Margaret J. Pitts

Maggie Pitts (PhD, Penn State, 2005) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and Senior Associate Dean at the Graduate College at the University of Arizona. Maggie is actively seeking to recruit and mentor master’s and doctoral students who are interested in using qualitative research methods to explore positive communication in contexts such as interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, and communication and aging. Positive communication refers to communication behaviors and practices that enhance personal and relational wellbeing and contribute to human flourishing (like communication savoring!). As co-founder of the Positive Communication Network, Maggie mentors graduate students and engages in research that meet these four criteria of Positive Communication Scholarship. (1) It is a rigorous scientific inquiry into the nature of communication excellence. (2) It focuses on both process and outcomes and is designed to generate new knowledge. (3) It takes an affirmative stance. (4) It cultivates communication praxis. 

Maggie capitalizes on leadership opportunities to help create networks of support for students and scholars. In addition to being co-founder of the Positive Communication Network, she is also Fellow and Past President of the International Association of Language and Social Psychology. She has served in leadership roles in divisions and interest groups for both the National Communication Association and International Communication Association. In 2023, Maggie was recognized by the UA Office Research, Innovation, and Impact as Woman of Impact due in part to her leadership and innovation in graduate education across the University. 

Maggie specializes in qualitative research methods including observation, interviewing, and focus groups. Her research is published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals including: The American Journal of Qualitative Research, Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, Health Communication, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Family Communication, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, Journal of Language and Social Psychology, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of Social Issues, Language and Communication, Personal Relationships, Qualitative Health Research, and Qualitative Research. 

With more than 50 publications including edited books, peer-reviewed articles, and chapters, Maggie has an established program of research that examines communication within interpersonal and intercultural contexts especially during times of transition. Currently, she is developing the Grounded Model of Communication Savoring through a series of grounded/qualitative and empirical/experimental research. 

Maggie teaches undergraduate courses in positive communication, communication theory, interpersonal communication, and intercultural communication at the University of Arizona. She gives graduate seminars in qualitative research methods, interpersonal communication theory, and theories of intercultural communication. 

Dr. Pitts may be on sabbatical in Fall 2025, but she is accepting graduate students for Fall 2025 and committed to regular mentorship meetings.

^s indicates collaborator was a graduate student at the time of research 

Pitts, M. J. (2024). Positive communication as social action: Compassion and communication savoring. In A. K. Worthington, J. L. Krieger, C. L. Fisher, C. Fowler, M. J. Pitts, & J. F. Nussbaum (Eds.), Health communication, language, and social action across the life span (pp. 3-23). Peter Lang. 

^sJiao, J., Pitts, M. J., & Segrin, C. (online first, 2024). Autonomy and overparenting: Are parents of emerging adults being responsive? Family Process. DOI: 10.1111/famp.12969 

Pitts, M. J., ^sFanari, A., ^sCooper, R. A., Jiao, J., & Kim, S. (2023). The grounded model of communication savoring: Theory development and age cohort study. The American Journal of Qualitative Research, 7(3), 139-159. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/13399 

^sFanari, A., ^sCooper, R. A., ^sDajches, L., Beck, G., & Pitts, M. J. (2023). Transferable resilience practices: Communication and resilience of U.S. military spouses during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Family Communication, 23(1), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2022.2149528 

Fowler, C., ^sJiao, J., & Pitts, M. J. (2023). Frustration and ennui among Amazon MTurk workers. Behavior Research Methods, 55, 3009-3025. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01955-9 

^sCooper, R. A., & Pitts, M. J. (2022). Caregiving spouses’ experiences of relational uncertainty and partner influence in the prolonged relational transition of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(5), 1434-1459. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211058084 

^sCooper, R. A., Pitts, M. J., & Harwood, J. (2022). “That’s when the relationship shifted”: Relational and communicative turning points in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Personal Relationships, 29, 217-235. DOI: 10.1111/pere.12412 

^sJiao, J., ^sKim, S., & Pitts, M. J. (2021). Promoting subjective well-being through communication savoring. Communication Quarterly, 69 (2), 152-171. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2021.1901758 

Aubrey, J. S., Pitts, M. J., ^sLutovsky, B., ^sJiao, J., ^sYan, K., & Stanley, S. J. (2020). Investigating disparities by sex and LGBTQ identity: A content analysis of sexual health information on college student health center websites. Journal of Health Communication, 25, 584-593. DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2020.1825567 

Pitts, M. J. (2019). The language and social psychology of savoring: Advancing the communication savoring model. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 38(2), 237-259. DOI: 10.1177/0261927X18821404 

Pitts, M. J., ^sKim, S., ^sMeyerhoffer, H., & ^sJiao, J. (2019). Savoring as positive communication (Chapter 11). In J. A. M. Velázquez & C. Pulido (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of positive communication: Contributions of an emerging community of research on communication for happiness and social change (pp. 98-107). New York, NY: Routledge.  

Zhang, Y-B, & Pitts, M. J. (2019). Interpersonal accommodation. In J. Harwood, J. Gasiorek, H. Pierson, J. F. NussBaum, & C. Gallois (Eds.), Language, communication, and intergroup relations: A celebration of the scholarship of Howard Giles (pp. 192-216). New York, NY: Routledge. 

Pitts, M. J., & Brooks, C. (2016). Critical pedagogy, internationalisation, and a third space: Cultural tensions revealed in students’ discourse. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38, 251-267. DOI: 10.1080/01434632.2015.1134553  

Brooks, C., & Pitts, M. J. (2016). Communication and identity management in a globally-connected classroom: An online international and intercultural learning experience. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 9, 52-68. DOI: 10.1080/17513057.2016.1120849 

^sCastonaguay, J., ^sFiler, C. R., & Pitts, M. J. (2016). Seeking help for depression: Applying the health belief model to illness narratives. Southern Communication Journal, 81, 289-303. DOI: 10.1080/1041794X.2016.1165729 

Pitts, M. J. (2016). Sojourner reentry: A grounded elaboration of the integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Communication Monographs, 83, 419-445. DOI: 10.1080/03637751.2015.1128557. 

Pitts, M. J., & Harwood, J. (2015). Communication accommodation competence: The nature and nurture of accommodative resources across the lifespan. Language and Communication, 41, 89-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2014.10.002 

Pitts, M. J., Fowler, C., Fisher, C., & ^sSmith, S. A. (2014). Politeness strategies in imagined conversation openers about eldercare. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 33, 29-48. DOI:10.1177/0261927X13506708