A review of the literature on reciprocal self-disclosure indicates that scholars have limited their investigations to one aspect of disclosure--intimacy--while recent research suggests that disclosure is a multidimensional phenomenon. A study was conducted to assess the possibility of reciprocation of intimacy, amount, and valence (positive or…

Employed contextual analysis to examine the meaning of touches reported in daily interaction. Found 18 categories of meanings of touch such as support, appreciation, inclusion, greeting, departure, attention-getting, etc. Discusses results in terms of the nature of tactile communication, comparing results with past research. (PD)

Findings indicate that lapses in conversation occur when one of the participants uses responses which fail to advance the topic. Analysis of the postlapse data indicates that subsequent to a lapse, the most probable strategy is for one of the participants to pose a question which the partner is obligated to answer. (PD)

Locates and analyzes the following verbal alignment devices in job interview talks: accounts, formulations, meta-talks, and qualifiers. Results reveal--among other important implications for the job interview process--that interviewees, by assuming a timid, powerless role, may be yielding in a way that jeopardizes their being hired or future job…

This study investigates cultural and communication medium effects on conversational argumentation in a decision-making context. Chinese and U.S. participants worked in pairs on two decision-making tasks via face-to-face (FtF) and instant messaging (IM). The analyses showed that Chinese participants tended to engage in potentially more complex…

Builds on previous research with this detailed analysis of multiple decision sequences in two sets of groups: students performing a ranking task and physicians performing a program planning task. Finds support for the Multiple Sequence Descriptive System and isolates types of conflict and idea development patterns. (PD)

Concludes that in the laboratory, participants' conversation behavior is not discernably affected by videotaping, no matter how overt or obvious the taping procedure is. Study focuses on behaviors out of conscious awareness: gestures, head nods, speaking turns, self or object manipulations, and shifts to reclining posture or to forward lean. (PD)

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.)…

Results indicate that applicants tend to take fairly passive roles in job interviews and that successful applicants (those receiving second interview offers) tend to ask fewer new-information or interview-process questions than unsuccessful applicants. (PD)

Twenty students participated in this study in which white lies were collected and coded for analysis. Overall, findings confirm previous findings that lies are often used to cope with difficulties in unequal power relationships. (PD)

Found no single sequence of interaction phases that led to successful or unsuccessful group problem solving. Successful groups, however, tended to begin their discussions by attempting to analyze the problem before searching for solutions; unsuccessful groups immediately began searching for solutions. (PD)

A study explored the relationship between the functional communication patterns occurring in conflict and post conflict impressions of relational concern. The first part of the study involved the development and testing of an instrument to measure perceived relational concern, while the second part investigated whether varying styles of functional…

Assessed the relationship of conversational involvement and loneliness among college students. Found that lonely participants in this study had lower rates of talkativeness, interruptions, and attention than the nonlonely; they were also perceived as less involved and less interpersonally attractive. (PD)

These two experiments focus on nonverbal behaviors that might have meaning in defining the relationship between partners and on the broader relational connotations produced by a reticent person's verbal and nonverbal communication style. (PD)

Results of this study suggest that knowing the sex and level of dominance of the potential liar should help in detecting deceptions and provide guidelines as to where observers should look for cues. (PD)