Suchergebnisse

Research about the nature of emerging adult college student problem situations identifies parents as a means of decision–making and/or social support. One salient type of social support is parental advice messages. This qualitative study investigates why emerging adult college students receive advice from their parents, their perceptions of that advice, and why they implement it. To explore these phenomena, electronic survey data were collected and analyzed using inductive emergent thematic analysis. Findings conclude that emerging adult college students receive solicited and unsolicited advice from their parents about academic and career concerns but receive more advice about work–life balance, social/relationship concerns, and finances. Further, participants implemented their parents' advice because of the utility or practicality of the advice, the legitimate authority or experiential wisdom of the parent, and perceived autonomy support. Practical and scholarly implications for advice-giving communication between parents and their emerging adult college student children are discussed.

This article tests conversion theory through linguistic analysis of group discussions and also tests the effects of linguistic mimicry in homogeneous groups and minority/majority groups. Supporting conversion theory, majorities had a more interpersonal, outward focus as tested through use of more third person plural pronouns ("they"). Supporting conversion theory's validation process, minority members who used a higher percentage of causation words were more influential. Majority members who used more second person pronouns ("you") had less influence in the group, in support of previous research that found that "you" words were counterproductive with conflict. It was hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between linguistic mimicry and discussion of information shared by all group members, but this was only found in homogeneous groups.

Based on the theoretical frameworks of information-sharing in groups and the linear discrepancy model, this study highlights the importance of communicating shared information for a divergent member to influence a group. Participants received information concerning whether "under God" should be in the Pledge of Allegiance. After stating individual opinions, they discussed the issue in small groups and came to a group decision on a continuous, ordered scale. Low divergent members, who had opinions closer to the average of other group members, had more influence than high divergent members. Group members with high divergence were more confident and talked more than others. However, there was no relationship between the amount divergent members talked or their confidence level and their amount of influence. Highly divergent group members who mentioned more shared information were more influential and came across as more knowledgeable.