Allison Thorson

Allison Thorson is a Professor of Communication Studies, Chair of the Department of Communication Studies, Director of the Interdisciplinary Committee on Children and Youth, and Director of the Child and Youth Studies Minor at University of San Francisco. Her research focuses on how individuals and families communicatively manage and maintain individual/relational well-being in the context of — often deemed taboo — unexpected, hurtful, or non-normative events (e.g., family communication surrounding parental infidelity) and underexplored relationship types (e.g., work-spouse relationships).

Thorson teaches courses on family communication, interpersonal communication, communication and aging, dark side, and research methods. Her recent research is published in journals such as Management Communication Quarterly, Journal of Family Communication, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Family Relations, and Communication Studies. Thorson is a former executive committee member of the Central States Communication Association, and an active member of Central States Communication Association, National Communication Association, and Western States Communication Association.

• Interpersonal communication
• Family communication
• Parent-child communication
• Communication privacy management theory
• Family communication patterns theory
• Relationship maintenance
• Shared family identity
• Communication accommodation theory
• Topic avoidance

• Program Director, Child and Youth Studies minor
• Program Director, Gerontology Minor
• Chair, Interdisciplinary Committee on Children and Youth
• Committee Member, Interdisciplinary Committee on Aging

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln, PhD Communication Studies, 2009
• Missouri State University, MA Communication and Mass Media, 2001
• University of Northern Iowa, BA in Communication / Public Relations, 2000

• Interpersonal communication
• Family communication
• Parent-child communication
• Communication privacy management theory
• Family communication patterns theory
• Relationship maintenance
• Shared family identity
• Communication accommodation theory
• Topic avoidance

• Central States Communication Association, Top Four Organizational Communication Interest Group Paper Award, 2021
• Central States Communication Association, Diamond Anniversary Award for Top Competitive Paper in Organizational Communication Interest Group, 2019
• Western States Communication Association, Top Four Interpersonal Communication Interest Group Paper Award, 2019
• Milton Dickens Award for Exemplary Empirical Research in Communication Reports, 2016

• Thorson, A. R., Shankar, M., & Weiser, D. A. (forthcoming, 2024). It’s a family affair: Navigating experiences of parental infidelity. In P. R. Peluso (Ed.), Infidelity: A Practitioner's Guide to Working with Couples in Crisis, 2e. (pp. TDB). City, STATE: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
• Thorson, A. R., & McBride, M. C. (2023). Self-monitoring and other non-indicators of developing a work-spouse relationship: Implications for affective organizational commitment. International Journal of Business Communication, 60(3), 1000–1020.
• Thorson, A. R., & Holman, A. J. (2022). Family communication as taboo. In J. Allen, J. Manning, & K. Denker (Eds.), Family Communication As… Metaphors for Family Communication. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Thorson, A. R., Doohan, E. M., & Clatterbuck, L. Z. (2022). Living abroad during COVID: International students’ personal relationships, uncertainty, and management of health and legal concerns during a global pandemic. Journal of International Students, 12(3), 654-673.
• Thorson, A. R. (2021b). Triangulation and parental infidelity: Faithful parent’s attempts to make their adult children feel caught, rumination, and satisfaction in the post-infidelity unfaithful parent-child relationship. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage. 62(5), 327-348. 
• Thorson, A. R. (2021a). Rumination’s mediating effect on feeling caught and well-being after parental infidelity. Family Relations. 70(3), 896-904. 
• McBride, M. C., Thorson, A. R., & Bergen, K. M. (2020b). Privacy rule decision criteria: An examination of core and catalyst criteria that shape disclosures in the work-spouse relationship. Management Communication Quarterly, 34(4), 527-557. 
• McBride, M. C., Thorson, A. R., & Bergen, K. M. (2020a). An examination of individually performed and (co)managed facework: Unique communication within the work-spouse relationship. Communication Studies, 71(4), 489-510. 
• Thorson, A. R. (2019). Investigating the relationships between unfaithful parent’s apologies, adult children’s third-party forgiveness, and communication of forgiveness following parental infidelity. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 36(9), 2759–2780. 
• Thorson, A. R. (2017). Communication and parental infidelity: A qualitative analysis of how adult children cope in a topic avoidant environment. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 58 (3), 175-193.
• Thorson, A. R. & Horstman, H. K. (2017). Family communication patterns and emerging adult consumer outcomes: Revisiting the consumer socialization model. Western Journal of Communication, 81(4), 483-506.