States that beliefs about the causes and responsibility for disease are central to cultural understandings of the human condition. Explores how public communication influences such beliefs. Argues that attributions of responsibility are better understood rhetorically, as influencing attitudes and behavior. Discusses a model of public communication…

Defines virtual reality as a particular type of experience (in terms of "presence" and "telepresence") rather than as a collection of hardware. Maintains that media technologies can be classified and studied in terms of vividness and interactivity, two attributes on which virtual reality ranks very high. (SR)

Uses the idea of "framing" as a case study of scattered conceptualization across academic disciplines. Identifies and makes explicit various uses of "framing." Argues that the field of communication can develop a core of knowledge that could translate into research models contributing to social theory in the largest sense. (SR)

Introduces six articles comprising a symposium on dynamic social impact theory--a theory discussing the creation, maintenance, structuring, and alteration of attitude, beliefs, and belief systems; the dynamics of social influence; and the role of human ecology in the formation of belief and belief systems. Discusses theoretical premises and…

Identifies key conceptions of communication "sources" in the literature. Proposes a typology of sources that applies to traditional media and new online media. Evaluates this typology: confirms distinctions made in the typology, finding that attribution of identical content to four different types of online sources by undergraduate…

Presents a theory of how individuals located in social space influence each other to create higher order patterns of cultural structure. Presents the theory as five propositions and six derivations, arguing that Dynamic Social Impact Theory accounts for four key features of culture: regional clustering, correlations among cultural elements,…

Uses a typology to characterize the situation in communication research in 1993 as compared to the situation in 1983. Compares previous predictions to the present situation and makes new predictions. Argues that a cause for the fragmentation in communication studies is the lack of a basic precondition for cumulative growth--formal models. (SR)

Assesses the types of conversational patterns--from cross-complaining to contracting--that characterize satisfied couples; suggests theoretical models that account for their success. Proposes the hypothesis that the underlying mechanism that maintains closeness in marriages is symmetry in emotional responsiveness, which relates to whether spouses…

Argues that social structures, in the form of shared attitudes, values, beliefs, and identities, can emerge out of the spatially constrained nature of social interaction and influence. Discusses the processes that differentiate social space from both subjective psychological space and objective physical reality. (SR)

Presents results of experimental tests of Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) in which participants engaged in discussions over electronic mail. Finds support for the emergence of four group phenomena predicted by DSIT. Shows how, rewarded for being in the majority, individuals' choices resulted in the emergence of four forms of group level…

Uses J.W. Carey's transmission and ritual communication models to illustrate harms caused by hate speech. Examines legal precedent for the ritual model, but suggests that courts more often adopt the transmission model. Argues that, although the ritual model points to a different, long-term harm caused by hate speech, its adoption raises troubling…

Urges construction of a new analytical framework for communications policy researchers which explicitly weighs quantifiable economic efficiency criteria alongside nonquantifiable social values. Discusses market economics versus social value, the economics of idea production and distribution, an expanded policy framework, the role of the first…

Describes Social Representation Theory (SRT), an important and controversial development in European social constructivism. Argues that, although SRT and Dynamic Social Impact Theory (DSIT) come from different research traditions, they are complementary. Maintains that DSIT goes further in providing a clear mechanism for how dialog creates…

Explores gender politics in information technology theory and research. Maintains that an absence of critical consciousness about gender reproduces old patterns of power and privilege in the social distribution of knowledge. Identifies ways in which displays of the perspectivity of knowledge can secure new models of systematic,…

Systematizes the fragmented approaches to framing in political communication and integrates them into a comprehensive model. Classifies previous approaches to framing research along two dimensions: media frames versus audience frames; and the way frames are operationalized (independent variable or dependent variable). Identifies four key processes…