Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Communication Studies
Committee Chair
Alan K. Goodboy
Committee Member
Megan R. Dillow
Committee Member
Daniel Totzkay
Abstract
This thesis investigated undergraduate students’ perceptions and interpretations of language cues used within instructor email requests. Guided by Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT; Brehm, 1966; Brehm & Brehm, 1981), this thesis examined whether instructor email requests, containing different levels of powerful language and verbal immediacy cues, would impact students’ willingness to follow through with instructor requests. Two hundred thirty-four undergraduate students participated in the four-condition experiment which consisted of the email manipulation conditions containing varying levels of an instructors’ powerful language (e.g. “must;” Miller et al., 2007) and verbal immediacy (e.g., “our class;” Witt & Wheeless, 2001) cues. After reading an email, students completed a post-test measuring their thoughts (Quick & Stephenson, 2007), source credibility (McCroskey & Teven, 1999), state reactance (Dillard & Shen, 2005), intention to follow through (Ajzen, 1991; Moore & Richards, 2019), basic needs satisfaction (autonomy; Gagné, 2003), and email expectancy (Gorham, 1988; Miller et al., 2007; Witt & Wheeless, 2001). Results revealed significant correlations between instructor credibility and intention to follow through with requests, as well as significant relationships between these variables and the two dimensions of PRT. Finally, an indirect effect of verbal immediacy on both dimensions of psychological reactance was revealed. These findings provide practical and theoretical implications on the subject of language choice in persuasive messages both in and outside of the instructional communication context. Future research should continue to examine language choice decisions in mediated communication within hierarchical relationships and explore the role PRT plays in relationships both initially and as time elapses.
Recommended Citation
Robey, Christiana, "Language Choice on Psychological Reactance in Instructor/Student Email Exchanges" (2021). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 8310.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/8310