Suchergebnisse

"Communication Diversity in Families discusses diverse family types and the communication that occurs within and among them. The carefully curated readings explore a variety of family forms which exist and have existed in American society throughout its history. They also address the diverse functions and activities of these families. The readings are organized into five sections. The first addresses family communication theories and cultural diversity. Subsequent sections discuss spirituality, introspection, and the influence of social media, emotions and physiological arousal in families, family reconfiguration and divorce including animals as family members, and the effects of infidelity and divorce. Within these broad content areas, students will learn about specific issues in relationship dynamics, decision-making approaches, communication styles, the choices people make following life disasters, and the abuse that sometimes occurs within families. Dedicated to helping students move beyond parochial perspectives of "the family," Communication Diversity in Families presents them with an expansive view of family life, family challenges, and family communication. The book is well-suited to courses in family issues, psychology, sociology, communication studies, counseling, social work, and LGBTQ studies."--Back cover

Purpose
The purpose of this commentary is discuss how musical intervention and imagined interactions can be used to deal with conflict. Music has been called the universal language because of its tonality and rhythm. It affects conflict and aggression and helps people to deal with stress. Research is reviewed showing physiological arousal with background music. The effects of music on aggression are summarized in terms of emotional regulation, catharsis and empathy, and the use of mental imagery in the form of imagined interactions, including relational maintenance catharsis and conflict linkage, is discussed. The incremental sound organizer (ISO) principle of music therapy is discussed as a mechanism to affect emotions while listening to music. Finally, a tool to measure the emotional effect of music on listeners is discussed in terms of the musical mood wheel.


Design/methodology/approach
This is a commentary on the effects of background music on reducing aggression.


Findings
Music can reduce aggression, depending on how it is used. Music affects how we manage our emotions, reduces stress, provides catharsis and can be a distracting element. Music can enhance empathic feeling; induce positive moods, social bonding, physiological changes and neurobiological changes; and affect our arousal.


Research limitations/implications
Music therapy and musical intervention can be applied to conflict resolution.


Practical implications
The ISO principle of music therapy is designed to deal with changing a person's emotions as they listen to a medley of music. The mood of the person is measured using a series of scales reflecting a continuum of sadness to happiness, and the music is designed to match the mood of the patient to the music being played and/or listened to, which in turn fosters the achievement of an altered state of consciousness. For example, if you are angry, start with music that is loud and gradually switch to a more tranquil piece of music. "The vectoring power of music is that we change the mood or emotion of persons from one affective pole (joy) to its opposite (anger) through small incremental changes in the rhythm and intensity of the music" (Honeycutt, 2003, p. 82).


Social implications
Background music in music psychology literature is often referred to as musical intervention. Background music can help us recall positive and negative scenes as the music triggers endorphins in the brain (Salimpoor et al., 2011). Background music is intended to enhance the surrounding context without drawing significant attention. It is often played in spaces such as restaurants, stores, offices or public places to create a certain mood or ambiance.


Originality/value
It is important to note that the effectiveness of musical intervention in reducing aggression can vary based on individual preferences, the specific type of music used, and the context in which it is applied. Additionally, while music intervention can play a role in aggression reduction, it is often most effective when used as part of a comprehensive therapeutic approach.

AbstractAffinity‐seeking behavior among College roommates was examined to investigate how individuals sustain the relationship. Planning for affinity maintenance was examined in terms of covert dialogues based on the literature on imagined interactions (Ils) in which individuals rehearse anticipated encounters while reviewing prior conversations. A series of hypotheses and research questions were posed examining gender and self‐talk with roommates in terms of predicting roommate affinity. The association between 11s and affinity maintenance strategies was examined. Results reveal differences between male and female roommate dyads in terms of strategy usage, particularly those reflecting an orientation to the other's needs. Strategies reflecting other‐involvement emerged as significant predictors of affinity.

Berger's (1995) planning theory has spawned research on the tactical variations that individuals use to influence others, to disseminate information, and to react to opposition to plans. However, the effect of planning on anxiety has not been tested. The current study examined one nonverbal indicator of anxiety in this study, the use of object adaptors. In addition, research on imagined interactions (IIs) has revealed that individuals imagine conversations with significant others for a variety of reasons, including rehearsal for anticipated messages and the alleviation of anxiety. The current study also examined the effects of planning for an anticiapted encounter and the level of discrepancy that individuals report they have in their IIs on the use of object adaptors. The findings are discussed in terms of spontaneous helplessness, plan efficacy, and the accretion of plan strategies in response to encounters that are discrepant from what was anticipated.

