Research defining communication overload. Team of UT Austin, Moody College of Communication undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty recently published this research. It appears in Communication Theory and it highlights the central role that other people play in how we feel overloaded communicatively. This is a highlight of our major findings.

1. What is
Communication
Overload?

2. We kinda know it when we see it…

3. Stress
overload
Lots of related terms

4. So we did a
research study
to figure it out.

5. Here’s what people said:
• “Being able to talk on the phone and text all the time makes
communication overload way more extreme. I feel as
nowadays, people will get mad at me if I don’t respond to a
call or a text and it’s frustrating.”
• “I hate feeling the need to check my social networks and
email on a regular basis. With a constant stream of
information, I feel unpleasant pressure to constantly check
my networks for fear that I’ll miss something if I ignore the
information.”
• “If I didn’t have technology, when I went home I could sit in
peace instead of always being available.”

6. Here’s the
model our
team
developed
COMMUNICATION OVERLOAD 1
Figure 1. Formative Model of Communication Overload
Using many
ICTs
Having many
distractions
Compromising
message quality
Piling up of
messages
Pressuring
for decisions
Feeling responsible
to respond
Overwhelming
with information

7. Key Findings
Availability-Expectation-Pressure Pattern
• People feel pressure to be available when
others want to communicate
• Too much or poor quality contributes too
• Existing measurement scales aren’t complete

8. Reconceptualizing
Communication
Overload and
Building a
Theoretical
Foundation
Our team: Ignacio Cruz of USC Annenberg, Keri Stephens, Elizabeth
Glowacki, Kelly Dziersk, Caitlin Harrington, Dron Mandhana, UT Austin
Front row: Bea Scott, Xiaoqian Li, JiHye Kim, UT Austin
Published in
Communication Theory,
Online March, 2017

9. For more information contact:
Dr. Keri Stephens, deep in the
heart of Texas.
keristephens@austin.utexas.edu
@keristephens

10. Method Details
• Q-method (Stephenson, 1936 – from psyc.)
– Subjective perspectives of subjects experiencing
communication overload
– Mid-ground quantitative and qualitative
– Defining concourse
• Review literature: 55 articles & 98 concepts
• Experts in overload: reduced to 38 concepts
– Q-sort by 96 participants
• Online sort + open-ended questions

11. Findings Details
1. Factor analysis: 7 factors, 70.7% variance in
communication overload, 20 of the original
38 items.
2. Correlated factors – see model
3. Qualitative: coded + or – technology influence
1. 76% technology increased comm overload
2. 17% both increased and decreased