Austin S Babrow
Biographic Data
| ID | 163408 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Austin S Babrow |
| GIVEN NAMES | Austin S |
| FAMILY NAME | Babrow |
| SIGNATURE | BABROW A S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Purdue University West Lafayette |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 85 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Problematic integration theory: A systematic review
Letting Go, Holding On
Oxymoronically, existence is change, or so say the sages. Without stability, meaning degrades to meaninglessness. In a series of letters, a father and daughter try to understand stability and change, love and loss, dependence and freedom, the parent–child relationship, and head and heart, as they consider an opportunity to write about migration as family history
Building Health Communication Theories in the 21st Century
Risk in the Making: Narrative, Problematic Integration, and the Social Construction of Risk
Narrative plays a prominent role in interpretations and explanations of social reality, particularly in our efforts to understand uncertainties in time, such as social constructions of risk. This article synthesizes narrative and problematic integration theory as a way to illuminate the construction of risk. We argue that the very existence of risks in our lives is constituted and signified through storied explanations, expectations, and evaluati…
Problematic Integration of Uncertainty and Desire in Pregnancy
Although most women in the United States choose physicians for their prenatal care, a small but growing number are now turning to midwives. The disparity between these two models of care has clear implications for the communication that takes place with each type of provider. In this project, the authors seek to understand the mother-midwife relationship by employing a case study approach with multiple data collection methods to examine one woman…
Point, Counterpoint, to the Side of the Point, and Other Points of Interest in the Latest Debate About Communibiological Theory: A Response to Nelson, McCroskey, and Beatty
Journal Article Point, Counterpoint, to the Side of the Point, and Other Points of Interest in the Latest Debate About Communibiological Theory: A Response to Nelson, McCroskey, and Beatty Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S. Babrow (PhD, University of Illinois) is a professor of communication at Purdue University, 2114 Beering Building, W. Lafayette, IN 47907. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Sc…
Uncertainty, Value, Communication, and Problematic Integration
This essay discusses problematic integration (PI) theory, a general perspective on the nature of the dynamic relationship between communication and tensions among expectations and desires and considers the relevance and potential value of PI theory to questions foundational to the field of communication research. The paper begins with a discussion of the main propositions of PI theory, then considers the relationship between the theory and emergi…
Introduction to the Special Issue on Uncertainty, Evaluation, and Communication
From "reducing" to "coping with" uncertainty: Reconceptualizing the Central Challenge in Breast Self-Exams
The Many Meanings of Uncertainty in Illness: Toward a Systematic Accounting
Uncertainty is widely believed to be a central feature in illness experiences. Moreover, communication is thought to be essential to the construction, management, and resolution of uncertainty. Not surprisingly, however, there are substantial variations in conceptions and analyses of this focal construct and its relation to communication. In this article, we first argue that understandings of the role of communication in health and illness can be…
Colloquy Developing Multiple-Process Theories of Communication
Journal Article Colloquy: Developing Multiple-Process Theories of Communication Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S, Babrow (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1986) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Human Communication Research, Volume 25, Issue 1, September 1998, Pages 152–155, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-29…
Social support messages and the management of uncertainty in the experience of breast cancer: An application of problematic integration theory
This article synthesizes past studies of illness, stress, coping, and social support and offers a model of communicative support, based on problematic integration theory, that emphasizes two major dimensions of meaning in the breast cancer experience. The model suggests that supportive messages are designed to help the breast cancer patient manage both perceptions of the likelihood (e.g., uncertainty) of various illness experiences and evaluation…
Communication and problematic integration: Milan Kundera's “lost letters” in the book of laughter and forgetting
This essay uses the theory of problematic integration to analyze Milan Kundera's writing, particularly the central segment, entitled “Lost Letters,” in his first novel written as an emigre. The theory is concerned with the role of communication when desires and expectations diverge, or when we face ambiguity, ambivalence, or impossibility (i.e., when it is difficult to integrate evaluative and probabilistic orientations). Communication plays many…
The Advent of Multiple-Process Theories of Communication
Journal Article The Advent of Multiple-Process Theories of Communication Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S. Babrow is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 43, Issue 3, September 1993, Pages 110–118, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01282.x Published:…
Communication and Problematic Integration: Understanding Diverging Probability and Value, Ambiguity, Ambivalence, and Impossibility
This essay examines the interplay of communication and the basic human need to integrate probabilistic and evaluative orientations. The analysis focuses on communication in four experiences where it is difficult to satisfy the need: diverging probability and evaluation (e.g., unlikely happiness or likely sorrow), ambiguity, ambivalence, and impossibility. The aims are to (a) present a rudimentary theory of communication and the problematic integr…
Disentangling antecedents of audience exposure levels: Extending expectancy‐value analyses of gratifications sought from television news