The Dark Side of Social Media: Psychological, Managerial, and Societal Perspectives examines how social media can negatively affect our lives. The book tackles issues related to social media such as emotional and mental health, shortened attention spans, selective self-presentation and narcissism, the declining quality of interpersonal relationships, privacy and security, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, misinformation and online deception, and negative peer effects. It goes on to discuss social media and companies (loss of power, challenging control mechanisms) and societies as a whole (fake news, chatbots, changes in the workplace). The Dark Side of Social Media: Psychological, Managerial, and Societal Perspectives empowers readers to have a more holistic understanding of the consequences of utilizing social media. It does not necessarily argue that social media is a bad development, but rather serves to complement the numerous empirical findings on the "bright side" of social media with a cautionary view on the negative developments

There is a significant amount of research that substantiates the connection between social support/relationships and the development, onset, and/or recovery of several physical diseases/illnesses. Research has shown, for example, that an unhappy marriage can increase the likelihood of becoming ill by 35% while stressful communication can lead to an increase in cardiovascular reactivity which in turn increases the risk of coronary heart disease and premature mortality. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the influences of communication on physiology and physical health status occ

PurposeThe signal detection theory has evolutionary foundations such that our ancestors who were able to detect signals of aggression survived, while those who could not were extinguished. The paper examines the detection of conflict escalation signals in a domestic argument in a married couple as a consequence of history with prior victimization and perpetration of violence. The purpose of this paper is threefold: escalation detection differences between a trained special victim's detective and untrained individuals; escalation detection for individuals with domestic violence victimization; and physiological arousal during escalation detection.Design/methodology/approachSubjects with various histories of victimization and perpetration using the Straus conflict tactics scale watched a video of an argument that escalated in conflict while their heart rate and electrodermal activity (EDA) was measured. Participants were asked to pause the tape and write any verbal and non-verbal signal of escalating conflict. The signal coding used deductive,a prioicoding based on Gottman's (1994, 2011) corrosive behaviors indicative of conflict. A repeated measures general linear model in sex and conflict initiation using two measures of physiological arousal revealed significant effects on EDA while watching escalating conflict as a function of victimization history.FindingsA series of hypotheses and research questions tested untrained people's signal detection abilities with a trained, special victim's unit police investigator as a consequence of male and female-initiated conflict. Untrained viewers reported fewer aggression signals than the police investigator. A repeated measures general linear model using two measures of physiological arousal revealed significant effects on EDA while watching escalating conflict as a function of victimization history. Results are discussed in terms of the signal detection and excitation-transfer theories toward explaining responses to escalating conflict.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this study was asking participants to document all abuse while not differentiating between different forms (i.e. emotional, verbal, physical). A future study could investigate how well participants can detect different forms of abuse. This area of research could be beneficial especially in the form of past history. For example, if an individual has been a recipient of emotional abuse, do they detect significantly more signals of emotional abuse than they would for physical abuse?Practical implicationsThe findings of our study have could practical publications for advising people who cope with conflict as they vary in their use of negotiation and physical force. The fact that physiological arousal was heightened after exposure to the conflict escalation video as a function of victimization due to physical force has ramifications for watching media with violent content. Therapists could ask survivors if they feel based on their experience, that they could help others to recognize aggressive signals or if they are immune to these signals, given the debate over victim desensitization vs heightened sensitivity.Social implicationsThe authors feel it is imperative to note that our current study was designed to gain a deeper understanding of domestic violence in order to ultimately benefit victims in the recovery process and to (ideally) prevent recurrence of domestic violence in the future. This research is not intended to implicate victims in anyway as being responsible for the consequences of domestic violence due to an inability to detect signals of aggression. Indeed, future research should examine how to skillfully advise domestic violence victims while protecting their already vulnerable self-images.Originality/valueEvery day, people are exposed to violence through social media, news, movies and television. Hence, we may become either sensitized to violence or desensitized. These are competing hypotheses that we tested in conjunction with physiological arousal. It is important to analyze reactions to viewing violence due to the sheer amount that is readily disseminated.