Showing papers on "Interpersonal communication published in 1983"

Diffusion of Innovations

Abstract: Getting an innovation adopted is difficult; a common problem is increasing the rate of its diffusion. Diffusion is the communication of an innovation through certain channels over time among members of a social system. It is a communication whose messages are concerned with new ideas; it is a process where participants create and share information to achieve a mutual understanding. Initial chapters of the book discuss the history of diffusion research, some major criticisms of diffusion research, and the meta-research procedures used in the book. This text is the third edition of this well-respected work. The first edition was published in 1962, and the fifth edition in 2003. The book's theoretical framework relies on the concepts of information and uncertainty. Uncertainty is the degree to which alternatives are perceived with respect to an event and the relative probabilities of these alternatives; uncertainty implies a lack of predictability and motivates an individual to seek information. A technological innovation embodies information, thus reducing uncertainty. Information affects uncertainty in a situation where a choice exists among alternatives; information about a technological innovation can be software information or innovation-evaluation information. An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or an other unit of adoption; innovation presents an individual or organization with a new alternative(s) or new means of solving problems. Whether new alternatives are superior is not precisely known by problem solvers. Thus people seek new information. Information about new ideas is exchanged through a process of convergence involving interpersonal networks. Thus, diffusion of innovations is a social process that communicates perceived information about a new idea; it produces an alteration in the structure and function of a social system, producing social consequences. Diffusion has four elements: (1) an innovation that is perceived as new, (2) communication channels, (3) time, and (4) a social system (members jointly solving to accomplish a common goal). Diffusion systems can be centralized or decentralized. The innovation-development process has five steps passing from recognition of a need, through RD (2) persuasion to form an attitude, (3) decision, (4) implementation, and (5) confirmation (reinforcement or rejection). Innovations can also be re-invented (changed or modified) by the user. The innovation-decision period is the time required to pass through the innovation-decision process. Rates of adoption of an innovation depend on (and can be predicted by) how its characteristics are perceived in terms of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability. The diffusion effect is the increasing, cumulative pressure from interpersonal networks to adopt (or reject) an innovation. Overadoption is an innovation's adoption when experts suggest its rejection. Diffusion networks convey innovation-evaluation information to decrease uncertainty about an idea's use. The heart of the diffusion process is the modeling and imitation by potential adopters of their network partners who have adopted already. Change agents influence innovation decisions in a direction deemed desirable. Opinion leadership is the degree individuals influence others' attitudes

The 1982 Interpersonal Circle: A taxonomy for complementarity in human transactions

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to integrate previous theory and research addressing interpersonal complementarity, a construct that is central to refined and extended research and clinical applications of interpersonal theory. The article first describes the 1982 Interpersonal Circle, which the author constructed as a comprehensive taxonomy of the domain of two-dimensional interpersonal behavior. The 1982 Circle integrates and expands the content of four major adult interpersonal measures (LaForge & Suczek's Interpersonal Check List, Wiggins's Interpersonal Adjective Scales, Lorr & McNair's Interpersonal Behavior Inventory, and Kiesler et al.'s Impact Message Inventory) to provide a circle taxonomy consisting of 16 segments, 128 subclasses, 2 levels, and 350 bipolar items. Second, the article reviews previous conceptions of interpersonal complementarity and, using the 1982 Circle as a theoretical and operational guide, derives 11 propositions of complementarity as they apply in personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy.

Interdependence and Interpersonal Attraction Among Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Individuals: A Theoretical Formulation and a Meta-analysis of the Research:

Abstract: This article presents a theoretical framework specifying the conditions under which physical proximity and interaction will lead to positive or negative relationships between (a) ethnically diverse individuals, (b) handicapped and nonhandicapped individuals, and (c) ethnically similar and nonhandicapped individuals. A review of literature supporting the theoretical framework is presented, including a meta-analysis of 98 studies conducted between 1944 and 1982 that yielded 251 findings. Three meta-analysis procedures were used: voting-method, effect-size method, and z-score method. The results of the meta-analysis indicate that (a) cooperation without intergroup competition promotes greater interpersonal attraction among both heterogeneous and homogeneous individuals than do interpersonal competition, individualistic efforts, and cooperation with intergroup competition; (b) cooperation with intergroup competition promotes greater interpersonal attraction among participants than does interpersonal competiti...

