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Ethnocentrism and trait communication apprehension as predictors of interethnic communication apprehension and use of relational maintenance strategies in interethnic communication
Abstract
The first of two studies investigated the differences between reported relational maintenance strategy usage by high and low interethnic communication apprehensives (IECAs). An instrument based on Canary and Stafford's (1992) relational maintenance strategies taxonomy and Neuliep and McCroskey's (1997a) Personal Report of Interethnic Communication Apprehension (PRECA) was employed. The results indicated that individuals who were law IECAs reported utilizing significantly more of the task, network, and positivity strategies. Differences in openness and assurance strategies followed the same pattern but were not significant. The participant's reported usage and IECA score were inversely related. The second study replicated the first and explored two theoretical explanations for the results. This study revealed significant differences on all of the dimensions and significant negative correlations. This study also examined whether trait communication apprehension (disregarding ethnicity) and/or ethnocentrism (the presumed foundational components of IECA) could account for the differences in reports of relational communication behavior. The results of the second study indicated that both trait CA and ethnocentrism contributed to the prediction of IECA and to overall reported strategy usage, and that ethnocentrism was the better predictor.
... This assortment of communication styles can easily trigger feelings of increased anxiety in a European-American looking to interact with a member of the outgroup because he/she will be uncertain of the communication style employed by the outgroup member. Consequently, the European-American will interpret his/her satisfaction with interethnic communication at different levels (Toale & McCroskey, 2001). ...
... Given that 15-20 percent of the U.S. population experiences high levels of communication apprehension, having to interact with culturally and/or ethnically different others would be likely to multiply a European-American's stress and anxiety levels (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997b). Toale and McCroskey (2001) discovered that people low in interethnic communication apprehension tended to employ more relational maintenance strategies, such as task, network, and positivity strategies, to ensure the continuation of the relationship than did people high in interethnic communication apprehension. This finding is in line with previous research that shows that high communication apprehension can lead to withdrawal or avoidance (McCroskey, 1977). ...
... One reason for this discrepancy in the desire to continue the relationship could be that people high in interethnic communication apprehension might also experience high levels of ethnocentrism. In fact, Toale and McCroskey (2001) discovered that ethnocentrism was a more accurate predictor of interethnic communication apprehension than trait communication apprehension alone. ...
This study examines fears of perceived threats from immigrants, ethnocentrism, and intercultural communication apprehension among American college students. The study relies on Stephan and Stephan's (2000) Integrated Threat Theory, which posits four types of threats: realistic threats, symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes. Only three of the four perceived threats (realistic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotyping) proved to be salient in predicting ethnocentrism. Results also showed a statistically significant relationship between ethnocentrism and intercultural communication apprehension, suggesting that a negative attitude toward other cultures is related to increased apprehension when communicating with culturally-different others. Furthermore, the only variable having an unmediated effect on intercultural communication apprehension was one's degree of intergroup anxiety. This indicates that a relationship exists between intergroup anxiety and intercultural communication apprehension independent of one's degree of ethnocentrism. Therefore, it would appear that a xenophobic anxiety about immigrants is a loaded indicator of both our views of other cultures and our interactions with foreigners. Individuals may be open-minded toward immigrants, however, if they are anxious about the immigrants as a group, they will be apprehensive about communicating with immigrants.
... Although not empirically evidenced, the racism literature has persistently discoursed on practices of segregation and separation in social activities and gatherings between White and non-White groups in U.S. society. As Toale and McCroskey (2001) suggested, individuals negatively judging members of another group by the standards of one's own group are likely to exhibit higher levels of inter-group interaction reluctance. Hence, the following hypothesis is formulated for empirical testing: H1: Implicit racial preferences for Whites are positively related to interracial interaction reluctance. ...
... Perceiving one's own racial group to be either superior or inferior to another group can influence his/her interaction with members of the target group. Toale and McCroskey (2001) suggest that individuals' ethnocentric attitudes towards racial/ethnic out-groups (i.e., tendencies to perceive racial/ethnic outgroups to be inferior) are positively related to interracial/interethnic communication anxiety. It is expected that interracial interaction reluctance can also be observed among non-Whites who perceive themselves to be inferior to Whites in U.S. society. ...
