ABSTRACT Building off prior research on entertainment-education and narrative persuasion, the present study compares a narrative story featuring inclusive behaviors toward gay men (that are rewarded) to one featuring homophobic, exclusive behaviors toward gay men (that are punished). Drawing from reinforcement learning models, mediated intergroup theory, and the theory of reasoned action, we predict that the reward-based story will be more effective than the punishment-based story at impacting inclusive behaviors in an experiment. One hundred sixty U.S. adults were randomly assigned to read a short story that featured either a reward or a punishment condition. Results revealed that those in the reward condition were more likely (versus punishments) to adopt inclusive injunctive norms about gay men, which in turn had an effect on behavioral intentions to intervene when witnessing homophobic behaviors.

ABSTRACT This research examines how organizational members communicatively construct and enact employee resilience within the challenging context of public education. Using one-on-one interviews with 28 educators and drawing from asset-based community development (ABCD) approaches, this study investigates how resilience emerges through communicative practices. The purpose is: (1) to understand how organizational members construct and enact employee resilience through their talk and stories, and (2) to extend the Communication Theory of Resilience through an empirical investigation of an organizational context. An iterative, thematic analysis revealed that employee resilience emerges through two novel communicative processes: 1) affirmative sensemaking – whereby organizational members transform past adversity into present resilience resources through positive retrospective framing and storytelling and 2) critical co-reflexivity – a collaborative process that moves beyond individual reflection to collective meaning-making through ongoing dialogue, transforming individual understanding into collective capacity. These processes operate within a continuous communicative loop where individual stories become collective resources. This study makes three significant theoretical contributions to the Communication Theory of Resilience: identifying affirmative sensemaking as a distinct communicative process, introducing critical co-reflexivity as a novel form of collaborative reflection, and revealing how these processes operate within a communicative loop.

ABSTRACT An individual’s perception of their relationship may influence whether they sext (i.e. send sexually suggestive text, photo, or video messages) with their relational partner. A sample of adults (N = 199) collected from Prolific responded to an online survey about sexting behaviors and individual differences (e.g. relationship status, attachment style). Hierarchical regression results revealed that avoidant individuals were less likely to engage in text-based sexting. Avoidant and anxious attachment related to greater uncertainty in one’s relationship and greater sexting uncertainty. Relationship uncertainty was associated with reduced engagement in sexting, whereas uncertainty with sexting negatively related to self-esteem and sexual gratification. Analyses of covariance suggested single individuals experienced greater relationship and sexting uncertainty compared to those in committed relationships. Implications for future studies relating sexting, attachment, and uncertainty are considered.

ABSTRACT This study examined identity management processes in interfaith parent – child communication in China. Drawing on the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI), a thematic analysis revealed that Chinese Christians experience identity gaps across relational and communal identity layers. The study introduced two collaborative strategies, partner engagement and interpersonal adaptation, to support the relational nature of navigating identity gaps. The study also highlights the integration of identity layers through the processes of aligning and transforming. This study contributes to CTI’s theoretical development and integrates with intergroup theorizing through communication practices such as accommodative communication, perspective-taking, and the creation of a common ingroup identity.

ABSTRACT The prevalence of mental health issues in Ghanaian celebrity culture has become increasingly concerning, as evidenced by public interviews. Mental health is foundational to human interaction and cognition, yet it remains a neglected area in Ghanaian society. This study, guided by Stigma Management Communication Theory, explored how Ghanaian celebrities navigate the stigma surrounding their mental health disorders. Data were collected via semi-structured individual interviews with 20 Ghanaian celebrities and analyzed through the phronetic iterative approach. The study identified prayer as a distinctive strategy for privately managing mental health stigma, repositioning stigma management as not only a social or public practice between people but also one that can involve private religious prayers through dialogue with God. In doing so, the findings expand Stigma Management Communication theory by introducing a culturally specific strategy, offering new theoretical insights and practical implications for mental health advocacy and communication in Ghana.

ABSTRACT This manuscript reports the results of a study that examined the effects of instructor feedback on students and perceptions of instructor credibility. Specifically, undergraduate students (N = 466) participated in an online pretest posttest experiment in which they completed pretest measures of their self-efficacy and affect, read feedback from a hypothetical instructor, then completed posttest measures of the same variables as well as ratings of the scenario instructor’s credibility. Experimental manipulations varied the type of feedback (praise, criticism, and combined praise and criticism) as well as the extent of detail the feedback contained (basic explanations vs. detailed explanations). Results revealed both experimental treatment and feedback type effects on student self-efficacy and affect as well as consequences for instructor credibility based on feedback type and extent of feedback detail. These results are discussed in the context of instructional communication, with a focus on their practical applications in the classroom.

ABSTRACT The hyperperception model (Carpenter & Spottswood, 2021a) makes predictions about when an observer of others’ social media interactions may be misperceived. We used this model to make predictions about when observing the social media interactions of others will be associated with loneliness. Two studies (N = 748 & N = 245) found that the extent to which one’s friends appear to be interacting more with each other relative to how much they interact with oneself was positively associated with loneliness. The effect was enhanced by those with high network awareness in Study 1 and enhanced by perceptions of the affordance of accessibility in Study 2. The data were consistent with the utility of the model.

ABSTRACT This study examined how parents’ and children’s dispositional hope is associated with their perceptions of receiving (non)accommodation, and how perceptions of receiving (non)accommodation are associated with relationship satisfaction. Middle-aged parents and young adult children (N = 125 dyads) completed a self-report survey of their dispositional hope, received (non)accommodation from the other person, and relationship satisfaction. Children’s dispositional hope was associated with children’s received accommodation, underaccommodation, and overaccommodation. Parents’ dispositional hope was associated with parents’ received accommodation, underaccommodation, and overaccommodation. Additionally, children’s received overaccommodation was negatively associated with children’s relationship satisfaction, whereas parents’ received underaccommodation was negatively associated with parents’ relationship satisfaction. The study contributes to communication accommodation theory by showing (a) how dispositional hope may be one relevant individual difference that shapes how people experience (non)accommodation and (b) how (non)accommodation may predict relationship satisfaction differently depending on people’s stage in the life span or position in the family.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the psychological mechanisms underlying consumer perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on the role of anthropomorphic tendencies and construal level theory. Across two empirical studies, we examined how anthropomorphic tendencies influence consumer evaluations of AI and its message framing (abstract vs. concrete). Study 1 revealed that individuals with heightened anthropomorphic tendencies perceive AI behaviors as more goal-oriented high-level construal, narrowing the perceptual gap between human and AI actions. Study 2 demonstrated that high-level construal messages (abstract) are more effective than low-level construal messages (concrete) for individuals with stronger anthropomorphic tendencies, mediated by trust in the AI messenger. These findings offer theoretical insights into how anthropomorphism shapes consumer trust and message acceptance, and practical implications for designing AI communication strategies to enhance user engagement and adoption.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to better understand instructional dissent behaviors (vengeful, expressive, and rhetorical) as influenced by instructors’ immediacy behaviors and clarity. Given that instructional dissent is a symptom of perceived injustice in the classroom, it was anticipated that information flow, a student’s awareness of the rationale behind an instructor’s pedagogical decisions, would play a key role in dissent. While information flow did mediate the relationship between instructor communicative behaviors and expressive and rhetorical dissent, the effect was small. All hypotheses related to vengeful dissent could not be tested due to extreme kurtosis in the distribution. This dataset is not the first to see extremely low means for vengeful dissent behaviors, and the paper calls for more detailed reporting of descriptive statistics in future dissent research to better understand these occurrences.