The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of counselor self-disclosure and paradoxical and nonparadoxical homework directives on subjects' reactions to the homework directive and on perceived counselor social influence. It was hypothesized that counselor self-disclosure would reduce potentially negative perceptions of paradoxical…

A study examined the effects of level of self-disclosure, sex of discloser, and sex of observer on perceptions of interpersonal communication competence. Subjects were 165 undergraduate college students who listened to audiotapes of three different versions of a fictitious conversation between two people given the androgynous names of Pat and…

Although an important communication process, gossip rarely has been seriously studied. Distinct from rumor and self-disclosure, it can be defined as the communication process whereby information about another person's affairs or activities is disclosed and circulated in an exclusive manner in dyads. Some "functionalists" assert that…

A summary of two countervailing trends in court decisions indicates that journalist's privilege is in a state of change and uncertainty in the early 1980s. Although 26 states have statutory shield laws enabling reporters to conceal their confidential news sources, even in these states reporters are sometimes called upon to reveal confidential…

Although confidentiality with regard to medical records is supposedly protected by the American Medical Associaton's principles of Ethics and the physician-patient privilege, there are a number of laws that require a physician to release patient information to public authorities without the patient's consent. These exceptions include birth and…

The process of interpersonal self-disclosure is a complex one that is contingent upon a number of interacting factors. Most self-disclosing relationships are characterized by a dyadic interaction (a relationship between two individuals); the use of nonverbal cues in the communicaton of personality states, moods, and feelings; trust and acceptance;…

Enacted in 1959, the Landrum-Griffin Act or Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act was intended to attain maximum protection for the rights of individual workers within the union without undermining the union as an institution necessary for the existence of collective bargaining. Title I is the union members' bill of rights; titles II-VI…

One hundred four college students completed the Forty-Item Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (FISDQ) and neuroticism and social desirability subscales from the Comrey Personality Scales. Two weeks later, 76 of them volunteered for a study of handwriting analysis. The handwriting analysis was actually an attempt to obtain a behavioral measure of…

Standard legal methods, statutory developments, case law, and attorney generals' opinions were analyzed in a study of the nine states that received the lowest rankings in J. B. Adams's 1974 investigation of open meeting laws across the United States. In addition, statutory and judicial open meeting activity in the remaining 41 states was surveyed…

To make democracy work, whatever relates to government or public business should be open to comprehensive scrutiny; conversely, whatever is related to individual citizens and their private lives should be protected from undesired exposure. This recognized need to balance privacy and the right to know reflects an inevitable conflict. Despite the…

This paper describes the development of a policy of full revelation of secrets between spouses as a prerequisite to offering sex and marital therapy. This stand is controversial. Marital and sexual case illustrations, alternate methods of handling such secrets, and a discussion of the course of subsequent treatment are considered. (Author)

A sample of 108 high- and 109 low-disclosing college females rated risk individuals should take in revealing personal information to six helpers and perceptions of each helper's characteristics. High-disclosure females thought clients should take greater risks with more trained helpers. (Author)

Critics of standardized tests support new legislation to provide breakdowns of test results by sex, race, and ethnic group, confident they will find evidence of bias. (MSE)

Presents an "icebreaker" assignment for a business communication course's first class meeting that subtly encourages students to make new acquaintances in a nonthreatening climate. Includes a sample "autographs worksheet" and instructions. (JD)

Describes the development of a Communication Openness Measure (COM) based on an empirically supported model of the communication openness construct and suggests a number of speculative conclusions about the nature of communication openness. (JC)