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Loreen Olson
Associate Professor
education : PhD, University of Nebraska (2000)
email : olsonln@missouri.edu
office : 307 Switzler Hall
phone : 573-882-3667

Dr. Loreen Olson 's research focuses on interpersonal and family communication dilemmas that individuals encounter. Among the many topics she has studied are intimate aggression, sibling aggression, luring communication of child sexual predators, emotion regulation within families, attachment styles, family communication patterns in various family forms, and the discursive construction of identity. Her primary research emphasis concerns the communicative elements of intimate and familial violence as well as a new area of communication scholarship she has labeled the “Communication of Deviance.” At present, she and her colleagues are testing an instrument they designed to measure different types of violent couples. Also, Dr. Olson is working on several projects exploring the discursive management of deviant identities. Dr. Olson's research has been published in the Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research , Communication Theory, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Women's Studies in Communication, Communication Studies, Communication Quarterly , and more.

Dr. Olson has received considerable recognition for her quality scholarship. One of her articles on intimate violence was awarded outstanding article of the year award for 2005 by the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender (OSCLG). Additionally, she has won the prestigious Steve Duck New Scholar Award from the International Association for Relationship Research. This award is given to the person who shows the most promise for a career offering outstanding contributions to advancing our knowledge of personal relationships.

Frequently Taught Courses
Comm 3561 Relational Communication
Comm 4415/7415 Language and Discourse
Comm 4412/7412 Gender, Language & Communication
Comm 4974 Senior Project
Comm 8110 Introduction to Graduate Studies
Comm 8310 Seminar on Interpersonal Communication

Research Interests
Intimate and family aggression
Conflict
Family communication patterns
Gender communication
Communication of deviance

Selected Recent Publications
Olson, L. N., Daggs, J. L., Ellevold, B. L., & Rogers, T. K. (in press). The communication of deviance: Toward a theory of child sexual predators' luring communication. Communication Theory.

Olson, L. N., Coffelt, T. A., Dougherty, D. S, & Gynn, A. (in press). Doing difference: An analysis of fluid and stable age performance in the workplace. International and Intercultural Communication Annual.

Afifi, T. D., Olson, L. N., & Armstrong, C. (2005). The chilling effect and family secrets: Examining the role of self protection, other protection, and communication efficacy. Human Communication Research, 31, 564-598.

Olson, L. N., & Lloyd, S. A. (2005). "It depends on what you mean by starting": An exploration of how women define initiation of aggression and their motives for behaving aggressively. Sex Roles, 603-618.

Olson, L. N. (2004). Relational control-motivated aggression: A theoretically-based typology of intimate violence. Journal of Family Communication, 4, 209-233 .

Loreen Olson