Argues that ideology is a type of rhetoric that escapes, rather than challenges, contradiction through the joint use of false consciousness and rational discourse. Contends that critics necessarily take an ideological position when criticizing ideology, and offers a perspective for overcoming the tendency to advance self-interest as "truth." (SR)

Examines the act of protest suicide as a form of rhetoric, and studies three representative cases of protest suicide for insight into the act. Claims that viewing protest suicide as a form of "symbolic inducement," reveals it to be a rhetorical act whose motivation, form, and impact can be understood. (SKC)

Describes and examines 150 tape-recorded compliment sequences. Reports that the course and outcome of compliments and compliment responses are affected by: (1) the way a compliment is worded; (2) the type of statement that precedes or follows the compliment; and (3) the status and sex of the compliment participants. (RAE)

Examines public address in the post-bellum South (focusing on the years 1865 to 1900) as a form of epideictic speaking, in order to illuminate both the genre and the Southern mind. (SR)

Considers the way in which recent apocalyptic religious discourse motivates actions and attitudes toward secular issues by appealing to sacred texts. Traces one such strategy, termed "transfer." (SR)

Explores the dimensions of expectancy theory in human communicative behavior. Examines human expectancies from a communicative perspective. Proposes an expectancy model of human symbolic activity centering on communicative expectancies within supervisor and subordinate relationships. (SR)

Argues that reliance upon verification procedures has inhibited theory building in communication. Advances four falsification procedures and presents examples from communication studies. Offers several implications these procedures have for empirical research in communication. (PD)

Describes the emergence of media evangelists in times of situational crisis. Discusses the appeal such leaders have to listeners possessing a "crisis mentality." Offers a model to explain the communication influence process associated with these charismatic speakers. (SR)

Examines audience reactions to informative public speakers' use of self-disparaging humor. Concludes that speakers using such humor may be perceived as more humorous, but also run the risk of reducing their perceived competence, having the audience associate with them less, and producing speeches that are rated as less interesting. (MM)

The first study indicates that (1) both messages and message sources differed significantly as a function of the sophistication of the strategies employed by the message source and (2) female sources were more positively evaluated than male sources. The second study reveals that evaluations of comforting messages varied as a direct, linear…

Notes that the primary arbiters of acceptable behavior in informal social conversation are authors of works on etiquette, and that their rules and taboos reflect and shape conversation in the social era in which they appear. Describes behavior books for adults and children in the first half of the eighteenth century in the United States. (SKC)

Describes two narrative techniques revealed in a chamber theatre production of Grace Paley fiction in order to argue that chamber theatre, by forcing the audience to attend to particular types of narrative issues, functions as a critical methodology. Substantiates the claim that performance functions as criticism. (SKC)

Results of this study indicate that college students' perception of the credibility of faculty members was enhanced by the presence of professionally related and aesthetic objects (plaques, books, paintings, etc.) in the faculty members' offices. Communicative implications of the findings are discussed. (PD)

Data gathered from 208 nonadministrative supervisors and managers at a Midwestern university demonstrated that femininity is closely related to the consideration dimension of leadership style and that masculinity is related to the initiating structure dimension. (PD)

Examines the research/publications productivity of speech communication departments in American colleges and universities, as measured by publications in eight regional or national speech communication journals. (PD)