Date of Award

2019

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Awarded

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication

College

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Faculty Advisor

Burnett, Ann

Description

This study aims to better understand tough love as a communication interaction, specifically focusing on defining and understand tough love from a receiver’s perspective. Thirteen respondents between the ages of 18-28 were recruited from a mid-sized Midwestern university. Flexible in-depth interviews were conducted given the exploratory nature of this study. Lazarus’ Appraisal Theory was used as a lens to better understand tough love as a process. Analysis of the data found that emotions in the primary appraisal phase are often negative, with codes such as hurt, angry, and embarrassed arising in the data. The secondary phase demonstrated the intentionality of this message, with respondents understanding the purpose of tough love as encouraging resilience or teaching a lesson. Reappraisals often occurred when respondents realized the message was tough love. Relational factors such as closeness and authority were determinants in whether this message was received positively or negatively.

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/31701

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