National Communication Association

Chicago, November 11-14, 2009

Interpersonal Communication

Social allergens are defined as characteristics or behaviors that irritate another person (Cunningham, Barbee, & Druen, 1997).

Married participants’ flirting was motivated by a desire:

• for an exclusive relationship,

• to encourage sex,

• and to maintain the marriage.

"The 'How' and 'Why' of Flirtatious Communication Between Marital Partners.” Brandi Frisby, West Virginia University; Melanie Booth-Butterfield, West Virginia University

Women engaged in maintenance behaviors more than men and were more driven by exclusive relationship motives.

"Men's Facial Hair as a Mate Signal: An Evolutionary Perspective.” Amy Ebesu Hubbard, Univ of Hawaii, Manoa; et al.

The findings revealed that men with facial hair:

• were seen as less trustworthy than clean-shaven men.

• With an increase in perceptions of men's social status, physical attractiveness, and social attractiveness increased, judgments about the likelihood of relationship development increased.

• There was also evidence which suggested that men’s facial hair, particularly beards, were used as a mating signal.

"Hurt Feelings in Same-Sex Friendships: An Interpersonal Script Analysis.“ Alexa Hampel, University of Texas, Austin; James Roberts, University of Missouri, Columbia

• Results provided evidence of an interpersonal script for hurt.

• Men expected the perpetrating friend to reciprocate their anger and avoidance, while women expected the friend to ask for an explanation in response to both situations.

• Women anticipated that responding critically would lead the perpetrating friend to disclose hurt feelings in response.

• Conversely, men expected the same initial response to result in the partner asking for an explanation.

"The Experience of Major Depressive Disorder and Relational Uncertainty within Intimate Relationships.” Kristen Satterlee, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

• Level of depressive symptoms was found to be a stronger predictor than was a professional diagnosis of MDD.

depression seems to predict both:

• heightened levels of relational uncertainty

• and reliance on communication strategies that are negatively valenced and/or avoidant.

"Writing Affectionate Letters Reduces Stress: Replication and Extension.” Kory Floyd, Arizona State University; Colin Hesse, Arizona State University; Perry Pauley, Arizona State University

The present experiment examined the ability of writing an affectionate letter to a loved one to accelerate stress recovery.

• Trait expressed affection buffered cortisol reactivity to stress for both women and men.

• Writing affectionate letters accelerated cortisol recovery for women but not for men.

"Modeling Dyadic Effects in the Associations between Relational Uncertainty, Sexual Communication, and Sexual Satisfaction for Husbands and Wives."Jennifer Theiss, Rutgers University; Mary Nagy, Rutgers University

relational uncertainty is positively associated with indirect sexual communication, which is negatively associated with sexual satisfaction.

• Dyadic associations revealed that husbands’ indirectness was negatively associated with wives’ sexual satisfaction,

• wives’ indirectness was positively associated with husbands’ sexual satisfaction.

"I'm Just Not That Into Him: A Qualitative Exploration of College Students' Friends with Benefits Relationships.” Kendra Knight, Arizona State University

(FWBs) as relationships in which friends engage in sexual interaction on repeated occasions.

Analyses indicate that FWB partners frequently do not have a platonic friendship prior to engaging in sexual interaction. Rather, participants describe engaging in sexual interaction with an acquaintance first, then potentially developing a friendship afterwards.

• FWBs is an alternative to a romantic relationship because people don’t want to expend the physical and emotional resources required in a romantic relationship,

• and/or they view their FWB partner as a non-ideal romantic partner.

"Perceived Benefits of the Friends with Benefits Relationship.” Mark Morman, Baylor University; Katie Green, Baylor University

opposite-sex friendships in particular, may be an “evolved strategy” in which men provide physical protection for women; women provide sex for men; and both sexes gain more beneficial information about the opposite-sex that presumably, they may use in their pursuit of a long-term, more traditional romantic partner.

Bisson & Levine found that convenience and opportunity were listed by 30% of the respondents as the primary reasons for engaging in an FWB).

"A Comparison of Maintenance Strategies in the Friendships of Young Adults, Middle Age Adults, and Older Adults.” Sandra Metts, Illinois State University; Amy Beverly, Illinois State University; Bryan Asbury, Illinois State University

• Young adult and older adult friends used more routine contact and activity than middle age adult friends.

• Young adult friends also used more social networking and instrumental support than the other age cohort groups.

• Older adult friends used more avoidance of negativity than the other age cohort groups.

