Jennifer Mullett

Political Equivocation: A Situational Explanation

Equivocation is non-straightforward communication and includes such speech acts as: ‘self-contradictions, inconsistencies, subject switches, tangentialisations, incomplete sentences, misunderstandings, obscure style or mannerisms of speech, . . . etc.’ (Watzlawick, Beavin Bavelas &Jackson, 1967: 76).* Numerous examples of political equivocation can be found in the news or even in carefully scripted political commercials (Joslyn, 1980). This article applies our general theory of equivocation (e.g. Bavelas, 1983,1985; Bavelas, Black, Chovil & Mullett, 1988b) to the specific case of the vague, tangential communication that politicians often use. In brief, we propose that equivocation is caused by the individual’s situation and not by any intrinsic characteristic of the individual. To define equivocation more precisely, we have used Haley’s (1959) model, based on departure from essential elements of communication. It is a classic principle of communication that all messages should contain four elements: Z (sender) am saying this (content) to you (receiver) in this situation (context). Haley noted that an equivocal message obscures at least one of these four elements. We have therefore translated the four elements into the following four questions, by which the degree of equivocation in a message can be assessed:

Truths, Lies, and Equivocations: The Effects of Conflicting Goals on Discourse

This article proposes a situational and discourse-oriented view of a particular class of messages, equivocations, that have usually been dismissed as ineffective or even deceptive. We distinguish between-and measure independently-what a message says (whether it is true or false) and how it is said (whether it is clear or equivocal), and we propose that the nature of the communicative situation determines the position of messages on these two coordinates. Specifically, situations can create external goals or consequences of messages, and these consequences can be positive or negative. There exists a class of situations in which all direct messages (true or false) have negative consequences. We predict that in these avoidance-avoidance conflicts, direct messages will be avoided and indirect, but true, equivocations should occur instead. Using hypothetical scenarios, the first four experiments confirmed that, in such conflicts but not in control conditions, people make their messages equivocal but true. A fifth experiment elicited false messages as well and showed that these could be distinguished from both clear and equivocal truths. Additional analyses showed that equivocations are not lies of omission and that nonverbal leakage did not occur in either equivocal or false messages.

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS FOR STUDYING "ELEMENTARY MOTOR MIMICRY"

For over two hundred years, social psychologists have been puzzled by elementary motor mimicry—overt behavior by an observer that is appropriate to the situation of the other rather than to the observers situation. This ubiquitous but fleeting behavior has not previously been amenable to experimental study, which might elucidate its meaning or meanings. The present article describes techniques for eliciting and videotaping such reactions in the lab. A wide variety of stimuli can be used to evoke smiling, wincing, leaning, and other motor mimicries. Recording is best done in split-screen, so that the relation between the behaviors of observer and observed can be analyzed. Several reliable scoring options are described (qualitative, quantitative, microanalysis, and self-report). Experimental controls can be introduced to rule out artifacts that might appear to be motor mimicry. These methods are introduced in the hope that the many different theories that have been offered to explain this phenomenon might finally begin to be tested.

Community-based participatory action research: transforming multidisciplinary practice in primary health care

