Examines on-air television and radio newscasters' traitlike communication dispositions. Finds that television and radio personalities were less apprehensive, less shy, less responsive, more assertive, and more extroverted than the average individual. Indicates that higher-paid personalities were more willing to communicate than their lesser-paid…

Finds that competent communicators (high assertive, high responsive) communicated from needs for affection, pleasure, and inclusion more than noncompetent (low assertive, low responsive), submissive (low assertive, high responsive), and aggressive (high assertive, low responsive) individuals. Shows that aggressive types communicated more from…

Investigates the degree to which assertiveness and responsiveness predict the use/nonuse of affinity-seeking strategies in the context of relational repair. Finds that how participants perceived themselves and how they perceived others in terms of both assertiveness and responsiveness predicted the types of strategies used and not used. (SR)

States that 118 individuals reported the rituals they exercised to dissolve relationships or cope with relationship disengagement. Finds that self-enhancement rituals were performed most often during and after various relationship disengagements, and both "leavers" and "lefts" turned to their network to cope with dissolved…

Reports on a study in which subjects judged the veracity of truthful and deceptive communicators after viewing no, one, two, or four case-relevant baseline exposures (familiarity) of truthful communication. Finds a positive linear relationship between detection accuracy and amount of baseline familiarity. (SR)

Analyzes a series of multiple regression equations in which typicality and necessity ratings were used to predict trajectory beliefs and number of intimate relationships a person had been in. Reveals a variety of significant predictors: for example, the atypicality of intimate disclosure predicted beliefs that relationships developed through a set…

Finds that roommates who were prosocially similar (both roommates high in willingness to communicate, high in interpersonal communication competence, and low in verbal aggressiveness) reported the highest roommate satisfaction and liking. (SR)

Examines impact of variations in perceived intimacy on subjects' responses to a reasonably comprehensive list of compliance-gaining tactics. Questions 544 undergraduate students using an experimental recall method. Shows that situational variation in intimacy is associated with significant, nontrivial cross-situational differences in tactic…

Develops two scales based on the conceptualization of intercultural communication apprehension as the fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated interaction with people of different groups. States scales consisted of 16 items administered to 396 undergraduate student participants. Reveals a unidimensional factor structure and high…

Finds that battered women rely significantly more than nonbattered women on two types of strategies: (1) submissive or indirect power strategies, such as ingratiation, promise, allurement, deceit; and (2) aggressive strategies, such as threats and warning. (SR)

Finds that highly satisfied couples engage in significantly more communication, particularly on certain topics (home life, sexual relationship, and vacations), than do less-satisfied couples. (SR)

Finds that, in an interactional context involving bargaining, power accounted for over three times the amount of variance in threat use than did gender, and was the best predictor of the use of powerful language in this context. (SR)

Outlines the development and use of the Verbal Immediacy Scale. Presents data that indicate it lacks both face and construct validity. Concludes that the scale may not be a valid operationalization of the immediacy construct, and even if it is, it generates a response set such that the meaning of the responses obtained is unknown. (SR)

Examines effects of event type, sex of participant, and sex of target on comforting messages. Finds comforting messages more sensitive in response to major events than daily events; females generally comforted more sensitively than males; and comforting messages directed toward females were more sensitive than those towards males. Shows…

Investigates whether receiving verbally aggressive messages was more hurtful depending on the source of the message; whether trait verbal aggression is justified; and whether the perceived hurt of verbally aggressive messages is related to a tendency to be verbally aggressive. Finds that messages from friends caused more hurt than messages from…