Imagined Interactions

Imagined interactions are a  type of social cognitionf and mental imagery theoretically grounded in symbolic interactionism and script theory in which we have internal conversations with significant others that serve six functions: compensation, rehearsal, catharsis, self-understanding, relational maintenance, and conflict resolution. There are eight features of imagined interactions including frequency, proactivity, retroactivity, variety, discrepancy, self-dominance, valence, and specificity. 

This chaper reveals how prayer and IIs both contribute to self-understanding.  Interestingly, having frequent IIs and praying are associatged.  Additionally, prayer has discernible characteristics of imagined interactions in terms of self-dominance (prayer monologues), proactivity (praying before something happens), retroactivity (praying after something happens), variety (praying over a wide variety of topics).

Across the world, trends in marital quality highlight the significance of identifying relational factors that sustain healthy marriages. The present study investigated the extent to which fondness and admiration determine marital quality among members of Karura Community Chapel in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The target populationCounty comprised 375 married individuals in Karura Community Church. Purposive sampling was employed to select respondents. A total of 172 married individuals responded to the survey. Data was collected using structured questionnaire based on Gottman's Sound Relationship House. The data was analysed using SPSS Version 29. Both descriptive analysis and inferential statistics were generated. The results revealed a strong, significant positive correlation between fondness and admiration and marital quality (r = .704, p < .01). Hierarchical regression showed that gender, age bracket, and marriage duration jointly explained a small but significant proportion of variance in marital quality, R² = .078, F(3, 164) = 4.60, p <.01, with gender (B = .308, p< .05) and age bracket (B = .236, p< .05) emerging as significant predictors, while marriage duration was not significant (p >.05). However, the inclusion of fondness and admiration substantially improved the model, increasing the explained variance to 51.3% (R² = .513, F(4, 163) = 42.85, p < .01), indicating a strong predictive contribution. It was concluded that fondness and admiration function as core relational assets that sustain marital relationships irrespective of demographic differences. Premarital counselling should cultivate fondness and admiration, teaching couples to express affection and appreciation for one another regularly.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that imagined contact can reduce prejudice in a variety of ways, against numerous groups, and in varied social contexts. Imagined contact has thus been suggested as an option for prejudice reduction where direct contact strategies may not be easy or practical. However, no research to date has tested imagined contact in high-prejudice contexts where direct contact is not a feasible option. In two experiments (N = 42, N = 100), we investigated whether imagined contact could be successfully applied as an intervention to reduce prejudice against gay men in two societies where direct contact would be particularly difficult or rare—Cyprus and Jamaica. Despite the relatively high prejudice against gay men reported in both societies, we found that imagined contact successfully improved attitudes, behavioral intentions, and social acceptance. We discuss the implications for imagined contact’s use as a real-world intervention when direct contact strateg...

We introduce virtual reality (VR) technology for oral communication practice in a college public-speaking class through a semester-long activity that offers students immersive, low-stakes opportunities for speech rehearsal. Students used the VirtualSpeech platform to complete four practice sessions. Instructors may find that offering VR as one of several rehearsal options alongside more traditional practice venues can enhance student confidence and support student preparation. Courses: The activity was designed for public-speaking courses; however, it is also well suited for other courses with speakingintensive designations or oral communication intensive units, assignments, or speeches, such as Argumentation, Interpersonal Communication, and Small Group Communication. Objectives: Participation in this activity is designed to enhance student speech preparedness by (1) supporting diversified opportunities for students to practice speaking out of the classroom, (2) providing targeted feedback, and (3) reducing potential for student communication apprehension.

This study examines the efficacy of integrating virtual reality (VR) as a tool for enhancing speaking competencies in the public speaking course. Specifically, we explore how VR speech rehearsals, targeted feedback, and safe exposure to speaking opportunities impact student self-efficacy. Over the course of a semester, students enrolled in the public speaking course completed three structured VR practice sessions and a series of corresponding questionnaires with open and closed-ended items. Our results indicate that most students found the scaffolded VR practice sessions beneficial in enhancing self-efficacy, including an enhanced sense of preparedness, and a smaller set of students found VR practice sessions helped reduce communication apprehension. Student feedback offered theoretical and practical understanding for best practices to effectively motivate student participation and integrate VR into the public speaking course. While VR shows promise as a complementary tool for enhancing oral communication skills, it is not a substitute for classroom instruction or in-person tutoring. We conclude by offering directions for further research into the uses and limitations of VR in oral communication pedagogy.

