The explanatory cornerstone of most currently viable social theories is a strict cost-gain assumption. The clearest formal explication of this view is contained in subjective expected utility models (SEU), in which individuals are assumed to scale their subjective likelihood estimates of decisional consequences and the personalistic worth or…

The evaluation of rewards and costs incurred in the context of interaction is central to equity and exchange theories of interpersonal behavior; however, the question of how this assessment is affected by the anticipation of future interaction has not been directly investigated. If the maintenance of equity in relationships is important, then the…

Several theoretical approaches have been offered to explain the phenomenon of reciprocity: trust-liking, social exchange, and modeling. The emphasis of previous research on self-disclosure reciprocity (descriptive reciprocation), the intimacy of the facts an individual reveals about him- or herself, stems largely from the fact that these…

A study was conducted to investigate the practical management of interactions sustaining close friendships. Ten pairs of close friends were interviewed individually on two occasions and together on a third occasion. An interpretive analysis of subjects' remarks identified a dialectical principle governing the communicative organization of…

Noting that the informal communication network or grapevine plays an important role in organizational functioning, this paper reviews research focusing on organizational grapevines from the communication, organizational psychology, and management literature. Among the issues discussed in the review are (1) the speed and accuracy of the grapevine,…

A study was conducted to examine self-disclosure as a relational control strategy in speech communication. Conversations of seven married couples were coded using L. E. Rogers-Millar's Relational Communication Control Coding Scheme and a self-disclosure coding system developed for the study. A message-by-message comparison of the codes from the…

A major problem in the study of marital interaction has been the lack of attention to contextual determinants of differences within couples' behavioral exchanges. To compare spouses' control behaviors in overt and ongoing communication as a function of both conflict and intimacy situational contexts, and to analyze the influence of spouse's role,…

This paper discusses the conceptualization of interpersonal power and offers a relational definition and measure of power. A distinction is made between "power attempts" (domineering message behavior) and "power" (transactional patterns of dominance). To test this distinction, 45 husband/wife dyads were randomly sampled from a…

The interactional aspects of support within social networks of the elderly were investigated with a particular focus on the role which reciprocal exchanges play in defining the nature of the support channeled along the links in the network. The sample consisted of 50 adults, 55-83 years of age, living in an urbanized region of North Carolina.…

The construct Interpersonal Orientation (IO) refers to the degree to which a person is responsive to the interpersonal aspects of his relationships with other people. A self-report measure of IO was devised whose construct validity was supported by correlational data. Two experiments were conducted to assess the potential usefulness of IO in…

Recent studies have investigated the transition of relationships from a more intimate to a less intimate state--the depenetration process. Various phases of interpersonal conflict in the dissolution of marital dyads have been described, and factors indicating that a marriage might be "in trouble" have been identified. Processes that are…