Amy S. Ebesu Hubbard

This study was designed to test a model in which tendencies to engage in physical appearance social comparisons and perceived ideal body attainability interact to predict body dissatisfaction, and are associated with weight‐control behaviors (WCBs) as past studies have rarely examined perceived attainability in their analytic models. College women (N = 297) from two universities in Japan completed a paper‐and‐pencil survey. A path analysis revealed that appearance comparisons were positively associated with body dissatisfaction over and above the effects of body mass index and self‐esteem. Body dissatisfaction, in turn, was positively related to low‐risk, moderate‐risk, and high‐risk WCBs. There was a significant interaction effect between appearance comparison and attainability, but the nature of the interaction was the opposite from our expectation: the positive association between appearance comparison and body dissatisfaction was more pronounced among women who reported higher confidence in attaining an ideal body, whereas this association was nonsignificant for those with low confidence in attaining an ideal body. Finally, perceived ideal body attainability was directly and positively related to low‐risk and moderate‐risk WCBs.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between perceptions of mediators acting symmetrically (treating parties equally) and transparently (providing an explanation of past or future behavior) with parties’ assessments of the neutrality of their mediator and satisfaction with the mediation process. Design/methodology/approach: This mixed-method study surveyed parties and mediators from 35 naturally occurring mediation sessions at community mediation centers about their perceptions of neutrality, symmetry, transparency and satisfaction. Findings: The results showed that parties overwhelmingly assessed their mediators as acting neutrally. Compared to parties’ assessments of mediator neutrality, mediators rated their own neutrality even higher. Symmetry and transparency were both positively correlated with parties’ assessment of mediator neutrality and also emerged as qualitative themes. Speaking order and talk time did not significantly correlate with perception of symmetry. Overall, symmetry appeared to be a more salient factor in parties’ assessment of mediator neutrality than transparency. Both neutrality and symmetry were positively correlated with party satisfaction with the mediation process, but transparency was not. Research limitations/implications: The present study provides a foundation for future research in understanding neutrality from both parties and mediators’ perspectives. The primary limitation was a small sample size and possible selection bias in achieving the sample. Practical implications: The study found that symmetry and transparency are useful strategies for managing party perceptions of mediator neutrality and party satisfaction with the mediation process. Originality/value: This study is one of only a few empirical research studies that investigated the parties’ perspective of mediator neutrality. The study provides a foundation for future research in understanding neutrality from both parties and mediators’ perspectives.

Nonverbal communication is multimodal and multifunctional in nature and examined from disparate disciplines with differing assumptions and methodologies. Regardless of approach, nonverbal communication serves many functions and is closely linked to how we feel about our relationships with others and how we manage those relationships. Nonverbal behaviors are implicated in messages of intimacy, arousal and composure, dominance, formality, and task or social orientation. A study examining nonverbal communication must consider several critical elements such as the granularity of the data, whether the investigation will be experimental, how to gain access to the data, and who will provide the data.

Perspective-taking is a construct essential to communication that has attracted the interest of communication scholars for decades. However, scholarship has varied considerably in its treatment of this concept. Through a review of 320 publications from 15 of the communication field’s journals from 1976 to 2015, we systematically cataloged how perspective-taking has been conceptualized and operationalized. Our analysis identified five relatively independent research traditions addressing this construct. We discuss the conceptual issues raised by this review, and propose an integrative definition of perspective-taking that seeks to address them. We conclude with conceptual and operational recommendations for researchers interested in perspective-taking, highlighting potential areas of investigation that communication scholars are uniquely positioned to explore.

This investigation theoretically extended Tinto’s model of student persistence by drawing on interpersonal communication research to elaborate on the role of commitment in student persistence. College student departure literature was reviewed and critiqued concerning the conceptualization and measurement of commitment within the interactionalist model of student persistence. Rusbult’s investment model was used as an exploratory theoretical frame for understanding commitment between students and institutions. Self-report measures of commitment and investment model predictors for students in higher education were included. Support was found for hypotheses using the investment model as a frame for understanding how both students’ commitment and perceptions of their institution’s commitment are relevant in understanding persistence in the higher education setting.

Interaction adaptation theory explains the behavioral adjustments that occur between people. The theory predicts that the predominant pattern of interaction will be matching, reciprocity, and convergence and identifies the situations in which maintenance, compensation, and divergence may occur. Central to this theory are biological, social, and individual influences on behavior and the evaluation of that behavior, along with comparisons to actual behavior exhibited by communicators. The theory has wide applicability for understanding behavioral changes that occur between people in a variety of relational contexts.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the neutrality literature and suggests areas ripe for future research. Design/methodology/approach: – The authors reviewed journal articles on the topic of neutrality in mediation, which included theoretical viewpoints and empirical research on practicing mediators’ understanding of neutrality. Findings: – The review of literature revealed that party perspectives are largely missing from current neutrality literature. Two potential concepts emerged from the authors' review of literature that could potentially influence parties’ attributions of mediator neutrality: symmetry and transparency. Symmetry refers to the equal treatment of parties, whereas transparency refers to providing an explanation of past or future behavior. Research on whether symmetry and transparency are key influences on party assessment of mediator neutrality could make a significant contribution to the field. Research limitations/implications: – The authors call on researchers with diverse methodological perspectives to examine, from the party’s perspective, important questions regarding the meaning of neutrality, mediator strategies to successfully enact neutrality and the impact of neutrality on mediation outcomes. Originality/value: – Neutrality is arguably one of the most important concepts to the mediation field. Despite its significance to the field, only limited research has been conducted to better understand how neutrality is enacted in practice. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature and provides a launching point for future research.

Using attribution theory, this study examined the effects of apology timing, apology sincerity, and feeling understood on communication satisfaction and changes in negative emotions (e.g., anger and sadness) during conflict discussions. Sixty romantic couples engaged in conversations about recurring disagreements in their relationships. One partner from each couple apologized either earlier or later during the discussions. The findings showed that different variability existed between the timing of the apology and reports of communication satisfaction. Later apologies, rather than earlier apologies, given during conflict discussions that were completed in less than 10 minutes were associated with more communication satisfaction. Earlier apologies, rather than later apologies, given during conflict discussions that could have continued past 10 minutes were associated with more communication satisfaction. Additionally, reports of feeling understood and apology sincerity predicted communication satisfaction and apologies seen as more sincere were related to reports of less hard negative emotions such as anger, but were not related to reports of soft negative emotions, such as sadness. These findings have implications for the process of forgiveness and the mediation of disputes.