Time this week featured the work of three graduate alums and one Communication Studies professor. The article, “What We Learned About Relationships During the Pandemic,” conveyed the research findings from a special issue of Journal of Personality and Social Relationships organized by editor Pamela Lannutti (UGA, PhD, 2001) and co-editor Jennifer Bevan (UGA, PhD, 2003), and it reported on a research study in the issue by Yachao Li (UGA, PhD, 2018) and current Professor Jennifer Samp. The research by Li and Samp focused on same-sex couples, revealing that abstaining from complaining led to less relationship satisfaction and more substance abuse. A finding highlighted by editor Lannutti was an intensification of traditional gender roles, which though noticed by both men and women, didn’t seem to trouble most of the men. A finding highlighted by co-editor Bevan was that people who didn’t respond well to on-line interactions didn’t abstain from interaction; they just kept meeting live. The long-standing strength of the Communication Studies Department in relational communication was clearly on display in this press coverage!
