Exploding the Myth of the Symmetrical

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Journal of Public Relations

Research

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Exploding the Myth of the

Symmetrical/Asymmetrical

Dichotomy: Public Relations

Models in the New South Africa

Derina R. Holtzhausen , Barbara K. Petersen &

Natalie T. J. Tindall

Published online: 19 Nov 2009.

To cite this article: Derina R. Holtzhausen , Barbara K. Petersen & Natalie T. J.

Tindall (2003) Exploding the Myth of the Symmetrical/Asymmetrical Dichotomy:

Public Relations Models in the New South Africa, Journal of Public Relations Research,

15:4, 305-341, DOI: 10.1207/S1532754XJPRR1504_02

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/S1532754XJPRR1504_02

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Exploding the Myth of the

Symmetrical/Asymmetrical Dichotomy:

Public Relations Models in the New

South Africa

Derina R. Holtzhausen and Barbara K. Petersen

School of Mass Communications

University of South Florida

Natalie T. J. Tindall

Department of Communication

University of Maryland at College Park

An empirical study of practitioners in the new South Africa found no evidence that re￾spondents grouped public relations practices according to principles of symmetry or

asymmetry, thus rejecting the notion of symmetry as a normative public relations ap￾proach in international settings. Instead, South African practitioners developed their

ownculture-specificmodels ofpractice basedontheeconomic, social, andpolitical re￾alities of their country. These included the conflict-based Western Dialogic model

rooted in dissensus, theActivistmodel promoting change in organizations, the Ubuntu

model favoring harmony and reconciliation in the workplace, and the Oral Communi￾cation model focusing on the use of oral media in the communication process. Practi￾tioners’ demographic characteristics did not influence their use of public relations

models, most probably because of the similarity of their public relations education,

which seemed to emphasize a focus on the characteristics of an organization’s publics

in the communication process rather than on practitioners’ individual propensities.

Studies in international public relations have largely focused on specific public re￾lations practices in a particular country and on how the political and cultural envi￾JOURNAL OF PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH, 15(4), 305–341

Copyright © 2003, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Requests for reprints should be sent to Derina R. Holtzhausen, School of Mass Communications,

University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue—CIS 1040, Tampa, FL 33620–7800. E-mail:

[email protected]

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