Robert M. McCann

Credibility for the 21st Century: Integrating Perspectives on Source, Message, and Media Credibility in the Contemporary Media Environment

Technological capabilities and features of the Internet and World Wide Web have prompted concerns about the verity of online information, the credibility of new media, and the new responsibilities placed on media consumers. Reflecting these concerns, scholars have shown a renewed interest in the credibility of sources, their messages, and the media that carry them. Nonetheless, researchers who are currently reengaging the issue of information credibility have yet to take full advantage of the rich heritage left by credibility research conducted over the last half century. The primary aim of this chapter is to show how past research can inform present attempts to understand credibility in the new media environment, focusing particularly on Web-based information. Toward that end, this chapter reviews, synthesizes, and integrates the substantial literature on source, message, and media credibility; addresses issues of credibility conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement; suggests strategies to empower online users and information providers; and culminates with strategies for credibility research and an agenda for the study of credibility in the contemporary media environment.

Older adults' trait ratings of three age-groups around the Pacific rim

In this paper, we assess the traits that older adultsassociate with younger, middle-aged, and older adults in fivePacific Rim nations from Western and Eastern cultural traditions(Australia, Peoples Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong,Philippines, Thailand). We find cross-cultural trends whichreplicate patterns found in the US context. In most cultures,attractiveness, strength, activity, liberalism, health, andflexibility are seen to decline with increasing age. Kindnessassessments are positively associated with age across cultures. Mixed patterns are found with assessments of wisdom andgenerosity, with respondents from the PRC and Hong Kong beingnotably more negative about increasing age than otherrespondents. Implications for the aging process across culturesare discussed, and suggestions made for future research.

Accommodation and nonaccommodation across the lifespan: Perspectives from Thailand, Japan, and the United States of America

This study investigates perceptions of intra‐ and intergenerational communication among young adults in Thailand, Japan, and the U.S.A. Interactions with older adults were reported to be generally more problematic than those with other younger people. While older people were seen as more nonaccommodative than younger people, younger adults felt more obliged to be polite to, and respectful of, the former than their peer age group. Young adults were also avoidant of communication with older people. Overall, young Americans reported their intergenerational communicative encounters to be more positive than both young Thais and Japanese. Young Thai people reported the highest levels of respect/obligation and avoidant communication among young people of the three cultures, and found older Thais to be particularly nonaccommodative. Cultural and modernity issues were invoked to account for these findings.

Age-Differentiated Communication in Organizations: Perspectives from Thailand and the United States

To test hypotheses about intra- and intergenerational communication perceptions, university students with work experience (n = 277) from two nations (Thailand and the United States) self-assessed their communication beliefs on the Global Perceptions of Intergenerational Communication scale. Using communication accommodation theory as a theoretical backdrop, results revealed that, irrespective of culture, young workers perceived older workers as more nonaccommodative (e.g., more negative, more self-centered) than young workers, though young workers still felt more obligation to be polite and “respectfully avoidant” in their communication to older workers. Cross-cultural differences emerged only to the extent that young Americans reported receiving greater accommodation from workers, in general, than did Thais.

Cultural and gender influences on age identification

Age identification plays a significant role in young adults’ mass, interpersonal, intergenerational, and intercultural communication. This research examines cultural and gender influences on young peoples age identity by measuring the social age identity of male and female young adult members of five cultures varying in individualism/collectivism (Laos, Thailand, Spain, Australia, and the U.S.A.). We found cultural influences on age identity to be both unexpected in nature and modest in effect. American and Laotian respondents had similar and nominally higher levels of age identity than Australian, Thai, and Spanish respondents, with all having a markedly different age identities than those of Japanese respondents as reported by other researchers. No direct effect for gender on age identity emerged, though American females were more age identified than all other respondents. Across cultures, the social identity scale was found to be a reasonably adequate measure of age identity.

