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…

Provides a contrastive test of three immediacy-exchange theories: expectancy violations theory; discrepancy arousal theory; and cognitive valence theory. States findings from opposite-sex friend dyads (one of whom was an undergraduate student) failed to find unequivocal support for a single theory. Suggests existing immediacy-exchange theories…

Shares a professor's perceptions of ideology, politics, and activism from his dual roles as "objective" academic and political activist. (SR)

Presents the Presidential Address to the 1999 Western States Communication Association Convention. Discusses four opportunities that should not be squandered by communication teachers and scholars as they enter the communication century. (SR)

To examine methodological issues of managerial gender communication, a study conducted a meta-analysis of the primary research of managerial gender communication. The study addressed the following four issues: (1) the inconsistent findings in managerial gender communication research; (2) the potential influence of male and female stereotypes on…

Finds that cognitive jealousy is a more potent predictor of relational satisfaction than emotional jealousy, individuals using integrative communication and/or expression of negative affect to communicate jealousy are most likely to be satisfied with their relationships, and jealousy expression accounts for significantly more variance in…

A study used a qualitative account analysis of excessively intimate encounters to investigate behaviors commonly described by male and female receivers, cognitive schemata invoked to explain why the intimacy was excessive, and the effect of the excessively intimate episode on the relationship. Subjects, 86 female and 37 male students enrolled in…

Presents a meta-analysis of 25 primary research studies of managerial gender communication issues. Addresses issues of behavioral differences and research methodologies. Concludes that communication differences between male and female managers are minimal and of little social importance. Suggests the use of an interactionist perspective in future…

A study tested the effect of three levels of context (positive, neutral, and negative) on subjects' accuracy in identifying facial expressions of emotion (fear, disgust, anger, sadness, happiness, and surprise). The subjects were 277 female and 69 male teachers enrolled in graduate communication courses. After reading a positive, neutral, or…

The extent to which human facial expressions are universal and cross-culturally recognizable has been the subject of considerable debate. Two approaches have been used in studies of facial expressions: the judgment approach entails showing examples of facial expressions to various cultures or groups of people and determining whether they interpret…

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…

Provides the rationale for a systematic study of regional patterns of communication in the United States. Conceptualizes regionalism, appraises regional influences on communication, and establishes their significance. Describes regional development of the U.S. and proposes a program of regional research on U.S. communication. Examines deficiencies…

Studies the effects of source valence, including source credibility, attraction, and homophyly, on voter preference in a Florida Democratic primary election campaign. Indicates that attitude homophyly is an excellent predictor of voter preference. (JMF)

To further the understanding of how the brain operates at the most basic level of interest to human communication theorists, intrapersonal communication, this paper reviews the arguments against the hemispheric dominance theory and for a neurological processing style model of brain functions and then focuses on the impact of the corpus callosum (a…

A study was conducted to examine how different kinds of children's nonverbal behavior developed across grade levels. The six kinds of behavior studied were (1) proxemic, or observance of personal space; (2) haptic, or touching behavior; (3) oculesic, or gazing; (4) kinesic, or interpreting emotions from facial expressions; (5) vocalic, or…