Rationally, spreading gossip is a human nature especially in the era of mass communication. The low price of printing accelerates the spread of gossip. Stars come into people&#39;s sights under the impetus of the medium. This study tested three factors of the tendency to gossip, including PSI, PCC and ATG on the Chinese social network sites. The findings of presented study actuate previous studies on the tendency to gossip, and we applied the TPB as the basis theory to conduct the research. It is novel to integrate the three predictors PSI, PCC, and ATG to examine how they influence TTG concurrently within new media situation. In particular, an originally designed model aims testing the multiple interactions among variables has been brought forward. Besides the model, the study also tested how PCC, PSI, and ATG work on TTG separately, trying to further our understandings of individuals’ TTG on SNSs in communication field. _____________________________________________________________...

Metropolitana -Iztapalapa quien, en ese entonces, confió en mí y me dio un lugar para cursar la licenciatura en Historia, diez años después volvió a abrirme las puertas para culminar mi formación, esta vez en el programa de doctorado en Historiografía de la unidad Azcapotzalco. Resulta sumamente complicado encontrar una forma adecuada de dar reconocimiento a quienes a lo largo de este viaje han sido mis maestros, maestras, guías y acompañantes a lo largo de mi formación profesional. Tres personas destacan por ser quienes tomaron la responsabilidad de dirigir mis trabajos de investigación y orientarme en los momentos en que dude de mis capacidades y mi trabajo: la Mtra. Irma Cruz Soto (UAM-I), el Dr. José Rubén Romero Galván (UNAM) y la Dra. Junto con mis profesores, agradezco a mi esposa Celeste Mansuy, quien desde que la conocí en la UAM-I, me ha impulsado a superarme, me ha brindado soporte en los momentos más oscuros personales y familiares, incluso cuando he dudado de mi capacidad para ser historiador. Ha sido una compañera de vida y de trayectoria, pues hemos compartido procesos académicos, espacios de trabajo y, desde luego, hemos formado una familia. A través de nuestras charlas vespertinas y nocturnas he aprendido a reinterpretar mis costumbres, mi visión del mundo y, junto con ello, mi futuro como historiador El amor y compañía de Celeste se ha prolongado a través de distintas personas, entre ellas los Navarro, los Mansuy, Isabel Jiménez y Adriana Esquivel, quienes me han hecho parte de ellos y, sin darme cuenta, se ha integrado a mi identidad. Junto con ellos, no puedo dejar de mencionar a Runa quien me acompañó desde 2017 en las noches de estudio, las tardes de escritura de tesis, los solitarios días de la cuarentena por el COVID y quien partió en 2023. Sin lugar a duda la guía de la Dra. Danna ha sido una de las mejores experiencias del posgrado pues a pesar de que, obligados por la pandemia de COVID 19, debimos iniciar de manera virtual, cada sesión sirvió para encontrar mis puntos débiles, observar los trabajos de otros compañeros y compañeras, así como tener contacto humano a pesar de la distancia. Posteriormente logramos reunirnos de manera presencial, entonces pudimos tener tardes de café, tesis, discusiones en torno a la historiografía, la vida academia y las trayectorias de vida, acompañados de Cuca y, algunas departamento de sociología, no. 21 (enero-abril 1993),

The paper discusses the conceptual and methodological challenges of developing measures of stereotypes and prejudice for use in Slovakia. Developing these measures was the first step in a research project aimed at testing the effectiveness of direct and indirect contact interventions to reduce prejudice against stigmatized minorities, particularly the Roma. The first major problem in this kind of research relates to measuring the impact of interventions, as standardized instruments for measuring prejudice have yet to be developed in Slovak. The second problem concerns the risk that the interventions will fail to reduce anti-Roma prejudice, because of the strong stigmatization of the Roma minority in Slovakia. The paper also reviews existing measures of stereotypes and prejudice in social psychology and discusses their applicability for measuring anti-Roma prejudice in Slovakia. It is argued that measures of stereotypes and prejudice should be designed and used in a sensitive manner ...