... In a study on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' apprehension in China, Li (2021) linked teachers' apprehension with fear and anxiety about communication, which stemmed from a sense of being humiliated and threatened, often causing them to refrain from participating in research. While early research focused on communication apprehension (CA) in terms of public speaking (Lomas, 1937), subsequent research focused on the use of the CA construct in understanding communication experiences in various contexts (Chen, 1994;Daly, 2006;Kearney & McCroskey, 1980;McCroskey & Beatty, 1984;Toale & McCroskey, 2001) and emphasise apprehension becoming a pertinent issue in an interactive field of research. ...
In this article, I present how I navigated unexpected apprehension that I faced while communicating with teacher participants during my PhD data collection (via interviews, observations and document study). I mediated the apprehension by strategies such as disclosing my teacher identity, expressing an interest in their practice and assuring them of support. The outcome of the strategies ranged from understanding to acceptance of my research, as well as collaborating with me to collect the data. This article calls for more research into the apprehension of research participants, as there appears to be little research in this field.
... υτότητα φαίνεται ότι συνδέεται με τις στρατηγικές της Αφομοίωσης και της Περιθωριοποίησης, εισάγοντας μια ρητορική τύπου «όσοι μπορούν ας προσαρμοστούν σε όλα ενώ όσοι δεν τα καταφέρουν ας περιθωριοποιηθούν». Σύνδεση του εθνοκεντρισμού και της διαπολιτισμικής επικοινωνίας συναντούμε και στις μελέτες των(Lin & Rancer, 2003. Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997. Toale & McCroskey, 2001.Η προκατάληψη συνδέθηκε αρνητικά με την Συναλλακτική Εναρμόνιση στο συνολικό δείγμα και στην ομάδα των Αλβανών μεταναστών. Η Συναλλακτική Εναρμόνιση θα μπορούσε να αποτελεί μια έμμεση μέτρηση στάσεων για την θεσμική υποστήριξη της διομαδικής επαφής, όπως αποτυπώνεται από τονAllport (1954), ως προϋπόθεση της επαφής για μείωση της προκατά ...
This dissertation examined the acculturation processes from the host society point of view. The theoretical background drew on intergroup relations models of Cross-Cultural and Social psychology and attempted a synthesis of ideological, intergroup and existential parameters in the acculturation processes for the host society members. Four studies were carried out to investigate the influence of ideological, existential and intergroup parameters on the acculturation expectations of the host society towards immigrants in general and distinct immigrant groups. In Study 1 (N = 401 students and employees), the acculturation expectations for immigrants were examined. The most desirable acculturation expectation for immigrants was Individualism and Integrationism, while the less desirable was the Assimilationism. Acceptance of social dominance was negatively associated with Individualismism and positively with Assimilationism and Exclusionism while right-wing authoritarianism was negatively correlated with Integrationism-transformation and positively with Segregationism. Blatant and latent racism were associated with the negative -with regard to the intergroup outcome- expectations of Assimilationism, Segregationism and Exclusionism. It was found that mortality salience has a moderating role in the above correlations through the increase of the contribution of blatant racism to the prediction of the acculturation expectations and the decline of the contribution of latent racism. In Study 2 (N = 420 students), the role of sociopsychological parameters in the acculturation expectations for Albanians, Americans and Pakistani immigrants in Greece was investigated. Differentiation between the expected and the perceived acculturation strategies among valued and devalued immigrant groups was identified. In addition, a different intergroup outcome emerged in terms of intercultural convergence: a more frequent occurrence of the consensus model for Americans and Albanian immigrants on the one hand, and the conflictual and problematic model for Pakistani immigrants on the other. Ideological, existential and intergroup parameters predicted the acculturation expectations differently per immigrant group. A strong predictive factor was the acceptance of social dominance. As expected, constructive patriotism predicted Integration, while - contrary to what was expected - blind patriotism predicted multicultural ideology. In Study 3 (N = 450 students), acculturation expectations for an undervalued immigrant group (Pakistani) at both intergroup and interpersonal levels were investigated. In terms of acculturation orientation, the Greek participants reported a higher preference for adopting the language and values of the host country by Pakistani immigrants, as well as for maintaining the morals and customs, the citizenship and the religion of the immigrant group. Acculturation expectations were different at the interpersonal and the intergroup level. Significant predictive factors at both levels were social dominance orientation and perceived intergoup threat. In Study 4 (N = 529 students), acculturation expectations for Albanian and Pakistani immigrants and Syrian refugees were investigated. Significant differentiation regarding the contribution of ideological, intergroup and existential parameters to the prediction of acculturation expectations according to the studied migrant group was found. For the Albanian group, statistically significant predictive factors for acculturation expectations were variables related to economic parameters (intergroup competition, economic uncertainty, realistic threat). For the Syrians, significant predictive factors were prejudice (for Individualism and Assimilation) and realisitic threat (for Exclusionism and Integrationism-transformation). Finally, for the Pakistani group, intergroup competition and perception of intergroup threat emerged as predicting factors. In this target group Exclusionism was significantly predicted by most of the intergroup parameters (blind patriotism, contact, realistic threat, prejudice and latent racism). In sum, through the analyses per group and overall, strong predictive indicators were intergroup parameters, in particular intergroup threat and contact.
