The Public Relations section of the Proceedings contains the following 8 papers: "The Cultural Competence Spiral: An Assessment and Profile of U.S. Public Relations Practitioners' Preparation for International Assignments" (Alan R. Freitag); "Trust, Communication, and Quality Relationships in the Workplace: Comparing Views of CEOs…

Tested 54 college students who were rating videotaped speakers on trustworthiness and their tympanic temperature. Concluded that credibility operationalized as trustworthiness is related to physiological arousal, as measured by tympanic temperature. (PD)

Concludes that newspapers outdistance television as sources of state government news and that those selecting newspapers are more knowledgeable. (FL)

Brief research reports discuss (1) the Greek mass media, (2) media use and student knowledge of current events, (3) brand credibility in advertising, (4) the accuracy in news magazines' forecasts, (5) camera bans in court rooms, (6) education reporting in the Los Angeles "Times," and (7) loneliness, depression, and the uses of…

British academics in disciplines other than education were asked whether they considered educational studies intellectually credible and how educational research could be more highly respected. Most respondents stressed the need for high-quality personnel and scholarship. The relationship between educational theory and practice is discussed. (PP)

Summarizes research reports dealing with newspaper and television as news information media, media agendas, and political participation; the dimensions of advertiser credibility; the correlation between media variables and birth rate; reader comprehension of verb and subject headlines; media credibility; and New York reporters' coverage of J.…

Investigated the effects of valence, session of delivery, and order of delivery on receiver ratings of feedback credibility. Collected data from personal growth groups. Positive feedback was readily accepted. Negative feedback was significantly more accepted when received in later sessions, and when preceded by positive feedback. (Author)

Examined the effect of membership group and attitudinal similarity on perceived counselor credibility and attractiveness. Homosexual men (N=84) rated the counselor's credibility and attractiveness after listening to a recorded counseling interview. The counselor was rated more expert, trustworthy, and attractive when he stated a sexual preference…

Subjects rated a described mental-health professional on credibility and attraction. Varied fee and title in the descriptions. Results indicated subjects were not affected by fee except in willingness to seek therapy. The psychiatrist was consistently rated higher than the counselor, who was rated over the clinical psychologist. (Author/JAC)

Adults read stories; then made plausibility judgments about statements with respect to the stories. The inherent plausibility of the queried statements, the amount of attention subjects focused on information necessary for making a judgment, and the interval between presentation of the relevant information and the test probe were varied.…

Examines the practice of four Quiche folk healers and their use of attributions and cultural beliefs in diagnosis and treatment; and use of rituals, symbols, and verbal suggestions in enhancing credibility. The relationships between culturally congruent diagnosis-treatment, healer's credibility, and client's expectations of cure are also…

The president is the chief public relations officer of the institution. Although the public relations staff is responsible for interpreting the institution and its programs, it is the president who must be able to communicate to each of the publics directly. (MSE)

Presents findings on student myth belief and stereotyped opinion levels in the area of alcohol use from a study in two Massachusetts communities. Implications for awareness education are drawn from analysis of data on the effect of prior knowledge on students' opinions, which did not show stereotyped beliefs. (MF)

Discusses how the impact of various rhetorical moves in a trial is determined by the relationships they establish between evidence and underlying story structure. Demonstrates that the underlying rhetorical structure of a trial is a finely tuned communication system for the systematic organization and processing of large bodies of information.…