Studies using Japanese student samples have often failed to achieve the results predicted in hypotheses. This study shall conduct a review of such studies, and offer explanations as to why student samples have been unreliable. A discussion of the explanatory factors will be raised, as well as their implications toward research tactics. Finally, a model for the extraction of 'Japanese-likeness' from student samples is proposed.

Interpersonal competence research to date have generally followed certain patterns, which have ignored some serious problems in conceptualization. Two of these problems are: 1) assuming that competent behaviors are universal across cultures; and 2) slighting the context, both relational and situational, in which competent behaviors are practiced. This paper proposes an original model of interpersonal competence which incorporates the variable of culture, and one which is devised from a relational perspective. Tenets of the model, as well as its rationale and theorems are elaborated upon.

Imagined Interactions within the family are very important in mentally maintaining the family structure. As axiom 1 of imagined interaction conflict-linkage theory states: the relationship exists within the minds of family members. Communication is a conduit and activity that reinforces family bonds. They occur on certain days of the week, including Sunday and Saturday, and most notably on weekends.  They are related to personality which predicts marital quality.  Furthermore, they are least likely to occur with family members among college students on Thursday. This may be due to the occurrence of other activities including studying, work, and preparation for social activities over the weekend. Popular family topics include discussion of home and family activities followed by sex talk, and how they communicate. The eight attributes are of IIs are frequency, emotional valence, discrepancy, dominance, proactivity, retroactivity, specificity, and variety.  The six functions of imagined interactions are relational maintenance, rehearsal, self-understanding, catharsis, compensation, and conflict management.  Having happy IIs with a marital partner reflects marital happiness. Couples who are emotionally divorced keep recurring conflict alive in their minds and are called separate, while independent and traditional couples do not do this. Arguing does not predict divorce by itself, but arguing with contempt does. According to II conflict-linkage theory, recurring conflict is maintained through retro- and proactive IIs (Honeycutt 2010) and conflict is kept alive within your mind by dwelling on it. Prior research has revealed how II can mediate the relationship between verbal aggression and physical abuse

This study aimed to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and the intensity of parasocial relationships (PSRs) among adolescents, with a focus on how early adverse experiences influence emotional attachments to media figures. Using non-probability convenience sampling, a sample of 300 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 was selected from an urban school, a semi-urban school, and a residential complex in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The correlational design used was cross-sectional. The Celebrity-Persona Parasocial Interaction Scale (CPPI) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) were completed by the participants. Descriptive statistics, Reliability analysis, Pearson product moment correlation analysis and Independent samples t-tests, were conducted.

This study examines relationship-specific rumination(RSR)as a key cognitive factor corresponding with relational uncertainty(RU)in romantic relationships to extend the relational uncertainty model(Knobloch, 2007). Actorpartner interdependence models were employed to investigate the impact of RSR not only on the ruminators&#39; own uncertainty, but also on their partner&#39;s uncertainty. One hundred and twenty dating couples completed self-report measures examining their relationship, self, and partner uncertainty as well as RSR. Results revealed that RSR was associated with the ruminators&#39; own relationship and partner uncertainty as well as their partner&#39;s relationship and self uncertainty. The discussion highlights the theoretical implications of these findings for extending the relational uncertainty model.

A partir de dos escritos histórico-literarios de José Victorino Lastarria, el presente artículo estudia la forma en que la élite chilena fue construyendo, en la primera mitad del siglo XIX, discursos sobre el pasado colonial que lo instalaban como un suceso nefasto dentro de la historia latinoamericana. Articulando metáforas que hablan de la oscuridad de este período, se nos presenta como una etapa a superar mediante la creación de una historia nacional y de un tiempo fundacional. El discurso de la emergente nación, transformado en hegemónico y oficial ya a fines de la centuria, tenía por objeto narrar y naturalizar el sentido de comunidad nacional.

