A study investigated whether various measures of communication competence would be more positively associated with constructive message strategies than with either destructive or avoidance strategies, and whether individuals would prefer a partner to be constructive rather than being constructive themselves. Subjects were 114 college students who…

Reviews empirical research concerning loneliness among college students to sensitize family life specialists to the importance of loneliness within this age group. Presents a profile of the lonely college student from research findings which relate loneliness to personal attributes, interpersonal behaviors, and social network conditions. Discusses…

Describes four behavioral styles (relater, analyzer, director, and socializer) which often reflect the balance of individuals that make up effective administrative leadership teams. Each style has strengths and weaknesses, and each typically has a back-up style used in times of stress. This "style flex" can enable all parties to function in a…

Identified stable components of Type A behavior and examined their relationships in a study of 69 male college students. Results showed a moderate relationship between ambition, but not adjustment, and a version of the Jenkins Activity Survey. Raised questions about the interpretation of the JAS. (WAS)

Defining "willingness to communicate" as the degree to which an individual will talk to others in various situations, a study was conducted to test the hypothesis that a linear composite of the dimensions of communication apprehension and willingness to communicate is significantly related to a linear composite of the dimensions of…

Compared Coyne's interpersonal model of depression to Lewinsohn's social skill model of depression in a large sample of nonreferred college students (N=202). Contrary to both Coyne and Lewinsohn, no evidence of a direct relation between social support and depression was found. Results suggest social skills deficits are a consequence, not a cause,…

A study investigated the relationship between levels of communication apprehension (high or low) and eight heterosocial (between sexes) communicative behavior variables--conditioned anxiety, heterosocial skills, heterosocial apprehension, activity, proximity, heterosocial expectations, physical attractiveness, and heterosocial importance. In…

Suggests conditions or "cues" that provoke the process of second- guessing, and describes an experimental study confirming that interactants do second-guess when confronted with those cues. (MS)

Reporting validity information, this study concludes that the CCAI is a valid and reliable instrument tapping a variety of situations in which students communicate. The method of operationalizing the construct--observation of communication behavior--is clearly superior to self-report methods. (PD)

Subjects (high and low in interpersonal construct differentiation) completed measures of religious attitudes/behaviors and attitudinal confidence. Findings indicate that the role of differentiation as a direct mediator of non-interpersonal attitude-behavior consistency is comparatively small. The influence of attitudinal confidence on…

A study investigated ways in which masculine, feminine, androgynous, and undifferentiated individuals differed with respect to the importance placed upon receiver and sender characteristics as prerequisite conditions for self-disclosure. Subjects, 492 college students, completed a personal attributes questionnaire, which identifies individuals as…

The argument has been advanced that in intimate self-disclosure sex differences occur with males being less intimately disclosive than females--especially to other males. The argument posits that males who have homophobia (a fear of sexual contact with members of the same sex) might view intimate self-disclosure as a homosexual act and thus avoid…

A study examined perceptions of the appropriateness of nonverbal behaviors in dyadic interactions. A questionnaire was constructed containing descriptions of nine touching, posture, and personal space behaviors likely to occur in normal dyadic interactions, such as entering a room without knocking, leaning back and putting one's feet on a desk,…

Describes two studies of 25 molecular behavior items relevant to the domain of conversational skill. The first study finds that the behaviors themselves explained 36% of the variance in self-rated competence. The second study indicates that rater effects are identifiable, localized, and therefore, probably manageable. Discusses the use of the…

Describes a behavioral approach to interpersonal communication instruction that helps students develop competencies relevant to social interaction through analysis, practice, implementation, and evaluation. (PD)