Extending communicated sense-making theorizing to social groups: missionaries' use of metaphor, personification, and in-group vernacular.

Exiting the totalistic and intensively focused structure of missionary service prompts sense-making as missionaries return and adapt to life at home. Drawing from organizational, religious, and interpersonal communication literature, we use the communicated sense-making model to explore how 26 Chris...

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Publicado en:Human Communication Research Vol. 52; no. 2; pp. 106 - 121
Autores principales: Cooper, R Amanda, Fanari, Alice
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Apr2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Extending communicated sense-making theorizing to social groups: missionaries' use of metaphor, personification, and in-group vernacular.
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          Cooper, R Amanda
          Fanari, Alice
        affil:
          Department of Communication, University of Connecticut, Storrs, United States
          Department of Communication, University of Oklahoma, Norman, United States
      su:
        Missionaries
        Metaphor
        Sensemaking theory (Communication)
        Organizational communication
        Discourse
        Face-to-face communication
        Identity (Psychology)
        Anthropomorphism
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        subj:
          Missionaries
          Metaphor
          Sensemaking theory (Communication)
          Organizational communication
          Discourse
          Face-to-face communication
          Identity (Psychology)
          Anthropomorphism
      keyword:
        christianity
        communicated sense-making model
        copyrightHolder:International Communication Association
        copyrightYear:2026
        in-group
        inLanguage:en
        memorable messages
        metaphor
        metaphors
        missionaries
        missionary
        personification
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf028
        sense-making devices
        christianity
        communicated sense-making model
        copyrightHolder:International Communication Association
        copyrightYear:2026
        in-group
        inLanguage:en
        memorable messages
        metaphor
        metaphors
        missionaries
        missionary
        personification
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqaf028
        sense-making devices
      ab: Exiting the totalistic and intensively focused structure of missionary service prompts sense-making as missionaries return and adapt to life at home. Drawing from organizational, religious, and interpersonal communication literature, we use the communicated sense-making model to explore how 26 Christian missionaries made sense of their experiences and post-missionary identity. Our findings suggest that missionaries used three sense-making devices—metaphors, memorable messages, and personifications—to find certainty in uncertainty, mobilize identity work, and position themselves toward others. We extend the communicated sense-making model by clarifying the functions of sense-making devices, introducing personification as a novel sense-making device, and proposing in-group vernacular as a shared set of linguistic and ideological resources that can enable or constrain sense-making surrounding difficult life events and transitions.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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