... Most educators would agree that it is prudent to equip graduating college students with strategies to communicate effectively across cultures, especially considering that these students are entering a globalized workplace and are often nervous about intercultural communication (Campbell, 2016). This is particularly important in light of research suggesting that intercultural communication apprehension (ICA), the anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with different cultural groups (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997, p. 148), impedes cultural understanding and adaptation (Chen, 2010;Neuliep, 2012;Shuya, 2007;Swagler & Ellis, 2003) and is associated with a reduced willingness to communicate (Lin & Rancer, 2003), ethnocentrism (Toale & McCroskey, 2001), and perceptions of White racial superiority (Bahk & Jandt, 2003). For example, Neuliep (2012) found that ethnocentrism and ICA caused individuals to avoid interaction with others from a different culture due to high levels of anxiety. ...
To assess the impact of collaboration on intercultural communication apprehension (ICA), this mixed-methods study compared ICA levels of 41 domestic and international undergraduates who participated in collaborative activities with 79 students in a control group. International student participants came from a variety of countries, while the majority of domestic students were White. A Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine if there were differences in Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension scores across time between the experimental and control groups. The co-instructors of the collaborative group were also interviewed. Quantitative results indicate no significant differences in ICA levels due to the collaboration. Interview data reveal the potential for collaboration to reduce ICA and for in-group bias and lack of motivation to act as barriers in reducing ICA.
... Interdependence theory, similar to equity theory, is also representative of a social exchange orientation (Kelley & Thibaut, 1978) and is a useful framework for interracial and intraracial relationship types and the dynamics of these relationships. Interdependence theory is the central theoretical perspective of relational maintenance (Toale & McCroskey, 2001). The theory deals with costs and rewards, but rather than comparing one's own to their partner's costs and rewards, an individual looks at these two concepts in comparison to their expectations for them (Stafford & Canary, 2006). ...
The purpose of the current study is to further test interdependence
theory as a predictor of relational maintenance behaviours. The
study sought to understand the relational maintenance behaviours
of romantic interracial and intraracial dating partners. This study
conceptualized a method to explore how equity, according to
interdependence theory, is associated with relational maintenance
strategies of interracial and intraracial dating couples. Participants
included 133 interracial dyads and 131 intraracial dyads who had
been in a romantic relationship with their partner for at least a year.
Findings indicate that there is a significant difference in the use of
maintenance strategies.
... Although contemporary communication theorists agree that personality traits and situational aspects influence CA, in recent years, the focus of CA research has evolved into a discussion of the emotional state of individuals and situations or topics that increase anxiety (Carmack & DeGroot, 2016). For instance, using the General Communication Apprehension Scale as the foundation, Carmack and DeGroot (2016) Communication apprehension has also been studied in reference to the topic or context of intercultural communication apprehension (Neuliep & McCroskey, 1997), interethnic communication apprehension (Toale & McCroskey, 2001), and English as a second language communication apprehension (Rodrigues & Upadhyay, 2018;Yung & McCroskey, 2004). Although communication apprehension research has encompassed numerous topics and contexts known to increase anxiety, including religion, race, and death, researchers have failed to examine the relation between political discourse and anxiety. ...
