A descriptive inquiry into the corporate communication profession in Europe

This paper explores the educational backgrounds, work activities, remuneration and job satisfaction of European communication professionals. Based on factor analysis of a sample of 1410 European communicators, five major work activities are identified: lobbying external constituencies, advising and reviewing policies, positioning the firm in the marketplace, and external and internal facilitation. Using analysis of variance between groups, we argue that some of the more technical work activities are predominantly conducted by female communication professionals, whereas managerial activities are predominantly performed by their male counterparts. As will be shown, while educational background does not differ between genders, salaries as well as job satisfaction do; likewise, there are differences in respect of educational background, salaries, and job satisfaction.     

Social and Economic Distress in Large Cities, 1970–1990: A Test of the Urban Crisis Thesis

This paper is a test of the urban crisis thesis, which argues that the social and economic conditions of large cities have continued to deteriorate since 1970. In addition, we examine the factors that account for differences in social distress among the cities. Finally, we investigate the regional location effect on urban social distress. In general the findings show both cross-sectionally and longitudinally that (1) the urban crisis has become worse over the years; (2) differences in social distress among cities are largely a function of economic distress, urban scale, and regional location; and (3) levels of distress have converged among cities in the old industrial North (the Rustbelt) and the South and West (the Sunbelt). In fact, the most distressed cities in the country are in the Sunbelt.     

Global optimization of the generalized cross-validation criterion

Generalized cross-validation is a method for choosing the smoothing parameter in smoothing splines and related regularization problems. This method requires the global minimization of the generalized cross-validation function. In this paper an algorithm based on interval analysis is presented to find the globally optimal value for the smoothing parameter, and a numerical example illustrates the performance of the algorithm.     

Financial Stress,Shaming Experiences and Psychosocial Ill-Health: Studies into the Finances-Shame Model

The aim of the study was to test the Finances-Shame model and its explanatory power regarding the prevalence of psychosocial ill-health. The Finances-Shame model postulates that (i) the greater the financial stress and the more experiences of having been shamed, the greater the risk for psychosocial ill-health, (ii) the lesser the financial stress and the fewer experiences of having been shamed, the lower the risk for psychosocial ill-health. The study was based upon a survey carried out during the period March 2000–May 2000 in a mid-Swedish region (n = 5,666). The response rate was 69%. The results of the study supported the hypotheses.     

Social media and organizational visibility: A sample of Fortune 500 corporations

This study explores the factors that drive organizational social media visibility. Using a sample of Fortune 500 companies and influential non-profit organizations, findings reveal that mainstream media coverage significantly affects social media visibility whereas organizations’ social media use patterns have limited impact on overall organizational visibility. Implications for both the practice of public relations and further theorizing about social media studies are discussed.     

A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis of the Relationships between Depression,Anxiety, and Sexual Problems over Time

Sexual dysfunctions are related to depressive and anxiety disorders, but the nature of these relationships remains unclear. This study examined the relationship among symptoms of these disorders over time by comparing (a) a model that included causal relationships, (b) a model that accounted for change over time with a shared underlying factor (or latent liability) among all the disorders, and (c) a model that conceptualized sexual dysfunctions as unrelated to depressive and anxiety disorders over time. Participants (n = 1,012) completed online self-report measures of sexual dysfunctions and depressive and anxiety disorders across six time points at either weekly or monthly intervals. Models 1 and 2 provided equal best fit for men and women based on data collected four weeks apart, but there were no evident causal relationships in Model 1. Subsequent analyses using data collected one week and six months apart found Model 2 provided robust fit for women, but these data were not examined for men due to inadequate sample sizes. The results are consistent with a shared latent liability of internalizing psychopathology driving the change in these disorders over time, which provides a clear direction for an empirically driven nosology and for future research into transdiagnostic treatments.     

Dialogic Engagement: Clarifying Foundational Concepts

The principle of engagement underlies much of the relational and organization–public communication research. Unfortunately, the principle of engagement suffers from a lack of clarity in the public relations literature. Use of the term engagement varies widely. This article clarifies the principle of engagement by positioning it within dialogue theory. We posit a conceptualization of engagement as: Engagement is part of dialogue and through engagement, organizations and publics can make decisions that create social capital. Engagement is both an orientation that influences interactions and the approach that guides the process of interactions among groups.