"The Cyber Factor: An Analysis of Relational Maintenance through the use of Computer-Mediated Communication.” Christina Fleuriet, Texas State University, San Marcos; et al.

• overwhelmingly, females use more strategies to maintain their relationships through CMC than do males.

• Additionally, women continue to maintain relationships more than men, regardless of the type of relationship maintained.

• Relational maintenance strategies have remained consistent even through the advent of new technology as we continue to adapt to diverse channels of communication.

"Friendship Maintenance Expectations: Who I Am, Who You Are, and What We Do Together.” Jeffrey Hall, University of Kansas; Kiley Larson, University of Kansas

• women are much more likely to put forth greater effort in maintaining and developing intimacy with their same-sex friends and have friends who fulfill their expectations

• It is not that men cannot or do not want to have close and satisfying friendships, it is that the patterns of behavior reinforced within men’s same sex environments require less maintenance effort to achieve satisfying results.

"Relational Maintenance Strategies on Facebook.” Erin Bryant, Arizona State University; Jennifer Marmo, Arizona State University

list of maintenance strategies: positivity, openness, assurances, social networks, shared tasks, joint activities, cards, letters, and calls, avoidance, antisocial behavior, and humor. Canary, et al.(1993)

Facebook users reported maintaining their relationships using all 10 strategies, + surveillance.

• Facebook is thought to be an adequate tool to maintain casual or acquaintance relationships yet lack the intimacy necessary to maintain close relationships.

• Participants perceive that close friends and romantic partners need to put for extra effort to maintain their relationship through additional communication media such as text messaging, phone calls, and face-to-face interaction.

"Modeling Everyday Talk: Differences Across Communication Media and Sex Composition of Friendship Dyads.” Andrew Ledbetter, Ohio University; Melissa Broeckelman-Post, Ohio University; Adam M. Krawsczyn, University of Maryland

“the American Dream is a mythic story which posits that with effort, hard work, optimism, and egalitarian cooperation, anyone in America can morally achieve material success and enjoy the freedom, leisure, and religious and social independence that attend wealthy economic status”

• “The grand promise of the American Dream has always been that those willing to learn, work, save, persevere, and play by the rules would have a better chance to grow and prosper in America than virtually anywhere else on the earth”

• This speaks to the fact that the American Dream is mythic and the narrative is bound by political ideology. The American Dream has a distinct form and function.

"Topic Avoidance and Psychological Well-Being during a Health Stressor: The Mediating Role of Coping.” Erin Donovan-Kicken, University of Texas, Austin

greater levels of patient topic avoidance and perceived partner topic avoidance were associated with higher levels of patient depression and anxiety.

couples’ topic avoidance may engender dysfunctional coping behaviors (selfblame) or inhibit functional coping behaviors (acceptance and accessing emotional support), which then may lead to higher levels of psychological distress.

"Family Communication and the Military Veteran: Relational Maintenance Strategies of Veterans Returning Home from Military Service.” Richard Murphy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Melissa Lynn Murphy, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services

communication strategies emerged that military families use to maintain their relationships included

(1) Small Talk,

(2) Task Sharing,

(3) Information Spinning,

"Explicating the Role of Cognitive Responses (Thoughts) in Upward Influence Message Production.” Xiaowei Shi, Purdue University; Steven Wilson, Purdue University

A practical implication of the current findings is that having time to plan, not rushing to respond, and generating future-oriented caution thoughts are proved to help improve message qualities.

"Communicative Responses to Jealousy: The Effect of Antecedent Factors of Romantic Jealousy.” Malynnda Ann Johnson, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Lindsay Timmerman, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Findings indicated a negative correlation between relationship length and jealousy experience.

The study also observed significant correlations between relationship length and • negative affect expression,

• active distancing,

• derogating competitors,

• and manipulation attempts.

(4) Joint Activities,

(5) Family Supportiveness,

(6) Colleague Supportiveness,

(7) Affection, and

(8) Isolation.

"Having 'The Talk': Examining the Initiation and Construction Themes Associated with the Discussion of Exclusivity in Romantic Relationships.” Mike Anderson, University of Kansas

three consistent themes for initiating the conversation of exclusivity: a) the private nature of the initiation,

b) the spontaneity of the initiation, and

c) the interjection of the initiation into a casual conversation,

and three consistent themes for constructing the discussion:

a) the explanation of readiness,

b) the need for a commitment, and

c) the reaction of third parties.

End of NCA Convention Learnings

2009