Based on the theoretical framework of Byrne's similarity attraction paradigm and the spiral of silence theory, the current paper conceptually defines political communication apprehension as the fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication about politics with another person or persons. Although communication apprehension research has encompassed numerous topics and contexts known to increase anxiety, including religion, race, and death, researchers have failed to examine the relation between political discourse and anxiety. Politics is a well‐known anxiety provoking discussion topic, and political communication apprehension is an important and timely topic that needs further investigation. Political deliberation and discussion are essential to the growth and development of a democratic society. Furthermore, the need to process beliefs, feelings, and thoughts is a natural part of human communication and relationship building. For leaders, the ability to listen and connect with empathy and respect to all people, regardless of ideological differences, is a vital component of impactful leadership. Therefore, the purpose of the review is to begin the discussion regarding political communication apprehension (PCA) and to set the stage for future studies examining the validity and reliability of a PCA measure. The current paper not only introduces PCA but also argues that PCA is a relevant construct that may hold the key to more productive political conversations for leaders and followers, online, face‐to‐face, and inside and outside the classroom.
... Ethnocentric reactions refer to being judgmental toward those who are different (Church, 1982;Goldstein & Kim, 2006). Ethnocentric persons often misunderstand other cultures (Gudykunst & Kim, 1997), and they are less effective in intercultural situations (Toale & McCroskey, 2001). Thus, they are less likely to benefit from experiential learning opportunities that improve cultural effectiveness. ...
This study examines the influence of motivational cultural intelligence (CQ) on the development of cultural effectiveness among university short-term business study abroad program participants. We conceptualize cultural effectiveness as the degree of psychological comfort and success in managing intercultural demands. Results of a multiple-source, two-wave lagged study demonstrate that initial levels of motivational CQ were positively associated with increases in (a) cultural well-being reported by participants and (b) peer perceptions of suitability for overseas work. In addition, cultural identity, an individual’s psychological identification with his or her own national culture, strengthened the time-lagged relationship between motivational CQ and peer-rated suitability for overseas work. Participants with strong cultural identity and low motivational CQ were viewed as the least suitable for an overseas job. We discuss practical implications for designing cross-cultural education programs and implications for future research.
... Second, communication-related traits may be driving the relationships observed here. For instance, individuals high in communication apprehension engage in less relational maintenance (Toale & McCroskey, 2001) and extraverted individuals are less dependent on television (McIlwraith, 1998). To further investigate these issues, researchers may wish to employ longitudinal studies of media use and relational outcomes, perhaps through the use of diaries (see Dainton, 1998). ...
This study explored the relationships between dependence on video games and television and relational maintenance strategy use. One hundred and sixty-three male and female undergraduate students completed self-report measures of media dependence and relational maintenance. Results indicate that higher levels of media dependence predicted lower use of all the maintenance strategies, with video game dependence being a stronger predictor than television dependence. The results are discussed in terms of the roles that exposure to antisocial content and media involvement play in explaining the relationship between media dependence and relational maintenance.
... The site offered a short definition, claimed that CA is a problem in elementary school classrooms, and briefly listed causes, influencing factors, and prevention and treatment. McCroskey's extensive research (McCroskey, 1970; McCroskey, 1997; McCroskey & Andersen, 1976; Toale & McCroskey, 2001) was absent from the references. Similar to the social skills entry, a reader of the communication apprehension page would likely assume that CA only pertains to young children, despite the wealth of ...
To contribute to the forum asking “Has Communication Research Made a Difference?,” this essay examines whether communication scholarship makes a difference (a) to those who search for information online, (b) in the sense that a primary way our research can make a difference is through its accessibility, and (c) by using the criteria of its presence (or absence) on Wikipedia. In this essay, we reason that Wikipedia is a useful benchmark for online accessibility of public scholarship in that it provides immediate, freely available information to today's diverse global public seeking online answers to questions and relief from problems.
... Ethnocentrism nourishes a group's pride and vanity and looks on outsiders or out-groups with contempt. Toal and McCroskey (2001) found that ethnocentrism is positively related to apprehension about, and negatively related to, the use of relational maintenance strategies in interethnic relationship. Goldstein and Kim (2005) similarly found that high levels of ethnocentrism and prejudice are negatively related to the intention to participate in study abroad programs. ...
This paper investigated the effects of relationship types (intracultural versus intercultural conditions) on relational development in computer-mediated communications (CMC) and face-to-face settings by controlling for the effect of prejudice and ethnocentrism. A total of 140 participants were involved in the experiment, and they were randomly assigned to the face-to-face, synchronous and asynchronous computer-mediated channels. Within each group, they were assigned to intracultural versus intercultural conditions and were required to interact in pairs with their zero-history partners. All participants underwent four experimental sessions.. The results exhibited a significant main effect of relationship types on relational progression in face-to-face and asynchronous CMC groups. No significant main effect of relationship types was observed in the synchronous CMC group. The results showed no significant effects of prejudice and ethnocentrism on relational development in all groups. The findings of the study provide partial support for the “equalization” view of CMC.
