Communication and relational culture: Bases for the study of human relationships

This article elaborates two concepts centrally important in the study of human relationships: communication and relational culture. Communication is represented as a formative process which constitutes, defines and disassembles relationships. Arising out of communication is relational culture, a privately transacted system of discourse and definition that coordinates attitudes, actions, and identities of partners in a relationship. These two concepts are used to define states of relationship which represent both stages and types of human relationships. For each state, communicative processes and functions are identified and attention is devoted to the impact of communication in moving partners toward or away from a binding relational culture.     

Love Styles and Communication in Relationships: Partner Preferences,Initiation, and Intensification

The three exploratory studies reported here investigate the role of love styles in the early stages of romantic relationships. Study 1 (N = 108) had subjects rate and rank 14 characteristics of prospective romantic partners. As expected, individual's love style scores were related to the characteristics people report as desirable in a relational partner. Several of these effects, however, were moderated by sex. Study 2 (N = 173) revealed that scores on love styles were associated with ratings of opening lines and intensification strategies. None of these effects were moderated by sex. Study 3 (N = 137) investigated the association between love styles and ratings of secret tests among individuals currently involved in a romantic relationship. The results indicated that love styles were associated with ratings of secret tests. These data add to a growing body of literature suggesting that love styles are associated with individual differences in relational and communicative behavior across the life span of romantic relationships.     

Communication and the Emotional,Cognitive, and Relational Consequences of First Sexual Encounters between Partners

The initial sexual encounter between partners can be a salient relationship event that constitutes an important turning point in relationship development. The goal of this study was to examine the associations between communication and outcomes of initial coitus between partners. We hypothesized that communication would correspond with the emotional, cognitive, and relational outcomes of initial coitus, over and above the effects of individual and relational factors. Results supported the hypothesized associations between communication and sexual outcomes. The discussion highlights the implications of initial coitus as a turning point in relationship development and proposes future directions for research on sexual intimacy.     

Why nonverbal immediacy matters: A motivation explanation

Instructional communication behaviors have been routinely associated with student learning outcomes for the past 40 years; however, the explanations for why these relationships exist remain somewhat controversial. Specifically, the relationship between immediacy and learning outcomes continues to be disputed. This study used Self-Determination Theory to evaluate the utility of students’ need for relatedness and their intrinsic motivation to learn as sequential mediators of the teacher immediacy-student learning relationships. Results of a structural equation model supported the theory’s hypothesis, as relatedness and intrinsic motivation to learn operated in serial to mediate the immediacy-learning relationship. These results indicate Self-Determination Theory is a well-suited framework for explaining the relationship between instructors’ communicative behaviors (e.g., immediacy) and their effects on student outcomes.     

The influence of intercultural communication apprehension and socio‐communicative orientation on uncertainty reduction during initial cross‐cultural interaction

This study is an investigation of the influence of intercultural communication apprehension, socio‐communicative orientation, and uncertainty during initial cross‐cultural communication. Prior to interacting with unknown partners from another culture, participants completed measures of intercultural communication apprehension and socio‐communicative orientation. After interacting with their partners, participants completed measures of uncertainty. As predicted, intercultural communication apprehension was positively associated with uncertainty. Also as predicted intercultural communication apprehension was negatively correlated with socio‐communicative orientation. A third hypothesis, which was partially supported, posited that socio‐communicative orientation would be negatively correlated with uncertainty.     

“Is the friendship worth keeping:” Gender differences in communicating forgiveness in friendships

Although forgiveness plays an integral role in friendship maintenance, interpersonal communication scholarship has largely overlooked how transgressions and forgiveness are negotiated between friends. This study focuses on gender differences to develop a typology of relational transgressions in friendships. Two hundred and thirty survey respondents (116 women and 114 men) described relational transgressions in their friendships, the perceived severity of these transgressions, and strategies used to communicate forgiveness. A combination of MANCOVA and inductive analyses reveals gender differences. While male transgressions typically involve encroaching on other intimate relationships and theft, female transgressions emphasize disclosing personal communication beyond the friendship’s boundaries. Conflicts between male friends could escalate from verbal to physical aggression, whereas female friends were likely to sabotage other close relationships that threatened the friendship. Finally, males preferred to communicate forgiveness using the minimizing strategy, while female friends generally favored the discussion and conditional forgiveness strategies. Overall, the perceived severity of a transgression was positively related to use of the discussion and conditional forgiveness strategies, and negatively related to the minimizing strategy. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Mate Value Discrepancy as Predictor of Forgiveness and Jealousy in Romantic Relationships

Mate value discrepancy (MVD), the perceived difference in resource value between self and partner in romantic relationships, may impact both forgiveness and jealousy. One hundred seventy-nine participants rated their own and their partner's mate value, and self-reported forgiveness and jealousy. MVD was associated with forgiveness in romantic relationships in that the higher the value of one's mate in relation to self, the more likely an individual would forgive that partner's transgression. Similarly, MVD played a role with jealousy in that the higher the value of the partner, the more likely an individual experienced jealousy. Additionally, individuals were more likely to forgive transgressions when their partners had higher mate values than theirs, even when jealousy is experienced.     

