Three studies tested the capability of three measurement instruments to predict a communication behavior across a variety of communication situations. The intent of these related studies was to demonstrate the utility of a self-presentation analysis of the concept of personality, an approach postulating that people strive to create the impression that they possess a particular personality attribute solely in response to social reinforcement contingencies. The three studies examined the responses of 278 college students to the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA); the responses of 266 college students to the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ), which measures an individual's perception of his or her masculine-feminine behavior; and the responses of 165 university staff personnel to the International Communication Association (ICA) audit relationships scale, which measures an individual's level of trust and communication satisfaction with superiors and coworkers. In each of the studies, subjects completed both the target instrument and an instrument measuring the communication variable of interest across a variety of contexts. Overall, the three studies provided strong support for the "state" theory of the communication variables of apprehension, androgyny, and organizational trust/satisfaction, because the PRCA, the PAQ, and the ICA audit did not consistently predict subjects' responses across a variety of communication situations. (A theoretical overview of self-presentation analysis and situational influences precedes the reports of the three studies.) (RL)