SELF-PRESENTATIONS OF ATTITUDES FOLLOWING COMMITMENT TO PROATTITUDINAL BEHAVIOR

Attitude statements present a particular image of the respondent to onlookers and can be tactically used for self-presentational purposes. The present study investigated the relationship between variables relevant to self-presentation and attitude statements following proattitudinal actions. Under conditions of high or low decision freedom, female subjects committed themselves to argue for a proattitudinal issue. The experimenter described the issue as either low or high in importance, and subsequent attitudes toward the issue were measured in a way which allowed low (subjects did not sign their questionnaires and placed them in a collection box) or high (subjects signed their questionnaires and handed them to the experimenter) personal association with attitude statements. A triple interaction of the variables was found on subjects'statements of personal involvement with the issue. As suggested by a self-presentation approach, subjects expressed more involvement under no-choice/low-association/high-importance conditions than under choice/low-association/high-importance conditions. Subjects who were denied personal responsibility and close association with an important action apparently increased their involvement to gain responsibility. The findings failed to support self-perception predictions of more favorable attitudes under choice rather than no-choice conditions.     

Couples' Concurrent Cognitions The Influence of Relational Satisfaction on the Thoughts Couples Have as They Converse

Studies of cognition in relationships show that people's thoughts about their partners shape and reflect the quality of relationships. Some research further suggests that women's cognitions are more relationship-centered than men's. The data supporting these arguments, however, often are based on partners' retrospective reports or responses to hypothetical scenarios. This study examined partners' concurrent cognitions—the thoughts they have during the course of interaction. Data were collected using a modification of “protocol analysis.” Partners conversed over networked computers and also voiced what they were thinking. Results indicated that those who were dissatisfied with their relationship expressed significantly more negative thoughts about their partner, fewer positive thoughts about their partner, and fewer positive thoughts about their relationship than did those who were satisfied. Dissatisfied men vocalized fewer negative thoughts about themselves than did those who were satisfied. ‘Women's thoughts were not more focused on relationship-oriented issues than were men's; men expressed more negative cognitions about relationships. The findings confirm that there are distinctions between the concurrent cognitions of satisfied and dissatisfied partners. Researchers should continue questioning the influence of gender on the ways partners evaluate their relationships.     

Pass It On: Errors in Direct Quotes in a Sample of Scholarly Journal Articles

Concern has been expressed in the literature over inaccuracies both in reference listings and direct quotes. This study examined one volume year of each of four journals in the social sciences to compare 1,278 quotes against the original sources. Of this total, 89 could not be found and 519 (43.7% of the remaining quotes) had one or more inaccuracies, ranging from trivial punctuation differences to errors that significantly changed the content meaning. Implications as well as suggestions for editors and writers for reducing errors are discussed.     

THE CONCEPTUAL DOMAIN OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOR: A FACTOR-ANALYTIC STUDY

A provisional taxonomy of interpersonal behavior, ordered as a circumplex, was empirically derived from both the phenomenological and public communication ratings of subjects. At both levels, ratings were most prominently influenced by a Control dimension, made up of the perceptions of socially undesirable behaviors. The circular arrangements of the variables showed that a gap existed in the active and passive affective quadrants. It was suggested that revision of the IBI incorporate the affective dimensions associated with the findings of interpersonal competence research and that communication researchers give appropriate emphasis to the affective domain of interpersonal behavior.