This study will examine the relationship among inclusive communication, sense of community belonging, and political participation within local communities. Communication from organizations such as local advocacy and local, mainstream media that contains content acknowledging relevant topics for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members. I explore ways that Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) can be applied to organizational inclusive communication’s influence on community marginalized members’ sense of community belonging and political participation. CIT has been applied to the study of racial and economic minority communities in past research in the past, but this study applies CIT to the study of the marginalized LGBT community. The purpose of this research is to discover communication resources that strengthen the likelihood of pro-LGBT political participation in both LGBT community members and heterosexuals. Sense of belonging is a predictor of community members’ active engagement in their communities in CIT and civic participation research. Communication from local organizations and media has not been described as a direct influencer of communication but as more of an influencer of sense of community belonging, which is then predicted to effect community engagement. Another purpose of my study is to see if CIT can be applied to political outcomes. I will also attempt to discover whether communication still has indirect effects on engagement when used in a political context.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study will examine the relationship among inclusive communication, sense of community belonging, and political participation within local communities. Communication from organizations such as local advocacy and local, mainstream media that contains content acknowledging relevant topics for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members. I explore ways that Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) can be applied to organizational inclusive communication’s influence on community marginalized members’ sense of community belonging and political participation. CIT has been applied to the study of racial and economic minority communities in past research in the past, but this study applies CIT to the study of the marginalized LGBT community. The purpose of this research is to discover communication resources that strengthen the likelihood of pro-LGBT political participation in both LGBT community members and heterosexuals. Sense of belonging is a predictor of community members’ active engagement in their communities in CIT and civic participation research. Communication from local organizations and media has not been described as a direct influencer of communication but as more of an influencer of sense of community belonging, which is then predicted to effect community engagement. Another purpose of my study is to see if CIT can be applied to political outcomes. I will also attempt to discover whether communication still has indirect effects on engagement when used in a political context. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Worley, Kyle Chandler"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in Communication (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Aloia, Lindsey S.","Warren, Ron"],"advisors":["Spialek, Matthew L."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:58:14Z","subjects":["Communication Infrastructure Theory","LGBT","Political Communication","Political Participation","Sense Of Belonging","Interpersonal and Small Group Communication","Social Influence and Political Communication"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2951","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Aloia, Lindsey S.","Warren, Ron"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Spialek, Matthew L."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Worley, Kyle Chandler"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2018"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in Communication (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Communication Infrastructure Theory","LGBT","Political Communication","Political Participation","Sense Of Belonging","Interpersonal and Small Group Communication","Social Influence and Political Communication"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2951"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study will examine the relationship among inclusive communication, sense of community belonging, and political participation within local communities. Communication from organizations such as local advocacy and local, mainstream media that contains content acknowledging relevant topics for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members. I explore ways that Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) can be applied to organizational inclusive communication’s influence on community marginalized members’ sense of community belonging and political participation. CIT has been applied to the study of racial and economic minority communities in past research in the past, but this study applies CIT to the study of the marginalized LGBT community. The purpose of this research is to discover communication resources that strengthen the likelihood of pro-LGBT political participation in both LGBT community members and heterosexuals. Sense of belonging is a predictor of community members’ active engagement in their communities in CIT and civic participation research. Communication from local organizations and media has not been described as a direct influencer of communication but as more of an influencer of sense of community belonging, which is then predicted to effect community engagement. Another purpose of my study is to see if CIT can be applied to political outcomes. I will also attempt to discover whether communication still has indirect effects on engagement when used in a political context.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Communicating for Equality: How Inclusive Communication Affects Political Participation within Local Communities"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Aloia, Lindsey S.","Warren, Ron"],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Spialek, Matthew L."],"dc:creator":["Worley, Kyle Chandler"],"dc:date":["2018"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study will examine the relationship among inclusive communication, sense of community belonging, and political participation within local communities. Communication from organizations such as local advocacy and local, mainstream media that contains content acknowledging relevant topics for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members. I explore ways that Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT) can be applied to organizational inclusive communication’s influence on community marginalized members’ sense of community belonging and political participation. CIT has been applied to the study of racial and economic minority communities in past research in the past, but this study applies CIT to the study of the marginalized LGBT community. The purpose of this research is to discover communication resources that strengthen the likelihood of pro-LGBT political participation in both LGBT community members and heterosexuals. Sense of belonging is a predictor of community members’ active engagement in their communities in CIT and civic participation research. Communication from local organizations and media has not been described as a direct influencer of communication but as more of an influencer of sense of community belonging, which is then predicted to effect community engagement. Another purpose of my study is to see if CIT can be applied to political outcomes. I will also attempt to discover whether communication still has indirect effects on engagement when used in a political context.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2951"],"dc:subject":["Communication Infrastructure Theory","LGBT","Political Communication","Political Participation","Sense Of Belonging","Interpersonal and Small Group Communication","Social Influence and Political Communication"],"dc:title":["Communicating for Equality: How Inclusive Communication Affects Political Participation within Local Communities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in Communication (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:58:14Z"}