Interpersonal communication and human relationships

Abstract: Part I Human Communication in Developing Relationships 1 Communication: The Lifeblood of Relationships Relationship Messages Five Important Misconceptions About Communication in Relationships How Communication Changes as Our Relationships Develop Dimensions of Communication: Patterns and Variations Summary Selected Readings Notes 2 Stages of Coming Together and Coming Apart Types of Relationships A Model of Interaction Stages in Relationships Interaction Stages Movement: In, Out, and Around Stages Summary Selected Readings Notes Part II Factors Affecting Human Communication Behavior in Relationships 3 The Nature of the Communicators The Influence of Interpersonal Needs The Role of Interpersonal Needs Analyzing Our Own Needs and Those of Others Interpersonal Needs Across the Lifespan Interpersonal Needs of Females and Males Summary Selected Readings Notes 4 The Communication Environment: Cultural and Physical The Influence of the Cultural Environment The Influence of the Immediate Physical Environment or Setting Summary Selected Readings Notes Part III Interaction Patterns for Coming Together 5 The Genesis of Dialogue Getting Together Sizing Up the Other Person The Many Faces of Attraction Summary Selected Readings Notes 6 Interaction Rituals Communication Rules The Rhetoric of Hello Forms of Address Relationship "Openers" Small(?) Talk Summary Selected Readings Notes 7 The Foundations of Intimate Dialogue Types of Love Liking Versus Loving Intimacy and Close Relationships Foundations of Intimacy Summary Selected Readings Notes Part IV Interaction Patterns and the Maintenance of Relationships 8 Maintaining Relationships Through Dialogue: Disclosures, Lies, and Fights Relationship Maintenance Self-Disclosure, Confidentiality, and Trust Lying Constructive Conflict Summary Selected Readings Notes 9 Maintaining Relationships Through Dialogue: Commitment and Intimacy Commitment and Commitment Talk Personal Idioms Giving Compliments and Gifts Giving Comfort and Advice Persuasion Sex Talk Intimate Play Intimacy Without Words Summary Selected Readings Notes Part V Interaction Patterns for Coming Apart 10 Communication and the Process of Relationship Disengagement Terminating Relationships Communication During Relationship Decay: Return of the Stranger Summary Selected Readings Notes 11 The Dialogue of Distance and De-escalation Some Potentially Destructive Patterns of Communication: An Interpersonal Chamber of Horrors Summary Selected Readings Notes Part VI Toward More Effective Communication in Relationships 12 Evaluating and Developing Effective Communication in Relationships The Relativity of Effective Communication Perceptions of Effective Communication Rx for Effective Communication Becoming an Effective Communicator Writing Your Own Story Communicating Effectively Together Summary Selected Readings Notes Author Index Subject Index

A Communication-Rules Approach to Organizational Culture.

Abstract: Maryan S. Schall This paper suggests that organizations, cultures, and cultural "rules" can be synthesized as communication phenomena, using a communication-rules perspective. The synthesis is operationalized by an inductive, multifaceted method designed to test the effectiveness of describing an organizational culture through a composite of its operative communication rules. A feasibility study used the method to describe two work groups of a large organization as cultures. Findings from five sources were summarized to create group-culture descriptions that were then submitted to insiders for evaluation. Members of both groups evaluated the descriptions based on their own group's operative communication rules as the most accurate description of their group as culture and more accurate than descriptions based on the formally sanctioned rules espoused by top management.

Talk as the Work: The Accomplishment of School Administration

Abstract: An earlier version of this paper, under the same title, was presented at the annual conference of the Australian Communication Association, Sydney, 1981. The text that appears below is an extensive revision of the original. I should like to thank the threeASQ reviewers as well as my friends and colleagues Tom Greenfield, Alec McHoul, John Hunt, Philip Greenway, Alan Rice, Robin Small, Helen Praetz, Ray McCulloch, and Michael Norman for their helpful criticisms and advice during the writing of this article Thanks are also extended to Cath Henderson and Bev Schneider for typing the manuscript.

Communication competence as knowledge, skill, and impression

Abstract: In response to McCroskey's definition of competence as knowledge of appropriate behavior, distinct from skill and effectiveness, it is argued that competence should be viewed as a function of knowledge, skill, and motivation. In the proposed approach, competent communication refers to functionally effective interaction appropriate to a given relational context. These impressions of appropriateness and effectiveness are more likely when a person is motivated to communicate, knowledgeable about communication, and skilled in communicating in a particular interpersonal relationship and context. Some of the implications of this relational competence approach for theory and pedagogy are discussed.

