M.A. - Speech

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/2163

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Current perceptions of social status associated with ethnicity in Hawaii based on recorded speech samples
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1973) Kawahara, Elvis Lloyd; Speech
Although there have been various studies on dialects in the Hawaiian islands, there has not been much research on the perceptions of ethnic groups through accented speech. The author, in making this study, hopes to shed some light on the way people feel t
A social integration perspective on expressive writing: how the perceived relationship between writer and reader affects outcomes
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-08) Wisner, Amy Marie
Recent research suggests that the expressive writing paradigm, which was assumed to be anonymous and intrapersonal, may actually be a communicative and social event. The social integration theory of expressive writing assumes participants increase interactions with their social networks resulting in psychological and physical health improvements. The present study tests the idea that social integration is invoked at the moment the writer perceives the presence of another person (e.g., a reader) in the expressive writing process. Based on the salience of one's social network in instantiating the perception of emotional support, it can be expected that participants who write for a relationally close reader (i.e., close friend or romantic partner) would report stronger and more numerous health outcomes than participants who write for a non-relational reader (e.g., a researcher). Thus, the goal of this study was to investigate how perceived relational differences between writer and reader may affect expressive writing outcomes. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions designed to induce perceived relational differences with their readers. A third group served as the control. Depression, interpersonal sensitivity, physical health, cognitive intrusions and avoidance were measured. Findings successfully replicated psychological improvements and fell just shy of significance for cognitive benefits. Physical health benefits, however, were not replicated. Additionally, though the findings were not sufficient to reject the null hypotheses, this study poses important theoretical questions regarding the boundaries the social integration theory of expressive writing. Practically, it informs researchers and clinicians of the potential importance of treating expressive writing as a communicative event.
The influence of personality traits and self-construals on Facebook use
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-05) Lau, Julie Jung
This thesis examined personality traits (conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), narcissism, self-construals (independent and interdependent), and motivation (fun, time, communication, job, relationships, popular, and information) on Facebook use. Personality traits on frequency of Facebook use, amount of Facebook friends and profile length, and factors that may influence motivation to use Facebook were also examined. A survey was conducted with students from a large US western university. Results from the study showed that narcissism was significantly related to the amount of Facebook friends. Agreeableness and independent self-construal, however, were not significantly related. In this study, extraversion was associated with communication as a social-motivation to use Facebook. Conscientiousness and neuroticism, though, did not have any significant relationship with frequency of Facebook use. This finding supports the need to examine the influence of "personality traits," "motivation," and "self-construals" when interpreting social media use behavior. Suggestions for future research are addressed.
Proclivity to intentionally embarrass others and self scales
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-08) Koo, Michelle I-Vee
The present study validated the factorial structure found by Sharkey and Hamilton (2011), and extended their research by testing the scale's convergent validity by examining the relationships between the proclivity to intentionally embarrass others and self and a number of personality constructs. One hundred thirty nine University of Hawaii at Manoa students enrolled in Speech Communication classes answered online questionnaires that contained the proclivity to intentionally embarrass others and self, Machiavellian, communication apprehension, social desirability, and gelotophobia scales. The results suggest that increases in communication apprehension were correlated with reports of lower proclivity to intentionally embarrass others and oneself as well as lower proclivity to intentionally use mild face threatening tactics to embarrass others and mild and severe face-threatening acts to embarrass oneself. Results also suggest that individuals high on social desirability will be less likely to intentionally embarrass themselves and to intentionally use severe face-threatening acts to embarrass themselves. The findings in this paper have implications in regards to understanding the types of people who are willing to disrupt the working consensus through the use of intentional embarrassment despite the possibility of negative social sanctioning from other interactants.