... Stafford and Canary's (1991) taxonomy of relational maintenance strategies provides a theoretical link between strategies found to be effective in interpersonal communications and the relational outcomes of interest in public relations. These relational strategies have been found to be related to perceptions of equitable relationships (Canary & Stafford, 1992) and have subsequently been used as an evaluative tool in a variety of interpersonal communication objectives such as liking, satisfaction, and reduction of apprehension in interethnic relationships (Dainton, Stafford, & Canary, 1994;Messman, Canary, & Hause, 2000;Toale & McCroskey, 2001). More recently, they also have been used to evaluate online interpersonal relationships (Wright, 2004). ...
This study develops and tests operational definitions of relational maintenance strategies appropriate to online public relations. An experiment was designed to test the new measures and to test hypotheses evaluating potential advantages of organizational blogs over traditional Web sites. Participants assigned to the blog condition perceived an organization’s “conversational human voice” to be greater than participants who were assigned to read traditional Web pages. Moreover, perceived relational strategies (conversational human voice, communicated relational commitment) were found to correlate significantly with relational outcomes (trust, satisfaction, control mutuality, commitment).
This chapter, Chapter 6 of Communicating Across Cultures at Work 4th edn (2017) explores psychological constructs and processes underlying overt communication behaviour. The chapter shows that individuals’ values, motivations, emotions, perceptions, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, attitudes, abilities and even the sense of ‘self’ tend to differ from culture to culture. How individuals perceive other people and how they think can also differ according to their culture. This is not to deny, however, that other factors than group memberships, including individual heredity, interact with these group effects to influence behaviour.
Values, motivations, emotions, perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and intentions are affected by many individual factors. These range from genetic make-up to school environment during upbringing, from the innate element in intelligence to experiences at work. In particular, though, they are affected by the different ways people have learnt from their culture to look at the world; in turn, this difference affects individuals’ communicative styles, emphases (content versus relationship, control, affiliation), strategies and ways of using language. All these differences can affect both work behaviour generally and work communication in particular.
The 'self' can be understood as a set of personality traits, a self-construal, or an identity or number of identities. Cultural influences have been traced in all of these and in self-esteem.
There are cultural differences in individuals’ perception processes, including what they notice about other people and to what causes they attribute others’ behaviour. Cultural differences also affect how people categorize as well as their preferred styles of logic, learning and problem-solving. These differences affect how they interact at work with culturally-different others.
This chapter, Chapter 4 of Communicating Across Cultures, 3rd edn., explores the effects of cultural differences on psychological constructs and processes underlying overt communication behaviour. The chapter shows that individuals’ values, motives, emotions, perceptions, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, attitudes, abilities, preferred styles of logic, learning and problem-solving and even their sense of ‘self’ differ from group to group and culture to culture. The chapter also shows how these differences affect how people interact at work.
In this study, I examine a dialogical approach to intercultural communication instruction. First, I explain an intercultural communication instruction philosophy grounded in the work of critical pedagogues, the dialogical concepts of Jurgen Habermas and Martin Buber, and a performance studies praxis based on the Living Newspaper Theatre. Then, I illustrate my experience using this type of performance as a tool for critical pedagogy in the intercultural communication classroom. I conclude by sharing implications and suggestions for applying such pedagogical techniques in the intercultural communication classroom. I argue the use of performance creates a receptive, dialogical classroom environment which enables participants to examine course content, as well as the power dynamic necessary to understand intercultural communication.
Integration programmes can be seen as a space where migrants can acquire language skills and context-relevant skills and achieve an autonomous position in society. This article explores an integration and language course for stay-athome migrant mothers and their young children in the capital region of Finland. Ethnographic data were collected through participant observations, open-ended in-depth interviews and photographs. The results show how the participants are silenced when course instructors bring an ethnocentric perspective to their teaching. However, the results also show how the women, especially those with more education, negotiate and resist this approach, highlighting their own perspectives and pushing the instructors to take a learner position.
