Drawing upon family stories, this study explores the productive possibilities of death for generating cultural identity and family solidarity. Using the practice of necrowriting, this study narrates five death-centric moments that imparted Mexicanidad, the sense of connection to a Mexican ethnic identity, in the context of the U.S. Midwest. Adopting story-based criticism, the author argues that the critical lens of disappropriation more fully explains the layering of both repressive and liberatory messages about the life and death dialectic.
Drawing on the theory of resilience and relational load (TRRL), this study offers a novel integration of political and relational communication by examining how political differences operate within romantic relationships to shape relational strain. Survey data from more than 800 individuals in committed romantic relationships assessed perceived political similarity, the importance of (a) exchanging political opinions, (b) having similar political opinions, and (c) political discussion to the success of the relationship. As anticipated, greater perceived similarity predicted lower relational load. Critically, however, the association between political dissimilarity and relational load depended on cognitive appraisals of relational relevance, the mental evaluations partners make about the significance of specific issues for the relationship's success, in this case, political similarity and discussion. These findings demonstrate that it is partners' meaning-making, rather than political difference alone, that drives relational strain, extending TRRL by linking political (dis)similarity to the cognitive and emotional demands of relational maintenance.
Weaving together relational uncertainty and uncertainty management theorizing, two studies examined parental uncertainty, uncertainty management, and relational implications surrounding the transition to adult children's marriage. Study 1 identified three themes of parental uncertainty: dyadic, family, and individual, which were distinct from previously identified themes of uncertainty. Study 2 examined associations among Study 1-derived themes of uncertainty, satisfaction, and topic avoidance along with sex differences in parental uncertainty. Uncertainty was negatively associated with satisfaction and parents' use of topic avoidance moderated this association. Further, parents of sons experienced more uncertainty than parents of daughters, but no differences were reported in the use of topic avoidance between parents of sons versus daughters. Results complement and augment existing theories of uncertainty.
Public perceptions about electoral integrity are vital for the health of a democracy. One factor that can shape these perceptions is how media outlets cover issues such as voter fraud and foreign interference. This study examined the influence of partisan media use (i.e. liberal, conservative) on concerns about voter fraud and foreign interference in the past three presidential elections. We also assessed whether party identification moderates these relationships. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses from the 2016, 2020, and 2024 American National Election Studies (ANES) and the 2020 Annenberg Institutions of Democracy (AIOD) data sets revealed that conservative media use predicted increased voter fraud concerns and lower foreign interference concerns, while liberal media use was associated with lower voter fraud concerns and higher foreign interference concerns, particularly in 2020. Moderation analyses found limited support for partisan differences, although, notably, counter-attitudinal media use had stronger effects than ideologically congruent media use. Ultimately, this study highlights the complex role of partisan media use in shaping public opinion regarding voter fraud and foreign interference in US elections.
This study examines the relationship between organizational assimilation and perception of organizational bullshit and the moderating role of perceived immediacy in a multinational setting. Three factors of organizational bullshit were examined: bullshit language, regard for the truth, and the boss. A total of 1316 participants completed self-administered surveys in China, Estonia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States. Results reveal assimilation is positively related to bullshit among the entire sample, but not within each individual nation. In addition, there were significant differences between the nations on level of assimilation, with the U.S. scoring the highest and China the lowest. As for bullshit, New Zealand scored the highest and Estonia the lowest. The discussion poses implications for multinational organizational studies, future areas for organizational bullshit research, as well as practical implications for organizations. This study proposes that by reducing organizational bullshit, organizations can foster greater trust, transparency, and create a more positive workplace culture that promotes thoughtful decision-making.
Guided by the theory of discourse dependence, this study examined seven discourse strategies that Chinese immigrant mothers adopt to help their children and geographically distant grandparents sustain a shared family identity. These strategies include naming, discussing, ritualizing, narrating, connecting, normalizing, and reminiscing. The findings reveal how mothers' discourse practices reflect their understandings of how families should function, articulated through three overarching themes: (1) love is a priority, (2) differences are respected, and (3) geographical distances are attenuated. This study makes theoretical contributions by applying discourse dependence theorizing to examine how a shared transnational family identity is sustained when the normative expectations of family functioning are disrupted.
