that understanding, the study was motivated by five research questions: (1) How do users experience the process of misrepresenting themselves to others? (2) How do users present themselves in online contexts in which they may not feel comfortable with portraying themselves fully? (3) How do perceived norms and expectations within groups inform users’ self-presentations? (4) How do users’ perceptions of who will view their information impact self-representation? (5) How do perceived affordances impact how users feel they can engage in deceptive practices? To explore and answer these questions, 27 interviews were conducted via the social networking platform Discord with members of the r/Fantasy server. The findings from the research show that how users perceive the potential audiences they have in a group setting is impacted by what they perceive the affordances of the platform to be. In turn, these perceptions influence what users care to share about themselves and how and if they engage in deceptive practices with other group members, both of which are also motivated by a desire to fit in and be accepted by the group at large. These findings provide insight into how users interact with and deceive one another, but also open up room for future research into the intersection of affordances and audiences and how users modify how they present themselves in relation to those perceived components of the online experience.
Newspapers as a Form of Settler Colonialism: An Examination of the Dakota Access Pipeline Protest and American Indian Representation in Indigenous, State, and National News
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Beckermann, Kay Marie
Settler colonial history underlies much of contemporary industry, including the extraction and transportation of crude oil. It presents itself in a variety of contexts; however, this disquisition applies a traditional Marxist perspective to examine how settler colonialism is present in news media representation of American Indian activists during the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. Rather than focus on the benefit of using colonized labor for financial gain, this disquisition pushes Marxism into settler colonialism in which the goal is to eliminate the Indigenous and continue to widen the gap between social classes. This research is important for two reasons. First, the media are powerful, making it the perfect vehicle to disseminate inaccurate representations of American Indians. These incorrect representations come in the form of media frames that created an altered reality for news audiences. Second, the term settler colonialism, in particular its relationship with American Indian protest, has been little studied in the American field of communication. A comparative qualitative content analysis was applied to media artifacts from the protest that occurred in North Dakota. Artifacts were discovered using a constructed week approach of two online versions of print publications—the Bismarck (ND) Tribune and the New York Times—and one digital only news site, Indian Country Today. One hundred twenty four artifacts were examined in total. Five dominant frames emerged from the analysis: blame, cultural value, water, American Indian stereotypes, and confrontation. These frames were considered dominant due to the number of coded excerpts that appeared in at least 20% of the artifacts. The frames either contribute to or resist settler colonialism based on the publication in which it appears. The Bismarck Tribune contributed the most to settler colonialism; the New York Times neither rejected nor acknowledged it while Indian Country Today resisted through recognition of America’s settler colonial past, sovereignty, and government-directed violence. The implication of this research is that elimination of the American Indian is ubiquitous in American news media. The mainstream media contributes to widening the gap between social classes, ensuring the dominant class stays in power and Indigenous issues are ignored.
Introducing Parasocial Relationships to Family Communication Scholarship: A Tripartite Model of Family Communication Patterns, Parental Management of Children’s Parasocial Relationships, and Parent-Child Bonding
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Srivastava, Shweta Arpit
PSRs are one-sided, emotionally-tinged relationships with media characters such as Peter Pan, Batman; Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, and Mulan; and celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Harry Stiles (Giles, 2000). This project situates children’s PSRs within the family communication environment by exploring the relationships between Family Communication Patterns (FCPs), parental management of PSRs, and perceptions of parent-child bonding. Four parental management of PSRs behaviors, Guiding, Prohibiting, Supporting, and Neutrality, were studied with respect to the Conversation and Conformity orientations of FCPs. Parental management behaviors of Guiding, Prohibiting, and Supporting had significant impacts on perceptions of parent-child bonding, but Neutrality on its own did not have any significant influence. Guiding was manifested through the FCP path of Conformity instead of Conversation. Prohibiting had a strong inverse relationship with perceptions of parent-child bonding. Besides Conformity, Prohibiting also had a significant pathway through Conversation. Supporting had a strong and positive relationship with perceptions of parent-child bonding and a significant pathway through Conversation but not through Conformity. Although Neutrality on its own did not have a significant impact, it had a significant impact through Conformity. Overall, this study fulfills its goal to look at the impact of parental communication behaviors on perceptions of the parent-child relationship. In the context of PSRs, parental communication about managing children’s PSRs is significantly related to the perceptions of parent-child bonding, and the impact of these micro communication behaviors is mediated by the overarching communication environment. Therefore, this study recommends that PSRs can be introduced to the mainstream discussion of interpersonal relationships such that family communication scholarship can explore the role of PSRs beyond media effects.