A Cross Cultural Investigation of Age Stereotypes and Communication Perceptions of Older and Younger Workers in the USA and Thailand

This research assesses younger worker perceptions of older and same age worker stereotypes and communication in the USA and Thailand. Results indicate that older workers are generally seen by younger workers as more uncomfortable with new technology, less flexible and more cautious on the job, and more loyal (and having fewer absences) to the organization than younger workers. As compared to younger American workers, younger Thai workers agree more with negative stereotype items that older workers make more mental mistakes, are slower to adapt to new technology, are more fearful of technology, and are less flexible at work. But they also agree more with positive stereotype items that older workers are absent less, have a better attitude toward work, and have a higher level of commitment to the organization than younger workers. In terms of their communication, younger Thai workers perceive both other younger Thai workers and older Thai workers as exhibiting more avoidant communication than their counterparts from the USA. The younger Thai workers also perceive members of their own age in-group as communicating in a more nonaccommodating manner than younger American workers. Implications for the aging process across cultures and the workplace are discussed.

Toward Greater Specificity in Cultural Value Analyses: The Interplay of Intrapersonal Communication Affect and Cultural Values in Japan, Thailand, and the United States

This paper examines the endorsement of four types of cultural patterns across America, Japan, and Thailand, as well as how these cultural patterns predict the emotional valence (positive-negative) of intrapersonal communication. Within-subjects tests revealed that the American sample endorsed horizontalism more than verticalism, while the Thais endorsed horizontal collectivism the most and vertical collectivism the least. The Japanese sample reported significantly more horizontal collectivism than any other cultural pattern, and significantly less vertical individualism. Across cultures, the Americans reported comparatively higher levels of horizontal individualism than did the Japanese and then the Thais. The Thais endorsed horizontal collectivism less than those in the USA and Japan. Finally, the Japanese comparatively endorsed vertical collectivism more than the Americans, followed by the Thais. For intrapersonal communication affect, horizontal collectivism predicted positive emotional affect in Thailand and Japan, while vertical collectivism was negatively related to affect in Thailand.

Expressing age salience : three generations' reported events, frequencies, and valences

Abstract Little empirical research has focused on what people say that triggers the salience of age for older adults, let alone for other age groupings. In this study, 570 American respondents (young adult, middle-aged, and older adult) wrote about events that made them “feel my age,” “feel younger,” and “feel older” and also rated the frequency and valence of these events. This generated many thousands of expressed events that coders subsumed under 28 generic categories. Very different patterns of age salience emerged for the three generations. Among these, “feeling younger” was rated as less frequent and favorably by young adults, but much more positively by the two samples of older adults. The latter rated “feeling older” less positively than the younger sample, especially the older group who rated it negatively. There was some overlap between events that triggered “feeling my age” and “feeling older,” most of which were associated with physical and cognitive decline for the two older samples. The findings were discussed and future research directions indicated.

PERCEPTIONS OF INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURES: AN ITALIAN CASE

406 Anglo-American, Italian-American, and Italian (Northern and Southern Italy) students were asked to evaluate past conversations with same-age peers, i.e., 17 to 30 years, and older adults, i.e., 65 years and older While according older adults more deference, all cultural groups perceived older adults as more rigid and nonaccommodating than younger adults. Exchanges with older adults were reported as having more negative affect than were those with other young adults, and were also more likely to be avoided.

The Mediating Effect of Leader–Member Dyadic Communication Style Agreement on the Relationship Between Servant Leadership and Group-Level Organizational Citizenship Behavior

This research examines how dyadic communication agreement in the workplace may operate at the dyadic-within group level as a process variable that mediates the relationship between servant leadership and group organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). In doing so, we propose a model of leader–member dyadic communication whereby communication style agreement mediates the relationships between servant leadership and group-level OCB in work groups. The model is tested by using hierarchical linear modeling with data obtained from a sample of 510 employees and 59 work groups in three Malaysian organizations. Results show that servant leadership is related to leader–member dyadic communication style agreement in the workplace at the individual level and that the servant leadership–group-level OCB link is partially mediated by leader–member dyadic communication style agreement in the workplace. These findings partially validate our proposed model and provide empirical support for the central roles of communication exchange processes in work groups.