The effects of multi/biculturalism and dehumanization on human-to-robot communication
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-05) Heo, Hyun Hee
The present study investigates the effects of cultural orientation and the degree of dehumanization of robots on the preferred conversational styles in human-to-robot interactions. The 203 participants self-reported on questionnaires through a computerbased online survey. The two requesting situations were intended to simulate the participants' interactions with humanoid social robots through an internet video phone medium of communication, where the viewer can see the robot's face. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the mediating role of mechanistic dehumanization between multi/bicultural orientation and conversational constraints. The findings reveal that between the two dimensions of multi/bicultural orientation, only openmindedness inversely influences mechanistic dehumanization, whereas cultural empathy does not. Mechanistic dehumanization, in turn, negatively affects three face-related conversational constraints, thereby leading to a lesser concern for robots' feelings, a lesser concern for minimizing impositions on robots, and a lesser concern for avoiding robots' negative evaluations. The implications of our findings on humans' relations with virtual robot entities and on the future development of humanoid robots are discussed.
Teacher friendliness and student learning
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-05) Hamada, Michele M.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between instructor friendliness and student learning. Although students tend to rate friendly instructors as more effective than less friendly instructors, whether teacher friendliness impacts student learning remains unclear. The theory of communicative responsibility was used to further explain the relationship between teacher friendliness and student learning as well as help to reconcile the previous findings. Instructor friendliness was predicted to increase perceptions of common ground and influence judgments of communicative responsibility. And as students increase their perception of personal communicative responsibility, they should engage in behaviors that promote student learning. As predicted, as perceptions of instructor friendliness increased, perceptions of homophily, communicative responsibility, and affective learning increased. In addition, the more students felt responsible for their learning in the classroom, the more students reported experiencing cognitive learning. This study provides support for the notion that instructor friendliness is related to student perceptions of learning and might help contribute to theory building about learning.
An investigation on the effects of parent friending on self-disclosure, privacy settings, editing behavior and topic avoidance on Facebook
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-05) Cabico, Marjorie Ann Ocariza
Social networking sites (SNSs) have changed the way we communicate and keep in touch. While there is ongoing and existing research on SNSs, few have looked at the effects of having a parent in one's friend network. The current study looks to further explore the effects that parent friending on Facebook has on user's self-disclosure and impression management on their profile. It was hypothesized that user's who have a parent on Facebook would demonstrate a greater amount of editing behaviors, would be more likely use the privacy settings, and would decrease or withhold information. This study also posed several research questions regarding user's information sharing on Facebook. Two hundred and eleven participants completed an online survey examining Facebook usage, self-disclosure, parent presence in their friend network, and topic avoidance. Results did not support the proposed hypotheses but provided interesting insights into the research questions. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Nonverbal communication competence and music training
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2011-05) Badua, Audrey Shoko Mendoza
Individuals who are competent in nonverbal communication are those who are able to accurately and effectively express, interpret, and regulate emotion in everyday conversation. Scholars have argued that acoustic cues such as pitch, tempo, timbre, rhythm, and tone in nonverbal communication share similarities with acoustic cues in music when expressing, interpreting, and regulating emotion. Recent studies in music training have shown that individuals who received music training were more accurate in sending and detecting emotion through the use of acoustic cues than individuals who have not received music training. This investigation examined the relationship between years of formal music training with nonverbal communication competence, overall communication competence, and emotional intelligence. This study also tested the notion that individuals with music training will report higher scores in nonverbal communication competence, overall communication competence, and emotional intelligence than individuals who have not had music training. The results suggest that more years of music training was correlated with higher competency in nonverbal communication as well as overall communication. Results also suggest that individuals with music training reported higher competency in nonverbal communication competence and overall communication competence than individuals with no training in music. The findings in this paper have implications in regards to music training in schools and further understanding of the relationship between communication and music.
Dance in the Society and Hawaiian Islands as presented by the early writers, 1767-1842
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1951) Costa, Mazeppa King
This paper is a study of European influences on dance, in the Society Islands and the Hawaiian islands through collected works ranging from 1767, the date of the arrival in Tahiti by Samuel Wallis, and 1842, the date that marks the end of the United States Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles Wilkes.
