300 / 658
298
Friday, November 11
1 4 : 3 0 – 1 6 : 0 0
PS 068
The Personal and Social Roots of Generalized Opinion Leadership
F. Mangoldq
1
1
University of Hohenheim, Communication, Stuttgart, Germany
Generalized opinion leadership is still one of the most controversial issues in opinion leadership research. Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955, p. 334) originally
found that “the fact that a women is a leader in one area has no bearing on the likelihood that she will be a leader in another.” Later studies (King &
Summers 1970; Montgomery & Silk 1971, Myers & Robertson 1972), however, indicated that generalized opinion leadership is a common phenomenon;
a substantial proportion of the opinion leaders exerted polymorphic influence across different topics. This finding was mainly attributed to opinion leaders’
personality traits and interests in various domains (see also Noelle-Neumann 1983, 1985). To date, however, no comprehensive attempt has been made to
link the phenomenon of generalized leadership to the networks of interpersonal communication. This contradicts Katz’s (1957) early notion that opinion
leaders’influence is both related to their personal characteristics (‘who one is’and‘what one knows’) and their strategic social location (‘whom one knows’),
i.e. the structures of their personal networks. Moreover, numerous studies on opinion leadership in specific domains have showed that social networks
play a key role in the process of public opinion formation (e.g. Burt 1999; Roch 2005; Schenk 2006; Weimann 1982). Given this research gap, the paper
investigates the relationship between the generalizability of opinion leaders’ personal influence, their personality traits, and their communication net‑
works. A special emphasis is put on Granovetter’s (1973) concept of tie strength and its implications for generalized opinion leadership. Empirical results
are presented from an ego-centric network analysis. The analysis covers interpersonal communication and opinion leadership in a broad range of different
economic and consumption-related matters. Network data are representative for one of the largest metropolitan areas in Southern Germany.They comprise
2.457 relations nested within 300 personal communication networks. Opinion leadership was operationalized in accordance with Katz and Lazarsfeld’s
original snowball methodology. Data are analyzed by combining multilevel analysis, contextual effect analysis and mediation analysis. Results confirm
that generalized opinion leadership is indeed a common phenomenon. Apart from specialized opinion leaders, there are leaders that exert polymorphous
influence across various topics. Unlike prior studies, this study fully depicts the antecedents of generalized opinion leadership. In particular, the generaliz‑
ability of opinion leaders’ influence does not only depend on their personality traits and on their interests, but also on the communication networks they
are embedded in. The fact that a considerable fraction of the opinion leaders exerts polymorphous influence stems from a complex interplay between their
personal and social characteristics. Generalized opinion leadership is most common when leaders have (1) a strong personality, (2) a wide range of interests,
and (3) a comparatively large personal network of close relatives, friends, and acquaintances. This increased likelihood of generalized opinion leadership
can be attributed to the fact that interpersonal communication with strong peers and within the personal core network is more reciprocal, trustful, and
homophilic. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed.
PS 069
Administrative Groups – A Multidimensional Arena for ConstructingWell-Being inWorkplace Communication
E. Pennanen
1
1
University of Jyväskylä, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Administrative groups, such as committees, boards and management teams, form the basis for many organizations: they can have a wide-ranging influ‑
ence on the whole organization, its members and its stakeholders. Their tasks can have various objectives and functions, from strategic decision making
to work coordination and creative innovation planning. Thus, the significance of administrative groups is focal for the quality of work on many levels. In
a hospital context, the administrative group work may differ quite a lot from nursing staff’s basic tasks and duties. Managing various tasks, emotions and
roles at work may also stress the employees. The aim of this study is to understand the dynamic ways in which well-being is constructed in the interper‑
sonal communication of administrative groups in a hospital. The study presented in the poster is a doctoral dissertation under preparation. In this study,
well-being at work is approached in the context of workplace communication: social and mental resources for the workplace and for those who work
there are created in the processes of interpersonal communication. The research question of the study is: What kind of an arena does the interpersonal
communication of administrative groups offer for the construction of well-being at work? Three viewpoints are presented in the poster: 1) nursing staff’s
perceptions of well-being construction in the interpersonal communication processes, 2) work coordination processes in administrative group meetings and
3) relational level of interpersonal communication in administrative groups.The research data consist of observations of administrative group meetings and
qualitative respondent interviews with nursing staff working in one operating unit of a large Finnish hospital. Approaches of inductive qualitative analysis
and qualitative description were used to analyze the data. The analysis concentrated on 1) identifying the meanings the nursing staff give to interpersonal
communication in the context of well-being construction, 2) examining the functions of social interaction of work coordination processes in nursing staff
meetings and 3) examining the relational level and its ethical dimensions for the interpersonal communication of administrative groups in a hospital.
The findings of the study indicate that interpersonal communication has a multidimensional role in administrative group settings. The very same processes
of interpersonal communication can both promote and hamper well-being at work: both positive and negative perspectives of well-being creation can
be a part of the same interaction phenomena. The findings show that for instance work coordination in administrative groups is not only a task-oriented
process in which tasks are planned and organized but also a process of constructing relationships at work. Consequently, the administrative groups seem to
offer an arena for both achieving the practical goals of work and for creating and maintaining the social reality of the work community. The practical and
theoretical relevance of approaching well-being at work as a communicative process will be presented in the poster. Furthermore, practical implications for
communication practices of administrative work will also be discussed.