Destructive Communication Research Articles

The effect of systematic couple group therapy on families with depressed juveniles: a pilot trial.

Depression is a primary cause of illness and disability among teenagers, and the incidence of depression and the number of untreated young people have increased in recent years. Effective intervention for those youths could decrease the disease burden and suicide or self-harm risk during preadolescence and adolescence. To verify the short efficacy of the systemic couple group therapy (SCGT) on youths' depression changes and families with depressed adolescents. The study was a self-control trial; only within-group changes were evaluated. Participants were couples with a depressed child who was resistant to psychotherapy; they were recruited non-randomly through convenient sampling. The paired-sample t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to compare differences before and after interventions. The effect sizes were also estimated using Cohen's d. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to examine associations between changes. A downward trend was seen in depressive symptoms after treatment, and Cohen's d was 0.33 (p = 0.258). The adolescents perceived fewer interparental conflicts, and the effect sizes were medium for perceived conflict frequency (0.66, p = 0.043), conflict intensity (0.73, p = 0.028), conflict solutions (0.75, p = 0.025), coping efficacy (0.68, p = 0.038), and perceived threat (0.57, p = 0.072). For parents, global communication quality, constructive communication patterns, and subjective marital satisfaction significantly improved after interventions, with large effect sizes (1.11, 0.85, and 1.03, respectively; all p < 0.001). Other destructive communication patterns such as demand/withdraw (p = 0.003) and mutual avoidance (p = 0.018) and communication strategies like verbal aggression (p = 0.012), stonewalling (p = 0.002), avoidance-capitulation (p = 0.036), and child involvement (p = 0.001) also reduced, with medium effect sizes (0.69, 0.52, 0.55, 0.71, 0.46, and 0.79, respectively). Meanwhile, the associations between depression changes and changes in interparental conflicts (p < 0.001) and marital satisfaction (p = 0.001) were significant. The SCGT offers the possibility for the treatment of families with depressed children who are unwilling to seek treatment. Helping parents improve communication and marital quality may have benefits on children's depressive symptoms.

Dichotomization as a Basis of Positive Communication Analysis in an Intercultural Context

The aim of the paper is to investigate the constituent features and mechanisms of positive communication and reveal their correlation with politeness. The study is based on a mixed-method research design including Positive Discourse Analysis, dichotomic division and conversational analysis, and is carried out on the material of the book The Family by Nina Fedorova (1940). The results indicate that the dichotomy positive vs negative attitude is basic for the study and implements the contrast between good and evil, ethical and unethical behaviour. The juxtaposition of attraction vs disattraction refers to the perception of an interlocutor as likable or unlikable. The dichotomy activism vs passivism reflects the willingness or unwillingness to interact, while communication involvement vs alienation is associated with the communicator's engagement in the interlocutor's affairs. The juxtaposition of alterocentrism vs egocentrism indicates whether a communicator is focused on one's own or other people's interests. The dichotomy social support vs social indifference is a reflection of empathy or its absence. In the dichotomy constructive vs destructive communication creative behaviour aimed at resolving a difficult situation is opposed to destructive actions leading to the deterioration or break-up of a relationship. One of the most important constituents of positive communication is congruency which denotes authenticity and correspondence of the person's genuine inner self with the image addressed to the outer world. Positive communication is intrinsically linked with, though not identical to, politeness. The latter does not act as an aim per se, but is rather a tool employed to make an interaction conflict-free, smooth and harmonious.

Конструктивные и деструктивные стратегии и тактики протестантского дискурса

The purpose of the research paper is to find out the linguistic means of expressing communicative strategies and tactics of protestant discourse. The communicative strategy is defined as speech behavior focus to achieve speaker's goals and the communicative tactic is determined as a specific way of realizing the chosen strategy. The main strategies of protestant communication such as self-presentation, alienation, manipulation and convention are described. The typical tactics of constructive communication are advice, cooperation and integration and the representative tactics of destructive communication are the tactics of threat, guilt denial, offense, accusation and distancing. The characteristic of communicative strategies and tactics realized in multi-genre nonritual texts of protestant discourse on the material of the Russian language constitutes the scientific novelty of this work. The other types of institutional discourse were the object of previous researches. As a result, the typical range of means for expressing constructive and destructive tactics of communicative impact in protestant discourse are revealed.

Training and Development in Argumentative and Aggressive Communication: Contributions of Dr. Andrew S. Rancer

This article discusses the work of Professor Andrew S. Rancer and his contributions to theory-building and application efforts of argumentative and aggressive communication. Germinal training efforts in constructive and destructive communication are presented, empirical efficacy and learning outcomes highlighted, and implications for training professionals are discussed. Finally, insights into argumentative and aggressive communication training are offered.

