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 A Theory of Argumentative Norms: Conceptualizing and Evaluating Domain-Specific Argumentative Expectations(2021) Stoltz, Nathaniel Halkias; Hample, Dale; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This project develops and tests a theory, the Theory of Argumentative Norms. The Theory of Argumentative Norms states that individuals carry specific social norms into interpersonal arguments that depend on the goal of the argument—persuasion, inquiry, identity, or play. Conforming to these norms is theorized to lead to optimal argumentative perceptions and outcomes, and violating any of these norms is thus theorized to lead to more negative consequences. The first two chapters detail the theory and its specific normative constructs, leading to the construction of ten hypotheses and a research question. The nature of the theory called for the creation of new instruments and stimuli, so the next two chapters detail the piloting of these measures and materials. The predictions are then tested in two further studies, primarily by the construction and manipulation of dialogic argument vignettes that do or do not contain particular violations, and then asking participants to rate the vignettes for their conformity to argument norms and for other argumentative perception and outcome measures. Findings of the research were mostly supportive of the theory: it was found that norm violations were associated with significantly more negative perceptions than normative arguments, both with respect to in-the-moment perceptions (argument quality, pleasantness) and outcomes (goal attainment, future willingness to argue, escalation). The theory also predicted that different argument goals would be associated with different patterns of outcomes, but these predictions were mostly unsupported.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 IMPROVING CHRONIC ILLNESS MEDICATION ADHERENCE: A COUNTERFACTUAL THINKING-BASED MODEL OF PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION(2017) Iles, Irina; Nan, Xiaoli; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The World Health Organization estimates that, by 2020, the number of Americans affected by at least one chronic condition requiring medication therapy will grow to 157 million. Effective medications are a cornerstone of prevention and disease treatment, yet only about half of patients take their medications as prescribed, resulting in a common and costly public health challenge for the U.S. health care system. As with much of health care, drug adherence is primarily about human behavior. Therefore, patients who lack motivation to take their medication as prescribed cannot be forced or simply educated to take their medication; they must be persuaded and motivated to do so. However, existing literature on how persuasion-based behavioral change can be achieved for non-adherent patients is sparse. To help build more evidence on how effective communication can be used to promote drug adherence for patients who have been diagnosed with chronic illness, this research tested the effectiveness of counterfactual thinking as a message design strategy aimed at increasing drug adherence among individuals at risk for nonadherence. Findings from experiments 1 and 2 showed no effect of counterfactual thinking on medication adherence. Findings from experiment 3 showed that, in a sample of 303 patients with type 2 diabetes at risk for nonadherence, messages including upward counterfactual thinking (e.g., “if only I had taken my medication as prescribed, I would not be in the hospital right now!”), compared to messages including downward counterfactual thinking (e.g., “it could have been worse and I could have died!”) or no counterfactual thinking, increased perceptions of medication adherence self- and response efficacy, and behavioral intention to take one’s medications as prescribed. Counterfactual thinking-based messages are a promising and easy to use persuasion strategy for patients who are at risk for nonadherence. Counterfactual thinking can be incorporated in interventions aimed at increasing adherence, and in doctor-patient or pharmacist-patient communications. Future studies should replicate these findings patients who have other chronic illnesses. Furthermore, measuring actual medication adherence behavior as opposed to behavioral intention, would provide a better indicator of the effectiveness of counterfactual thinking in increasing adherence.Item IMPACT OF WEB CONTENT FEEDBACK SYSTEM ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HEALTH PROMOTION MESSAGES ON YOUTUBE: A NORMS-BASED INQUIRY(2017) Yang, Bo; Nan, Xiaoli; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The widespread use of social media in health communication makes it important to understand how the media’s characteristics impact health communication effectiveness. This dissertation used social norms theory to explain the persuasive impact of web content feedback system—a unique feature of social media—on people’s responses to health promotion messages posted on a social media site YouTube. Three common social media content feedback cues (comments, aggregate ratings, and message view count) were examined. These cues were expected to influence people’s health attitudes and behavioral intentions via the mediation of three types of perceived social norms (descriptive norms, injunctive norms and subjective norms). Two experiments examined the norms-mediated model in three health contexts (smoking, binge drinking, and texting while driving). Experiment 1 examined the influence of proportion of positive comments (large, medium, vs. small) and comment focus (message vs. behavior). As expected, proportion of positive comments was negatively related to people’s perceived social approval of smoking and texting while driving (injunctive norms). However, it had a concave downward relationship with perceived social approval of binge drinking (i.e., injunctive norms). The results also suggested an important impact of comment focus on people’s responses to health promotion messages. Experiment 2 examined the influence of proportion of thumbs-up (large, medium, vs. small) and message view count (high, medium vs. low). It was hypothesized that greater proportion of thumbs-up would lead to less favorable beliefs about problem behaviors. This hypothesis was supported only when the outcome variable was texting while driving intention. View count positively predicted people’s smoking and binge drinking intentions and marginally, positively predicted texting while driving subjective norms. It had a concave downward relationship with binge drinking attitudes. Experiment 2 also found complex joint effects of view count and proportion of thumbs-up. In spite of many findings about the influence of comments, ratings, and view count on norms, attitudes, or intentions, both study 1 and study 2 provided limited support for the hypothesized norms-based mediation. Limitations, theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research are discussed.Item Testing a Dual Path Framework of the Boomerang Effect: Proattitudinal versus Counterattitudinal Messages(2017) Zhao, Xinyan; Fink, Edward L.; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation aims to differentiate two types of boomerang effects on belief and attitude change: a boomerang effect under a proattitudinal message and a boomerang effect under a counterattitudinal message. By employing a 2 (Message valence: anti-policy vs. pro-policy) × 2 (Issues: legal age for drinking vs. legal age of marriage) × 2 (Threat to freedom: low threat vs. high threat) × 2 (Argument quality: low quality vs. high quality) plus 2 (Control groups: no-message control for the two issues) cross-sectional factorial design (N = 458), antecedents and mediators that bring about the two types of boomerang effect were examined. Under a counterattitudinal message, both argument quality and prior belief strength predicted a boomerang effect: Those receiving a low-quality argument or those with a strong prior belief, as compared with the control group, exhibited a boomerang on belief and attitude. The dominant mechanism that explained the relationship between argument quality and belief position boomerang was counterarguing (vs. anger). Under a proattitudinal message, there was an indirect effect of trait reactance on belief boomerang through anger (vs. negative cognitions). But the perceived threat to attitudinal freedom did not predict a boomerang effect. These results contribute to attitude change research by empirically separating cognitive and affective mechanisms for boomerang effects. Furthermore, this study refines the construct of negative cognitions and integrates reactance theory and the cognitive response perspective on boomerang effects. Both structural equation models and confirmatory factor analysis suggested that counterarguments and nonrefutational thoughts were two distinct types of negative cognitions. The two constructs were caused by different sets of antecedents and had different outcomes: Poor argument quality caused counterarguments, whereas perceived threat and trait reactance caused nonrefutational thoughts. Only counterarguments mediated the effects of argument quality on the boomerang effects for belief (e.g., the extent to which the legal drinking age should be decreased on a magnitude scale) and belief position (e.g., the legal age for drinking), which subsequently predicted the boomerang effect on attitude (e.g., the extent to which the legal drinking age is liked). This dissertation expands the theoretical scope of belief and attitude change research. Future research should explore the persuasive appeals for mitigating the cognitive or affective process resulting in a boomerang effect. Among those who are more prone to boomerang on certain issues, a boomerang appeal can be employed to persuade.