Developing and Testing the Anti-Drinking and Driving PSA

This study examines uncertainty in long-distance dating relationships (LDDRs) from two different perspectives. While uncertainty reduction theory (URT) posits that uncertainty could be problematic for LDDRs, uncertainty management theory (UMT) recognizes that evaluations of future possibilities should be considered before determining whether or not uncertainty is problematic. Results indicated that participants who were uncertain about ever living in the same city as their partners were significantly more distressed, less satisfied, and rated communication coping strategies as less helpful than those who felt more certain about reunion. Uncertainty was not as problematic when evaluations about the future were taken into account.     

Hearing Status, Language Modality, and Young Children's Communicative and Linguistic Behavior

This study examined early pragmatic skill development in a group of 38 children with severe or profound hearing loss between 1 and 4 years of age who were enrolled in a simultaneous communication (SC) approach to language learning. Both their use of intentionally communicative acts and their use of language were studied in an analysis of 30-min play sessions between a child and the primary caregiver. Results were compared with previously published data from two age-matched groups: 38 deaf children who were enrolled in oral communication (OC) programs and 84 normally hearing (NH) children. All groups showed a significant improvement with age in the communicative behaviors measured; therefore, the overall trend was toward growth-in all age groups-even when the rates of growth differed. By age 3 years, a pattern of communicative function use had emerged in all three groups. Patterns exhibited by deaf children in the SC and OC groups were similar to each other and to younger NH children but dissimilar to NH age mates. Although the use of signed input by normally hearing parents and teachers did not serve to ameliorate the profound effects of hearing loss on communication development in SC children, it did provide some early advantages. The children in SC groups did not exhibit an advantage over children in OC groups in their overall frequency of communication or the breadth of their vocabulary but they began using words earlier and used mature communicative functions significantly more often. Although children in the OC groups did not exhibit a significant advantage in the overall amount of speech used, they showed an advantage in the breadth of their spoken vocabulary in a conversational setting. Implications for early intervention programming are discussed.     

Further Testing Hope’s Role in Constructive Conflict Communication

Using three waves of data, this study examined the relationship between dispositional hope and constructive conflict communication (i.e., “voice” behaviors) in adult romantic relationships. The primary goal was to test if dispositional hope directly predicted voice or if the hope–voice link is mediated by the more relationally proximal variable of conflict efficacy. Results of cross-lagged panel model analysis showed that hope directly predicted voice, even when controlling for variables, such as optimism, general self-efficacy, commitment, and alternative forms of conflict communication. Implications for hope theory-based relational interventions and future research of hope and conflict communication are discussed.     

Piloting forgiveness education in a divided community: Comparing electronic pen-pal and journaling activities across two groups of youth

We used a randomized quasi-experimental design to test the effectiveness of three types of perspective-taking condition in a forgiveness education program. Allport’s Contact Hypothesis was used as a framework for the study design. Eighth graders (n?=?132) in an urban Midwestern city were invited to participate. We evaluated the effectiveness of perspective-taking approaches in promoting forgiveness and reducing prejudice, anger and emotional reactivity. We also explored the effects of forgiveness education across socially and culturally diverse groups. We did not find differences between the perspective-taking conditions; however, all three groups improved on both forgiveness and prejudice. We also found the pattern of outcomes was different for the African American participants than for the European American participants. Implications for research and education are discussed.     

关联理论对英语双关语的解读

人们常常不直接表达自己的思想,而是通过一些间接的方式来表达,双关语就是其中之一。对双关语的解释我们多采用Austin的言语行为理论和Grice的合作原则。关联理论认为交际是一种明示推理的过程,是听话者对说话者的意图进行识别的认知过程。采用关联理论对英语双关语进行分析,从而解释为什么发话者或受话者要使用双关语及如何问接表达其交际意图。     

The Application of Dynamic Assessment in People Communicating at a Prelinguistic Level: A descriptive review of the literature

Many people with severe disabilities face difficulties communicating with their communication partners and rely primarily on prelinguistic communication. It is accepted that dynamic assessment can play an important role in improving communication and in measuring a person’s ability to learn new communicative skills. Less is known, however, about the application of dynamic assessment in the case of those who communicate at a prelinguistic level. The present article reviewed dynamic assessment procedures that addressed communication abilities in people communicating at a prelinguistic level and young children who communicate using speech, with the aim of identifying key elements of dynamic assessment for persons communicating at a prelinguistic level. The results indicated the need for the identification of contextual variables that support communicative competence, teaching communication partners new skills, and a procedure that is highly individualised. Further research on the validity and reliability of these dynamic assessments is strongly recommended.     