Horizons of Observability and Limits of Informal Control in Organizations

Abstract: There are various views on the relationship between the interpersonal communication networks within organizations and informal social control. The relative merits of some of these viewpoints can be assessed by examining the distribution of interpersonal observability in communication networks. In a study of six communication networks, it is demonstrated that there is a "horizon" to observability (a distance in a communication network beyond which persons are unlikely to be aware of the role performance of other persons). Observability tends to be restricted to persons who are either in direct contact or who have at least one contact in common. It is shown, moreover, that the number of contacts shared by two persons is a powerful predictor of the probability that one person is aware of the role performance of another, according to a simple stochastic function. Based on this evidence, some viewpoints on informal control structures are more plausible than others. A theory is presented that is consistent with both the present evidence and current thinking on the relationship of communication network structure and informal control. It is hoped that the theory-will provide a useful starting pointfor future studies of this relationship. Most conceptions of social systems allow for gaps in the network of interpersonal relations within a system (i.e., places where face-to-face communications are absent), suggesting that these gaps do not necessarily impede the integration of a system. Social network analysis has developed various methods and concepts for describing the structure of such networks. But these studies have been less effective in ferreting out the implications of various structures for other substantively important phenomena. This paper addresses the relationship between communication network structure and informal social control. Informal control is defined as con

Towards a social psychology of recreational travel.

Abstract: This paper examines recreational travel from a social psychological stand-point. According to this approach, an individual's behaviours, cognitions, and feelings about travelling are analyzed against the social background, that is, how the individual influences and is influenced by others. The main question is addressed to the motivation for recreational travel: why do people travel for recreation? Why do they choose this activity over others? While variations in motives can be found between and within individuals and between various types of travel (vacation versus weekend travel), the basic psychological mechanism is likely to be the same for most of recreational travel. It is shown that like leisure behaviour in general, recreational travel is a dialectical optimizing process, in which two forces simultaneously influence a person: the desire to leave the personal and/or interpersonal environment behind oneself and the desire to pursue or gain certain personal and/or interpersonal rewards. This process ...

Patterns of Interpersonal Information Seeking for the Purchase of a Symbolic Product

Abstract: The author extends the research on consumer prepurchase information seeking to a product which is essentially socially symbolic rather than utilitarian. A survey of the purchasers of a fashion item...

Basic group processes

Abstract: 1. Introduction.- 1. Social Influence Processes in Groups.- 2. Leadership Theory and Research: A Systems-Process Integration.- Brief History.- Current Research and Theory.- Integrative Systems/Process Model.- 3. Minority Influence.- Two Social Influence Models.- Impact of Behavioral Style.- Why is Minority Consistency Effective?.- Minority Image.- Consistency and Uniformity Pressures.- Conclusion.- 4. Group Discussion and Judgment.- Group Discussion and Individual Judgment.- Normative and Informational Influence.- Mechanism for Informational Influence.- Group Decision Rules.- Summary.- 2. Group Influence on Task Performance and Informational Processing.- 5. Group Influence on Individual Task Performance.- Social Facilitation.- Group Size and Crowding.- Social Loafing.- Integrative Model.- Evaluation of the Cognitive-Motivational Model.- Conclusions.- 6. The Impact of Personal Equity Processes on Performance in a Group Setting.- Personal Equity Theory.- Task Performance: Willingness and Capability.- Social Facilitation: Audience and Coaction Paradigms.- Processing Strategies.- A Comparison Between an Analysis of Personal Equity Processes and Other Theoretical Perspectives.- Conclusion.- 7. Social Context Effects in Persuasion: The Effects of Multiple Sources and Multiple Targets.- Division of Impact.- Multiplication of Impact.- General Discussion.- 3. Exchange Processes in Groups.- 8. Coalition Formation: A Social Psychological Approach.- Classification of Coalition Situations.- Theories of Coalition Formation.- General Evaluation of Theories.- Summary and Conclusions.- 9. The Influence of Communication on Bargaining.- Bargaining.- Communication.- Communication Dilemmas.- Bargaining Research Paradigms.- Communication and Bargaining.- Conclusion.- 10. Procedural Justice, Participation, and the Fair Process Effect in Groups and Organizations.- Participation in Organizational Contexts.- Participation in the Form of Choice.- Participation in the Form of Voice.- Limiting Conditions of the Fair Process Effect.- Conclusion.- 4. Interaction in Groups.- 11. Loneliness, Sex-Role Orientation, and Group Life: A Social Needs Perspective.- Current Conceptions of Loneliness.- Social Provisions of Group Life.- Parallels Between the Provision Dimensions and Masculine and Feminine Social Styles.- Group Phenomena Viewed from a Social Needs Perspective.- Summary, Conclusions, and Future Directions.- 12. The Interpersonal Orientations of Disclosure.- The Self-Disclosure Tradition.- Traditional Role of Communication in Groups.- Relationships: Where the Self Joins the Group.- The Uses of Disclosure.- Orienting Disclosure to Group Processes.- 13. Influences of Past Relationships on Subsequent Ones.- Toman's "Family Constellation" Theory.- A Test of Competing Predictions.- Theoretical Implications.- Speculations and Directions for Future Research.- Conclusions.- Author Index.