Individuals with incarcerated loved ones experience courtesy stigma or negative treatment and beliefs about them because of their association with others. One manifestation of courtesy stigma is that society typically does not acknowledge or support their grief of lost relational time and experiences. We explored how disenfranchised grief (DG) - or socially unsupported grief - acted as a trigger for resilience responses in the online forum Prison Talk Online, which was built for people in prison and their loved ones. Using quantitative content analysis, we examined online originating posts (DG) and corresponding replies of these loved ones: families, relational partners, and friends. We identified DG disclosures and how replies constituted resilience. Our study contributes theoretically to the linkage of DG with the Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR) and to how, why, and/or to what benefit people engage on PTO. We contribute to social justice initiatives whereby individuals can more effectively respond to needs of a stigmatized group.
Hijabis, Muslim women who are full-time observers of the religious headwear, hold various identities that are created, communicated, and sometimes contradict one another. Hijabis living in the U.S. are often stereotyped or viewed as victims of oppression by the dominant culture due to the continued belief that the hijab is an anti-American symbol. Guided by communication theory of identity (CTI), in-depth interviews with U.S. American Gen Z hijabis from many distinct ethnic backgrounds extend CTI by illuminating within-frame tensions and introducing the novel proposition that identity gaps might strengthen other identity frames. We center participants' definitions of hijab and its function in identity construction, offering implications for communication theorizing about identity and practical implications toward informing more accurate representations of hijabis in media, policy, and education.
Women experiencing infertility are often confronted with uncertainty about their identity as a woman, wife, or mother. This study examined how women's identities are changed, disrupted, or challenged in response to reproductive hardship. Women coping with infertility (N = 145) wrote narrative responses about how infertility affected their identity. Preliminary analysis identified 12 themes of identity changes and challenges for participants. Secondary analyses drew upon the communication theory of identity as a framework for organizing the themes into personal (failure as a woman, responsibility for infertility, acceptance of childlessness), enactment (enacting pregnancy and parenthood, enacting sex as a chore, expressing undesirable emotion), relational (failure as wife/mother, relationship future resilience in the face of challenge), and communal (unmet cultural expectations, social comparison, isolation/withdrawal) layers of the self. Finally, a co-occurrence analysis revealed four patterns between themes within the layers of identity and five patterns among themes across identity layers. The findings have implications for helping women with infertility understand the multi-layered disruptions to their identity under these circumstances and recommending strategies for coping with identity challenges that arise in the context of infertility.
Most Ghanaians are bilinguals and therefore codeswitching is a common linguistic phenomenon among them. Empirical research has shown that codeswitching serves important communication strategies. Following Hymes' Ethnography of Communication, this study examines the purposes of codeswitching in the classroom and how it is used to achieve the teachers' communicative intent among the zongo schools in Ghana. Through observation and interview, we found that the teachers employ codeswitching as a communication strategy to enhance pupils' understanding, to show social relationships, to dramatize key words, and to emphasize a point.
In this opening essay, the co-editors pause to reflect on this special issue of Communication Studies with the hope of offering ourselves and readers the opportunity to experience an opening to wonderment. We explain how we came to embrace arts-based research (ABR), share a found-poem constellation as an artful overview of the issue's articles, explore themes about ABR in communication research that pulse through the manuscripts, and conclude by thanking our editorial board members. Through this wandering and wondering, we invite possibilities for creative methodologies in communication studies to be collectively eclipsed with the reflective space necessary to look with awe at ABR today and the days ahead.
This study examines the role of communication as a key driver of empowerment and psychosocial wellbeing among women migrants in Khulna City, Bangladesh. Using a mixed-methods approach, quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 300 women migrants. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS through descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and multiple regression models. The findings show that communication frequency (beta = 0.354, p = .027), peer information sharing (beta = 0.292, p = .041), and participation in NGO awareness programs (beta = 0.217, p = .063) significantly predict empowerment, while income and education remain insignificant. Empowerment scores increased steadily across communication levels, rising from 2.31 for low communicators to 3.61 for highly communicative participants (F = 4.61, p = .012), confirming a robust communication effect. Correlation results indicate a strong positive relationship between communication and empowerment (r = 0.63, p < .001) and a negative relationship with stress (r = -0.40, p < .001). These findings demonstrate that communication fosters confidence, autonomy, and emotional stability beyond material status. The study concludes that participatory communication through dialogue, peer-learning, and storytelling transforms vulnerability into resilience and should be integrated into urban policy and empowerment programs for migrant women.