Social anhedonia, communication, and marital satisfaction in newlywed couples.

Social anhedonia is associated with disinterest in social interactions and poor relationship functioning, yet little is known about the specific mechanisms underlying associations between social anhedonia and romantic relationship behaviors and satisfaction. We examined the links between social anhedonia, perceptions of conflict communication patterns, and marital satisfaction. The current research examined the role of social anhedonia on marital quality and functioning longitudinally across a year in a sample of 100 newlywed couples using an actor-partner interdependence framework. Social anhedonia was negatively associated with own and partner's marital satisfaction. It was also negatively associated with constructive communication and positively associated with destructive communication. Furthermore, cross-sectional mediation analyses showed that communication patterns mediated the social anhedonia-satisfaction link. Taken together, these findings suggest that social anhedonia is likely to lead to lower marital satisfaction, partly through its effect on communication between partners.

Агрессия в иммерсивной виртуальной среде: поведенческие стратегии подростков и эффект свидетеля

The spread of virtual reality technologies raises the question of the formation of new practices of digital sociality, including encountering destructive communication. The article is devoted to an experimental study of the behavioral reactions of adolescents acting as bystanders of cyberaggression situation in an immersive virtual environment, including depending on the differences in the expression of social responsibility and moral attitudes. Adolescents (N=50) were asked to complete a task to search for an object in the VRChat virtual environment, in which they faced a real-time cyberaggression situation. The participants of the experiment were divided into control and experimental groups, the members of the latter were additionally instructed to observe and maintain the rules of communication in the virtual environment. Two types of behavior were identified: “passive bystanders” (58%), who chose an avoidance strategy or engaged in communication only to solve the task and “active defenders” (42%), who were divided into aggressive and non-aggressive. It is shown that the choice of behavioral strategies aimed at helping the “victim” in a cyberaggression situation in virtual space is determined to a greater extent by such personal characteristics as the severity of social responsibility and the level of moral development, which make more important contribution to the regulation of social behavior, than by the instruction received “at the entrance to the situation” on the need to comply with the rules of positive culture communication. The social responsibility as a personal characteristic, as opposed to the phenomenon of diffusion of responsibility, revealed within the framework of the bystander effect, turns out to be more characteristic of the defenders of the “victim” and their prosocial role compared to passive observers.

Деструктивная коммуникация молодёжи в сети Интернет: социально-политический контекст

The paper presents the general results of the study of destructive behaviour of young people in web communities. At the first stages of the study the aim was to identify destructive communication practices among young people on the Internet, including in the context of political discourse. At the final stage the aim was to identify strategies and techniques in the news content that can form and provoke destructive patterns of users’ responses to various socio-political phenomena (events, decisions and persons associated with these events).&#x0D; The study included a total of 530 respondents — representatives of student youth from va­rious universities in Tomsk. The empirical material of the study also included regional news reports on socio-political topics, posted in free access by various communities on VK social network (in Tomsk and Novosibirsk). We analyzed 3,786 posts from Novosibirsk and 887 from Tomsk. For data analysis the authors used qualitative method (content analysis, topic analysis, psycholinguistic analysis, psychological analysis, machine learning methods) and quantitative method (API-based data mining algorithm, digital footprint data collection using data platform (https://lk.data.tsu.ru/), natural language processing methods for text analysis and information extraction, machine learning methods, PolyAnalyst text analysis platform). Within the scope of the project the authors studied the specifics of perception and consumption of political content on social media and identified destructive behaviour among young people in web communities.

Effectiveness of Olson’s Enrichment Training Program and Johnson’s Relationship Enrichment on Emotion Regulation and Empathy in Maladjusted Couples

Background: Developing and promoting empathy between couples can help them deal with destructive communication patterns, increase their satisfaction through effective dialogue and conversation, and, as a result, create a safe place to meet emotional needs. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Olson’s enrichment training program and Johnson’s relationship enrichment on emotion regulation and empathy in maladjusted couples in Ahvaz City, Iran. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group. The research population included all maladjusted couples who were referred to Ahvaz’s counseling centers in 2021. Among them, 45 couples meeting the inclusion criteria were selected via the convenience sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (n=15). The first experimental group participated in eight 90-minute sessions of Olson’s enrichment training program, the second experimental group attended eight 90-minute sessions of Johnson’s relationship enrichment, and the control group received no intervention during this time. The participants responded to the difficulties in the emotion regulation scale (DERS) and basic empathy scale (BES-A). The data were analyzed using multivariable analysis of variance (MANCOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc test in SPSS software, version 26. Results: The results suggested that Olson’s couple enrichment training and Johnson’s training model improved emotion regulation and marital empathy in the couples. The results demonstrated that Johnson’s approach was more effective than Olson’s approach in improving couples’ empathy (P&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Olson’s enrichment training program and Johnson’s relationship enrichment were effective in improving emotion regulation and marital empathy among maladjusted couples. Therefore, Olson’s enrichment training program and Johnson’s relationship enrichment workshops can effectively help maladjusted couples mitigate emotional problems.

