Developing and Validating the Communication Resilience Processes Scale | PDF \nWilson S, Kuang K, Hintz E, et al. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract According to the communication theory of resilience (CTR; P. M. Buzzanell, 2010 ), people reintegrate from disruptive events and construct a new normal through five interrelated processes: (a) crafting normalcy; (b) affirming identity anchors; (c) maintaining/using communication networks; (d) constructing alternative logics; and (e) foregrounding productive action while backgrounding negative emotions. Enacting these processes creates tensions between continuity and change. This article develops a Communication Resilience Processes Scale (CRPS) to assess CTR processes in response to a variety of disruptive events. Items were created and refined via a scale development study with feedback from expert raters. Studies 2 and 3 offer initial support for the 32-item CRPS’ reliability and convergent, divergent, and predictive validity. Models in which the five CTR processes are subsumed by a single, higher-order resilience factor versus two higher-order interrelated factors (continuity and change) are compared. Future directions for exploring continuity/change tensions and identifying CTR boundary conditions are discussed.

Theorizing Chemical Rhetoric: Toward an Articulation of Chemistry as a Public Vocabulary | PDF \nJensen R. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Chemistry has been a pivotal part of scientific discovery and human life for centuries. This essay argues that chemical terms, tropes, figures, appeals, and narratives serve as powerful rhetorical features of public discourse. From affinities and atoms to dark matter and radioactivity, chemical rhetoric fulfills a central organizing function in contemporary society and shapes how people deliberate and delineate their identities, relationships, and communities. The present research demarcates chemical rhetoric as a form of nonexpert communication, and explicates its association with chemistry’s disciplinary history, as well as with technical chemical language’s grounding in key focal concepts. More specifically, it maps out a framework for defining and theorizing chemical rhetoric through three, interconnected lenses: historical–ecological, conceptual articulation, and vernacular. The overarching goal in this essay is to create an infrastructure for investigating chemistry’s longitudinal circulation and emergence as a shared public vocabulary.

Relational Uncertainty Within Relational Turbulence Theory: The Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Model | PDF \nGoodboy A, Bolkan S, Brisini ,, et al. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Relational uncertainty consists of self, partner, and relationship uncertainty, which are core parameters in relational turbulence theory (RTT). Advances in latent variable modeling allow researchers to examine the multidimensional construct as a bifactor model, including a general factor of relational uncertainty and residualized factors of self, partner, and relationship uncertainty. This advance is theoretically consequential because RTT maintains the importance of distinctions among the facets of relational uncertainty, even while empirical evidence demonstrates considerable overlap among them. In two data sets (college sample, N = 513; married sample, N = 354), competing measurement models specified Relational Uncertainty Scale items as a unidimensional confirmatory factor model, 3-factor independent clusters confirmatory factor model, 3-factor exploratory structural equation model (ESEM), bifactor confirmatory factor model, and bifactor-ESEM. The bifactor-ESEM provided the best fit in both samples, and bifactor statistics clarified how variance from the scale is partitioned to yield essential unidimensionality for the general factor of relational uncertainty, controlling for its residualized factors. Tests of a latent predictive model using a bifactor specification of relational uncertainty were consistent with RTT. Implications for testing communication theory using bifactor-ESEM are discussed in light of these findings.

The Effects of Person-Centered Social Support Messages on Recipient Distress Over Time within a Conversation | PDF \nRains S, High A. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Although prior research documents the benefits of supportive messages containing higher levels of verbal person centeredness (VPC), the effects of this message property over time within a discussion are not well understood. This project evaluated predictions about the effects of high and low VPC messages over time drawn from the theory of conversationally induced reappraisals and the dual-process model of supportive communication outcomes. Participants (N = 281) completed an interaction with a computerized support provider in which the level of VPC was manipulated. Before and after the interaction and after receiving each of four supportive messages, participants rated their emotional distress, reappraisal, and validation. Participants in the high and low VPC conditions exhibited a significant reduction in emotional distress from before to after their interaction. Receiving subsequent messages with high levels of VPC produced a non-linear trend in distress reduction, whereas receiving subsequent low VPC messages fostered little change.