Dimensions of stereotypes, warmth and competence, may respond differentially to perceivers' emotional involvement. Two studies tested the effect of being emotionally involved with a fictional immigrant target on stereotypic warmth but not competence dimension. Emotional involvement with a target affects the target's perceived trustworthiness, warmth-related attributes, but not competence. Emotional involvement was operationalized as a personal variable, fantasizing tendency (tendency to empathically engage with fictitious characters) and a situational variable (emotion-focused instructions to adopt the target's perspective). After reading an immigrant's blog, Study 1 participants with a strong tendency to become involved with characters, if also instructed to focus on targets' emotional reactions, rated an immigrant as warmer than did all other combinations, but perceived competence did not change. In Study 2, priming the perceived competitive intent of the immigrant's group (an anti-warmth predictor) impeded involvement with the target and decreased perceived warmth. Priming perceived cooperative intent (a warmth predictor) replicated Study 1's results. Together, the studies show preliminary support for a specific emotional involvement-warmth link.

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between rumination and emotional reactions to infidelity. The sample of the study consisted of 72 participants who reported to being cheated on. Positive and Negative Affect Schedule was used to measure the reactions to infidelity and the Ruminative Response Scale was used to measure rumination. Canonical correlation analyses were utilized to determine the relationships between rumination with the canonical variables of Brooding and Reflection and emotional reactions to infidelity with the canonical variables of Positive Affect and Negative Affect of participants from Turkey. Results indicated that brooding and reflection, and negative and positive affect are interrelated. In other words, rumination is positively related with negative affect and negatively related with positive affect as reactions to infidelity.

The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between rumination and emotional reactions to infidelity. The sample of the study consisted of 72 participants who reported to being cheated on. Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was used to measure the reactions to infidelity and the Ruminative Response Scale (Treynor, Gonzalez, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2003) was used to measure rumination. Canonical correlation analyses were utilized to determine the relationships between rumination with the canonical variables of Brooding and Reflection and emotional reactions to infidelity with the canonical variables of Positive Affect and Negative Affect of participants from Turkey. Results indicated that brooding and reflection, and negative and positive affect are interrelated. In other words, rumination is positively related with negative affect and negatively related with positive affect as reactions to infidelity.

In this article, we extend Benedict Anderson’s notion of imagined communities to examine the idea of an “imagined engagement” between or among people and groups that have not met. These imagined engagements include a blurring of temporal lines, as one group “interacts” with another’s past, present, or future. Imagined engagements are a form of failed interaction, and, as such, have their place in Goffman’s interaction order. We argue that musical language can comprise a meeting point of these engagements. We then demonstrate how two composers—one historic and one contemporary—have used the musical cultures of an Othered people, with a focus on Indigenous America, in an attempt to create a sense of community and common ties between the West and these Others—a sense of community in which the Othered have no part.

In this article, we extend Benedict Anderson’s notion of imagined communities to examine the idea of an “imagined engagement” between or among people and groups that have not met. These imagined engagements include a blurring of temporal lines, as one group “interacts” with another’s past, present, or future. Imagined engagements are a form of failed interaction, and, as such, have their place in Goffman’s interaction order. We argue that musical language can comprise a meeting point of these engagements. We then demonstrate how two composers—one historic and one contemporary—have used the musical cultures of an Othered people, with a focus on Indigenous America, in an attempt to create a sense of community and common ties between the West and these Others—a sense of community in which the Othered have no part.

This study looks at partisan voting in light of imagined interactions (IIs). Imagined interactions are a form of daydreaming that allows us to build scripts for use in our interpersonal relationships. II research has generally come from a functionalist perspective, and continues to prove its value in counseling and therapy, as well as to help us to understand intrapersonal communication in general. It has recently been extended into media effects research (i.e., Madison & Porter, 2012, 2014) and with the present study, voting intentions. We ask how respondents who claim to vote for candidates from certain political parties differ from those who do not in terms of the functions of their IIs. We surveyed college students at a prominent southern university ( N = 227) and collected data on voting intentions and functions of the respondent IIs. We found that both Republicans and Democrats tend to have fewer self-understanding and rehearsal IIs than those who indicated preference for inde...

