The role of negative emotions on motivation and communicative action: Testing the validity of situational theory of problem solving in the context of South Korea

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this study are to explore the role of negative emotions in the framework of the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS). First, we tested the validity of the original STOPS model with a sex crime issue in the context of Korea. Second, we tested the mediating role of negative emotions in the relationship between situational recognition and communicative action. The result suggests that STOPS is a useful model with a crime problem in the Korean context. Also, our proposed model shows that negative emotions serve as another aspect of motivation, and emotional experiences might precede subsequent cognitive activities. Especially, negative emotions show a stronger effect on situational motivation than communicative action. This study also found that negative emotions people feel about sex crimes directly influence their communicative action. Among different types of publics, the active and aware publics show stronger emotional responses than do the latent publics and nonpublics.

KEYWORDS:

• STOPS
• negative emotions
• motivation
• sex crime
• publics

Notes on contributors

Kyung-Ah Shin received her Ph.D. in Public Relations from Hanyang University and is a Senior Researcher at National Disaster Management Institute in Seoul, Korea. Her current research focuses on risk communications, strategic communication planning and media campaigns.

Miejeong Han is a Professor in the Department of Advertising & Public Relations at Hanyang University, Korea. Her interests center on public communication including public opinion and campaigns in the new media environment. Current work explores multicultural issues and communication effectiveness in digital media.