Partisan Bias of Perceived Incivility and its Political Consequences: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Hong Kong | PDF \nLiang H, Zhang X. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Exposure to presumably uncivil content is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for perceptions of incivility and thus could lead to differential political consequences. To examine the emergence and consequences of perceived incivility in disagreement comments, the present study reports on two population-based online survey experiments in Hong Kong (N 1 = 1,207, N 2 = 611). The results indicate that individuals perceive a higher degree of incivility in disagreement comments directed to in-group members than in those directed to out-group members, regardless of content features. This bias perception is greater when respondents can easily identify the incivility in a comment. Furthermore, exposure to disagreement comments can only influence willingness to participate and affective polarization indirectly via perceived incivility, and such effects are conditional on whether respondents can easily identify the incivility in a comment.

Transfiguring Theaters for Disrespectable Leisure: An Ethnography on Black Womxn’s Ratchet Performances in Movie Showings of Girls Trip | PDF \nDavis S, Tounsel T. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract This ethnographic study considers how Black womxn audiences collectively negotiated the politics of respectability in the movie theater, anecdotally referred to as cinema etiquette, in showings of the film Girls Trip . Data were collected in two local theaters in a Northeastern city using field interviews, follow-up telephone interviews, and participant observation. Findings revealed that Black womxn audiences (from various age groups) embodied an intersectional resistance discourse of disrespectability ( Cooper, 2012 , 2017 , 2018 ) through their (non)verbal behaviors and an ecology of the senses (i.e., sight and sound) that were situated at the intersection of ratchetness, playfulness, and informality. In doing so, they created a “homeplace,” making an otherwise uncomfortable and highly regulated public space suitable for their collective spectatorship of the film. We argue that Black womxn’s embodiment of ratchetness is not necessarily a unidimensional endeavor, but rather an ever-evolving, multifaceted resource that enables Black womxn to reach political and pleasurable ends.

Thematic Co-occurrence Analysis: Advancing a Theory and Qualitative Method to Illuminate Ambivalent Experiences | PDF \nScharp K. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Ambivalence is a phenomenon that transcends disciplinary divides and is associated with a myriad of mixed outcomes. Yet, identifying and representing the complexities of ambivalent experiences can be difficult using traditional qualitative methods. Thus, the goal of the present study was to advance a qualitative method, thematic co-occurrence analysis, to address this issue. To illustrate the usefulness of this method, I present a case study detailing 35 estranged adult children’s ambivalent responses and reactions to their parents’ (non)contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings reveal seven themes and four (non)relationships between them that reflect (a) theme independence, (b) unilateral co-occurrence, (c) unbalanced co-occurrence, and (d) complementary co-occurrence. These findings advance a theory of ambivalence and corresponding method to aid in the future investigations of ambivalent phenomena.

Television, Continuity, and Change: A Meta-Analysis of Five Decades of Cultivation Research | PDF \nHermann E, Morgan M, Shanahan J. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract This study is a meta-analysis of cultivation research from the 1970s to the present, based on three-level analyses of 3842 effect sizes from 406 independent samples. We found an overall effect size of .107 that varies only within a fairly narrow range across many potential moderators. Cultivation effects remain stable over the decades, implying an enduring relationship between television’s message system and viewers’ conceptions of social reality, despite immense changes in the institutional structure and technology of television. That bolsters a “traditional” perspective on cultivation, which is further corroborated by a stronger positive effect of overall viewing compared with genre viewing. However, this (stronger) effect weakens over time, which provides at least partial support for a “reformist” perspective on cultivation. Moreover, sample size and mode of data collection also moderate cultivation effects, with larger effects in smaller samples and in data collected via questionnaires compared with other methods.

Policing the Digital Divide: Institutional Gate-keeping & Criminalizing Digital Inclusion | PDF \nYang T, Ticona J, Lelkes Y. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Previous studies generally assume that barriers to internet access are largely passive. That is, exclusion from the Internet is a consequence of poorly resourced individuals, communities, and institutions. This study complicates that assumption by focusing on the active policing and gatekeeping of internet access. Specifically, we estimate the causal effect of free Wi-Fi at chain restaurants on quality-of-life crime reporting by leveraging a staggered difference-in-differences design which compares geo-located crime reports near chain restaurants in Chicago before and after those restaurants introduced free Wi-Fi. We find that free Wi-Fi led to a substantive and significant increase in quality-of-life policing when restaurants were located in wealthier and Whiter areas, but not in other areas. Our findings suggest that internet access itself may be actively policed by social institutions, in our case, national chain restaurants and the police, to protect access for some at the expense of others.

