Responds to an article in an earlier issue of this journal. Restates the topic as "Why are there so few theories of human communication?" Discusses why there is a lack of theories on the nature of human communication and offers suggestions intended to promote the development of such theories. (SR)

Replies to four responses to an earlier article by the author in this journal on the relative lack of original theory development in the field of communication. (SR)

Relates rhetoric to power and offers a view of power as communication. Calls for an inventional theory for the power medium, arguing that rhetoric must not be completely unconcerned with making truth effective. (MS)

Argues that all communication is inherently strategic, that is, it is purposive, it is adjusted to purposes, and this ongoing adjustment makes it strategic. Argues further that communication is primarily automatic, with strategies tacitly acquired and tacitly deployed. (SR)

Responds to an article in an earlier issue of this journal. Argues that, rather than attempting to promote theory construction based on an artificially limited field of communication, an effort should be made to unify the field by assimilating its diversity, and to bridge the broad span between interpersonal communication theory and classical…

Demonstrates that the concept of rhetorical vision yields insight into the creation, rise, and potential demise of a special theory--the critical autoethnography special theory (CAST). Explicates the Symbolic Convergence Theory's ability to explain how special communication theories come into being as the product of rhetorical visions containing…

Examined whether beliefs about competence differ among conceptions of prototypic communicators of different levels of competence and among communicators in different competence-relevant situations. Results indicated that large differences in beliefs about competence only exist when evaluating behaviors of the average communicatively competent…

Identifies the author's most challenging research puzzles, which revolve around dialectical or paradoxical layering of ideas and methods. Presents an overview of the development of a communication theory of identity. (RS)

Examines two factors of dyadic relationships on the basis of communicative behaviors: domineeringness, an individual measure based on one-up messages, and dominance, a joint measure based on the dyad's transactional patterns. These variables are associated with differential levels of dyadic satisfaction, degree of interspousal understanding, and…

Responds to an article in an earlier issue of this journal. Defends the vital role of "practitioners" in the study and dissemination of communication theory and research. (SR)

Argues that structural and poststructural notions of language, as they form the basis of critical theory, are alien to the assumptions of communication theory. Posits that poststructuralists confuse sounds with signifiers, and separate language from intention, thus making their approach irrelevant to communication. (RDS)

Reports on a two-part investigation of undergraduate students' criteria for evaluating how skillful comforting behavior is, and the outcomes of comforting interactions for distressed persons. Discusses the results in terms of theories and research on coping, social support, and comforting messages. (SG)

Presents an alternative perspective for understanding the ego-defensive model in which a message threatening to a salient aspect of self-concept, as opposed to a non-threatening message, initiates ego-defensiveness resulting in more negative message-related thoughts, discounting message content, and source derogation. Suggests a new way of…

Reports three studies designed to (1) validate the conceptualization of relational communication advanced by J. K. Burgoon and J. L. Hale, which identifies 12 conceptually distinct but interrelated message themes central to defining interpersonal relationships, and (2) produce a reliable measurement instrument. Presents reliability and validity…