This article examines how discourses shaped and were shaped by participants' identities in a participatory action research (PAR) project in a tertiary education environment. The primary researcher and the director of the university's desktop publishing team explored the idea of working together to help the newly formed team to develop strategies…

Investigated effect of a person's physical attractiveness on a therapist's initial judgment of that person's self-concept. Videotapes and audiotapes were made of interviews with attractive and unattractive males and females. Physically attractive persons of both sexes were rated as having better self-concepts than unattractive persons. (Author)

Provides an empirical basis for the proposition that predisposition to communicate is dependent upon the level of ego-involvement, the reception of either an anxiety- or a nonanxiety-arousing discrepant message, and the opportunity to affiliate. (MH)

This study attempted to examine whether growth groups are an effective training technique in counselor education. Two experimental groups which differed in group size and the amount of time devoted to the group experience were compared to a control group. Improved congruence between real and ideal self was found in the students who participated in…

Defines interpersonal communicative behavior as behavior serving to increase immediate feelings of satisfaction, and investigates the relationships between this behavior and self-concepts. (MH)

A job interview skills workshop model was compared with the traditional lecture-discussion group approach. Results indicated the behavioral group made significant gains in percentage of eye contact. The discussion group was superior in ratings of ability and expression of feelings and personal opinions relevant to the interview. (Author)

This investigation explored the relationship between helping and training as experimental main effects. Subjects (N=53) were randomly assigned to four experimental groups. The results for the experimental main effects are discussed in relationship to self-concept change, helper-communication functioning, and helper-discrimination functioning.…

Symbolic interaction and frame analysis are viewed as complimentary approaches. This is illustrated by student evaluation of teaching as an institutionalized method of increasing accountability, and the meaning of these evaluations for administrators, faculty, and students is considered against the background rules of relationship among the three…

Presents results of two studies demonstrating the utility of interpersonal theory in social psychological research. Describes the symbolic interactionist perspective that people come to think of themselves as they think others see them. Reports that individuals considered it more important to be viewed as accepting of others than of self. (DK)

A co-educational living-learning center for the arts was studied through participant observation and quantitative assessment. The results document the importance of full self-selection into a membership group and demonstrate the relationships between reference group identification, basic interests in personality, and social behavior. (Author)

This study focused on explaining the social character of text-based computer mediated communication (CMC), focusing on the outcomes of self esteem and "self reference." Subjects were 200 undergraduate students of a German university. Three perspectives of CMC were compared in this study: CMC as an impersonal situation, via mediated small…

Suggestions for improving conversation groups in the intermediate and advanced English as a second language classroom are considered with attention directed to design of the activities, preparation of the individuals involved, and selection of the subject matter. In addition, factors that cause conversation groups to fail are discussed. A…