A study was conducted to investigate the practical management of interactions sustaining close friendships. Ten pairs of close friends were interviewed individually on two occasions and together on a third occasion. An interpretive analysis of subjects' remarks identified a dialectical principle governing the communicative organization of…

This study used data from the national study of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) to investigate the impact of college on income, educational aspirations, and educational attainment for students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds compared to those from high-SES backgrounds. The study was based on concepts of…

Noting that the informal communication network or grapevine plays an important role in organizational functioning, this paper reviews research focusing on organizational grapevines from the communication, organizational psychology, and management literature. Among the issues discussed in the review are (1) the speed and accuracy of the grapevine,…

This review of the literature on prosocial behavior in the elderly provides empirical data on the prevalence of helping behaviors among the elderly and the range of motives underlying their helping. Implications of these data for theories of social behavior in later life are considered, and questions are raised about the validity of the models…

This paper examines the impact of individual and family life transitions on marital relationships from a social exchange perspective. The first section of the paper reviews and integrates several social exchange perspectives, derived from both sociological and social psychological traditions, in particular the works of Thibaut and Kelly (1959),…

This paper demonstrates the utility of interdependence theory for understanding older persons' social relationships. Using friendship as an exemplary case, a model of expectations for and reactions to social exchanges is described. Exchanges which are perceived to be motivated by obligation are distinguished from those which are perceived to…

A study was conducted to examine self-disclosure as a relational control strategy in speech communication. Conversations of seven married couples were coded using L. E. Rogers-Millar's Relational Communication Control Coding Scheme and a self-disclosure coding system developed for the study. A message-by-message comparison of the codes from the…

A major problem in the study of marital interaction has been the lack of attention to contextual determinants of differences within couples' behavioral exchanges. To compare spouses' control behaviors in overt and ongoing communication as a function of both conflict and intimacy situational contexts, and to analyze the influence of spouse's role,…

Inequity theory differs from social exchange theory in its analysis of a worker's reaction to pay by asserting that effects on work performance caused by high or low pay are due to social comparison of fairness rather than principles of direct exchange, such as reciprocity and power. The present experiment held piece-rate pay constant at two…

This paper discusses the conceptualization of interpersonal power and offers a relational definition and measure of power. A distinction is made between "power attempts" (domineering message behavior) and "power" (transactional patterns of dominance). To test this distinction, 45 husband/wife dyads were randomly sampled from a…

A theoretically-derived, easily employable, and widely applicable coding system for processing analysis of small group discussions is described. The system was constructed from established social influence theory, and pilot results from application of the system to group therapy interactions were presented. Eighty percent of all group…

For professors who have been assigned the task of teaching communication theory, carefully chosen examples of films, videos, TV clips, or music can be productively used to support instruction. Both research and experience have shown that the visual and aural channels are excellent forms of amplifying, clarifying, and justifying theoretical…

This curriculum analysis of black South African education considers conflict and change in historical, contemporary, and postapartheid contexts. Part 1, "The Historical Context," interprets curriculum evolution, beginning with the evangelical curriculum for slaves in 1658 and concluding with formalization of racism in the apartheid…

A revision of the Westley-MacLean model of 1957 for communication research accommodates an incorporation of some of the research areas that have blossomed during the last three decades. The revision concentrates on two aspects of the original: (1) organizational features within the advocate, communicator and audience roles; and (2) environmental…

Attitudes and preferences toward mail surveys were studied from the viewpoint of the recipient. Approximately 386 residents of a small rural community in Florida were sent a questionnaire about attitudes toward mail surveys, with half receiving a follow-up card after 4 days. A total of 123 usable questionnaires were returned. Respondents were…