Too Many American Icons: Conflicting Ideologies of Wild Horse Management in the American West
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Sullivan, Curtis J.
Wild free-roaming horses in the American West continue to exist in tension with the land they inhabit, the government that “manages” them, and the people that are impacted by them. The problem, argued here, is the result of the ideological construction of mustangs in American culture, and it calls forth questions about human-nature relationships as well as contemporary understandings of Environmentalism. This research follows in the theoretical foundations of Raymond Geuss and Tommie Shelby to unpack the epistemic properties (empirical evidence of the contexts from which ideologies are formed), functional properties (consequences of suffering and benefits as a result of ideologies), and genetic histories (historical contexts the construct the ideologies in a culture) of ideologies relating to wild horses in the West; by doing so it also provides insight into nature identification, the borders and barriers of human creations, and the limitations of access for performing environmentalism. This text focuses primarily on the life and experiences of Velma Bronn Johnston as an exemplar of environmental change in unexpected ways. Her narrative culminates in the passing of the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 that created material changes for the lives of mustangs in the West as well as long-term consequences for citizens of the United States of America. Consequentially, mustangs of the West face a population “problem” that costs the United States more than $80 million annually with almost no signs of decreasing.
The Narrative of the Professional: The Value of Collegiate Forensics Participation
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Becker, Robert Roy
Forensics, or competitive speech and debate, has a history stretching back to the ancient Greeks. Although practitioners, students, and coaches have long sung its praises, limited research has been done to demonstrate the long-term value of forensics competition for students. This study used narrative interviews to discover the perceived value of forensics competition to individuals who were at least ten years removed from competition and had not remained active in forensics. After interviewing 34 individuals, this study used grounded theory (Glaser, 1965; 2002; Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to analyze the results. Analysis revealed that individuals followed a similar pattern of becoming involved in forensics and remaining as participants. Additionally, they believed they learned academic skills, social skills, and had more opportunities because of their participation in forensics, despite having to overcome some negative effects of participation. Participants noted that they used many of the skills they developed in forensics every day. Participants also demonstrated that forensics was a part of their identity and many remained connected to former teammates, former competitors, and their alma mater. Analysis led to the development of the Narrative of the Professional, which is the story of the forensics competitor.
Online Interaction and Identity Development: The Relationship between Adolescent Ego Identity and Preferred Communication Activities
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Tobola, Cloy Douglas
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the types of communication activities adolescents reported as important and used most frequently, and how these communication preferences were reflected in adolescents' identity development status. Participants were approximately 600 new university students who completed a survey regarding 18 communication activities, along with the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory identity subscale. Data analysis was conducted in two phases. To reduce the frequency and importance data to a manageable size, exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Two identical factors were identified and validated related to the importance and the frequency of communication activities. The first factor comprised four items related to online ''performance": online gaming, participation in virtual reality settings, live chat with strangers, and live chat with groups unknown to the individual. The second factor comprised four communication activities that occurred on social networking sites as individuals created lasting "exhibits" of themselves: updating a personal profile, viewing the profiles of others, posting status messages, and sharing pictures or other content (articles, jokes, videos) with others. Analysis of means indicated that the three communication activities rated as most important and frequently used were face-to-face interaction, voice calls and text messaging. These were followed by social networking activities, and then writing activities such as blogging. The performative activities identified in the exploratory factor analysis were ranked as least important and least frequently used. Regression analysis revealed small but statistically significant negative relationships between the reported importance of performative activities and identity development status, and between the reported frequency of performative activities and identity development status. Small positive relationships were also identified between the importance of face-to-face interaction and identity development status, and the importance of voice phone calls and identity development status. Small positive relationships were also identified between the frequency of face-to-face communication and identity development, between the frequency of voice phone calls and identity development, and between the frequency of email use and identity development.
Intercultural Communication Competence Theory: Integrating Academic and Practical Perspectives
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Vevea, Nadene N.