Cyber-intrusions: strategies of coping with online obsessive relational intrusion
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007) Tokunaga, Robert S.
The current study explored how victims of Internet-related stalking crimes cope with relational intrusions. Using a communication privacy management framework, research questions examined strategies that victims used in response to the relational pursuit, the effectiveness of these strategies, and the relationship between the coping strategies and the online obsessive relational intrusion behaviors. Participants were either college students who were victims of online pursuits or victims who were directed to an online survey from a support website for cyberstalking victims. The results indicated that victims used eight coping strategies, of which ignore/avoidance, technological disassociation/disengagement, and help-seeking, were the most common. A technological privacy maintenance strategy was perceived as the most effective of all the strategies. The association between the eight coping strategies and 19 online relationally intrusive behaviors, and implications for the broader domain of privacy management and mediated communication are discussed.
Understanding commitment in students' persistence decisions
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2008-05) Savage, Matthew W.
Just as individuals are faced with the decision to stay or leave their relationships, students are faced with the important decision to persist or depart their colleges or universities before graduation. Student departure, defined as leaving an institution prior to graduation, is a problem for institutions of higher education. In 1982, Tinto emphasized that over the last 100 years the national rate of student departure from colleges and universities has remained constant at 45 percent. Today's departure rates are no better; recently the American College Testing Program reported that nationwide 60 percent of students at four-year public institutions departed their institutions before graduating (ACT Institutional Data File, 2006). These statistics are descriptive of university dynamics and students' goals, academic experiences, social interaction, and commitment to their institutions. As colleges compete for student enrollment, retention rates serve as an important source of information to guide students and their families in choosing which institution to attend. Current rates of student departure, then, adversely affect the public's perception of the quality of colleges and universities (Braxton, Hirschy, & McClendon, 2004). In fact, widely publicized national rankings, such as those in the U.S. News and World Report, use retention statistics as a measure of university quality when ranking institutions. Thus, advancing scholarship concerning college student departure is important for both students and universities. A consistent recommendation of research regarding college student departure has been to focus on understanding 'institutional commitment,' or more precisely students' commitment to their institutions (Braxton & Lee, 2005; Braxton, Sullivan, & Johnson, 2 1997). Students' commitment has been extensively investigated through Tinto's model of student persistence (1993). An overarching limitation of past research on this commitment has been that investigations have operated from the student perspective, not considering an institution's commitment to students. However, both student commitment and institution commitment are relevant in the higher education setting. Other disciplines have examined commitment as well. For example, commitment is a well studied concept within the discipline of relational communication, and understanding the transactional nature of commitment between students and their institutions may be much like understanding how commitment exists within romantic relationships. As such, the purpose of this investigation is to extend the theoretical understanding of Tinto' s model of student persistence by drawing on relational communication research to elaborate on the role of commitment in student departure. To accomplish this, an initial overview of college student departure literature will be presented. This will be followed by an explanation of Tinto's Interactionalist Theory, a critique of Tinto's (1993) model of student persistence, and the current research on students' commitment to an institution. Next, a clarification of the conceptualization and measurement of commitment will be offered, followed by an examination of institutions' commitment to students. Students' subsequent commitment and persistence will then be discussed. Finally, commitment will be examined through a relational framework for understanding commitment.
Social support and job satisfaction
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Raphael, Douglas D.
Using an expectancy violation theoretical framework, this investigation provides an examination of the association between workplace social support and job satisfaction. In particular, this study explores the relationship between the appropriateness of emotional social support and job satisfaction. To assess these relationships, employees (N = 206) reported on the social support they received from their coworkers and supervisors. Results indicated that emotional support received from coworkers was not viewed to be more appropriate than emotional support received from supervisors. Emotional support received from supervisors was not found to have a stronger association with job satisfaction than emotional support received from coworkers. Likewise, instrumental support received from supervisors was not found to have a stronger association with job satisfaction than instrumental support received from coworkers. Implications of this research and future directions are provided.
