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Bureaucrats: The Exploration and Development of Profiles of Their Communicator Styles and Predispositions

González Alcalá, Cristina
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6499-0793
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1589802375410337

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Urban Studies and Public Affairs.
There has been a long-standing perception by the American public that bureaucrats are incompetent. Public administration scholars have studied the negative perceptions of bureaucrats and the work of these scholars has brought about a dichotomous characterization of bureaucrats. On one end, scholars characterized bureaucrats as incompetent individuals with truncated personalities who add to the inefficiencies of the bureaucracy (Hummel, 2008). At the other end scholars find bureaucrats to be ordinary individuals with a remarkable sense of purpose, competence, and dedication (Goodsell, 2015). The characterization of bureaucrats serves as the backdrop to the study’s purpose which was to develop communicator profiles of government bureaucrats. Developing a taxonomy of profiles of their communicator styles and predispositions allowed us to gain an understanding of the competency levels, as it pertains to communication, that exist in current modern bureaucracies which supported and opposed the negative long-standing perception of the general American public toward bureaucrats. The taxonomy of communicator profiles may provide bureaucrats with self-awareness, and concrete understanding of their communication predispositions and styles when performing their jobs. This concrete knowledge may enable bureaucrats and their managers to seek ways in which to enhance communication styles and predispositions during service delivery as well as provide opportunities to mitigate their predispositions so that they may interact with the public in manner that is more in-line with that of responsible public service characterized by kindness, charity, and benevolence (French, 1983). A public sector workforce that interacts with the public with higher levels of communication competency creates an environment of perceived effectiveness, and citizens who come face-to-face with bureaucrats will experience a higher-level quality of service which in turn will ameliorate the perceptions held by the public of bureaucrats. Knowledge of communication trait levels may result in enhanced, positive experiences between citizens and bureaucrats which will bring about stability, function, and effectiveness in bureaucracies necessary for a free society and democratic polity (Goodsell, 2004).
Raymond Cox III, PhD (Committee Chair)
Julia Beckett, PhD (Committee Member)
Namkyung Oh, PhD (Committee Member)
Andrew Rancer, PhD (Committee Member)
Heather Walter, PhD (Committee Member)
137 p.
Communication; Public Administration
Bureaucracy; Bureaucrats; Public Service; Public Servants; Communication Traits; Verbal Aggressiveness; Argumentativeness; Taking Conflict Personally; Direct Personalization; Communicator Style; Affirming Style; Survey; Research Design; Psychology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • González Alcalá, C. (2020). Bureaucrats: The Exploration and Development of Profiles of Their Communicator Styles and Predispositions [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1589802375410337

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • González Alcalá, Cristina. Bureaucrats: The Exploration and Development of Profiles of Their Communicator Styles and Predispositions. 2020. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1589802375410337.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • González Alcalá, Cristina. "Bureaucrats: The Exploration and Development of Profiles of Their Communicator Styles and Predispositions." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1589802375410337

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1589802375410337
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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.