Malcolm R. Parks

`Making Moosic': The Development of Personal Relationships on Line and a Comparison to their Off-Line Counterparts

Despite the rapid development of the Internet over the past decade and the associated media hyperbole about cyberspace relationships, there is a paucity of systematic research examining the prevalence, type and development of personal relationships in on-line settings. This research examines relational topography in real-time text-based virtual environments known as MOOs (Multi-User Dimensions, Object Oriented). Current users of MOOs (235) completed a survey on MOO relationships, with 155 also completing a survey on offline relationships. Almost all survey respondents (93.6%) had formed ongoing personal relationships on MOOs. The most commonly reported types of relationships were close friendships, friendships and romances. The majority of relationships formed (83.6%) was with members of the opposite sex. Levels of relational development (interdependence, depth, breadth, code change, commitment, predictability/understanding, network convergence) were typically moderate to high. Most relationships had migrated to other virtual environments, and a third had resulted in face-to-face meetings. On average, MOO relationships were found to be more developed than newsgroup relationships, but less developed than off-line relationships. It was concluded that MOOs provide an inherently social and powerful context for the formation of personal relationships, many of which will transfer to other settings.

Deception Detection and Relationship Development: The Other Side of Trust

(1986). Deception Detection and Relationship Development: The Other Side of Trust. Annals of the International Communication Association: Vol. 9, Communication Yearbook 9, pp. 377-389.

THE SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF GENDER-SWITCHING IN VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS ON THE INTERNET

The virtual social worlds of the internet give people unparalleled control over the construction and presentation of their identities. Gender-switching is perhaps the most dramatic example of how people exercise this control. It occurs when people present a gender that is different from their biological sex. While gender-switching figures prominently in academic commentaries and popular writings about on-line social life, there is little systematic research on the phenomenon. On-line surveys of two stratified random samples (Ns=233 and 202) of MOO users were conducted. The majority of participants (60 per cent) in social MOOs (popular text-based internet social venues) had never engaged in gender-switching, while the majority in role-playing MOOs were either gender-switching currently (40 per cent) or had done so in the past (16.7 per cent). More than half of those who currently gender-switched did so for less than 10 per cent of their time on-line. In spite of the freedom to use indeterminate or even pl...

Manifesting closeness in the interactions of peers: A look at siblings and friends

The present study examines the manifestation of relational closeness in the interactions of friends and siblings. Two hundred thirty‐three volunteers reported on three interactions with a target other during the two‐week period of study. For each interaction, respondents indicated the extent to which disclosive behaviors and shared activities contributed to their overall relational closeness. Analyses by gender and relationship type revealed that verbal behaviors were more important to the closeness of womens relationships than mens, but that shared activities were not more important to men than to women. Verbal behaviors were also more important to the closeness of friendships than they were to sibling relationships. The results are discussed as they relate to current theory and practice in the study of relational closeness.

A Test of the Cross-Situational Consistency of Communication Apprehension.

Although communication apprehension is usually conceptualized as a trait, little research has directly examined its status as a trait. Since the explanatory value of trait conceptualizations is directly determined by their degree of cross‐situational consistency, this study tested the cross‐situational consistency of the most common measure of communication apprehension—the PRCA. Subjects (n = 282) completed the PRCA and then reported how much anxiety they would feel or have felt in 35 situations. Anxiety scores for these situations were factor analyzed to produce two independent classes of situations. The PRCA was found to predict anxiety better in the situational class where persons were less likely to know one another than in the situational class where persons were more likely to know each other. Thus, no evidence of cross‐situational consistency was found.

What Women Know that Men don't: Sex Differences in Determining the Truth Behind Deceptive Messages

While a good deal of research has been devoted to studying individual accuracy in detecting deceptiveness, a neglected issue involves the ability of individuals to accurately discern the truth that is obscured by deceptive messages. Methodological considerations have limited the generalizability of previous research findings in this area. Drawing upon a conceptualization of deception as a relational phenomenon, three hypotheses were developed and tested in a sample of 55 premarital romantic dyads. Subjects viewed a series of 12 videotaped segments of their partner who told the truth in half the segments and lied in half the segments. Results indicated that individual accuracy in ascertaining the underlying truth obscured by deception declines as individuals become more intimate. In addition, women were found to be consistently more accurate than men independent of level of relationship development.

What Will We Study When the Internet Disappears

The Internet is not really disappearing in any literal sense, of course, but it is becoming less visible as its applications become more transparent and ubiquitous. That’s partly the result of widespread use and partly the result of its incorporation into our daily activities. Between 60-70% of the population of North America and Western Europe is now on line and, though substantial gaps remain, use in all other regions of the world grew at triple digit rates over the past 7 years (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm). Many Internet-based applications are so commonplace and so integrated into our daily activities that they are easily taken for granted. As others have suggested (Turow & Kavanaugh, 2003), we should probably stop capitalizing the word “internet” in acknowledgement of this fact. With greater breadth and depth of penetration comes greater impact. This is true both for the internet in general and for particular applications or uses. This is turn implies that the ultimate impact of the internet will be determined less by its exotic uses, and more by its most common, even mundane uses.

Conflicts of interest in translational research

Translational research requires a team approach to scientific inquiry and product development. Translational research teams consist of basic and clinical scientists who can be members of both academic and industrial communities. The conception, pre-clinical testing, and clinical evaluation of a diagnostic or therapeutic approach demands an intense interaction between investigators with diverse backgrounds. As the barriers between industry and academia are removed, issues of potential conflict of interest become more complex. Translational researchers must become aware of the situations which constitute conflict of interest and understand how such conflicts can impact their research programs. Finally, the translational research community must participate in the dialogue ongoing in the public and private sectors and help shape the rules that will govern conflicts that arise during the evolution of their research programs.

Communication apprehension and student dating patterns: A replication and extension

This study attempted to replicate and extend an earlier study by McCroskey and Sheahan. McCroskey and Sheahans finding that desire for dates and communication apprehension were unrelated was replicated. However, other hypotheses derived from the previous study were not supported. Communication apprehension was unrelated to the actual number of dates, the probability of accepting a blind date, or the amount of contact prior to dating. In addition, McCroskey and Sheahans theoretic explanation was not supported. Communication apprehension was related to dating exclusivity in a limited way. Exclusive daters had a greater desire for dates, more actual dates, more prior contact, and a smaller probability of accepting a blind date.

Developing Concurrency Messages for the Black Community in Seattle, Washington

In the United States, Blacks are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. Sexual networks and concurrent relationships have emerged as important contributors to the heterosexual transmission of HIV. To date, Africa is the only continent where an understanding of the impact of sexual concurrency has been conveyed in HIV prevention messaging. This project was developed by researchers and members of the Seattle, Washington, African American and African-Born communities, using the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Interest in developing concurrency messaging came from the community and resulted in the successful submission of a community-academic partnership proposal to develop and disseminate HIV prevention messaging around concurrency. The authors describe (a) the development of concurrency messaging through the integration of collected formative data and findings from the scientific literature; (b) the process of disseminating the message in the local Black community; and (c) important factors to consider in the development of similar campaigns.