Imagine a looming inevitable conflict with a loved one. You know it's coming, because there's a very difficult issue that needs discussion. You know your loved one will be defensive and angry when the conversation starts. But if you're lucky, you can have that discussion several times, in your imagination, before the actual encounter. You can experiment with numerous approaches, envision multiple responses you might encounter, and finally choose an informed approach that will hopefully minimize the conflict and maximize the chances of constructive outcome. With the imagined experimental discussions, you have made good use of the interpersonal communication resource known as imagined interactions. James Honeycutt's Imagined Interactions is a thorough scholarly treatment of the communication practice of imagined interaction-internal dyadic conversation. The work demands a careful focused reading, given its densely written style. But it is certainly approachable, and an enlightening, useful reference. It represents a substantive review of relevant literature related to dyadic intrapersonal communication, in which the author has conducted considerable research. As a scholarly work, it presents research findings in an objective, tentative manner, as one might expect from a responsible scientific treatment. Less empirical judgments and extensions are left to the reader, and those who synthesize such research for popular press publication. The subject matter however, is potentially quite practical-with portent for therapeutic and other personal value. The author does include practical connections through the sharing of journal entries written about real-life experiences with imagined interactions, and by including elements of practical advice. The author is persuasive predominantly through the objective and scholarly treatment of the research findings, rather than simply a persuasive writing style. The work includes numerous characteristics and functions of imagined interactions, plus theoretical underpinnings-including Mead, Dewey, and others. Research on daydreaming is addressed, as are varying cultural contexts, including an interesting look at the marked variance between American and British imagined interactions. The book contains a data collection instrument, the Survey of Imagined Interactions, complete with scoring and adaptation guidance. Honeycutt also offers various directions for future research. Among Honeycutt's discussions, is the use of imagined interactions by the lonely, those conducting employee performance reviews, the homeless, and others. Imagined interactions have six functions, according to Honeycutt-relational maintenance, dealing with conflict, rehearsing future interactions, self-understanding, catharsis, and to compensate for unavailable actual communication. As in the opening example used above concerning confrontation with a loved one, imagined interactions can serve more than one function at the same time. Among Honeycutt's closing words are the comments that imagined interactions "are a natural and common phenomena we can use to improve our lives. Visualizing conversations before or after they take place has several major benefits. We become more competent conversationalists, improve our understanding of self and others, keep important relationships alive, and reduce our tensions" (p. 141). One of the key contributions of the book lies in its being a thorough review of the imagined interactions research. It serves as a compendium of related findings, complete with over 200 reference sources, and various possibilities for future research. The book brings together considerable research on dyadic self-talk into a coherent useful collection. It would be a worthy consideration as a reading in connection with 424

Based on the tenets of the social context model of second language acquisition, the present paper examined the combined effect of online and face-to-face contact in developing multilingual skills and identities among young Swedish-speaking Finns (N = 304). The hypotheses were tested for Finnish as a second language, and English as a third language using parallel models. The results were largely identical for both languages. Specifically, online contact enhanced language confidence, which, in turn, contributed to language identity. However, online contact had a more substantial effect on confidence as well as identity among those who had little face-to-face contact with speakers of the given language. Findings and their implications are discussed.

This article proposes that WhatsApp can offer insights into couples' relationships. Based on Gottman's therapy model, which mathematically analyzes marital conflicts, this study focuses on couples' WhatsApp correspondence and asks to what extent it reflects the offline relationships of Generation X. The research was conducted over a year using semi-structured interviews with 18 couples who have been in a relationship for at least 5 years. The couples described their discourse on WhatsApp and the dynamics of their relationship offline. The findings indicate that WhatsApp use mirrors offline relationships. The following four types of interaction were identified: (1) technical, (2) practical, (3) casual, and (4) emotional. In addition, the following three patterns of conflictual behavior that correspond with Gottman's distinctions were identified: (1) logical, (2) emotional, and (3) avoidant. The article cites WhatsApp's potential for behavioral observation and the possibility of using it to change relationship dynamics. Keywords Couples relationship, digital interaction, gen x, mobile communication, offline and online dynamics, online intimacy, WhatsApp Couples' communication via WhatsApp This article reviews the use that Generation Xers, 1 who are digital immigrants, 2 make of WhatsApp technology in their relationship. The study was held in Israel and conducted on *Contributed equally to this article.

