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ICS07
Effect and Evaluation of Communicational Practices
PP 644
Interpersonal Communication About Climate Change: FromWeather Forecast to Climate Conference
F. De Silva-Schmidt
1
, M. Brüggemann
1
, I. Hoppe
1
, D. Arlt
2
, J. Schmitt
3
1
University of Hamburg, Institute of Journalism and Communication, Hamburg, Germany
2
University of Bern, Institute for Communication and Media, Bern, Switzerland
3
University of Hohenheim, School of Communication, Stuttgart, Germany
Climate change is a relevant and contested topic, as studies on attitudes towards climate change of the general population have shown (e.g. for the US
Leiserowitz et al. 2013, for Germany Metag et al. 2015). Information from the mass media about the topic does not necessarily lead to significant changes in
people’s behavior and attitude towards climate change. It may rather reaffirm existing beliefs and thereby increase the polarization of the debate (Feldman
et al. 2014,Taddicken 2013). Interpersonal communication is a key factor for understanding how attitudes towards climate change can alter, especially since
personal conversations are more pervasive and less self-selective than information from the mass media (which is part of the Two-Step-Flow hypothesis
by Lazarsfeld et al. 1944). Although a lot of research has been carried out on media coverage of climate change, there are currently only very few empirical
investigations of interpersonal communication about the topic (e.g. Leombruni 2015). Our study focusses on the role of the recent UN Climate Conference
in generating talk about climate change. As climate change is likely to generate conflict in discussions, it is not usually a topic of small talk, which mostly
deals with“safe”topics that do not stimulate conflict (Coupland 2003). The questions addressed by our study are: Do people take the UN climate conference
as a catalyst for discussion about climate change?With whom do they talk about climate change? What role does media coverage play in the process? How
do these conversations proceed and do they trigger conflicts? We conducted a qualitative study during the climate summit 2015 with 42 participants from
different socio-economic backgrounds in Germany. They filled out daily digital communication diaries in which they noted their media use and conversa‑
tions related to climate change. To deepen the insights from the diaries, we conducted four focus group interviews with subgroups of the participants (n
= 15). First results show that the conversations tend to develop from small talk about the weather or about media reports of the climate conference into
a substantial debate. Conversation topics differ depending on the communication partner: With their partner – the person most often named in regard
to climate change –, the respondents talk about their fears and perspectives for the future; the conversation is a mutual, complementary exchange. With
acquaintances and colleagues, more diverse points of view tend to collide and conflicts arise.These observations confirm and complement previous network
analysis research on political discussions, where weak ties work as bridges between communities with different viewpoints, whereas discussions with
strong ties usually take place with like-minded individuals (Morey et al. 2012). This paper contributes to the analysis of interpersonal discussion on climate
change and the study of persuasion attempts by providing qualitative evidence to the field.
PP 645
Psychologically Safe Communication Climate in Global Teams: Overcoming Subgroups in Electronic Communication Practices
J. Gibbs
1
, M. Boyraz
1
, A. Sivunen
2
, E. Nordback
2
1
Rutgers University, Communication, New Brunswick, USA
2
Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
Global virtual teams (GVTs) reflect the discontinuities of modern society, as they operate across geographical, temporal, and cultural boundaries. As a re‑
sult, they often face disjunctures in communication practices that lead to the formation of divisive subgroups. While the existence of subgroups and their
effects on teams have been documented, the communicative practices that help to either enflame or overcome subgroups have been understudied. We
draw on the notion of psychologically safe communication climate (PSCC), or a climate that promotes support, mutual respect, and speaking up, which has
been found to moderate the negative effects of virtuality on team innovation. The ways in which teams construct a PSCC have not yet been systematically
investigated, however. Much of the virtual teams research relies heavily on self-reported data from surveys and interviews, rather than studying actual
communicative exchanges among team members. Further, much of team communication now occurs through electronic media such as email, instant
messaging, or videoconferencing, yet the ways in which team processes are constructed through these electronic communication practices have been
understudied. Grounded in the communicative constitution of organizations (CCO) approach, we argue that structures created through interaction can be
potentially enabling as well as constraining for virtual teams, as group processes such as identification, psychological safety, and conflict are manifested
in these structures. However, little is known about how such structures arise through social interaction and how they in turn shape interaction through
the language team members use. This study attempts to address this gap by examining how the use of language (such as “we”) in electronic communi‑
cation practices changes over time and creates enabling and constraining subgroup identities in GVT collaboration, and how development of a PSCC can
help teams overcome subgroup conflict and promote identification with the team as a whole. This study draws on an in-depth analysis of two global teams
over time to examine the language used to construct team and subgroup identification and conflict. Through a multi-method analysis (consisting of both
quantitative and qualitative analysis) of a corpus of 839 email communications and 16 interviews with team members and coaches of two global teams
over the duration of the project, we find that developing a PSCC plays an important role in managing subgroup conflict and fostering team identification.
Our analysis draws on the CCO perspective to provide insight into the conditions through which a PSCC is constituted in electronic interaction. We find that
PSCC-related communicative practices of taking collective accountability, talking about problems as they arise, and assertive yet supportive communication
help to overcome subgroup conflict by diffusing status differences and giving voice to all team members. Development of a PSCC is also associated with
a significant increase in team identification and decrease in subgroup identification. Theoretical and practical implications for conflict management in
global teams are discussed.