远程教学的传播学分析

远程教学是随着远程教育的蓬勃发展而兴起的教学形式,它不仅仅是一种新式的教学行为、教学过程,同时也是一种新式的传播活动、传播过程,与传统教学既有共性,又有其独特之处。本文从传播学的视角出发,从传受两者的关系、传播内容、传播手段与方式等方面,分析了远程教学的传播学特征,并从传者、受者、媒体与信息、环境等方面分析制约其教学效果的传播学因素。     

Simmering on the Back Burner: Communication with and Disclosure of Relationship Alternatives

The term “back burner” describes a desired potential romantic/sexual partner with whom one communicates with the intent of establishing a future romantic or sexual connection. Contemporary communication technologies (e.g., mobile phones, social networking applications) facilitate connections with back burners. Two survey studies (Ns = 347, 374) showed that back burner communication is relatively common among college students; however, college students also have many romantic or sexual interests that they do not consider back burners. Additionally, although most college students will not fully disclose their communication with back burners to their partners, approximately half fully disclose communication with romantic or sexual desirables to their partners. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that back burners can be distinguished from those with whom we would entertain having a romantic or sexual connection. Theoretically, they can also be distinguished from other types of casual sexual relationships.     

Relationship orientation,jealousy, and equity: An examination of jealousy evoking and positive communicative responses

The intentional evoking of jealousy has received little attention in interpersonal research, yet eliciting jealousy in another may perform critical functions in relationships such as meeting personal needs and relational goals. The purposes of these two studies were to examine how evoking jealousy may be used as a communicative strategy in relationships, and to develop the Evoking Jealousy Scale. Two studies examined evoking jealousy, relationship orientation (exchange versus communal), positive responses to jealousy, and equity in relationships. Results from study one indicated both exchange oriented and communal oriented individuals make attempts to evoke jealousy from their partners. Results from study two indicate the only variable in this study related to the active strategy of evoking jealousy was being exchange oriented. Feelings of equity, being overbenefited, and communal orientation each were related to positive responses to feeling jealous. The Evoking Jealousy Scale was developed and tested in study two and appears to have good face validity, unidimensional factor structure, and internal reliability     

Sex differences in emotional reactions to discovered deception

This study explores sex differences in perceptions of discovered deception, and the subsequent emotional reactions that are experienced by relational partners. Drawing upon research examining deception, relational communication, and gender, several hypotheses were developed and tested in a sample of 190 respondents who had recently discovered the lie of a friend or romantic partner. The data were consistent with the hypotheses. Women were more likely than men to rate lying as an unacceptable form of behavior within both friendship and romantic relationships. In addition, women rated the act of lying (regardless of what was lied about) as more significant, and reported more negative emotional reactions upon discovering deception than did men. Generalized communicative suspicion functioned to enhance the intensity of emotional reactions for women, but not for men. Implications of the current results for the study of deception are discussed.     

The role of outcome expectations in the experience of a state of communication apprehension

Following the trend toward cognitive explanations of social phenomena, an expectation‐based model of the processes leading to a state of communication apprehension is advanced. Further, an initial test of the model is reported. The results of this study indicated that expectations are a significant predictor of communication apprehension as measured by self‐report. In addition, importance of communicative goals and the interaction of expected outcome and goal importance were also significant predictor variables. These relationships were not observed when heart‐rate was used as a measure of anxiety.     

英语口语教学的情景设置

根据GillianBrown&GeorgeYule的语言情景对第二语言习得者的交际紧张焦虑感的研究表明:口语情景设置的不适当会影响学生用目标语进行交流。进行使学生容易开口的情景教学,遵循口语教学情景设置,有效使用一定的原则以及口语教学的评估手段,能够使学生掌握如何运用和应对不同的言语行为,懂得在不同的交际场合下采用得体的言语行为。     

非言语交际在大学英语教学中的运用

对教师课堂非言语行为进行了分类解读,着重阐述了非言语交际在大学英语课堂教学中的具体运用,认为教学活动是一种师生间的交际过程,非言语行为在教学中起着不可忽视的作用。