Goal Variability and Message Content During Relational Discussions

Discussions about relationship issues are rarely easy, and as in any important conversation, the actions of a relational partner may encourage one to change initial message intentions and behaviors during the course of an interaction. The interrelationship of communication goals and message content was examined through a sequential analysis of 10-minute conversations between 100 dating partners about a relationship problem. After completing survey measures, respondents engaged in a discussion about one partner's problematic behavior. Respondents then reviewed discussions to rate the importance of their communication goals (self-oriented, other-oriented, relational, or task) at 1-minute intervals. Objective coders assessed the grammatical focus of respondents' messages (self, relationship, partner, or task) at the same or adjoining interval. Lag sequential analyses indicated that goal importance defined self-interested or more prorelational content, providing evidence that goals are fluid and communicative behavior is influenced by dyadic interaction.