This qualitative study investigated the factors that affected the motivation and receptivity of English as a second language of female students who enrolled in the English Language center of the Foundation Program in the Community College of Qatar in the academic year 2015/2016. Besides, the study attempted to identify the mechanisms that are used by families, teachers, college administrators, and classmates that motivate or demotivate the students. Finally, the study tried to identify how the classroom environment impacted students’ motivation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 students in different ESL levels in which the participants were asked different questions related to the impact of five dimensions on the respondents’ motivation to learn English. These dimensions are concerned about family impact, teachers’ impact, administrators’ impact, classmates’ impact, and impact of the respondents’ willingness and goals to learn the target language. The questions were ...

Cosmetic surgery and minimally invasive techniques have recently become popular. Noting the compulsive way in which many people approach these procedures, psychoanalytic scholars have conducted several studies to evaluate the possible presence of mental disorders. In this regard, Alessandra Lemma argued that the craving for beauty may hide narcissistic disturbances akin to those identified in Rosenfeld's theory of narcissism, which described two types of narcissists: one thinskinned , characterized by a sense of inferiority, and the other thickskinned , characterized by a sense of grandiosity. The aim of this study was to test this hypothesis in an empirical trial by exploring the personality characteristics of people seeking both surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures with a particular emphasis on narcissism. The research sample consisted of 48 participants who were divided into three groups: cosmetic surgery patients (Group 1); individuals who underwent nonsurgical cosmetic treatments (Group 2); and people who had never undergone any cosmetic treatment (Group 3). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders were administered to all of the participants. Results confirmed the presence of two narcissistic profiles, one grandiose and one vulnerable, in both those who underwent cosmetic surgery and those who underwent nonsurgical

This study analyzed the National Communication Association (NCA) members’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of their own and their peer presentations and the challenges they faced when preparing and giving conference presentations. Overall, participants (n = 187) feel fairly content with the effectiveness of NCA conference presentations and the value they have gained from them. The effectiveness of others’ presentations has a significant association with members’ perceived value of the conference presentations. The lack of experience and lack of confidence are key variables that heighten anxiety which can impact the effectiveness of presentations. Process anxiety was positively associated with presentation effectiveness whereas performance anxiety was negatively associated with presentation effectiveness. This needs assessment provides informed suggestions for making academic presentations more effective in the future.

El  presente  trabajo,  tiene  como  objetivo,  hacer  un  recorrido  por  la  historia  de  la  escritura  histórica  de  América  Latina  para  mostrar su desarrollo, no solo a través del tiempo, sino también para evidenciar cómo los discursos historiográficos se han visto influenciados no únicamente por instituciones políticas como el Estado y demás elementos del campo político, sino también por las relaciones de poder que modifican o influyen en la escritura histórica. En un primer momento, se va a abordar la forma en que, desde  la  conformación  de  comunidades  políticas  la  historia  ha  estado al servicio del Estado; en un segundo momento, se evidencia la importancia de la escritura histórica en la construcción de los Estados nacionales modernos en América Latina. Y, por último, se plantea cómo la ideología política moldea el discurso histórico de la disciplina en la actualidad.

Forgiveness is viewed as a major factor in maintaining healthy romantic relationships. But couples involved in long-distance relationships experience a different set of challenges than geographically-close couples when it comes to maintaining and enjoying satisfying and stable relationships. Many long-distance couples rely on increased empathy and intrapersonal communication-in the form of imagined interactions-to release tension, rehearse conversations, and review and analyze conflicts. While forgiveness has been studied extensively in a variety of interpersonal settings, it has not been explicitly studied in relation to the usage of imagined interactions or in maintaining long-distance relationships. Moreover, even though a correlation between empathy and forgiveness has long been established, the interplay between these two constructs and intrapersonal communication and relational satisfaction has not been explored. The overarching goal of this study is to bridge the theoretical and conceptual gaps between forgiveness theory, empathy, imagined interactions (Symbolic Interactionism/schema, script or cognitive theory), relational satisfaction and relational maintenance strategies (Dialectical Theory). This study sampled participants in either a long-distance or geographically close romantic relationship (n=181). Although proximity did not discriminate for forgiveness, imagined interactions (IIs), empathy, conflict management as a relational maintenance strategy or relational satisfaction, use of IIs did significantly predict forgiveness and relational satisfaction. Additionally, forgiveness and use of imagined interactions together significantly predicted relational satisfaction. Finally, IIs were shown to be positively correlated with empathy, a significant finding considering the lack of research into that area of the otherwise well developed field of IIs.

