Four studies explored the communicative behaviors of people who outperform others in a relevant or irrelevant field and the impression formed of these outperformers by the outperformed people. In line with the premises of the self-evaluation maintenance model (A. Tesser, 1988) and the STTUC framework (J. J. Exline & M. Lobel, 1999), Studies 1 and…

Identifies individuals' patterns of change in behavioral approach for a single conflict along three orthogonal dimensions: attention to own-view, attention to other-view, and relational disruptiveness. Identifies general patterns of changes in individuals' conflict behaviors. (SR)

Examines how strategic communication is linked to specific relational features. Finds that integrative strategies were positively linked to competence, whereas distributive and avoidant strategies were negatively linked to competence. Supports the view that competence perceptions mediate the link between conflict messages and relational outcomes.…

This study examined the context within which subjects (students) selected one of the following failure management strategies: silence, concession, excuse, justification, and refusal. Contextual variables included: relationship with the reproacher, the students' communicative goal orientation, moral severity of the failure, character of the…

Examines whether trained observers detect deception more accurately than untrained observers. Finds that trained observers judge veracity of low self-monitors and unrehearsed liars with higher deception detection accuracy. Reports that discrepancy between observers' actual ability to detect deception and certainty in their judgment accuracy is…

Derives hypotheses concerning patterns of interaction that occur across time in truthful and deceptive conversations among undergraduate students. Examines the nature of adaptability and mutual influence in interaction, interpersonal deception theory and interaction adaptation theory. Finds that deceivers felt more anxious and were more concerned…

Suggests conditions or "cues" that provoke the process of second- guessing, and describes an experimental study confirming that interactants do second-guess when confronted with those cues. (MS)

Describes the compliance-resisting behaviors in selected communication by first-, fourth-, and tenth-grade students. Seeks to assess the development of ability to construct compliance-resisting strategies. (MS)

Results of this investigation suggest that the greater an individual's cognitive sophistication about conversation, the better his or her performance in, and memory for, social interaction. (Auth/PD)

Investigated the impact of sexual composition and competitive/cooperative orientation on interaction patterns in same-sex and mixed-sex dyads. Found that the competitive or cooperative orientation of the interactants exerts a far greater impact on the communication behavior of dyads than does their sexual composition. (PD)

Examines the persuasive message behaviors of truthful and deceptive communicators. Finds significant differences in the types of persuasive messages generated: truthful persuaders compose messages involving positive and negative sanctions; deceptive persuaders compose messages based on rationale or explanation. (KEH)