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This study examined volunteer coping and resilience processes in emotionally-taxing work. Based on the reflections of 34 client-facing volunteers with a nonprofit that supports people experiencing homelessness, survivors of human trafficking, and refugee children, we identified four primary processes of volunteer resilience: (a) preemptive support offered at an individual level, (b) promotion of periodic rest from volunteering, (c) reframing and transforming the struggle, and (d) invoking spiritual identity anchors. These findings contribute to resilience theorizing by underscoring the necessary role of both routine social support and rest from emotion work in resilience processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines members' interpretations of family-like short-term organizational groups, identification with the group, and the experience of exit. In-depth interviews with former group members revealed functional, balanced, and enmeshed interpretations of family. Interpretations corresponded with different levels and forms of organizational identification shaped through four communicative processes - bonding, emotional expression, self-disclosure, and defining group experiences. Based on these findings, recommendations for the continued study of short-term membership, identification, and organizational socialization are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study expands conceptions of organizational membership by examining individuals whose relationships with their organizations are traditionally characterized as involuntary in nature. Data from inmates and prison employees in four U.S. and Norwegian correctional institutions was examined using structuration theory as an emergent interpretive lens, and five primary ways in which involuntary membership is constructed in communication are identified:physical environment, mobility, relationships, engagement, and body.These facets are presented as the foundation of a continuum-based theoretical perspective on (in)voluntary membership and are discussed for their applicability to future research and theorizing across organizational communication studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Door-to-door sales is an emotionally demanding job with a high rate of burnout and, as such, has been the subject of multiple studies on employee motivation. However, the role that communication among fellow sales team members plays in salesperson motivation has been largely neglected, which represents a critical gap in research considering the substantial amount of time that teams often spend sharing their sales strategies and experiences. The current research addresses this gap with an ethnographic case study of one door-to-door summer sales team. Analysis of in-depth interviews with salespeople and observational data from meetings and house calls revealed three dichotomies of emotional expression created by the team in their communication. These include: (a) envisioning the job as abhorrent and admirable, (b) performing the role as obscene and humane, and (c) considering team dynamics as wrought with both care and competition. We contend that staying motivated despite the emotional stresses of their jobs required salespeople to embrace these dichotomies, and doing so was powerfully facilitated through team interaction. The applicability of these findings beyond door-to-door sales is discussed, as well as further research needed to develop a more comprehensive model of coworker communication, motivation, and emotion management in service-oriented jobs with elements of dirty work or social taint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the social network ties, motivations, and experiences of high-stakes volunteers (HSVs): individuals who fulfill long-term, consistent, and intense time commitments providing medical, social, and/or psychological assistance. Interview, focus group, and observational data from three settings (volunteer firefighting, victims’ services/advocacy, outreach for at-risk youth) were analyzed using qualitative methods. Accordingly, five types of HSVs (stable lifer, imbalanced lifer, conventionalist, professional, crusader) are presented and discussed. These findings advance theoretical insight into the variety of individuals who take on HSV roles and contribute to growing scholarship on diversified approaches to volunteer management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between sorority communication practices and members’ body images through the lens of organizational socialization and identification. Specifically, we analyzed 210 sorority members’ memorable messages concerning weight and physical appearance using an inductive coding method. While many of the messages examined were affirming or complimentary in nature, the results of the analysis suggest that these types of messages may positively as well as negatively influence members’ body images, behaviors regarding physical appearance, and social identities. These findings contribute to scholarly and practical understandings of the influences on college women’s body image and health and the potentially powerful role that organizations play in shaping members’ attitudes and actions concerning their eating, exercise, and other aspects of their appearance. Implications for future health communication research in other organizational contexts outside of sororities are also discussed. Additionally, the findings of the current study indicate the broad utility of a memorable messages approach and suggest the need for further examination of the ways in which differing organizational dynamics may demonstrate divergence from traditional sources of memorable messages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]