Examination of the self-expansion model in Japanese women-Caucasian men romantic relationships
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Kawamura, Ai
A growing number of Japanese women devote both personal and professional investment in a variety of so-called "realm of foreign" endeavors, which include study abroad, travel abroad, or work in foreign affiliated firms (Kelsky, 2001a). The Ministry of Justice in Japan reported that Japanese women who departed Japan to overseas in 2004 increased 3.8% more than Japanese men from the previous year. According to Qno and Piper (2004), women comprise over half of all Japanese students abroad now - an increase from only one-quarter of the total in 1959. The most popular destination is the United States, which 30 percent of all Japanese students call "home" during their studies (Ono & Piper, 2004). Furthermore, the statistics show that it is natural that one would witness mixed-race romances between Japanese women and foreign men, especially Americans. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan reported that of all 8,158 Japanese women who married non-Japanese, 1,529 women tied the knot with Americans which account for 19% of the total in 2003 - 434 increase from 1990. Nevertheless, while frequent contact certainly explains the incremental pairings of Japanese women and American men, many claim to find some idiosyncrasy in terms of the motivational aspects of the pairing; that is, Japanese women's particular mate selection tendency based on various motives of attraction to Western men. This paper takes a different angle. First, this study will specifically focus on Japanese women's romantic involvement with Caucasian men from the perspective of interpersonal and intercultural relationship research. It will specifically focus on a fundamental human motivation, that is a self-expansion motivation; the desire for enhanced potential efficacy - greater material, social, and informational resources (Aron & Aron 1996b). Such self-expansion leads both to the greater ability to achieve whatever else one desires (i.e., both to survival and to specific rewards) as well as to an enhanced sense of efficacy (Aron & Aron, 1996b).
The communicative value of a tattoo: the role of public self-consciousness on the visibility of a tattoo
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Doss, Kathleen S.
This study was designed to explore the degree to which participants consider their tattoos communicative and to probe the relationship between public self-consciousness and tattoo visibility. Based on impression management theory, two hypotheses were generated for tattooed people who consider tattoos to be evaluated positively and negatively by others. In the positive evaluation condition, a positive association was expected between public self-consciousness and tattoo visibility. In the negative evaluation condition, a negative association was expected between public self-consciousness and tattoo visibility. A total of 181 participants were surveyed from the University ofHawai'i and tattoo shops in Hawai'i. Results showed that participants considered their tattoos as somewhat communicative. Additionally, support was found for the prediction that for tattooed people who consider tattoos to be negatively evaluated by others, as their level of public self-consciousness increased, visibility of their tattoos decreased. No support was found for the other predicted relationship.
Parental mediation and voting behavior: the effects of parental mediation on political socialization
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005) Jerney-Davis, Michelle
The study of political socialization has been focused primarily on either the agent of socialization or the learner being socialized, while scant attention has been paid to how the socialization actually occurs. This study explored the communication between parent and child that may lead to political socialization, specifically, the communication engaged in between parent and child while viewing television news. Parental mediation is a quantitative construct designed to measure parent/child interactions about television. As it is primarily a media effects construct, this study used an established political media effect-political disaffection-as the outcome variable when measuring effects of parental mediation on political socialization. Path models indicating the direction and process of parental mediation effects were predicted. Data were collected from 261 undergraduate students who were eligible to vote in the 2004 presidential election. Results did not support the proposed path models. Results also did not support active parental mediation as an influence on either political disaffection or intent to vote. Results did, however find a small but significant relationship between parent-adolescent coviewing of television news and intent to vote. Implications for future parental mediation study are discussed, as well as the study's limitations.