This work extends previous applications of expectancy‐value theory to gratifications research in a study of student exposure to television news. It offers several conceptual refinements, a more complete account of the system of forces in which the central constructs operate, and illustrates methods of analysis more suited to emerging theory. The present findings suggest that expectancy‐value and gratification‐seeking orientations are highly relat…
Causal modeling in communication research: Use, disuse, and misuse
The logic and procedures of causal modeling can help researchers avoid errors arising in more traditional analyses in a number of commonly occurring cases. A table of cases requiring causal modeling, or an equivalent technique, is presented. Nine years of published research in communication journals are reviewed to assess the adequacy of analysis in these situations. Standards for the conduct and reporting of causal modeling are also offered alon…
From "reducing" to "coping with" uncertainty: Reconceptualizing the Central Challenge in Breast Self-Exams
Communication and Problematic Integration: Understanding Diverging Probability and Value, Ambiguity, Ambivalence, and Impossibility
This essay examines the interplay of communication and the basic human need to integrate probabilistic and evaluative orientations. The analysis focuses on communication in four experiences where it is difficult to satisfy the need: diverging probability and evaluation (e.g., unlikely happiness or likely sorrow), ambiguity, ambivalence, and impossibility. The aims are to (a) present a rudimentary theory of communication and the problematic integr…
Social support messages and the management of uncertainty in the experience of breast cancer: An application of problematic integration theory
This article synthesizes past studies of illness, stress, coping, and social support and offers a model of communicative support, based on problematic integration theory, that emphasizes two major dimensions of meaning in the breast cancer experience. The model suggests that supportive messages are designed to help the breast cancer patient manage both perceptions of the likelihood (e.g., uncertainty) of various illness experiences and evaluation…
Communication and problematic integration: Milan Kundera's “lost letters” in the book of laughter and forgetting
This essay uses the theory of problematic integration to analyze Milan Kundera's writing, particularly the central segment, entitled “Lost Letters,” in his first novel written as an emigre. The theory is concerned with the role of communication when desires and expectations diverge, or when we face ambiguity, ambivalence, or impossibility (i.e., when it is difficult to integrate evaluative and probabilistic orientations). Communication plays many…
Risk in the Making: Narrative, Problematic Integration, and the Social Construction of Risk
Narrative plays a prominent role in interpretations and explanations of social reality, particularly in our efforts to understand uncertainties in time, such as social constructions of risk. This article synthesizes narrative and problematic integration theory as a way to illuminate the construction of risk. We argue that the very existence of risks in our lives is constituted and signified through storied explanations, expectations, and evaluati…
Disentangling antecedents of audience exposure levels: Extending expectancy‐value analyses of gratifications sought from television news
This work extends previous applications of expectancy‐value theory to gratifications research in a study of student exposure to television news. It offers several conceptual refinements, a more complete account of the system of forces in which the central constructs operate, and illustrates methods of analysis more suited to emerging theory. The present findings suggest that expectancy‐value and gratification‐seeking orientations are highly relat…
Causal modeling in communication research: Use, disuse, and misuse
The logic and procedures of causal modeling can help researchers avoid errors arising in more traditional analyses in a number of commonly occurring cases. A table of cases requiring causal modeling, or an equivalent technique, is presented. Nine years of published research in communication journals are reviewed to assess the adequacy of analysis in these situations. Standards for the conduct and reporting of causal modeling are also offered alon…
The Advent of Multiple-Process Theories of Communication
Journal Article The Advent of Multiple-Process Theories of Communication Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S. Babrow is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 43, Issue 3, September 1993, Pages 110–118, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01282.x Published:…
Problematic Integration of Uncertainty and Desire in Pregnancy
Although most women in the United States choose physicians for their prenatal care, a small but growing number are now turning to midwives. The disparity between these two models of care has clear implications for the communication that takes place with each type of provider. In this project, the authors seek to understand the mother-midwife relationship by employing a case study approach with multiple data collection methods to examine one woman…
Colloquy Developing Multiple-Process Theories of Communication
Journal Article Colloquy: Developing Multiple-Process Theories of Communication Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S, Babrow (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1986) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Human Communication Research, Volume 25, Issue 1, September 1998, Pages 152–155, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-29…
Causal modeling in communication research: Use, disuse, and misuse
The logic and procedures of causal modeling can help researchers avoid errors arising in more traditional analyses in a number of commonly occurring cases. A table of cases requiring causal modeling, or an equivalent technique, is presented. Nine years of published research in communication journals are reviewed to assess the adequacy of analysis in these situations. Standards for the conduct and reporting of causal modeling are also offered alon…
Disentangling antecedents of audience exposure levels: Extending expectancy‐value analyses of gratifications sought from television news