Acculturation refers to the degree to which immigrants maintain their ethnic culture and accept or reject the new dominant culture. While considerable studies have focused on immigrants’ acculturative processes, little is known about acculturation from the perspective of the host culture. This study examined American students’ acculturation orientations toward international students based on the concept of interactive acculturation and investigated the influence of ethnocentrism, sex, and Facebook use on such acculturation attitudes. Results from a survey of 346 American college students indicated a high degree of individualism and integrationism over other orientations, namely transformation-integrationism, exclusionism, assimilationism, and segregationism. The model with ethnocentrism, sex, and Facebook usage predicted five of the six acculturation orientations, with ethnocentrism being the most important predictor.
James C. McCroskey's contributions to instructional communication can best be summarized by tracing his influence on what academics read in the scholarly journals, what they learned through his leadership roles with coauthorship collaborations and mentoring and within academic associations, and his research work shaping several areas within the discipline, particularly classroom excellence. One's legacy in part is determined by what one does and who one influences, but a scholar's legacy more profoundly is determined by how one's actions make a significant, undeniable impact on the trajectory of a discipline's constituents, research, and practices. This article identifies the major areas under the instructional communication umbrella that “Jim” developed, nurtured, and expanded through his research and his direct mentoring relationships and collaborations with others. The unique relationship each coauthor of this article had with McCroskey produces several distinct sections: Historical influences on his initial career, communication constructs and the learning model, his early work on person perception variables (ethos, attraction, homophily), communication and classroom influence (immediacy, power), traits and the communibiological model (communication apprehension, willingness to communicate, argumentativeness), methodological approaches, and disciplinary service and mentoring.
The study explored the oral communication apprehension (CA) levels of first-generation college students at a 2-year case study community institution. Overall and general-context CA were measured using the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 (PRCA-24). The survey was sent by e-mail to 2,040 institutionally-identified first-generation 2-year college students. A total of 161 responses were received from students. In addition to taking the PRCA-24, students were asked to describe how they dealt with an apprehensive communication experience. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a thematic analysis. First-generation 2-year college students had a CA profile similar to reported levels for national norms. Further, students were shown to use a variety of ways to deal with their CA. Students used elements of communication-orientation motivation, intrapersonal communication, guided visualization, skills training, physical self-regulation, preparation, practice, humor, and a combination approach to managing their own apprehension. Strategies for helping first-generation college students manage their CA were suggested.
This study was designed to identify variables that predict participation in study abroad programs. A total of 179 undergraduates were followed through their 4-year college career. At year one, students completed a survey packet that included measures of study abroad expectations, ethnocentrism, prejudice, intercultural communication apprehension, language interest and competence, intolerance of ambiguity, and academic and demographic variables. During the students’ senior year, follow-up data was collected from the college registrar's database regarding participation in study abroad, including placement and duration. Students who studied abroad differed significantly from those who did not in terms of concern about completing their major, study abroad expectations, ethnocentrism, prejudice, and foreign language interest. Study abroad expectations and levels of ethnocentrism distinguished participants from nonparticipants in a binary logistic regression analysis. These findings suggest that participation in international study may be facilitated in part by interventions that seek to modify expectations, reduce ethnocentrism and prejudice, and help students understand the value of language study.
Thesis (M.A.)--Texas Tech University, 2004. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-86).
The dialectical assumption that change is at the heart of social processes contradicts the emphasis on stability and consistency that exists in most conceptualizations of relationship maintenance. After an elaborated description of the major tenets of dialectical thinking, this article explores ways of transcending this contradiction, thereby advancing a reconceptualization of maintenance processes and an expanded agenda for research on the issue.
This article employs interdependence theory as a means of understanding how and why some relationships survive difficult times whereas other promising relationships end. Interdependence theory makes important distinctions between satisfaction and dependence. These distinctions are extended in the investment model, a theory of the process by which individuals become dependent on and committed to their relationships. The investment model suggests that dependence increases not only as a consequence of increasing satisfaction, but also because available alternatives are perceived to be poor and numerous important resources are invested in a relationship. Subjective commitment summarizes the nature of an individual's dependence on a partner, and represents broad, long-term orientation toward a relationship. Strong commitment not only makes individuals more likely to remain with their partners, but also promotes a variety of relationship maintenance behaviors such as adaptive social comparison and perceived relationship superiority, derogation of attractive and threatening alternatives, effective management of jealousy and extrarelationship involvements, willingness to sacrifice for the good of a relationship, and tendencies to accommodate rather than retaliate when a partner behaves poorly.