Destructive Communicative Personalities: A Classification Attempt

Destructiveness is viewed as a fundamental communicative category that determines the strategies and tactics of discourse interaction. Accordingly, destructive communication is understood as a type of communication aimed at deliberately and intentionally causing moral and physical harm to the interlocutor and accompanied with a feeling of satisfaction with the victim's sufferings. The material of the study included 1120 contexts of reflection, selected from Russian literary texts, the National Corpus of the Russian Language, Internet sources and journalistic texts, as well as data from a survey of Russian-speaking respondents. As a result, a classification of destructive communicative personality types is proposed based on the communicative tactics prevailing in their behavior. The authors distinguish three types of destructive communicative personalities: destructive communicative personalities practicing predominantly invective tactics of destructive communication, for example, ham (the boor); destructive communicative personalities practicing predominantly manipulative tactics – shantazhist (the blackmailer); destructive communicative personalities practicing combined invective-and-manipulative tactics – revnivets (the jealous type). These tactics can be implemented in a direct or indirect form. In the analyzed material, there is a prevalence of the communicative personality type who practices predominantly invective tactics of destructive communication. It is also possible to distinguish a potentially destructive personality type whose initial intention is not destructive, but whose communicative behavior can be eventually qualified as destructive from the perspective of the addresser and/or an observer.

Социокультурный типаж «Марьиванна» в педагогическом дискурсе: особенности деструктивного поведения

The aim of the research is to characterize the precedent for pedagogical discourse type “Maryivanna” distinguished by socially significant features and recognizable by the native speakers of the Russian language by the specific characteristics of communicative behaviour. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that this type has not previously become a subject of study; the communicative personality of a teacher has not been considered from the standpoint of the theory of destructive communication. As a result, the “portrait” of the typified personality “Maryivanna” is presented, the signs of her destructive communicative behaviour are highlighted, and the conclusion is made about the prevalence of negative attitude towards the type on the part of the society.

The Role of Conflict Resolution Styles, Communication Pattern and Sexual Satisfaction as Predictors of How to Consider Divorce in Married Individuals

The aim of the study is to determine the conflict resolution styles, communication patterns and sexual satisfaction what extent truly classify married individuals' thinking about divorce and not thinking about divorce. The research group consists of 396 married people. In this study, those who think about divorce and those who do not are divided into two categories and Binary Logistic Regression analysis was performed to classify these groups by sub-dimensions of conflict resolution styles, aggressive communication pattern, destructive communication pattern and sexual satisfaction variables. Conflict Resolution Styles Scale, Communication Styles Scale and Golombok-Rust Sexual Satisfaction Scale were used for data collection. As a result of the analysis, it is seen that the sub-dimensions of conflict resolution styles (positive conflict, negative conflict, submission and withdrawal), aggressive communication pattern, destructive communication pattern and sexual satisfaction are effective in correctly classifying married individuals who are considering divorce or not.

Cyberattacks as “state of exception” reconceptualizing cybersecurity from prevention to surviving and accommodating

PurposeThis paper aims to outline how destructive communication exemplified by ransomware cyberattacks destroys the process of organization, causes a “state of exception,” and thus constitutes organization. The authors build on Agamben's state of exception and translate it into communicative constitution of organization (CCO) theory.Design/methodology/approachA significant increase of cyberattacks have impacted organizations in recent times and laid organizations under siege. This conceptual research builds on illustrative cases chosen by positive deviance case selection (PDCS) of ransomware attacks.FindingsCCO theory focuses mainly on ordering characteristics of communication. The authors aim to complement this view with a perspective on destructive communication that destroys the process of organization. Based on illustrative cases, the authors conceptualize a process model of destructive CCO.Practical implicationsThe authors expand thoughts about a digital “corporate immune system” to question current offensive cybersecurity strategies of deterrence and promote resilience approaches instead.Originality/valueInformed by destructive communication of cyberattacks, this theory advancement supports arguments to include notions of disorder into CCO theory. Furthermore, the paper explains where disruptions like cyberattacks may trigger sensemaking and change to preserve stability. Finally, a novel definition of ‘destructive CCO’ is provided: Destructive Communication Constitutes Organization by disrupting and destroying its site and surface while triggering sensemaking and becoming part of sensemaking itself.

