Examines persuasive effects of story and statistical evidence for different message topics--100 students read three story or statistical messages and completed posttest measures. Indicates that persuasiveness of evidence varied by message topic. Reveals that statistics were rated as more scientific and less personal than stories, but these…

Reports on results of an empirical study of users' communicative responses regarding intraorganizational-implemented innovations and other planned changes. States that a list of users' individual communicative responses was developed and analyzed by means of multidimensional scaling to reveal the conceptual structure underlying the responses.…

Surveys consumers about their perceptions of advertising styles that mimic news, documentary, and editorial formats and about its associations. Suggests that these "hybrid" styles triggered values and meaning generally associated with more realistic forms of communication, perhaps making realism an involving and positive marketing…

Investigates whether local media contribute to individuals' involvement in a community. Finds that the "community integration hypothesis," which holds that they do, may have been overestimated. Suggests that some media contribute more than others, and the relative contribution of each medium depends upon the individual's stage of…

Notes a link between sexual resistance and the violation of the resisted partner's expectations. Examines the resisted individual's perception of sexual resistance message directness and relational context in terms of violation valence, violation importance, and violation expectedness among a group of undergraduate students. Indicates that…

Examines relationship between school climate and teacher attitudes toward upward communication with the principal in 41 Ohio secondary schools. Finds positive association between open-climate schools and teachers' willingness to communicate with principals. (Contains 31 references.) (PKP)

Reviews four traditional communication postulates--namely, that communication is interactive, involves encoding, involves the exchange of symbols, and has a fidelity dimension. Finds each to be a contradiction of the popular axiom which states that one cannot not communicate. (MG)

Critiques an article by Ian Angus and John Lannamann on the fragmentation of the communication field ("Questioning the Institutional Boundaries of U. S. Communication Research: An Epistemological Inquiry," v38 n3). Argues that any medium, including the body, can be conceptualized as a system of symbol creation, recognition, and…

Examines how couples' discussions of troublesome problems reveal hidden agendas (issues not directly discussed or explored). Finds disgust and contempt are at the core of both love and respect agendas for husbands and wives. Finds that wives' more than husbands' hidden agendas are directly predictive of how negatively they argue at home. (SR)

Reports on three studies which articulate and test multiple models for integrating the concept of motivation to reduce uncertainty into the axiomatic structure of uncertainty reduction theory. Finds that none of the models (tested in terms of their ability to predict information seeking and attraction) provides such an integration. Recommends…

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)

Develops and tests an interventionist model (which posits that effective mediators assume active, highly participatory roles in the mediation process) using 91 mediated roommate disputes. Examines (1) the impact of disputants' expectations on the process of mediation; and (2) whether disputants' and mediators' perspectives were consistent…

Examines the relationships among nonverbal behaviors, dimensions of source credibility, and speaker persuasiveness in a public speaking context. Finds numerous associations between nonverbal behaviors and attributions of credibility and persuasiveness. Discusses advantages of analyzing nonverbal cues according to proximal precepts. (SR)

Investigates the relationship between general styles of communicating and more situation-specific conflict management styles. Finds substantial relationships between general communication styles and conflict management styles, as well as very substantial relationships between the style constructs and task attraction of supervisors. (SR)

Tests hypothesized relationships between the media richness model and the symbolic interactionist perspective with data from 94 managers. Finds that managers tend to select the face-to-face medium for highly equivocal communications and written media for clear, objective communications. (MG)