Details on Dissertation

My PhD research is conducted with semi-structured interviews (N = 25) and episode interviews (N = 25). The respondents are Finnish males from South of Finland between the ages of 21 and 67.

The research questions ask: What type of support do men provide to their friends in interpersonal communication situations? What influences the quality of support provision? What type of emotional comforting do men provide to their friends? What role does friendship context and facework play in males’ supportive interaction? What is the role of effectance motivation, goal motivation, and normative motivation in males’ supportive communication?

At this time, I have written two articles discussing the results of the episode interviews. The four episodes that were used dealt with two different causes of upset: 1) Sudden unemployment (professional issue) and 2) Deterioration of romantic relationship (personal issue). The responsibility variable used in the distressing scenarios was extensive alcohol usage. The responsibility variable was crossed with each of the situational variables, thus generating four conditions (i.e., high/no drinking x unemployment and high/no drinking x break up).

You can hear about the results in NCA Conference in Chicago, November 2009!

The 1st Autumn Conference of Interpersonal Communication and Social Interaction

The 1st Autumn Conference of Interpersonal Communication and Social Interaction is being held at Tampere University and our department is part of the team of hosts (ECREA's Section for Interpersonal Communication and Social Interaction). It is on 21st - 23rd of October 2009 Tampere, Finland, Deadline for abstract submission: 30th of April 2009

The autumn conference centers around three themes:
- Interpersonal communication and social interaction in close relationships,
- Interpersonal communication and social interaction in professional context
- Mediated interpersonal communication

Remember to submit! It is going to be a great conference with excellent key note speakers such as professor Brant Burleson!!