A Latent Profile Analysis of Undocumented College Students’ Protection-Oriented Family Communication and Strengths-Based Psychological Coping | PDF \nKam J, Cornejo M, Marcoulides K. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Drawing from resilience theory, this study explored subgroups of undocumented college students (UCS) based on their patterns of protection-oriented family communication and strengths-based psychological coping. Using survey data from 237 UCS, latent profile analyses revealed three subgroups. Safe optimistic copers reported occasional documentation-seeking and know-your-rights communication, but higher means in prevention and right path communication, as well as optimistic coping. Comprehensive copers scored moderately high in all types of protection-oriented communication and psychological coping. Strengths-based psychological copers infrequently engaged in protection-oriented communication, yet they scored moderately to moderately high in positive psychological coping. Compared to the other two profiles, safe optimistic copers reported the worst wellbeing (highest mean anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep disturbances; lowest mean perceived health and wellbeing). Comprehensive copers fared worse in anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep disturbances compared to strengths-based psychological copers; however, comprehensive copers reported greater wellbeing, perceived health, and academic motivation.

Persuasive Message Pretesting Using Non-Behavioral Outcomes: Differences in Attitudinal and Intention Effects as Diagnostic of Differences in Behavioral Effects | PDF \nO’Keefe D. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Persuasive message designers would like to be able to pretest messages to see which will be more effective in influencing behavioral outcomes, but pretesting using behavioral measures is commonly not practical. Examination of within-study effect size comparisons from 317 studies of 22 message variations suggests that persuasive messages’ relative effectiveness is strikingly similar across attitudinal, intention, and behavioral outcomes—with messages’ relative persuasiveness with respect to intention outcomes especially indicative of relative persuasiveness with respect to behavioral outcomes. Intention measures thus provide a convenient and accurate means of persuasive message pretesting.

Erratum to: Partisan Bias of Perceived Incivility and its Political Consequences: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Hong Kong | PDF \nLiang H, Zhang X. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Hai Liang & Xinzhi Zhang (2021). Partisan Bias of Perceived Incivility and its Political Consequences: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Hong Kong. Journal of Communication   71 : 357–379. doi: 10.1093/joc/jqab008

Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and Deception | PDF \nAsp E. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Duped: Truth-Default Theory and the Social Science of Lying and DeceptionLevineTimothy R

Tracing the Adoption and Effects of Open Science in Communication Research* | PDF \nMarkowitz D, Song H, Taylor S. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract A significant paradigm shift is underway in communication research as open science practices (e.g., preregistration, open materials) are becoming more prevalent. The current work identified how much the field has embraced such practices and evaluated their impact on authors (e.g., citation rates). We collected 10,517 papers across 26 journals from 2010 to 2020, observing that 5.1% of papers used or mentioned open science practices. Communication research has seen the rate of nonsignificant p-values (p > .055) increasing with the adoption of open science over time, but p-values just below p < .05 have not reduced with open science adoption. Open science adoption was unrelated to citation rate at the article level; however, it was inversely related to the journals’ h-index. Our results suggest communication organizations and scholars have important work ahead to make open science more mainstream. We close with suggestions to increase open science adoption for the field at large.

Towards an Inclusive Agenda of Open Science for Communication Research: A Latin American approach | PDF \nde Oliveira T, Marques F, Veloso Leão A, et al. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract There is growing consensus among the scientific community members about the urgency of debating ways to promote Open Science (OS). However, the notion of OS itself has been highly controversial, encompassing different meanings and values. Two distinct conceptions have emerged: the first highlights principles such as acceleration, efficiency, and reproducibility; the second perspective is grounded in participation, social justice, and democratization of knowledge. Both models accomplish distinct goals while facing specific limits and challenges to improve scientific production. Even though the first conception has become more celebrated among some top-ranked journals, we question approaches that standardize scientific practices, neglect global diversity, and undermine the importance of local contexts. By discussing the pioneering role that researchers and journals in Latin America have played toward a pluralistic interpretation of OS, this article contributes to a more nuanced understanding of scientific production in the Global South.