The Emergence of the South African Metropolis: Cities and Identities in the Twentieth Century Vivian Bickford-Smith Excerpt More information town halls, broad streets, trams, harbours and department stores were soon forgotten as he devoted the more than three hundred pages of Black and White in South East Africa to pondering South Africa's race 'problem'. By 1910, most White opinion makers called this the 'Native Question', whose conundrum has been neatly summarised as follows: how to organize society to provide for the mutual access of black labourers and white employers in the coming industrial age without having to pay the heavy social costs of urbanization or losing the dominance of white over black. 3 Matters of race have dominated writing about South African cities ever since, not least within the historical academy. The resulting literature has numerous strengths, especially the thorough way in which it has explored and explained the history of urban racial segregation, 'Native' administration, popular culture, consciousness and resistance. Such work has greatly aided the task of writing this book. 4 A lacuna, though, is that there is seldom any direct discussion of what people thought about urbanisation, cities or urban life beyond the racial matter of how mine owners and municipalities of White municipal ratepayers saw segregation as solving urban 'problems' or serving their material self-interests, or both. 5 Much of this historiography is also confined to a focus on only one racial or ethnic group within a single city. Consequently two historical geographers have said that writing about South African cities has displayed 'racial fetishism'; studying 'urban society does not begin with racerather it reflects the creation of race as part of the intricate development of modern society'. 6 Their argument

This qualitative study investigated the factors that affected the motivation and receptivity of English as a second language of female students who enrolled in the English Language center of the Foundation Program in the Community College of Qatar in the academic year 2015/2016. Besides, the study attempted to identify the mechanisms that are used by families, teachers, college administrators, and classmates that motivate or demotivate the students. Finally, the study tried to identify how the classroom environment impacted students’ motivation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 students in different ESL levels in which the participants were asked different questions related to the impact of five dimensions on the respondents’ motivation to learn English. These dimensions are concerned about family impact, teachers’ impact, administrators’ impact, classmates’ impact, and impact of the respondents’ willingness and goals to learn the target language. The questions were ...

A field study was conducted with majority and minority group members to test whether the effects of optimal contact conditions and of intergroup contact generalize across situations, and extend to the support of intergroup equality in terms of agreement with social policies benefitting the minority group. Participants were 163 Italian and 129 immigrant workers in three corporate organizations. Results from structural equation modelling analyses revealed that, for the majority group, positive contact stemming from optimal contact conditions was indirectly associated, via reduction in negative stereotypes, with more positive behavior that generalized across situations. For both majority and minority groups, positive contact stemming from optimal contact conditions was associated with less negative stereotypes, and in turn with greater support for social policies favoring the minority. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, also in relation to the significance of the pre...

Imagined interactions are covert dialogues that occur with significant others and are a part of the social cognition process. Imagined interactions may call up plans for anticipated encounters. Using a multidimensional instrument known as the “Survey of Imagined Interaction” (SII), the multivariate relationship between general characteristics of imagined interactions and various measures of self-awareness and emotional intensity were examined. Measures reflecting loneliness, locus of control, being dominant in an imagined interaction as well as feeling satisfied and pleasant with an imagined interaction were regressed on the general dimensions of the SII. Results from the regression models are discussed in terms of imagined interactions being associated with and possibly creating more self-awareness.