Over the past five decades, scholars of intercultural communication have attempted to define, describe, and otherwise operationalize the concept of competency in an intercultural interaction. This study constructed a comprehensive theory of intercultural communication competence (ICC) grounded in the extant literature and the practical or everyday understanding of the concept. Using classroom data that was validated by a metasynthesis of existing qualitative or ethnographic studies describing ICC, the academic definitions and lay descriptions were each explored and then compared to find points of convergence and points of divergence. The comparative analysis provided the foundation for the development of tenets: ICC is an outcome; ICC is externally perceived and measured; and ICC is bound by the cultural context in which it takes place, conditions regarding interaction goals and power roles of the interactants, and culture specific elements for the holistic ICC theory proposed by this study. An examination of the implications of the newly constructed ICC theory and its future application and implications were explored.
Corporate Communication on Controversial Social Issues and Its Effects on Attitude Change and Attitude Certainty
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Parcha, Joshua
Corporations are increasingly communicating about controversial social issues, including gun control, LGBT rights, confederate flag use, and immigration policies. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand how this corporate communication affects society members in two main ways: First, this study investigated how corporate communication on controversial social issues changes individuals’ attitudes toward the controversial social issue. Second, this study investigated how corporate communication on controversial social issues affected how confident individuals were that their attitudes toward the controversial social issue were correct. Additional influencing factors were explored, including the perceived fit between a corporation’s business and the controversial social issue it was advocating for (advocacy fit), the perceived credibility of the corporation (corporate credibility), the amount of agreement other corporations shared with the corporate statement (bandwagon heuristic), and how relevant an issue was to one’s goals, values, and impressions (involvement). A fully crossed 2 (advocacy fit: low, high) x 2 (corporate credibility: low, high) x 2 (bandwagon heuristic: low, high) x 2 (position advocated: for, against) factorial design was used. Participants (N = 677) read a description of a corporation with low or high credibility, a statement from a corporation on a controversial social issue (for/against gun control, for/against transgender rights), and a statement that told participants most corporations were highly favorable (or unfavorable) to the corporation’s statement on the controversial social issue. Findings indicate differences in attitude change and attitude certainty depending on (a) each participant’s degree of involvement with the social issue and (b) how a corporation communicates about the social issue. The fit of an issue mattered for both attitude change and attitude certainty, but only for issues that were relevant to one’s personal goals and personal values. Having a large number of corporations agree with the corporate statement mattered only for attitude change, and only when the issue was relevant to one’s personal goals. Corporate credibility did not have any significant impact on the whether individuals changed their attitudes or became more confident in their attitudes. These findings are discussed, and limitations, practical implications, future research, and concluding remarks are also described.
“I’m Not Just Crazy.”: Exploring the Impostor Phenomenon in an Educational and Communicative Context
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Chromey, Kelli Jean
The purpose of the current study is to gain a better understanding of the impostor phenomenon (IP) and see which communication channels and instructional types are best to use when educating others on IP. Impostor phenomenon is the feeling of faking it in terms of professional, academic, career, or other life-area successes. The study also looked at correlations between impostor feelings and positive and negative workplace emotions and impression management techniques. Experimental conditions in the form of a survey were used to provide participants either an article or video, each with either a testimonial or research-based education. Findings suggest that participants in the testimonial instruction condition report higher IP scores than in research-based instruction condition and that the effects of channels tested were insignificant. The findings support the hypothesized outcomes in terms of emotion showing there are negative emotions related to work. Findings suggest IP is directly associated with ingratiation, exemplification, and supplication; indirectly associated with self-promotion; and unrelated to intimidation. Additionally, limitations and future directions are discussed.
Leaving a Lasting Impression: The Role of Foundational Family, Privacy, and Gender Messages on Coming Out Disclosures
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Motto, Justin Stewart
This dissertation investigates the influence of family messages about gender, free expression, conformity, and privacy on coming out disclosures, a difficult experience in today’s society. Using communication privacy management theory, this study explored how heteronormative beliefs, family privacy boundaries, and family communication patterns relate to disclosure concerns. A total of 218 self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) participants were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Participants completed an online survey to measure family privacy orientations, family communication patterns, heteronormative attitudes and beliefs, and disclosure concerns. Six linear regression analyses were performed. The findings suggest that both family privacy orientations and family communication patterns contribute to concerns about disclosing one’s sexual orientation. The study did not find heteronormative beliefs and attitudes to play a significant role in disclosure concerns. Additional findings indicate that family communication patterns inform family privacy orientations, which suggest a more complicated chain of influence. The findings of the study highlight the influence of early communication on LGBT individuals’ long-term ability to communicate about their sexual orientation.

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