This work extends previous applications of expectancy‐value theory to gratifications research in a study of student exposure to television news. It offers several conceptual refinements, a more complete account of the system of forces in which the central constructs operate, and illustrates methods of analysis more suited to emerging theory. The present findings suggest that expectancy‐value and gratification‐seeking orientations are highly relat…
Communication and Problematic Integration: Understanding Diverging Probability and Value, Ambiguity, Ambivalence, and Impossibility
This essay examines the interplay of communication and the basic human need to integrate probabilistic and evaluative orientations. The analysis focuses on communication in four experiences where it is difficult to satisfy the need: diverging probability and evaluation (e.g., unlikely happiness or likely sorrow), ambiguity, ambivalence, and impossibility. The aims are to (a) present a rudimentary theory of communication and the problematic integr…
The Advent of Multiple-Process Theories of Communication
Journal Article The Advent of Multiple-Process Theories of Communication Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S. Babrow is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 43, Issue 3, September 1993, Pages 110–118, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01282.x Published:…
Communication and problematic integration: Milan Kundera's “lost letters” in the book of laughter and forgetting
This essay uses the theory of problematic integration to analyze Milan Kundera's writing, particularly the central segment, entitled “Lost Letters,” in his first novel written as an emigre. The theory is concerned with the role of communication when desires and expectations diverge, or when we face ambiguity, ambivalence, or impossibility (i.e., when it is difficult to integrate evaluative and probabilistic orientations). Communication plays many…
Social support messages and the management of uncertainty in the experience of breast cancer: An application of problematic integration theory
This article synthesizes past studies of illness, stress, coping, and social support and offers a model of communicative support, based on problematic integration theory, that emphasizes two major dimensions of meaning in the breast cancer experience. The model suggests that supportive messages are designed to help the breast cancer patient manage both perceptions of the likelihood (e.g., uncertainty) of various illness experiences and evaluation…
The Many Meanings of Uncertainty in Illness: Toward a Systematic Accounting
Uncertainty is widely believed to be a central feature in illness experiences. Moreover, communication is thought to be essential to the construction, management, and resolution of uncertainty. Not surprisingly, however, there are substantial variations in conceptions and analyses of this focal construct and its relation to communication. In this article, we first argue that understandings of the role of communication in health and illness can be…
Colloquy Developing Multiple-Process Theories of Communication
Journal Article Colloquy: Developing Multiple-Process Theories of Communication Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S, Babrow (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1986) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication at Purdue University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Human Communication Research, Volume 25, Issue 1, September 1998, Pages 152–155, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-29…
From "reducing" to "coping with" uncertainty: Reconceptualizing the Central Challenge in Breast Self-Exams
Uncertainty, Value, Communication, and Problematic Integration
This essay discusses problematic integration (PI) theory, a general perspective on the nature of the dynamic relationship between communication and tensions among expectations and desires and considers the relevance and potential value of PI theory to questions foundational to the field of communication research. The paper begins with a discussion of the main propositions of PI theory, then considers the relationship between the theory and emergi…
Introduction to the Special Issue on Uncertainty, Evaluation, and Communication
Point, Counterpoint, to the Side of the Point, and Other Points of Interest in the Latest Debate About Communibiological Theory: A Response to Nelson, McCroskey, and Beatty
Journal Article Point, Counterpoint, to the Side of the Point, and Other Points of Interest in the Latest Debate About Communibiological Theory: A Response to Nelson, McCroskey, and Beatty Get access Austin S. Babrow Austin S. Babrow 1Austin S. Babrow (PhD, University of Illinois) is a professor of communication at Purdue University, 2114 Beering Building, W. Lafayette, IN 47907. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Sc…
Problematic Integration of Uncertainty and Desire in Pregnancy
Although most women in the United States choose physicians for their prenatal care, a small but growing number are now turning to midwives. The disparity between these two models of care has clear implications for the communication that takes place with each type of provider. In this project, the authors seek to understand the mother-midwife relationship by employing a case study approach with multiple data collection methods to examine one woman…
Risk in the Making: Narrative, Problematic Integration, and the Social Construction of Risk
Narrative plays a prominent role in interpretations and explanations of social reality, particularly in our efforts to understand uncertainties in time, such as social constructions of risk. This article synthesizes narrative and problematic integration theory as a way to illuminate the construction of risk. We argue that the very existence of risks in our lives is constituted and signified through storied explanations, expectations, and evaluati…
Building Health Communication Theories in the 21st Century
Letting Go, Holding On
Oxymoronically, existence is change, or so say the sages. Without stability, meaning degrades to meaninglessness. In a series of letters, a father and daughter try to understand stability and change, love and loss, dependence and freedom, the parent–child relationship, and head and heart, as they consider an opportunity to write about migration as family history
Problematic integration theory: A systematic review
Psychology (15 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Communication in Education and Healthcare (5 works) · Law (5 works)