Maintaining Ambivalent Relationships

People often maintain relationships with others who they feel ambivalent toward. A roommate one doesn't completely like, a friend who is also a competitor, or a sibling with whom one often engages in rivalry are just a few examples. Recently, a group of students in Steve Yoshimura's...

Lab collaborator named as official student wellness advocate

Christina Yoshimura recently became an officially recognized UM Student Wellness Advocate. The Wellness Advocate program is based on theory and research indicating that student success and retention are partly dependent upon social support students receive during their academic progress. Faculty...

Wow in the World Podcast

A literature review written by Steve Yoshimura and UM Communication Studies MA program alumni Kassandra Berzins was recently talked about on the very first (May 15, 2017) episode of Wow in the World, a new NPR Science podcast for kids aged 5-12, hosted by Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas.

Connecting gratitude experiences

A review of research on the connection between gratitude experiences and expressions written by Steve Yoshimura and Kassandra Berzins (Martin) is in the news. The full essay can be found in our publications section of the lab.

Social well-being lab

Communication and Social Well-being Lab collaborator Christina Yoshimura's research on ways in which interpersonal communication can be incorporated into therapeutic work for sexual assualt survivors is getting national attention.

The Art of Communicating Revenge

Can revenge behaviors have an element of beauty to them? This was the subject of an essay Steve Yoshimura wrote for theconversation.com, in which he summarizes a body of research indicating that the ways in which revenge is communicated can affect the extent to which it is seen as beautiful.

New Research Lab

Researchers in the Department of Communication Studies have established a new research lab to study the effects of communication on the health and well-being. "Of course exercise, eating right, and minimizing substance use are important predictors of health and well-being," says Professor...

Using certain types of humor

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 49% of Americans have at least one risk factor for heart disease, whether it is high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, or smoking. Each year, about 610,000 Americans die from it. Living with heart disease can involve large financial, emotional,...