Abstract:This article first provides an overview and brief history of relational dialectics theory (RDT) before turning to a presentation of RDT's basic tenets and theoretical utility. In addition, it also examines how RDT has been applied in studying family contexts and offers suggestions for future directions of RDT-based research. Relational dialectics theory (RDT) addresses the meaning-making process. As the word "dialectics" suggests, the theory's key premise is that the meaning of some phenomenon emerges in the m… Show more
“…Each utterance was analyzed to identify how it was situated with respect to both dominant discours (es) and marginalized ideologies that might resist more centered discours (es). This analysis included an interrogation of the text for diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and dialogic transformation (Baxter, 2011; Baxter et al, 2021).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Attention to this discursive power struggle and the emphasis on emergent, as opposed to a priori-defined ideologies, constitute RDT as a dialogic theory. To date, scholars who use RDT have focused on one particular semantic object by attending to how surrounding discourses interplay (Baxter et al, 2021). In the present study, we advance RDT both theoretically and its corresponding method, contrapuntal analysis, by examining simultaneously the meaning of misinformation and the meaning of misinformation corrector.…”
Section: Relational Dialectics Theorymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The primary premise of RDT pertains not only to the identification of discourses, but also their interplay (Baxter et al, 2021). Baxter (2011) argues that the focus on discursive competition is where meaning is made.…”
Section: Relational Dialectics Theorymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Existing research acknowledges that multiple meanings can animate a given text (Baxter et al, 2021). For example, from the same data corpus, Suter et al (2014) focused on the meaning of family whereas Baxter et al (2015) focused on the meaning of adoption in online narratives of foster adoptive parents.…”
Section: Relational Dialectics Theorymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…When interested in meaning in flux, communication scholars often turn to relational dialectics theory (RDT; Baxter, 2011; Baxter et al, 2021). RDT is a dialogic theory that illuminates the ways discourses compete to animate the meaning of a semantic object.…”
What misinformation means and what it means to be someone who corrects it is socially contested, especially in interpersonal contexts where politeness expectations complicate correction. Given this flux in meaning, we analyze posts about misinformation correction in interpersonal contexts from the AmItheAsshole subreddit through a relational dialectics theory (RDT) lens. Findings revealed that discourses of misinformation as harmful and as innocuous and potentially helpful constituted the meaning of misinformation, while discourses of misinformation correctors as inconsiderate and as communal guardians constituted the meaning of misinformation correctors. The latter meaning was dependent on the meaning of misinformation and the adjacent ideology of politeness. Thus, we extend RDT by elucidating how the meaning of a semantic object is predicated on a web of larger intertextual meaning.
“…Each utterance was analyzed to identify how it was situated with respect to both dominant discours (es) and marginalized ideologies that might resist more centered discours (es). This analysis included an interrogation of the text for diachronic separation, synchronic interplay, and dialogic transformation (Baxter, 2011; Baxter et al, 2021).…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Attention to this discursive power struggle and the emphasis on emergent, as opposed to a priori-defined ideologies, constitute RDT as a dialogic theory. To date, scholars who use RDT have focused on one particular semantic object by attending to how surrounding discourses interplay (Baxter et al, 2021). In the present study, we advance RDT both theoretically and its corresponding method, contrapuntal analysis, by examining simultaneously the meaning of misinformation and the meaning of misinformation corrector.…”
Section: Relational Dialectics Theorymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The primary premise of RDT pertains not only to the identification of discourses, but also their interplay (Baxter et al, 2021). Baxter (2011) argues that the focus on discursive competition is where meaning is made.…”
Section: Relational Dialectics Theorymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Existing research acknowledges that multiple meanings can animate a given text (Baxter et al, 2021). For example, from the same data corpus, Suter et al (2014) focused on the meaning of family whereas Baxter et al (2015) focused on the meaning of adoption in online narratives of foster adoptive parents.…”
Section: Relational Dialectics Theorymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…When interested in meaning in flux, communication scholars often turn to relational dialectics theory (RDT; Baxter, 2011; Baxter et al, 2021). RDT is a dialogic theory that illuminates the ways discourses compete to animate the meaning of a semantic object.…”
What misinformation means and what it means to be someone who corrects it is socially contested, especially in interpersonal contexts where politeness expectations complicate correction. Given this flux in meaning, we analyze posts about misinformation correction in interpersonal contexts from the AmItheAsshole subreddit through a relational dialectics theory (RDT) lens. Findings revealed that discourses of misinformation as harmful and as innocuous and potentially helpful constituted the meaning of misinformation, while discourses of misinformation correctors as inconsiderate and as communal guardians constituted the meaning of misinformation correctors. The latter meaning was dependent on the meaning of misinformation and the adjacent ideology of politeness. Thus, we extend RDT by elucidating how the meaning of a semantic object is predicated on a web of larger intertextual meaning.
Relational dialectics theory (RDT) is a dialogic theory of meaning‐making. The primary premise of RDT is that meanings are made in the competition of discourses or what Baxter refers to as “systems of meaning.” Fundamental to RDT is the recognition that not all discourses are afforded the same levels of power. Whereas some discourses are dominant in a culture (i.e., centripetal), others are more marginalized (i.e., centrifugal). In this entry, we (i) provide a history of the theory, (ii) define the key premise and key concepts of RDT, (iii) highlight the process of meaning‐making by introducing RDT's corresponding method, contrapuntal analysis, (iv) discuss some applications of RDT in health contexts, and (v) provide a case study to illustrate the theory in action.
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