Research
A major part of my job at the university is to conduct research in broadly-defined areas of interpersonal communication. Here are some of my major areas of concentration.
Communication and Humor Production
The only problem in conducting humor research is that people tend to expect you to be "funny" - and I'm not. We've found that producing effective humor is an individual difference (measured by the Humor Orientation scale) and that people who are high on humor orientation (High HOs) are observably funnier than those who score low on the scale.
This is not "sense of humor", although they are modestly correlated. We're researching how humor is effectively encoded and what it may do for the sender in interactions.
The Humor Orientation scale is the primary operationalization (Booth-Butterfield & Booth-Butterfield, 1991). You can see the scale here and make copies for your research or instructional purposes.
Affective Orientation
Affective Orientation is our awareness and use of emotions as information in our interactions. Some people really consult and use their emotions, but others either aren't aware or actively discount their emotional responses in making certain decisions.
AO correlates modestly with conversational sensitivity, private self-consciousness, and psychological femininity. We're still working on other areas where it has impact. We have also published a shorter, 15-item version of the scale which focuses more specifically on use of the emotions.
You can download the original scale here or the shorter, 15 item scale here for your research or instructional purposes.
Anxiety-Related Communication
Anxiety about communication has wide-ranging and well-documented negative effects. We've tended to take a cognitive approach, looking at how the anxiety interferes with processing. I'm also interested in the special or more subtle problems brought on by anxiety in instructional settings and interpersonal relationships. This is an ongoing area of research for me.
Other Areas
I'm always interested in communication implications in social problems, e.g.,health communication, sexual harassment, violence.
I am also currently co-investigator on a National Cancer Institute grant We're analyzing tobacco prevention materials for use in Appalachian regions, especially focusing on adolescents.
Anyone wanting more specifics about research areas can examine my full vita.
Copyright and copy: Melanie Booth-Butterfield, 1995
This Home Page was created on Sunday, September 17, 1995. Most recent revision
Wednesday, December 14, 2005.