The Interpersonal Paradigm and the Degree of the Therapist's Involvement

Abstract: The author became progressively aware of an important distinction between two cleavages in psychoanalytic thought which had been more or less fused in his mind. He refers to the distinction between two major cleavages in psychoanalytic thought: one cleavage is between the interpersonal paradigm and the drive discharge paradigm. The primary current Freudian position on the analyst's participation is in the prescriptive mode. To attempt to discover whether the assumption of intrinsic connections is justified would require an examination and comparison of the interpersonal and drive discharge paradigms. The difference between a psychoanalytic theory which includes theories about object relations and a psychoanalytic theory built on an interpersonal paradigm can be illustrated by the juxtaposition of the following quotations from Stone and Sullivan. An important reason that it is difficult to spell out the technical implications of the interpersonal paradigm is that the paradigm does not have unequivocal implications for technique.

Romantic Involvement and Social Network Involvement

Abstract: The role of social networks has been largely overlooked in research on dyadic involvement. Hypotheses linking network involvement and romantic involvement were developed from an analysis of the interpersonal processes underlying structural transitivity. Data were gathered on 193 premarital romantic relationships. Results showed that romantic involvement was positively associated with perceived support from the subject's own network of family and friends, perceived support from the partner's network, attraction to the partner's network, communication with the partner's network, and the number of people met in the partner's network. Further analysis indicated that the network factors were tightly interrelated. Differences in support received from various network sectors were small, but significant. The "Romeo and Juliet" effect only occurred in one sector of,the network and then for only some levels of some variables. The predominant relationship between social support and romantic involvement was positive and linear.

The influence of individuals on situations: Implications for understanding the links between personality and social behavior

Abstract: In an analysis of the nature and origins of predictability in social behavior, two propositions are considered: (1) There exist categories of individuals whose social behavior is readily predictable from measures of personal attributes such as attitudes, traits, and dispositions as well as categories of individuals whose social behavior is readily predictable from situational and interpersonal specifications of behavioral appropriateness; (2) underlying these differences in predictability are systematic choices to enter and to spend time in social settings and interpersonal contexts that promote and facilitate one or other of these characteristic behavioral orientations. The implications of these propositions for the study of personality and social behavior are considered in the specific case of the psychological construct of self-monitoring and in the general case of understanding the reciprocal influences of individuals and their social worlds.

The Relationship of Organization Structure and Interpersonal Attitudes to Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Different Work Environments

Abstract: Role conflict and role ambiguity were investigated in relation to structural and interpersonal variables. Role conflict was not related to either structural or interpersonal variables in a producti...

Mediated interpersonal communication: Toward a new typology

Abstract: Traditional conceptualizations of communication have excluded media or relegated them to a minor role as components of channel. Furthermore, the exclusive identification of media with “mass communication” has restricted understanding of the symbiotic relationship of media and interpersonal communication. This essay argues that media pervade all dimensions of human communication and must be considered in all research. It examines the category “mediated interpersonal communication” and suggests that it be added to the communication typology.

Social Psychological Mechanisms Underlying Native Speaker Evaluations of Non-Native Speech.