The peculiarities of student activity on the Internet: experience of destructive communication and safety issues

The subject of this research is the peculiarities of destructive communication of youth in the Internet environment. The authors examine the emergence of new social practices and forms of activity within the information digital space, which are characterized by destructive content and pose a threat to the safety of young people. The goal is to explore the most common forms of student activity in the Internet environment, experience of network destructive communication and its negative impact upon safe online interaction (communication) of students. The article employs qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection (focus group and questionnaire); 443 students of Tomsk universities were engaged in the survey. The author reviews most popular forms of youth on the Internet, as well as determines the peculiarities of students&amp;rsquo; representations on the safe networking. The students highlight the following key factors of safe communication on the Internet are: the topic of communication, personality of the opponents, behavioral patterns, and freedom of self-expression. Majority of students have experience with destructive communication on the Internet; however, they do not seek to use the effective strategies to protect themselves from its negative influence. The prevailing strategies are ignoring and observing. The author takes the political content as one an example of most provocative destructive practices of online interaction.

«Cancel culture» and cyber-aggression: issues of legal assessment

The article focuses on current safe and tolerant communication issues in the global information network «Internet ». It is noted that society and Internet users are ambivalent about the phenomenon of «cancel culture ». The content of this phenomenon and its terminological features are investigated. It is proposed to interpret «cancel culture » as a way to bring people or groups (famous or empowered) to justice for legal, social, ethical violations by refusing to support and (or) by public condemnation, mainly on social networks (unfollowing accounts, boycott of its projects). The essence of «cancel culture » is revealed through the prism of legal values (tolerance, justice, freedom of speech, humanity, etc.). Problematic aspects of distinguishing «culture » from forms of cyber aggression (trolling, hatred, cyberbullying, harassment, catcalling, shaming, blaming, flaming, hosting, outing, queerbaiting) are analyzed. It is noted that, unlike these forms of destructive communication on the Internet, «cell culture » is essentially a form of communication aimed at combating aggression, the struggle for justice, and, consequently, is a positive socio-cultural phenomenon. Attention is drawn to the problematic aspects of legal liability for destructive communication on social networks, including abuse during «cancelling ».

Cognitive linguoecology as a methodological approach to the study of destructive communication

The article discusses the possibilities of applying the methodology of cognitive ecology to the agenda of destructive communication. Destructive communication is defined as a special type of interaction, which is based on a destructive communicative intention, which is in turn realized in a number of aggressive communicative actions. However, classifying destructive communication as an exclusively emotional type leaves open the question of the place and role of the rational component of destructiveness in communication. The article proves that it is cognitive ecology as a new direction of cognitive research that can offer a holistic and comprehensive approach to the study of destructive communication. As the main research method, the indicated approach includes a holistic analysis of both linguistic structures and social, situational, biological, i.e. non-verbal components, allowing us to understand the mechanisms underlying the destructive, i.e. ecologically irrelevant, communicative behavior. From the perspective of cognitive ecology, Russian-language situations of open and hidden destructive communication are analyzed in various types of discourse. It is concluded that it is necessary to develop a new interdisciplinary scientific direction –cognitive linguoecology, within which language will be considered as a specific tool that ensures the functioning of the entire cognitive system, which will make it possible to understand the mechanisms of ecological behavior of the human being as its subject.

Mass Media as a Destructive Information and Communication Space

The aim of the article is to represent major trends of language research in digital communication and establish regularities of sign usage in mass media. The author explores mass media as an environment for functioning of a specific value system that procures existence of social structures that engage mass media and influences transformation of dominant values of the society. The main way of these structur es’ destruction is deformation of meanings and language as a whole, which provides for influencing the consciousness of mass media users. Modern media text as a polycode formation is perceived simultaneously through several channels that ensures significant effect of its influence. Specifics of speech impact, as a unit of media text, expresses its pragmatic focus and determines formation of special cognitive structures. These structures, on one hand, help mass media to represent their value system, and, on the other hand, serve as specific guidelines providing a recipient with a certain mass media induced understanding of events in information environment. Such cognitive structures also spread to perception and interpretation of other fragments of reality. Destructive influence of mass media language also manifests itself in frequent usage of visual signs and way of their usage – reduplication of constant content while the form changes. Such signs allow expressing non-differentiated negative evaluation of events and facts along with argot language. Discreditation of traditional moral and ethical values happens with the help of such signs. Simultaneously such signs prepare mass media users for creation of new ideals and principles interiorization of which becomes easier thanks to active English borrowings. Change of graphical and phonetic appearance of a word happening due to mistakes or intentional deformation promotes indirect destruction of its stable sematic connections.

