Defining defensiveness as a protective reaction resulting from fear or a threat to one's face or ego, this paper provides a perspective on both verbal and nonverbal aspects of defensiveness. First, the paper examines two trait-like communication predispositions--communication apprehension and touch avoidance--which arguably produce defensive…

Results of research on rhetorical sensitivity suggest that the sensitive person has developed the ability to reach a social context and the others within it and to respond appropriately, while results of research on communication apprehension suggest that high apprehension leads to avoidance of communication situations. If so, then the degree to…

Collects data to determine the effects of communication apprehension and nonverbal immediacy upon students' expectations of themselves as learners and to examine relationships among students' traitlike communication apprehension, self-perceived immediacy and instructors' evaluations. Finds that, as apprehension increased, immediacy decreased. (PA)

Examines whether communication apprehension mediates the effect of nonverbal involvement cues (head nods, eye contact, body orientation, etc.) on state anxiety, interpersonal attraction, and speech duration in information gathering interviews. Finds that nonverbal cues affect loquacity and liking, but that a speaker's communication apprehension…

Focuses on the relationship of three student predispositions to their expectations for instructor communication behavior. Examines students' communication apprehension, grade and learning orientation, and humor orientation in relation to students' expectations for teachers' use of verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors, clarity behaviors, and…

A study was conducted to assess the relationship between printed t-shirts and communication apprehension. In the first phase of the study, self-reports were used to categorize 206 college students as either high or low in communication apprehension. The second phase of the study consisted of others' evaluations of t-shirts worn by selected…

Four hypotheses concerning the relationship between communication apprehension and four types of hand movements were formulated and tested in a study involving 74 students at an eastern university. The hand movements were emblems (hand movement not related to speech), illustrators (hand movement which accompanies speech), self-adaptors (nervous…

A study examined the means by which inferences and emotions combine to motivate conflict escalation in response to nonverbal displays of status. Subjects, 64 male and 105 female volunteers enrolled in communication courses at a university located in the northeastern part of the United States, completed a verbal aggressiveness scale and a personal…

Presents two studies that replicated and extended J. K. Burgoon and R. C. Koper's research by examining nonverbal behavior patterns, relational message interpretations, and credibility evaluations associated with communication reticence. Challenges the traditional view that reticence produces pronounced performance decrements and discusses…

These two experiments focus on nonverbal behaviors that might have meaning in defining the relationship between partners and on the broader relational connotations produced by a reticent person's verbal and nonverbal communication style. (PD)

This paper reviews the existing body of research on the relationship between communication apprehension (CA) and nonverbal behavior. The strengths and limitations of three different approaches are considered. Contextual approaches are studies of CA and nonverbal behavior in which the primary focus is on communicative context (public speaking,…

A study investigated the relationship between communication apprehension and two nonverbal variables--proxemic establishment and kinesic behavior--in an intercultural setting. Subjects were 30 high and 30 low apprehensive adults (15 white and 15 black in each category). The subjects were paired to create three groups: the first containing 10 dyads…

Although research in the area of communication apprehension (CA) has been extensive, little of it has attempted to identify the regularity and intensity of the nonverbal stress behaviors associated with CA. Additionally, most CA research has concentrated on the problem in North American settings. To extend the boundaries of CA research, a study…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 12 titles deal with the following topics: (1) communication style in initial meetings of small groups; (2) gender orientation, communicative competency, and communication satisfaction in acquaintance dyads; (3) attitudinal,…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) factors affecting interpersonal attraction and perceived appropriateness; (2) the effect of self-esteem, relationship satisfaction, conceptual complexity, and…