Abstract: Research concerning native speaker reactions to the speech of language learners has generally flowed from an interpersonal perspective (i.e. speaker/listener). On the other hand, the broader social psychological domain of language attitude research has typically been based on an intergroup perspective (i.e. ingroup/outgroup). The two perspectives are elaborated here and shown to provide complementary interpretations of evaluations of non-native speech. From the intergroup viewpoint, evaluations are based upon two processes: identification of the speaker's social group attributes and group-based inferences. The particularly complex role of identification for non-native speakers is discussed in detail. Within the interpersonal sphere, inferences regarding speaker competence and generalized negative affect are emphasized.

Trait versus state: A comparison of dispositional and situational measures of interpersonal communication competence

Abstract: This investigation explored the relationship between situational and dispositional measures of interpersonal communication competence. Five propositions were derived and empirically supported. It was found that situational competence measures (i.e., self‐rated competence, rating of alter‐competence, and rating of alter's anxiety) were significantly associated with one another; and dispositional measures (i.e., communicative adaptability, communicative competence, trait self‐rated competence, and social self‐esteem) were significantly related to one another. However, situational measures were not found to be substantially related to dispositional measures. Furthermore, situational measures of competence were better predictors of the outcome state of feeling good. Interpersonal attraction did not confound the relationship between measures of competent interaction and the state of feeling‐good criterion. Contrary to expectations, dogmatism was generally unrelated to measures of competence.

Body movement and interpersonal communication

Abstract: Considers the social significance of body movement, emphasizing the relationship between movement and interpersonal communication. Reviews research on body movement, considering the information conveyed by bodily cues in relation to emotion, speech, individual differences, and interpersonal relationships. Theoretical treatment of the social significance of body movement is based on Wiener's encoding/decoding distinction. Discusses methods of changing people's use and awareness of body movement.

Real education in non-real time: the use of electronic message systems for instruction

Abstract: Education in different communication media takes place with functional differences that have consequences for the course of instructional interaction. In this paper, we examine instructional interaction among people using a computer-based electronic message system, contrasting it with conventional face-to-face discussion in a college level class. Interaction via the non-real time message system contained multiple “threads of discourse,” a higher proportion of student turns to teacher turns, and other deviations from the “initiation-response-evaluation” sequences usually found in face-to-face classroom interactions. Based on the results of our contrast, we describe ways to organize instruction using electronic message systems to take advantage of new properties and to avoid shortcomings of these new instructional media.

Perceptions of Communication Ability Self-Monitoring in an Organizational Setting

Abstract: Several researchers have suggested that individual success in organizations can be attributed at least in part to interpersonal and communicative effectiveness. This study examined the relationship between several measures of interpersonal effectiveness and job level in the headquarters of a large international insurance corporation. Participants completed Snyder's (1974) self-monitoring instrument and reported on their own communication abilities. Results showed that self-monitoring was related to perceived persuasive ability and to perceived communication effectiveness. However, when the self-monitoring instrument was decomposed into the subscales suggested by Briggs, Cheek, and Buss (1980), the other-directedness subscale was virtually unrelated to any other study variable. Job level in the organization was positively related to self-monitoring and to perceived communication effectiveness.

Preventing adolescent pregnancy: An interpersonal problem-solving approach.

Abstract: The relationship between 3 generic interpersonal problemsolving skills and contraceptive use was explored through interviews with 283 teenage girls living in Philadelphia. Contraceptive users had the highest scores and pregnant girls the lowest on measures of the ability to plan the steps to reach a goal and the ability to generate alternative solutions to interpersonal problems. Some problemsolving skills were also positively related to the ability to articulate problems with the pill and to the ability to give specific as opposed to general reasons for selecting a method of birth control. These findings provide a rationale for expanding prevention programs to include training in interpersonal problemsolving. (authors)

Toward a Contextual Social Psychology of Clothing: A Synthesis of Symbolic Interactionist and Cognitive Theoretical Perspectives

Abstract: This paper proposes an interdisciplinary, conceptual framework for the study of clothing behavior, based upon a synthesis of major concepts from cognitive social psychology and symbolic interactionism. Cognitive theorists regard clothes as cues that may be selected by perceivers to understand observed persons. A symbolic interactionist approach places more emphasis on the role of dress in social communication, with consideration for both wearers' and perceivers' viewpoints. The two conceptual approaches are not mutually exclusive, and they share common concerns for perceivers' evaluations of other persons and situations. A contextual social-psychological study of clothing would allow researchers, using multi-methodological approaches, to test hypotheses that consider social and cognitive dimensions of dress in interpersonal situations.