College of Arts & Humanities
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The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item CREATIVE PERSUASION: ENHANCING WELL-BEING AND SELF-EFFICACY THROUGH THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE(2018) Ganzermiller, Josie Deanna; Khamis, Sahar; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This manuscript is intended as a first step in exploratory research to examine the efficacy of creative performance in entertainment-based health interventions, as well as the cognitive mechanisms for that efficacy. Creative performance for the purposes of this study is defined as engaging in an activity that requires the participant to use his or her body to creatively portray a character and/or enact a message. While much is known about the efficacy of entertainment-based health interventions, less empirical work has focused on how merely participating in creative performance promotes well-being. Well-being is psychological and mental health, which is more than the absence of mental disorder or disease, but rather the state of "optimal psychological functioning and experience" (Ryan & Deci, 2001). This document outlines a panel study that evaluates the degree to which active involvement in an immersive theatre camp leads to increases in well-being and self-efficacy for adolescents, as well as the theoretical basis for expecting such a result. A front matter table (p. vii) provides a reference for the key concepts and variables included in the study. The following chapters expand on the rationale for this work, including entertainment-education, benefits of creative performance, and the importance of well-being in adolescence.Item Toward a Theory of Risk Information Processing: The Mediating Effects of Reaction Time, Clarity, Affect, and Vividness(2011) Skubisz, Christine; Turner, Monique M; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project examined the variables that mediate the relationship between the exogenous variables numerical presentation and numeracy and the endogenous variables risk perception and risk related decisions. Previous research suggested that numerical format and numeracy influence outcomes. The question that remained unanswered was why? The goal of this project was to peer into the proverbial black box to critically examine information processing at work. To examine possible mediating variables, two theoretical models that have emerged in the risk perception literature were tested. The first is an evolutionary theory proposing that over time, individuals have developed an augmented ability to process frequency information. Thus, frequency information should be clearer and people should be faster at forming risk perceptions with information in this format. According to this model, processing speed and evidence clarity mediate the relationship between evidence format and risk perception. A second framework, the affective processing theory, argues that frequency information is more vivid and people derive more affect from information in this format. Therefore, according to this model, affect and vividness mediate the relationship between presentation format and risk perception. In addition to these two perspectives, a third theory was proposed and tested. The integrated theory of risk information processing predicted that reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness would all influence risk perception. Two experiments were conducted to test the predictions of these three theories. Overall, some support for an integrated model was found. Results indicated that the mediating variables reaction time, clarity, affect, and vividness had direct effects on risk perception. In addition, risk perception had a strong influence on risk related decisions. In Study 2, objective numeracy had a direct effect on reaction time, such that people with high numeracy spent more time forming risk evaluations. Furthermore, people with a preference for numerical information evaluated numerical evidence as clearer and more vivid than people who preferred to receive evidence in nonnumerical formats. Both theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed and recommendations for future research are provided.Item HOW YOUNG WOMEN MAKE MEANING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CAMPAIGNS: USING A CULTURAL STUDIES APPROACH TO (RE)DEFINE PERCEPTIONS OF RISK, HEALTH, AND PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICE(2010) Briones, Rowena Lyn; Aldoory, Linda; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to understand how women from different racial and ethnic backgrounds make meaning of sexual assault communication. In this exploratory study, one component of the circuit of culture - consumption - was examined using the cultural studies approach to investigate how women perceived the various cultural codes, symbols, languages, and images associated with sexual assault. The study used qualitative focus groups and one-on-one interviews with African American, Hispanic, Asian American and white women from a large university. Findings revealed that women associate themselves with sexual assault based on their gender and age. In addition, women are more receptive to thematic messages that hold a personal relevance to them. This study expanded the use of cultural theory in public relations as well as supported a proposed theory of women's health communication. Practical implications include various innovations communicators can use to improve their proficiency in crafting culturally competent messages.