Dr. Xiaowei Shi

Professor of Communication

Dr. Xiaowei Shi
(615) 898-2275
Room 218, Jones Hall (JH)
MTSU Box 200, Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Office Hours

Monday & Wednesday 9:00 - 11:30 am or by appointment

Degree Information

  • PHD, Purdue University (2009)
  • MA, DePaul University (2003)
  • BA, Beijing Language and Culture University (1997)

Areas of Expertise

  • Upward Influence in Subordinate-Supervisor Communication;
  • Communication Goals and Cognitive Responses in advice-giving in the contexts of close relationships;
  • Self-talk and Anxiety Management in Speech Making;
  • Cognitive Elaboration and Mindfulness in Communication;
  • Reframing and Emotinal Labor in Service Professionals;
  • Argumentative Interaction Magement Framework for Conflict Management.

Biography

Employment  

2023-present           Professor, Communication Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

2016-2022              Associate Professor, Communication Studies and Organizational Communication

2010-2015               Assistant Professor, Speech and Theater Department, Middle   Tennes...

Read More »

Employment  

2023-present           Professor, Communication Studies, Middle Tennessee State University

2016-2022              Associate Professor, Communication Studies and Organizational Communication

2010-2015               Assistant Professor, Speech and Theater Department, Middle   Tennessee State University

2008-2010               Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.

2007-2008                Graduate Lecturer, Department of Communication, Purdue University.

2003-2006               Instructor, Department of Communication, Purdue University.

« Read Less

Publications

Shi, X. & Kim, Y. (2023). More than One Way to Influence: Organizational Members’ Upward Voice in U.S., China, and South Korea. In M. B. Hinner (Ed.). No Business without Communication: How Communication Can Shed Additional Light on Specific Business Contexts. Perter Lang. Doi: https://www.peterlang.com/document/1308795

Shi, X., Brinthaupt, T., & McCree, M. (2017). Understanding the Influence of Self-Critical, ...

Read More »

Shi, X. & Kim, Y. (2023). More than One Way to Influence: Organizational Members’ Upward Voice in U.S., China, and South Korea. In M. B. Hinner (Ed.). No Business without Communication: How Communication Can Shed Additional Light on Specific Business Contexts. Perter Lang. Doi: https://www.peterlang.com/document/1308795

Shi, X., Brinthaupt, T., & McCree, M. (2017). Understanding the Influence of Self-Critical, Self-Managing, and Social-Assessing Self-Talk on Performance Outcomes in a Public Speaking Context. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 36(4), 356-378.

Shi, X., Brinthaupt, T. M., & McCree, M. (2015). The relationship of self-talk frequency to communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 125-129. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.11.023.  

Jian, G., Shi, X., & Delisay, F. (2014). Leader-member conversational quality: Scale development and validation through three studies. Management Communication Quality. doi: 10.1177/0893318914533201.  

Shi, X. (2013). Cognitive Responses in Advice Planning: An Examination of Thought Content and Its Impact on Message Features under High vs. Low Effortful Thinking Modes. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 32, 311-334. doi: 10.1177/0261927X12470112.  

Shi, X., & Wilson, S. R. (2010). Upward influence in contemporary Chinese organizations: Explicating the effects of goal type and importance on message reasoning and politeness. Management Communication Quarterly, 24, 579-606.                 

Wilson, S., Norris, A. M., & Shi, X., Rack. J. J. (2010). Comparing physically abused, neglected, and non-maltreated children during interactions with their parents: A meta-analysis of observation studies. Communication Monographs, 77, 540-575.  

Wilson, S. R., Rack, J. J., Shi, X., & Norris, A. M. (2008). Comparing physically abusive, neglectful, and non-maltreating parents during interactions with their children: A meta-analysis of observational studies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32, 897-911.  

Shi, X., & Babrow, A. (2007). Challenges of adolescent and young adult Chinese American identity construction: An application of Problematic Integration Theory. Western Journal of Communication, 71, 316-335.  

Shi, X., & Lu, X. (2007). Bilingual and bicultural development of Chinese American adolescents and young adults: A comparative study. Howard Journal of Communication, 18, 313-333.  

Book Chapters               

Shi, X., & Wilson, S. R. (2017). Influence in Organizational Communication. International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication. John Wiley & Sons.  

Wilson, S., Shi, X., Tirmstein, L., Norris, A., & Combs, J. (2006). A meta-analysis on child physical abuse. In L. Turner and R. West (Eds.), Family communication: A reference for theory and research (pp. 237-258).  Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

« Read Less

Awards

  • 2021     Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Influential Faculty Award, Middle Tennessee State University Chapter, 2021 November.
  • 2016     Top Paper Award. Communication Apprehension and Competence Division, National Communication Association (with Brinthaupt and McCree).
  • 2014     Faculty Fellow of Teaching Excellence. Middle Tennessee State Universi...
Read More »
  • 2021     Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi Influential Faculty Award, Middle Tennessee State University Chapter, 2021 November.
  • 2016     Top Paper Award. Communication Apprehension and Competence Division, National Communication Association (with Brinthaupt and McCree).
  • 2014     Faculty Fellow of Teaching Excellence. Middle Tennessee State University.  
  • 2014     Faculty Development Grant. Middle Tennessee State University, $ 1,920.  
  • 2013     Top Four Paper Award. Organizational Communication Division, National Communication Association (with Jian and Delisay).  
  • 2013     Top Four Paper Award. Communication Apprehension and Competence Division, National Communication Association (with Brinthaupt and McCree).  
  • 2013     Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, Middle Tennessee State University, $ 2,100.  
  • 2011     Top Four Paper Award. Organizational Communication Division, National Communication Association.           
  • 2011     Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant, Middle Tennessee State University, $10,000.34.  
  • 2011     Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Access and Diversity Grant. Middle Tennessee State University, $2,800.  
  • 2008      Purdue University Research Foundation (PRF) Summer Grant. $1,780.   2006      Paper selected for presentation at the Doctoral Honors Seminars of the National Communication Association.  
  • 2006      Alan H. Monroe Graduate Research Scholar Award. Department of Communication, Purdue University,

