SILENCE: THE REASONS WHY PEOPLE MAY NOT COMMUNICATE A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School At the University of Missouri In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By DAMIAN D KOSTIUK Dr. Glen Cameron, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2012 © Copyright by Damian Kostiuk 2012 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled: SILENCE: THE REASONS WHY PEOPLE MAY NOT COMMUNICATE Presented by Damian D Kostiuk A candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy And hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Glen Cameron Professor Dean Mills Professor George Kennedy Professor Michael Kramer Professor Richard Reuben ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS With sincerity I can recognize, in particular, that Dr. Cameron urged me along. Dr. Kramer, Dr. Mills, Dr. Kennedy and Dr. Reuben were terrific for listening and finding pattern in my thoughts that I could not have found otherwise. I would also like to acknowledge a whole organization: the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. While the agency has no bearing on my research, the work I have done with it invigorated me to actually want to keep working on this dissertation. The excitement of working with large data sets, teasing out imputed variables, testing and practicing logic for various questions every day, and the exciting hunt for truth requiring qualitative and quantitative data to tell a complete story about human behavior – well, it made me love research. To my wife, Katherine, I thank her for the enormous work of editing, and for doing all the work during her first trimester of pregnancy. I would also be remiss for not acknowledging our little one due many months from now, and for being the final impetus for me to finish this up while competing with full-time work and preparing our house for him/her. Lastly, thanks Mom for all the conversations. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables................................................................................................................................ x Abstract...........................................................................................................................xi CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Nature of the First Problem – Studying Non-Action ............................................................... 8 A Narrowed Research Question ............................................................................................. 10 The Research Question in the Local Context of Study and in Operation .............................. 11 A Few Points on the Topic of Performing Research.............................................................. 12 Analysis and Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 15 Construction of the Dissertation ................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER 2 : USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND SILENCE ........................... 18 A Definition of Silence and Suggested Nature .......................................................................... 18 Antecedents and Consequences ............................................................................................. 20 Contributions and Contradictions .............................................................................................. 27 Motivations for Silence .......................................................................................................... 30 Issues Prone to Being Silenced .............................................................................................. 31 Competitive culture ................................................................................................................ 33 The Inverted “U” .................................................................................................................... 35 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... xi List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………viii CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Nature of the First Problem – Studying Non-Action ............................................................... 8 A Narrowed Research Question ............................................................................................. 10 The Research Question in the Local Context of Study and in Operation .............................. 11 A Few Points on the Topic of Performing Research.............................................................. 12 Analysis and Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 15 Construction of the Dissertation ................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER 2 : USING THEORY TO UNDERSTAND SILENCE ........................... 18 A Definition of Silence and Suggested Nature .......................................................................... 18 Antecedents and Consequences ............................................................................................. 20 Contributions and Contradictions .............................................................................................. 27 Motivations for Silence .......................................................................................................... 30 Issues Prone to Being Silenced .............................................................................................. 31 Competitive culture ................................................................................................................ 33 The Inverted “U” .................................................................................................................... 35 iii Contradictions Between Research ............................................................................................. 35 Organizational maturity ......................................................................................................... 35 National Culture and Philosophy ........................................................................................... 36 Careerists Versus Contingent Hires ....................................................................................... 36 Benefits of Extreme Silence ................................................................................................... 37 Synthesis of Theories ................................................................................................................. 38 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 3 : RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................. 42 Starting Points ............................................................................................................................ 43 CHAPTER 4 : METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 46 Gaining Entry ............................................................................................................................. 46 A Research Trail ........................................................................................................................ 48 Performance and Research Operation ........................................................................................ 50 Verification of findings .............................................................................................................. 54 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 55 Chapter Summary ...................................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 5 : RESULTS - GROUND RULES ........................................................... 58 The Most Prominent Local Ground Rule: “Northwest Nice” ................................................ 60 Geographic Isolation .............................................................................................................. 61 Self-Selection Bias ................................................................................................................. 62 iv Differentiation Part 1: Local vs. Distributed Cultural Origins ............................................... 62 Differentiation Part 2: Security Groups – Bonding and Blindness ........................................ 64 Management as a Continuation of the Promotion Chain Rather than a Separate Category ... 68 Ostracism ............................................................................................................................... 71 Limitations for Cognitive Capacities Such as Concentration and Evaluation ....................... 71 The Factor of Gender: Men and Women