COVID-19 Communication Ecologies: Using Interpersonal, Organizational, and Mediated Communication Resources to Cope With a Pandemic

Houston, J. Brian

doi:10.1177/0002764221992837

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…And, counter-arguing within interpersonal relationships helped lower the fear of the pandemic, and proved to be quite a good maladaptive coping strategy to control fear ( Li, 2021 ). During the pandemic, people relied on their informal social networks to gather information ( Wagner & Reifegerste, 2021 ), something that can be referred to as “communication ecologies” ( Houston, 2021 ). This ultimately helped to dispel COVID-19 myths and false information ( Melki et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Advocacy During a Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Existential Implications of COVID-19 in Health Communication

Harvell-Bowman

2023

American Behavioral Scientist

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided an existential threat the world has rarely seen and forced Americans to make meaning in a world of uncertainty surrounding what most have taken for granted, being healthy. Reviewing data from several studies collected throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this article uses COVID-19 as a case study to understand reasoning to follow (or not) the recommendations set forth by government agencies through understanding the effects of longitudinal death salience (i.e., long-term awareness of death). The Terror Management Health Model (TMHM) argues that death is a key component to the condition of human behavior to elongate life. If the TMHM is correct, then Americans should have widely followed government recommendations, but instead violence and a polarized America ensued. Implications for health communication and the TMHM are discussed, providing a path forward for health communication and existential psychology scholars.

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Section: Advocacy During a Pandemicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Existential Implications of COVID-19 in Health Communication

Harvell-Bowman

2023

American Behavioral Scientist

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“…Thus, organizational success would require that organizations act decisively to augment the above. Providing optimal communication to employees is a central way to do so (Bailey & Breslin, 2020; Guzzo et al, 2021; Houston, 2021) as it can provide employees with information regarding challenges and available resources (Van der Meer et al, 2017), as well as encourage positive emotions and a sense of trust and security (Adler et al, 2021; Jarvenpaa et al, 1998; Yue et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Anxiety Through Workplace Communication During COVID-19: Who, What, When, and How

Kay

Levine

Shapiro

2022

International Journal of Business Communication

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Organizational communication is particularly important during times of uncertainty and turmoil, such as the first few weeks of COVID-19 in the United States. This paper explores the who, what, when, and how of organizational communication during this time, looking at how these factors affected satisfaction with communication and anxiety among a sample of working adults. Through path analysis the paper suggests that having the direct manager communicate, communicating personal messages of support, communicating daily, and communicating via text media are related to higher levels of satisfaction with communication, and in turn with lower levels of anxiety. Individual traits of the employee are also discussed, including the need for affiliation as a moderator on the relationship between communication satisfaction and anxiety. Finally, suggestions are presented regarding how organizations can best leverage communication in novel and uncertain situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…There is a particular urgency for understanding how communication both complicates, and is complicated by, the COVID-19 pandemic. First of all, it is through communication that people cope to manage the evolving scientific understanding of the virus and the associated public health recommendations ( Houston, 2021 ). This communication takes the form of information seeking and sharing as people circulate updates–both factual and not–within their social networks, receive guidance from their health care providers, and offer each other emotional support ( Afifi & Afifi, 2021 ; Donato et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%