Finds that people with external locus of control found communication to be less rewarding and less satisfying, tended to avoid communication, and were motivated to communicate more ritualistically than internals. (SR)

Perceived control has become an important construct for health care research. Since the processes and outcomes of health and illness are constantly mediated and affected by communication, the relationship between a person's belief in his/her personal control of events and health care interactions is an important component of the theory and…

Examines how actors' goals, gender, and locus of control affect conflict strategy behaviors. Classifies goals into proactive and reactive categories. Finds that distributive strategies were used more for reactive goals of defending rights and integrative tactics more for the proactive goal of changing relationships. (SR)

Perceived control is becoming an increasingly popular topic in the literature of communication. Intriguing evidence exists to suggest that the key to understanding the role of locus of control in the interpersonal encounter lies in appreciating the enthymematic nature of human interaction and the role of perceived control in this enthymematic…

A study was conducted to examine the relationship between three employee variables--perceived job satisfaction, ambiguity tolerance, and locus of control--and an employee's propensity to participate actively in the organization's communication network (network propensity). Relevant data were gathered from 108 members of an engineering firm who…

A study examined American college and university students' successful reentry, hypothesized to be influenced by their locus of control for affiliation, interpersonal uses for communication, and relational satisfaction. The subjects, 54 returned sojourners (i.e., students who had studied abroad), filled out a questionnaire to measure reentry shock…

The goals of this study were to replicate the findings produced in a previous conversation simulation study, to examine the conditions whereby persons attribute blame, and to extend the methodology employed in simulation game study. Conversations were simulated by a two-person game in which subjects (46 undergraduate students) were provided a deck…

An exploratory study investigated the success of a small group behavior change program in eliminating self-defeating behavior (SDB) in outpatients with chronic mental illness. Four of the six subjects were outpatients at the local mental health center but were currently not exhibiting psychotic behavior. The remaining two subjects were student…

Focuses on personality as a predispositional factor which is predictive of the direction of both persuasive argumentation by group members and, subsequently, decision shifting. Tends to validate the value theory of polarization by showing that persuasive argumentation can mediate the effect of personality on decisional shifting. (PD)

Personal constructs of internally and externally oriented students were expected to engender different perceptions of teachers' use of behavior alteration techniques (BATs) in the classroom. Indicates that externally oriented students perceived more frequent BAT use by teachers than did internally oriented students, and that perceptions by…

Examines the influence of locus of control and gender on perception of sexually harassing communication across two samples: college students and adults working full-time in their chosen careers. Suggests that locus of control has little effect on females's perceptions but influences males, and full-time workers are more cognizant of harassment…

A study was conducted (1) to determine the effectiveness of a specially designed one-semester basic speech course on the self-image of college students experiencing extreme communication anxiety, and (2) to discover whether a difference existed between the self-image of students who had an external locus of control and those with an internal locus…

Two experiments involving 49 male and 49 female college students were conducted to determine the effects of physician physical attractiveness on the patients' disclosures of personal information (symptoms). In the first experiment, subjects rated pictures of physicians for physical attractiveness and reported their willingness to disclose and…

Since the ultimate effectiveness of any health care encounter rests in the provider's ability to gain the compliance of his or her client toward the prescribed medical treatment, a study compared clients' perceptions of the compliance-gaining strategies of both physicians and nurse practitioners, and investigated whether these perceptions were…

To measure perceived control in one's communication environment, a study examined the world views of the respondents as reported in a 28-item questionnaire. Subjects, 1,927 men and women composed of students and university personnel, military personnel, executives and managers, high school students and teachers, and members of women's groups, were…