Attachment styles as a predictor of fatal attractions
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004) Rodgers, Jeff
Research regarding fatal attractions has indicated several areas, themes, processes as well as the likeliness of certain attractions leading to fatal attractions. However, research has not ascertained whether certain individuals have an increased probability of engaging in fatal attractions. Fatal attractions may in large be due to individuals' attachment style to their romantic partner. This research proposed that individuals who are categorized as possessing an anxious/ambivalent attachment style would make up a disproportionate percentage of fatal attractions. Based on a sample of 197 college students, our findings indicate no association between attachment styles and fatal attractions. A discussion of the lack of support for the hypothesis is presented along with limitations and suggestions for future research.
Examining college students' reactions to three anti-smoking message approaches: humor, psychological reactance, and fear appeals
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004) Takeuchi, Leilani S.L.
The young adult population, defined as persons between the ages of 18-24, includes the youngest legal targets of tobacco industry marketing and is often overlooked by public health efforts. The primary goal of this study was to examine how 18-24 year old college students process three popular anti-smoking message appeals (fear, humor, and reactance to industry manipulation). Previous research has examined youth and general adult reactions to these three anti-smoking message approaches; however, this study extended this body of research by specifically targeting 18-24 year old college students. The proposed processes were tested using a repeated measures design. Results showed that all three message approaches influenced attitude about smoking; however, no message approach affected changes in behavior intention. Study limitations were discussed and future directions were suggested.
Intercultural communication competence: initial application to instructors' communication as a basis to assess multicultural teacher education programs
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004) Kim, Rachel K.
This thesis was a preliminary application of the concept of intercultural communication competence to assess instructors' communication with diverse student populations as a means of identifying successful classroom practice from which to trace back to multicultural teacher education programs. Twenty-five instructors and 247 of their students participated. Instructors' self-reports and their students' perceptions of instructors' intercultural communication competence were obtained along with instructors' degree of formal training and informal experiences relevant to teaching! communicating with diverse student populations. Overall, both instructors and students reported moderate levels of intercultural communication competence regarding instructors' communication. There was a positive association between instructors' formal training and students' perceptions of instructors' intercultural communication competence but not with instructors' self-reports. There was a positive association between instructors' informal experiences and instructors' self-reports of intercultural communication competence but not with students' perceptions. Results indicate intercultural communication competence can successfully be applied to assess instructors' communication.
Suspicious receivers' interactions goals and strategic behaviors within dating relationships
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004) Kim, In Duk
The study of suspicion in previous research has primarily focused on the impact of suspicion on deception detection accuracy or the pragmatics of suspicious receivers. The premise of the present study is that cognitive aspects of suspicious receivers must be accounted for to further understand their active participation in deceptive communication. The present study attempts to identify suspicious receivers' interaction goals and strategic behaviors and to find links between the goals and behaviors. The influence of situational and affective factors on suspicious receivers' goals and behaviors are also investigated. Data were collected from one hundred and eighty two undergraduate students within dating relationships. The results revealed four interaction goals and nine behavior categories of suspicious receivers in dating relationship. Some qualitative differences between the goals were found in terms of their association with behavioral strategies. Also, outcome involvement, relational commitment, and emotional intensity were found to have important influences on suspicious receivers' behaviors. Implications for future suspicion research are discussed as well as the study's limitations.
Popular music and communication in interpersonal relationships
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003-05) Ongyod, Anthony; Hubbard, Amy S. E.; Speech
This research investigates how people use popular music, particularly wedding songs, to communicate. Participants were gathered at a bridal expo who either "Have a Wedding Song" or have "Witnessed a Wedding Song". Results indicate that people do indeed communicate using music. Interpersonal partners have a wedding song because a wedding song is symbolic, tradition, expresses feelings, important, and romantic. Couples chose a particular song for their wedding because the appointed song expresses the couple's feelings, has sentimental value, is representative of the relationship, has meaningful lyrics, and sounds good. The most important messages communicated in a song were: "I love you", "I want to be with you", and "I want everyone to know how I feel". The most important emotions were: "Love", "Warmth", and "Happiness". Finally, wedding partners generally communicate to their partner or to both their partner and the audience. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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