Maintaining and Restoring Privacy through Communication in Different Types of Relationships

Abstract

This investigation analysed the kinds of communicative acts that are considered privacy-invading, which communication strategies are used to restore privacy when it has been violated and how relationship type affects communication of privacy. A preliminary self-report survey and a pilot study employing open-ended interviews (n=43) led to the development of a questionnaire in which respondents (n=444) rated 39 possible actions on invasiveness and rated the likelihood of using 40 different tactics to restore privacy. Types of privacy violations formed five dimensions: (1) psychological and informational violations, (2) non-verbal interactional violations, (3) verbal interactional violations, (4) physical violations and (5) impersonal violations. Strategies used to restore privacy included: (1) interaction control, (2) dyadic intimacy, (3) negative arousal, (4) distancing, (5) blocking and (6) confrontation. Significant differences emerged across doctor-patient, employeremployee, teacher-student, parent-child, spouse-spouse and siblingsibling relationships.

The shifting landscape of LGBT organizational research

“…Others anticipated moral panic from parents and others about "recruiting" young people into the gay subculture (Burgoon et al, 1989;Ferfolja, 2009;Griffin, 1991;Harbeck, 1991;Kissen, 1996;Olson, 1987). One consequence was particularly high rates of concealment among gay and lesbian K-12 teachers, and continuing underrepresentation in the field as a whole (Baumle, Compton, & Poston, 2009, p. 164).…”

Dimensions of employee privacy: an empirical study

“…Many studies recognise the multi-dimensional nature of privacy (DeCew, 1997;Westin, 2003;Burgoon, 1989;Altman, 1975). For example, Zureik (2004) draws on Solove (2002) and others to characterise privacy concepts as clustering around six dimensions, which concern the subject's rights of solitude, limitation of access, anonymity, information privacy, bodily integrity and intimacy.…”

“…In summary, the conceptual basis of this study is drawn from previous studies such as, Zureik (2004), DeCew (1997), Westin (2003), Burgoon (1989) and Altman (1975) that characterise privacy as comprising multiple dimensions. This is combined with the findings from previous studies that suggest privacy orientations are influenced by demographic variables and employment characteristics (for example, Friedman et al, 2006 andAlder et al, 2007).…”

Privacy Risk Perceptions and Privacy Protection Strategies

“…Informational privacy relates to an individual's right to determine how, when, and to what extent information about herself will be released to others [1][2]15]. The acquisition, storage, manipulation, mining, sharing, selling and analysis of personal data represent violations of the individual's informational privacy.…”