Empirical research has revealed a variety of differences in the communication behavior of males and females. This study addresses whether males and females think differently about communication. Imagined interactions are cognitive representations of interactive behavior in which the actor experiences the self to be engaged in communication with another. Results of a study reveal that females have more frequent and pleasant imagined interactions, they imagine more self-words, and they are more likely to imagine and recall the scene of imagined interactions than males. Much research concerning sex differences and communication activity has taken a behavioral orientation. Some of these studies have examined the quantity of talk in mixed-and same-sex interactions. Ickes and his associates (Ickes, 1981; Ickes & Barnes, 1977; Ickes, Schermer & Steeno, 1979; Ickes, Patterson, Rajecki, & Tanford, 1982), for example, revealed that during initial interactions women talk more in same-sex encounters than men, while other research has shown that men talk more in mixed-sex dyads (Argyle, Lalljee, & Cook, 1968; Crosby, Jose, & Wong-McCarthy, 1981). On the other hand, Shimanoff (1983) found no gender differences in the amount of talk, and Norton and Montgomery (1981) reported that males did not interrupt or talk more than females in a variety of communicative situations. Other studies, however, have found that males do interrupt more than females (Eakins & Eakins, 1978). Sex differences are also reflected in the different ways that males and females interpret communication behavior. Henley (1977), for instance, suggested that women are more accurate in decoding nonverbal expressions of emotion and determining the emotional content of dialogue. Indvik and Fitzpatrick (1982) have concluded that males have a more "instrumental" view of communication while females have a more "expressive" view. The in-263

This chapter analyzes interpersonal conflicts by means of Lewin's field theory, which requires a commitment to studying the actor's life space, or perceptions of his or her environment. A particular focus here is on taking conflict personally (TCP), the feeling that interpersonal conflicts are antagonistic, punishing interactions in which an individual believes the other person is trying to hurt him or her on purpose. After two introductory sections on TCP and field theory, the author moves on to a roughly chronological investigation of conflict as seen by people high in TCP. The preconflict, conflict, and postconflict life spaces are all examined. This includes attention to people's affective and cognitive orientations to conflicts, their arguing behaviors (particularly their aggressive actions), and their feelings immediately after an argument is finished. The long-term consequences of personalized conflicts include reduced relational satisfaction and the prospect of violence. Key elements of personalization are thought to begin with the individual's family of origin and to survive into his or her close adult relationships. A personalized conflict is one that is taken personally. That is, the participant feels that opposition is intended to attack self, and not particularly self's position on the substantive topic. Even issuedirected criticisms can be taken personally if the participant is so inclined. This chapter is centrally about what happens when people take on that inclination and why the predisposition may appear. Scholars have commonly differentiated between conflict actions that are directed at the issues on the table and those that are not. Coser's (1956) classic distinction between realistic and unrealistic conflict is perhaps the best known of these discussions, but related conceptualizations appear in most surveys of conflict management behaviors, with authors usually distinguishing most forcibly between productive and destructive conflicts (e.g.

The second issue of Volume 41 contains five studies. New research on coping with COVID-19 in terms of mental imagery in the form of imagined interactions. The first pair of studies examine imagine interactions with artificial intelligence in terms of Alexa and using imagined interactions to deal with unemployment and communication apprehension during the time of COVID-19 isolation. The third study examines moral identity and scaling, while the fourth study examines imagery in association with vividness and clarity. The final study examines dreams. We briefly highlight each article, in turn. The initial study dealing with imagined interactions is by Tim Gaspard and Phil Madison. They begin by noting how people and agents of artificial intelligence (AI) interact more frequently than before through voice-powered assistants such as Alexa. AI is treated as human interaction. They examine the use of six functions of imagined interactions (IIs)-rehearsal, self-understanding, relational maintenance, conflict linkage, compensation, and catharsis in conjunction with AI talk and actual human-to-human talk. Their implications are intriguing, insofar as humans and machine interactions coevolve in the 21st century. The ensuing study is by Mary Sealy. She investigated a covariate of loneliness, communication apprehension during the COVID-19 pandemic. As she noted, the COVID-19 restrictions restricted movement and physical access, including staying at home and working remotely; the so-called telework. It is interesting that as income increases, the proactivity of imagined interactions decreases during the pandemic coping, and as income increases, so does communication apprehensions regardless of the pandemic, and that those who earn more annually tend to experience higher levels of CA. Participants who identified themselves as shy, social, reserved, or outgoing, indicated experiencing a greater variety in their IIs, as well as more discrepant IIs. These findings indicate that, regardless of the social restrictions placed on society, an individual's drive to be social and outgoing is what may truly impact their IIs and CA. Nonparametric tests resulted in several significant findings between employment status and the frequency, proactivity, variety, self-dominance, compensation, and relational maintenance aspects of IIs.