OBJECTIVES Health care systems throughout the world are in the process of restructuring and reforming their health service delivery systems, reorienting themselves to a primary health care (PHC) model that uses multidisciplinary practice (MDP) teams to provide a range of coordinated, integrated services. This study explores the challenges of putting the MDP approach into practice in one community in a city in Canada. METHODS The data we analyzed were derived from a community-based participatory action research (CBPAR) project, conducted in 2004, that was used to enhance collaborative MDP in a PHC center serving a residential and small-business community of 11,000 within a medium-sized city of approximately 300,000 people in Canada. CBPAR is a planned, systematic approach to issues relevant to the community of interest, requires community involvement, has a problem-solving focus, is directed at societal change, and makes a lasting contribution to the community. We drew from one aspect of this complex, multiyear project aimed at transforming the rhetoric advocating PHC reform into actual sustainable practices. The community studied was diverse with respect to age, socioeconomics, and lifestyle. Its interdisciplinary team serves approximately 3,000 patients annually, 30% of whom are 65 years or older. This PHC centers multidisciplinary, integrated approach to care makes it a member of a very distinct minority within the larger primary care system in Canada. RESULTS Analysis of practice in PHC revealed entrenched and unconscious ideas of the limitations and boundaries of practice. In the rhetoric of PHC, MDP was lauded by many. In practice, however, collaborative, multidisciplinary team approaches to care were difficult to achieve. CONCLUSIONS The successful implementation of an MDP approach to PHC requires moving away from physician-driven care. This can only be achieved once there is a change in the underlying structures, values, power relations, and roles defined by the health care system and the community at large, where physicians are traditionally ranked above other care providers. The CBPAR methodology allows community members and the health-related professionals who serve them to take ownership of the research and to critically reflect on iterative cycles of evaluation. This provides an opportunity for practitioners to implement relevant changes based on internally generated analyses.

Primary Health Care: A Preferred Health Service Delivery Option for Women

It is well known that gender is a determinant of health, but less understood is whether differences in health status attributable to gender can be mitigated through the implementation of primary health care. Primary health care, notably distinct from primary care, refers to a wide-ranging approach to the delivery of a comprehensive variety of health services. This article traces the similarities between primary health care and women-centred care from their overlapping philosophical foundations to the similar health, social, and economic benefits of both approaches. It is argued that investments in primary health care positively impact womens health, and, as such, should be a preferred option for the delivery of womens community health services. Several models of health service delivery that operate in accordance with principles of primary health care and also address the key tenets of womens-centred care are examined and their merits are compared. The article also identifies the major impediments to the adoption of both primary health care and womens-centred care approaches.

Women-centred care: working collaboratively to develop gender inclusive health policy.

We argue that policies for women-centred care ought to be developed to address the inadequacy of the current health system to recognize that women are affected differently by health policies and programs and that gender is a determinant of health; furthermore, such policies must be created with representatives from relevant health professional organizations so that the policies are translated and operationalized at the organizational and practice level. A collaborative research process, co-operative inquiry, was used to conduct the research. This process engages the participants in rigorous iterations of action and reflection. The result was a clear definition of women-centred care, a set of general guidelines for practice, and specific changes to existing organizational policies. The process and the product of the research built a bridge between existing macro government policies and the guidelines, standards, and ethical codes of the professional health associations.

Being, Becoming and Belonging Getting to Ambassadorship, a New Metaphor for Living and Collaborating in the Community

For non-profit social agencies, new contract funding structures have increased their vulnerability. Collaboration is a strategy for dealing with reductions in the availability of funding and the pressures to ‘do more with less’ but there are few illustrations of how this might be achieved. The main body of literature devoted to creating models for collaboration was developed in the world of the new public administration and market models. Many of the less formal approaches consist of checklists and mock contracts that strive to account for variables that may affect collaborations. While valuable for focussing attention on key aspects, these approaches assume a static set of factors that predict successful collaborations. In this project, an alternative to these types of functional or instrumental methods of partnership development was created through a particular type of action research known as co-operative inquiry. Through the iterative stages of reflection and action, a new conceptualization of collaboration evolved and a subsequent model developed. The model is based on criteria derived from the experiences of the community members and accounts for the dialectical relationship of the individual agency and the collective non-profit sector. Through the process of the research, a transformation in thinking, purpose and practice occurred, resulting in a new metaphor for living and working in the community.

What information and support do people seek to help them make decisions about self-care?

Abstract Research indicates that most self-care interventions and education strategies lead to an increase in self-care behaviours and more informed health decisions by participants. What is less clear from these studies is the type of information the public seeks to aid their decision making. For one year participants were asked to keep a health diary recording their health issues and what steps they took to solve them. The data from 153 health diaries containing 812 health issues were analysed. Analysis revealed the most frequent health issues, examples of decisions about self-care, information seeking behaviours and an indication of how and for what purpose participants used the self-care resources.