Archived

This content is available here strictly for research, reference, and/or recordkeeping and as such it may not be fully accessible. If you work or study at University of Kentucky and would like to request an accessible version, please use the SensusAccess Document Converter.

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0149-0992

Date Available

2-2-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Communication and Information

Department/School/Program

Communication

Faculty

Derek Lane

Faculty

Renee Kaufmann

Abstract

This dissertation seeks to heed the call for expansion of instructional communication research (ICR) beyond the undergraduate classroom and undergraduate learning objectives by exploring older learners and higher-order affective learning objectives. Legal professional identity development (LPID) is a discipline-specific type of higher-order affective learning that is conceptualized as a continuous nonlinear process that begins in law school and extends throughout a lawyer’s career, involving the internalization of the legal profession’s core values and norms and their integration with an evolving identity. Using a pragmatic ICR approach and a mixed-methods design, Phase 1 employed individual interviews and focus groups to investigate law students’ perceptions of the legal profession’s core values and norms, their relationship to LPID, and the messages and sources most influential in shaping identity development. Thematic analysis revealed a great deal of uncertainty and reliance on the hidden curriculum, highlighting tensions between legal reasoning and moral clarity. Phase 2 utilized a cross-sectional survey to test three hypotheses predicting LPID and law student subjective well-being (SWB). Post hoc regression analysis identified depersonalization as a significant negative predictor of both LPID and SWB, while emotional labor was not a significant predictor. These findings underscore LPID as a multidimensional process shaped by social and emotional dynamics and suggest that interventions aimed at reducing depersonalization may simultaneously enhance LPID and law student well-being. In keeping with ICR’s tradition of providing practical recommendations for how educators can better approach communication in the context of learning, this dissertation encourages legal educators to adopt structured reflective writing, identity-focused case discussions, and structured mentorship programs into the formal curriculum to support LPID in compliance with ABA Standard 303-5. This study contributes to instructional communication scholarship by extending its scope to higher-order affective learning in professional education and provides actionable insights for legal educators seeking to foster healthy professional identity development.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.04

Download

Share

COinS