Tests several contrasting predictions from uncertainty reduction theory and predicted outcome value theory. Finds strong support for the predicted outcome value perspective and its claim that uncertainty reduction processes are subservient to outcome maximization goals in initial interactions. (SR)

Assessed coworkers' perceptions of public school superintendents' behavior related to social style (assertiveness, responsiveness, versatility) and interpersonal communication competence (empathy, social anxiety, listening, self-disclosure, flexibility). Found that superintendents with highly responsive styles were perceived as more competent than…

Results indicated that observers familiar with a communicator's truthful behavior were more accurate in detecting deception than those who were not familiar, and that accuracy increased as self-monitoring increased. (High self-monitors are individuals particularly sensitive to the expression and self-presentation of others in social situations.)…

A special section of a public speaking class at the Universtiy of Tennessee was developed in the spring of 1977 for speech anxious students. The course was designed to incorporate the basic spirit of the regular classes and to provide special training in techniques for reducing nervousness about speaking and in methods for coping with the…

Semantic differential statements were used to elicit attitudes toward aging from 176 high school students, college students, and older adults (nonstudents) who had viewed four sketches of a white male's appearance at ages 12, 19, 49, and 70 years. The results were the following: (1) High school students described aging as more personally…

Compares metaphors and intimate relationships, arguing that both may be viewed as relational and categorized into four distinct styles. Results indicated validity for assignment of three relationship types concluding that parallels exist between linguistic and social forms. (NKA)

Investigates how ethnic identity is related to the issues that emerge in interethnic conversations. Examines issues related to communication satisfaction for African Americans and for European Americans and how relational closeness affects these relationships. Compares the two groups. (SR)

To examine how different cultures define and express love, a study focused on the discourse concerning love as advanced by four students from India, Iran, Japan, and Norway. The discourse was recorded on two different occasions: an extended interview about students' perceptions of love both in their countries and in the United States; and a panel…

To determine whether or not disabled persons see communication between themselves and able-bodied persons as different from communication with other disabled persons, telephone interviews were conducted with 27 orthopedically disabled persons. Aside from answering demographic questions, subjects were asked questions regarding when the subject…

Three group processes--regular face-to-face interacting groups, the nominal group technique (NGT), and Delphi procedures--were compared in terms of their ability to facilitate the quantitative and qualitative productivity of a decision making group. The results unequivocally supported the superiority of the Delphi procedures. Findings also tended…

A study compared the discourse within a knowledge-building community in dual mediums: face-to-face meetings and electronic mail postings to a discussion list. Participants were faculty members and graduate students at a major university. The study focused on patterns of participation in both mediums, changes in these patterns, and possible effects…

A study analyzed the verbal interactions of married couples in high, moderate, and low marital satisfaction groups to determine whether (1) the interaction processes within the three satisfaction groups differed and (2) there were different communication patterns that characterized the interaction processes of the groups. Subjects were 34 young…

Two hundred forty-eight male and female subjects from United States, Mediterranean, Near East, and Far East cultures completed a touch avoidance measure in a study examining cultural differences in touching behavior. Factor analysis of the instrument yielded four factors: opposite sex, other-directed same sex, kissing, and self-directed same sex.…

An investigation of the communication styles of five groups of university students in China, Japan, Korea, Guam, and Hawaii involved 1,818 students. The students each completed the Communication Style Measure, which contains 51 items that gauge nine communicative behaviors as independent variables: (1) dominant, (2) friendly, (3) attentive, (4)…

The communication apprehension and interpersonal needs of college students in the People's Republic of China were examined and compared to similar data on college students in the United States, Korea, Japan, and Australia. The instruments used in the studies were the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA) and the Fundamental…