« Read Less

Research / Scholarly Activity

Author of the Book: "Unquestioned Ease"

       LEXINGTON BOOKS, Roman & Little Field, 2022.

Unquestioned Ease: Confronting automaticity in everyday communication

by Xiaowei Shi and Steve Mortenson

“Drawing on decades of scholarship incl...

Read More »

Author of the Book: "Unquestioned Ease"

       LEXINGTON BOOKS, Roman & Little Field, 2022.

Unquestioned Ease: Confronting automaticity in everyday communication

by Xiaowei Shi and Steve Mortenson

“Drawing on decades of scholarship including their own research findings, as well as stories from their personal and professional lives, Shi and Mortenson highlight key lessons about communicating skillfully in difficult situations - e.g., how doing so requires that we become aware of our own emotions and biases, pursue communicative tasks in ways that uphold identities and relationships, remain open to being influenced by others, and recognize the value but also limits of mindfulness. Given that the authors address some of the most vital social and interpersonal issues facing us today, Unquestioned Ease will be a useful resource for communication scholars as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students.” —Steven R. Wilson, University of South Florida                    

“Shi and Mortenson's new book, Unquestioned Ease: Confronting Automaticity in Everyday Communication, is a welcome contribution to the communication studies literature on “dual processing,” “system 1 and 2,” and “thinking, fast and slow.” Much remains to be learned. In addition to ongoing research on the characteristics of these basic processes, it is not clear how and how much humans will be able to consciously control systems that operate largely outside consciousness. It is also unclear when and how effort to exert such control is adaptive; we know little about how this growing literature can inform communication practices. In this context, Shi and Mortenson’s efforts are surely necessary and potentially important.” —Austin Babrow, Professor Emeritus, University of Ohio

 

« Read Less

In the Media

"Ask the Experts: 2021's Best & Worst Cities for Singles," Interview by Adam McCann (Nov. 29, 2021): 

MTSU College of Graduate Studies Interview

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/MTSUGradStudies/status/1265373752952590337

Facebook:  

https://www.facebook.com/MTSUGraduateStudies/photos/a.1654019347961393/3459101630786480 

MTSU News

  • Monday, September 09, 2013
    • MTSU professor gauges employee politeness to male, female bosses MURFREESBORO — Are employees more polite when talking to male bosses than to female bosses?

 

 

Special Projects

Shi, X. & Mortenson, S. (2022). Unquestioned Ease: Confronting Automaticity in Everyday Communication.  Lexington Books, Roman & Little Field.

In a conversational style, the authors offer a fresh perspective on the “ease” aspect in message choices. By looking into those automatic responses and reactions in our everyday conversation with friends, coworkers, and loved ones, this book engages the readers to confront their own hidden preferences, emotional defense...

Read More »

Shi, X. & Mortenson, S. (2022). Unquestioned Ease: Confronting Automaticity in Everyday Communication.  Lexington Books, Roman & Little Field.

In a conversational style, the authors offer a fresh perspective on the “ease” aspect in message choices. By looking into those automatic responses and reactions in our everyday conversation with friends, coworkers, and loved ones, this book engages the readers to confront their own hidden preferences, emotional defenses, and underlying beliefs about gender, relationships, and themselves with a new eye. The book moves beyond prior work on rational choice model in strategic communication by considering actual human attributes. This book offers new insights into communication “noises” and how to engage in communication during a difficult life event or on a difficult subject in a more skillful manner.

« Read Less

Courses

Middle Tennessee State University (2010-present)

  • COMM 3400  Romantic Relationship Communication
  • COMM 4600  Communication Research Methods
  • ORCO 3750    Organizational Analysis
  • ORCO 3500   Strategic Communication in Organization
  • COMM 3300  Communication Theory, Culture, and Films
  • COMM 2300  Interpersonal Communication COMM
  • 2200  Fundamentals of Communication  &nbsp...
Read More »

Middle Tennessee State University (2010-present)

  • COMM 3400  Romantic Relationship Communication
  • COMM 4600  Communication Research Methods
  • ORCO 3750    Organizational Analysis
  • ORCO 3500   Strategic Communication in Organization
  • COMM 3300  Communication Theory, Culture, and Films
  • COMM 2300  Interpersonal Communication COMM
  • 2200  Fundamentals of Communication                           
  • Iowa State University (2008-2010)
  • COM 317 Small Group Communication
  • COM 314 Organizational Communication Theories
  • COM 311 Relational Communication  

Purdue University (2003-2008)

  • COM 304   Quantitative Methods for Communication Research
  • COM 320   Small Group Discussion
  • COM 212   Interpersonal Communication
  • COM 114  Fundamentals of Speech Communication

« Read Less