This study examines the manner in which perceptions of relational maintenance strategies used in romantic dyads vary according to relationship type (married, engaged, seriously dating and dating) and gender. Additionally, this study investigates how perceptions of partners' maintenance behaviors differentially affect the relational characteristics of control mutuality, commitment, liking and satisfaction. Research assumptions were cast within a developmental framework. Five maintenance strategies were derived through factor analyses: positivity, assurances, openness, sharing tasks and social networks. Results indicate that relationship type moderately affected perceptions of partner maintenance strategies and gender weakly affected perceptions of maintenance behaviors. The findings also reveal that positivity, assurances and sharing tasks were consistent and strong predictors of control mutuality, commitment, liking and satisfaction.
Although relationship research has concentrated on relational formation and termination processes, most of the time spent in long-term relationships is devoted to relational maintenance and/or repair. The present study examines the maintenance/repair strategies reported by fifty couples (n= 100 spouses). It attempts to discover the strategies and the ways in which their number and choice are related to marital satisfaction, participation in a marital enrichment programme, length of marriage and respondent gender. Forty-nine strategies were identified and clustered into twelve superordinate strategy types. Respondents most frequently reported use of prosocial, ceremonial, communication and togetherness strategy types. More strategies were reported in accomplishing maintenance than repair of the relationship. However, the same types of strategies were reported for both maintenance and repair with the exceptions of metacommunication and anti-ritual/spontaneity strategies. The number of strategies correlated negatively with length of marriage. Implications for future research include the need for comparative work among premarital, marital and divorced couples. In addition, the need to develop understanding of such strategies for use in marital enrichment programmes is discussed.
This investigation reports a typology of maintenance behaviors that were derived through inductive analyses of papers students wrote about their strategies for maintaining various relationships. Ten major strategies were inductively derived: positivity; openness; assurances; sharing tasks; social networks; joint activities; cards/letters/calls; avoidance; anti‐social; and humor. These strategies extend the previous research on relational maintenance strategies. More specifically, the latter five strategies and the subcategories of all the strategies are additions to Stafford and Canary's (1991)typology. In addition, analyses revealed the positivity, openness, assurances, sharing tasks, and cards/letters/calls differed in their frequency of use among lovers, relatives, friends and others.
This study replicates and extends previous research by probing for routine behaviors that maintain relationships. In addition, maintenance behaviors of married vs dating partners are compared, and similarity of relational partners' reports of maintenance behaviors is assessed. Finally, the differences in the use of maintenance behaviors by men and women are examined. Results indicate that many of the behaviors identified in this study are similar to behaviors found in past research on relational maintenance strategies. However, sharing tasks, a behavior only infrequently mentioned in previous research, was the most frequently reported maintenance behavior, indicating that sharing tasks is characteristic of routine, rather than strategic, maintenance behavior. Results also indicate that there is little difference in maintenance behaviors according to relationship type; that relational partners' reports of maintenance behaviors are quite similar; but that there are significant differences in the behaviors listed by men and women.
This questionnaire study of both partners from 162 romantic and marital relationships sought to examine perceived partner maintenance strategies as correlates of participant satisfaction for relationships at varying dialectical moments of the autonomy-connection, predictability-novelty and openness-closedness contradictions. The perceived partner maintenance strategies of contact, romance and avoidance varied in efficacy depending on the particular dialectical conditions of the relationship, especially among male participants.
