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Theory Helps (theory + help)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

,A little bitty spot and I'm a big man': patients' perspectives on refusing diagnosis or treatment for lung cancer

PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 8 2005
Barbara F. Sharf
Abstract Patient refusal of physicians' recommendations may partially account for variations in lung cancer treatment affecting survival. Reasons for refusal have not been well researched, and patients who refuse are often labeled derogatorily as irrational or enigmatically non-compliant. This study explored why patients refused recommendations for further diagnosis or treatment of lung cancer. We conducted in-depth interviews with nine patients, identified and recruited over a 2-year period, with documented refusal of doctors' recommendations. Recruiting was hampered by deaths, logistics, and refusal to participate. Questions focused on participants' understanding of disease, medical recommendations, and perceptions of decision-making. Transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Participants emphasized self-efficacy, minimizing threat, fatalism or faith, and distrust of medical authority; explanations were often multi-dimensional. Comments included complaints about communication with physicians, health system discontinuities, and impact of social support. Explanations of participants' decisions reflected several ways of coping with an undesirable situation, including strategies for reducing, sustaining, and increasing uncertainty. Problematic Integration Theory helps to explain patients' difficulties in managing uncertainty when assessments of disease outcomes and treatment recommendations diverge. Implications for clinical communication include increasing trust while delivering bad news, understanding the source of resistance to recommendations, and discussing palliative care. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Multi-level Environmentalism and the European Union: The Case of Trans-European Transport Networks

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 1 2006
HEIN-ANTON VAN DER HEIJDEN
In the European Union, trans-European transport networks (TENs) are a vital element in the constitution of one European space in order to enable the free movement of people and goods throughout the Union. Their construction, however, often causes environmental degradation. Opposition to EU politics is mostly voiced at the level of individual nation-states. As the case of TENs reveals, however, protest against European policy projects with environmental side effects can take the form of ,multi-level environmentalism', linking lobbying and ,conscientization' in Brussels with direct action at the national and local levels. Civil society theory, social movement theory and governance theory help ensure a theoretically informed answer to the question of how the resistance to TENs is organized and framed. By questioning dominant problem definitions and solution strategies, environmental movements and movement organizations, both in Brussels and in the individual nation-states, point to the possibility of looking at social and political reality from another, non-hegemonic point of view. In this way, they contribute to challenging the often biased technocratic, growth-oriented character of the European Union. [source]

The Intersection of Conversation, Cognitions, and Campaigns: The Social Representation of Organ Donation

COMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 1 2009
Susan E. Morgan
Social representations theory (SRT) has been underused in the communication field. This theory helps explain the interrelationships between interpersonal communication, cognition, and the mass media, particularly in situations where a new phenomenon emerges that requires some kind of social response. Because organ donation is still poorly understood by the public, in large part because of entertainment television, SRT is well suited to helping researchers and practitioners understand the complex interplay of factors within a population(s) that contribute to reluctance to donate organs after death. In this paper, it is argued that public communication campaigns should include strategies to provoke interpersonal communication about the topic as a means of creating social representations that promote behaviors that support public health. Résumé Au croisement des conversations, de la cognition et des campagnes de communication : La représentation sociale du don d'organes La théorie des représentations sociales (TRS) demeure sous-utilisée dans les sciences de la communication. Cette théorie aide à expliquer les relations entre la communication interpersonnelle, la cognition et les médias de masse, surtout dans les situations où l'émergence d,un nouveau phénomène requiert une certaine réaction sociale. Puisque le don d'organes demeure mal compris du public, en grande partie à cause de la télévision récréative, la TRS est utile pour aider les chercheurs et les intervenants à comprendre l,interaction complexe, dans une population, de facteurs contribuant à une réticence à donner ses organes après son décès. Dans cet article, il est soumis que les campagnes de communication publique devraient inclure des stratégies visant à provoquer la communication interpersonnelle sur le sujet, de manière à créer des représentations sociales qui promeuvent les comportements en appui à la santé publique. Abstract Die Schnittstelle zwischen persönlichem Gespräch, Kognitionen und Kampagnen: Die soziale Repräsentation von Organspende Bislang fand die Theorie der sozialen Repräsentation in der Kommunikationswissenschaft nur ungenügend Anwendung. Die Theorie erklärt die Beziehungen zwischen interpersonaler Kommunikation, Kognition und den Massenmedien, insbesondere in Situationen, in denen ein neues Phänomen zu Tage tritt, das eine bestimmte Art sozialer Reaktion erfordert. Da die Organspende vor allem aufgrund des Unterhaltungsfernsehens in der Öffentlichkeit immer noch eher schlecht verstanden ist, trägt die Theorie der sozialen Repräsentation dazu bei, dass Forscher und Praktiker das komplexe Zusammenspiel der Faktoren besser verstehen, welches die Zurückhaltung gegenüber der Spende von Organen nach dem Tod in verschiedenen Populationen beeinflusst. In diesem Artikel wird deshalb argumentiert, dass öffentliche Kommunikationskampagnen auch Strategien beinhalten sollten, die interpersonale Kommunikation zum Thema anregen, was wiederum als Mittel dient, soziale Repräsentationen herzustellen und Verhaltensweisen zu fördern, die der öffentlichen Gesundheit zuträglich sind. Resumen La Intersección entre la Conversación, las Cogniciones, y las Campañas: La Representación Social de la Donación de Órganos La teoría de las representaciones sociales (SRT) ha sido poco usada en el campo de la comunicación. Esta teoría ayuda a explicar las interrelaciones entre la comunicación interpersonal, la cognición y los medios de comunicación, particularmente en situaciones donde un nuevo fenómeno, que requiere algún tipo de respuesta social, emerge. Dado que la donación de órganos es poco comprendida por el público, en gran parte debido a la televisión de entretenimiento, la teoría de representación social (SRT) es apropiada para ayudar a los investigadores y los profesionales a entender la complejidad de la interacción de los factores que dentro de una población (o poblaciones) contribuyen a la renuencia a donar órganos después de la muerte. Este artículo sostiene que la comunicación pública de las campañas debería incluir estrategias que provoquen la comunicación interpersonal acerca del tema como un medio para crear representaciones sociales que promuevan los comportamientos de apoyo a la salud pública. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source]

Humor as a Double-Edged Sword: Four Functions of Humor in Communication

COMMUNICATION THEORY, Issue 3 2000
John C. Meyer
The compelling power of humor makes it a recurrent topic for research in many fields, including communication. Three theories of humor creation emerge in humor research: the relief theory, which focuses on physiological release of tension; the incongruity theory, singling out violations of a rationally learned pattern; and the superiority theory, involving a sense of victory or triumph. Each theory helps to explain the creation of different aspects of humor, but each runs into problems explaining rhetorical applications of humor. Because each theory of humor origin tries to explain all instances of humor, the diverging communication effects of humor remain unexplained. Humor's enactment leads to 4 basic functions of humor in communication. Two tend to unite communicators: the identification and the clarification functions. The other 2 tend to divide 1 set of communicators from others: the enforcement and differentiation functions. Exploration of these effects-based functions of humor will clarify understanding of its use in messages. Humor use unites communicators through mutual identification and clarification of positions and values, while dividing them through enforcement of norms and differentiation of acceptable versus unacceptable behaviors or people. This paradox in the functions of humor in communication as, alternately, a unifier and divider, allows humor use to delineate social boundaries. [source]