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COMMUNAL RESILIENCE AND EMBODIED COGNITION IN PROCESSING SELF-DISCLOSURE OF SEXUAL TRAUMA
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2024-05
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Media & Communication
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http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/10180
Abstract
Experiences of sexual assault remain prevalent worldwide, with one in five women in the United States experiencing attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. Open and supportive communication can facilitate the reconstruction of shame narratives and subsequent identity formation that may protect victims from the detrimental effects of sexual assault victimization. However, self-disclosure involves the risk of receiving negative or unsupportive reactions, leading to clinically significant symptoms of trauma. The risks of and vulnerability to such interpersonal communication warrant investigation and understanding of psychological and physiological processes that lead to emerging behaviors of resilience communication in response to another’s self-disclosure. Utilizing Communication Theory of Resilience and the Theory of Resilience and Relational Load as theoretical frameworks, this study examines relational proximity, communal orientation, emotional reserve, and empathy as predictors of intentions to engage in resilience communication. A posttest-only control group experimental design tested the effects of relational identity salience on participants’ physiological response as well as intentions to engage in communicative acts that nurture resilience upon listening to a self-disclosure of sexual assault. Survey responses (N = 39) indicated that individuals with high levels of empathy and emotional reserve were more likely to reciprocate the self-disclosure and share their own experiences. Analysis of psychophysiological measures of skin conductance (N = 39) and heart rate (N = 37) demonstrated that individuals displayed more emotional arousal and cognitive resource allocation when the relational identity as a friend is made salient. Implications and directions for future research are discussed in relation to a growing line of communication research that studies the dynamic co-construction of resilience through storytelling and everyday conversations among individuals within families, communities, and organizations.
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