Questionable and Open Research Practices: Attitudes and Perceptions among Quantitative Communication Researchers | PDF \nBakker B, Kokil J, Dörr T, et al. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Recent contributions have questioned the credibility of quantitative communication research. While questionable research practices (QRPs) are believed to be widespread, evidence for this belief is, primarily, derived from other disciplines. Therefore, it is largely unknown to what extent QRPs are used in quantitative communication research and whether researchers embrace open research practices (ORPs). We surveyed first and corresponding authors of publications in the top-20 journals in communication science. Many researchers report using one or more QRPs. We find widespread pluralistic ignorance: QRPs are generally rejected, but researchers believe they are prevalent. At the same time, we find optimism about the use of open science practices. In all, our study has implications for theories in communication that rely upon a cumulative body of empirical work: these theories are negatively affected by QRPs but can gain credibility if based upon ORPs. We outline an agenda to move forward as a discipline.

The Science of Open (Communication) Science: Toward an Evidence-Driven Understanding of Quality Criteria in Communication Research | PDF \nFreiling I, Krause N, Scheufele D, et al. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Paralleling very visible debates in psychology, some parts of the communication field have recently pushed for a wholesale endorsement of the principles of open science and its practices, including a particular focus on replicability and reproducibility as quality criteria. Unfortunately, these discussions have been plagued by a set of at least 3 interrelated problems: A lack of conceptual clarity when defining open science-related challenges to communication scholarship; the irony of using intuition rather than evidence when trying to improve communication science; and our field’s surprising lack of attention to nonreplicability in social media data as one of our field’s most rapidly growing data sources. In response to these problem areas, we argue that communication as a field proceed empirically as it applies open science practices to different subfields in communication and end our essay with pathways forward for a science of open (communication) science.

Decolonizing Open Science: Southern Interventions | PDF \nDutta M, Ramasubramanian S, Barrett M, et al. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Hegemonic Open Science, emergent from the circuits of knowledge production in the Global North and serving the economic interests of platform capitalism, systematically erase the voices of the subaltern margins from the Global South and the Southern margins inhabiting the North. Framed within an overarching emancipatory narrative of creating access for and empowering the margins through data exchanged on the global free market, hegemonic Open Science processes co-opt and erase Southern epistemologies, working to create and reproduce new enclosures of extraction that serve data colonialism-capitalism. In this essay, drawing on our ongoing negotiations of community-led culture-centered advocacy and activist strategies that resist the racist, gendered, and classed structures of neocolonial knowledge production in the metropole in the North, we attend to Southern practices of Openness that radically disrupt the whiteness of hegemonic Open Science. These decolonizing practices foreground data sovereignty, community ownership, and public ownership of knowledge resources as the bases of resistance to the colonial-capitalist interests of hegemonic Open Science.

Toward Open Research: A Narrative Review of the Challenges and Opportunities for Open Humanities | PDF \nLongley Arthur P, Hearn L. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Open research represents a new set of principles and methodologies for greater cooperation, transparent sharing of findings, and access to and re-use of research data, materials or outputs, making knowledge more freely available to wider audiences for societal benefit. Yet, the future success of the international move toward open research will be dependent on key stakeholders addressing current barriers to increase uptake, effectiveness, and sustainability. This article builds on “An Agenda for Open Science in Communication,” raising dialog around the need for a broader view of open research as opposed to open science through a deeper understanding of specific challenges faced by the humanities. It reviews how the multifaceted nature of humanities research outputs make open communication formats more complex and costly. While new avenues are emerging to advance open research, there is a need for more collaborative, coordinated efforts to better connect humanities scholars with the communities they serve.

Opening a Conversation on Open Communication Research | PDF \nShaw A, Scharkow M, Wang Z. \n#JOC Journal of Communication Latest Issue \n\n Abstract Many disciplines have been debating and enacting a range of policies, procedures, and practices that fall under the umbrella term “open research” or “open science.” Following the publication of “An Agenda for Open Science in Communication”, we invited communication scholars to continue the conversation on what open research practices broadly might mean for our diverse field. Specifically, we sought work that: looked empirically at the need for and impact of open research practices; considered the unintended consequences of calls for open research practices broadly; and that reflected on what such a move would mean for qualitative and humanistic communication research. We hope the collection of articles in this special issue motivates and facilitates an ongoing conversation on open research practices in the field of communication.