Feliz año nuevo 2011!

Happy New Year everyone! The year 2011 is the last year of my dissertation writing. Needless to say, it is a very exciting year.

When I look back I see a lot of personal growth, trials and errors, --growth as a researcher too, of course! For a big portion of that development I owe gratitude to my friend and mentor, late professor Brant Burleson. He passed away in December 2010 and is missed sorely both as a unique scholar and devoted personality that he was.

After a busy winter break in Finland, I have returned to the US ready to tackle the rest of articles I need to write for The Book to be ready. With many things to look forward to I wish all your goals will be accomplished and fun surprises color your year light and bright!

The Essence of Experiences

Life in West Lafayette, Indiana is sunny with a nice breeze. A breeze of academic excellence and dynamism of Purdue University. The new office environment inspires me to work full speed ahead with the remaining articles of my dissertation. I have previously distinguished the support Finnish men provide for their friends in episodes of sudden unemployment, relationship break-up, and alcohol abuse. Recently I finished a paper on 'good' support according to men in friendships. The next goal is to drill down to the essence of it all...

Get in contact! Stay in contact! Let's have online and offline conversations on matters that count: Friendships and social support! I wish you all an exciting fall term.

Packing for USA

The year 2010 came with an offer for full-time teaching, which I have greatly enjoyed. Consequently, my research has been getting less of my attention, on paper. The dissertation is moving along nicely, nevertheless, and I am packing it with me to face new challenges: My term as a visiting scholar at Purdue University, Indiana, USA starts in August! I wish you all a beautiful spring awakening!

Year of Possibility 2010

New adventures lie ahead and there is no better time to thank all the people who have contributed to me during the year 2009. My research and I have enjoyed the support of many and marvellous individuals and foundations this year. I am priviledged to have met great scholars and attend exciting conferences. Moreover, there is a fantastic year 2010 just around the corner and you never know what the next wave will bring. Following the analogy, best of greetings from New Zealand and happy holidays! Aroha nui.

Grand Trip Across the Oceans

I received wonderful news in the end of September: I have been awarded the Fulbright Stipend for the academic semester 2010-2011. The arrangements have already begun and I am seeking my final destination, a university in the United States that has a dynamic communication department with social support research. Could you be the one?

At the same time, I am getting ready to attend four great international conferences in the up-coming months. After the IARR and NCA Conferences I will travel to New Zealand and Hong Kong. There I will have the chance to visit the univeristies in the Pacific and Asia. No surprise that I am very much looking forward to that!

Great Research Summer Fun!

The heat is here and I am feeling it: two great courses in Performance and Argumentation to teach at the Summer University and plenty of research to do. The interview material for my dissertation will see a thorough stirring and digging during the hot days and bright nights of Finnish summer.

The reason for vacationless summer months is that I have FOUR international conferences that I am priviledged to attend to in autumn: ECREA's ICSI Autumn Conference & Why Gender? in Finland in October, and IARR & NCA in the USA in November. My aim is to get two articles published and two new ones under way. In return, I will be taking a long winter holiday in December!

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!