Destructive Communication in t he Information Space

Paper The article is devoted to the analysis of the functioning of destructive communication in the information space. It has been established that the main element of the communication process is the transmitted information, which comes in the form of text messages. The authors have determined that the language of Internet communication has certain features. This is due to the fact that several character systems can be used at the same time. It has been proved that a model of a social and communication network in the matter of determining its elements may have a certain discrepancy with the general provisions of the network approach. This mismatch can be addressed by verifying that these elements match the key characteristics of the links that create the network format. The reliability of the presented procedure for the analysis of destructive communication is confirmed by the fact that it reduces the number of analyzed objects by the factor of 2.5 and moves from the level of post-fact response to the level of the forecasting and taking preventive measures.

82-LB: In the Eye of the Beholder? Communication in Couples Coping with Type 1 Diabetes

A growing body of work highlights the need to better understand modifiable relationship processes in couples coping with chronic health conditions. The current study examines associations between couple communication during discussions about type 1 diabetes (T1D) and the relationship and psychological health outcomes of persons with T1D and their partners. Adults with T1D and their partners (N = 398 individuals [199 couples]) completed measures of relationship satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Couples then participated in an 8-min video-recorded discussion about an area of concern related to T1D. Following the discussion, persons with T1D and their partners each completed paper-and-pencil measures of communication. A team of 7 observers subsequently rated communication from the video-recordings. Paper-and-pencil and observer ratings were associated across aspects of communication. We hypothesized that (1) greater destructive communication (e.g., criticism) would be associated with poorer outcomes (i.e., lower levels of relationship satisfaction and higher levels of depressive symptoms), and (2) greater constructive communication (e.g., positivity/warmth) would be associated with superior outcomes (i.e., higher levels of relationship satisfaction and lower levels of depressive symptoms). Data were analyzed with a series of multilevel models in HLM, with both paper-and-pencil and observer measures included as predictors in each model. Consistent with hypotheses, paper-and-pencil measures of communication were generally uniquely associated with adjustment in expected directions. Contrary to hypotheses, observer ratings of communication were not uniquely associated with outcomes when modeled in concert with paper-and-pencil measures of communication. Understanding how persons with T1D and their partners perceive communication around diabetes provides a window into their individual and relationship well-being. Disclosure K.J.W. Baucom: None. V. Helgeson: None. C. Berg: None. Funding National Institutes of Health

The Public Media Space and Destructive Communication of the "Language of Enmity": Law, Cognitive and Communicative-Pragmatic Mechanisms

The Public Media Space and Destructive Communication of the "Language of Enmity": Law, Cognitive and Communicative-Pragmatic Mechanisms

Identifying Needs to Ensure a Humanistic Academic Dental Environment: A Multi-Site Survey of Dental Students' Perspectives.

Dental school academic environments, whether the overall environment or the smaller environments of the classroom, lab, clinic, or community, are critical to student learning and professional development. The aims of this study were to assess dental students' experiences in the overall academic environment related to discrimination, destructive communication, belittlement, and isolation and to explore the relationships between students' emotional health and such experiences. Dental students in all four years at five U.S. dental schools were invited to participate in an electronic survey in April 2017. A total of 358 students responded for a 19.4% response rate. These students reported a total of five cases of discrimination that had been formally reported to their schools. Among these respondents, 24% had experienced destructive communication, 33% had experienced belittlement, and 33% reported feeling a sense of isolation. Non-males and students with disabilities were more likely to experience belittlement and isolation. Both destructive communication and feeling belittled increased with program year (relative to year 1)-spiking in year 3. Destructive communication and isolation were associated with behavior changes such as weight change, increased alcohol or over-the-counter medication use, and consultation with a health professional. To improve overall academic environments, dental educators should create learning environments to foster development of professional relationships, and schools should continue to provide student support services. Identifying and acknowledging shared issues across dental education might stimulate a national discussion that could lead to concerted approaches to address these issues. Identifying the proportions of students with feelings of isolation or loneliness along with experiences of belittlement and destructive communication could provide schools with a useful picture of their academic environment.