The primary aim of this paper is to identify cross‐cultural similarities and differences in people's implicit theories of requesting. Implicit theories are conceptualized as containing information about five interactive constraints that influence choices about requests: (1) Clarity, (2) Perceived imposition, (3) Consideration for the other's feelings, (4) Risking disapproval for self, and (5) Effectiveness. The paper compares how these five constraints are perceived and rated across cultures and traces possible links between the constraints and perceptions of the likelihood of using various request strategies. Participants are a total of 595 undergraduates: 296 Koreans (native speakers of Korean) and 299 Americans (native American English speakers) studying in their respective countries. After reading a hypothetical request situation, participants evaluated request strategies along the five constraint dimensions as well as for likelihood of use. The rank‐ordering of the request strategies along the dimensions were similar across cultures except for effectiveness of strategies. Striking cross‐cultural differences were found in the rank and mean strategy ratings for effectiveness judgments: U.S. participants considered the direct statement strategy as the most effective way of making a request, while Korean participants rated it as the least effective strategy. Regarding the incompatibility among interactive constraints, U.S. participants saw clarity to be closely related to effectiveness of strategies; for Korean participants clarity of strategies was counterproductive to effectiveness. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
P. Brown and S. Levinson's (1987) politeness theory attempts to explain how face-management processes (and the variables that affect it) motivate the manner in which speakers in any culture will phrase their remarks. Several hypotheses derived from this theory were tested with subjects from the United States and Korea. Subjects in Experiments 1 and 2 indicated their perceptions of different remarks that could be used for performing the same request. Perceptions of the politeness of these remarks covaried with the extent to which the remarks encoded concern for the hearer's face, and this occurred for both Americans and Koreans. There was only mixed support for predictions that the size of the request (Experiment 1) and the hearer's relative power and distance from the speaker (Experiment 2) will affect perceptions of remarks. The results of Experiment 3 indicate that inferences of speaker power and relationship closeness can be made on the basis of request forms, and this effect is similar for both Americans and Koreans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Several hypotheses derived from P. Brown and Levinson's (1987) politeness theory were tested with Ss from the United States and Korea. Ss imagined themselves in situations in which they were to make a request. They then indicated exactly what they would say in each situation and what their perceptions of the request size, the hearer's power, and the closeness of their relationship with the hearer were. Consistent with P. Brown and Levinson's theory, power, distance, and size contributed significantly to politeness. Significant predictor variable interactions suggested that an additive model is not appropriate. Finally, there was evidence of cultural and gender differences in the weighting of these predictor variables. These differences can partially account for cultural and gender differences in language use.
The two studies reported here deal with the development and validation of a generalized ethnocentrism scale. In Study 1 two scales, including USE, which was designed to assess ethnocentrism in the United States, and GENE, which was designed to measure generalized ethnocentrism, were administered to 396 participants. Their responses were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2, the USE and a modified version of GENE along with seven predictor variables were administered to 369 participants. Their responses were also factor analyzed and interim versions of the USE and GENE were generated for possible use. The results indicate that the GENE is more predictive of the seven predictor variables and that the USE may be measuring a somewhat different construct (e.g., patriotism).
This paper reports a comparative study of the relationship between communication issues and conversational improvement strategies for African Americans and European Americans. Based on a model of interethnic communication developed in previous research (Hecht, Larkey, & Johnson, 1992; Hecht, Ribeau, & Alberts, 1989; Hecht, Ribeau, & Sedano, 1990), a sample of African Americans and European Americans were asked to describe conversations with individuals from the other ethnic group. They were also asked to identify the problematic issues in the conversations and conversational improvement strategies used to deal with these issues. Some conversational improvement strategies focused on the self, some on the other interactant, and others on the joint action of both interactants. A multiple discriminant analysis and regression analyses were computed to identify relationships between the issues and strategies used by both ethnic groups in high and low intimacy relationships.Results revealed that relationships between communication issues and conversational improvement strategies were stronger for African Americans than for European Americans. Additionally, overall, African Americans reported a predominant focus on conversational improvement strategies requiring joint actions of both interactants, whereas European Americans emphasized strategies placing responsibility on the other interactant. Implications of results for future research are discussed.
Previous research on the use of relational maintenance strategies in marriage was replicated and extended by examining diary logs of 103 married couples kept over a two‐week period. Gender differences within the marital dyads were examined. Additionally, the effect of relational satisfaction or comparison level was explored, in terms of an interdependence theory explanation of relational maintenance strategy use. The results showed significant differences between husbands and wives for openness, network, and especially tasks strategies. Wives invariably used more of each type of relational maintenance strategy than their husbands. No effects of relational satisfaction emerged, which suggested that an interdependence theory explanation of relational maintenance strategy use may be inappropriate. An ad hoc assessment of the effect of length of marriage on strategy use was significant and indicated a general decline in the use of all types of strategies as years married increased.
Utilizing equity theory, this study extends previous research on maintenance strategies. The manner in which relational maintenance strategies are reported and perceived is examined. It was hypothesized that maintenance strategies are used more in equitable relationships than in relationships characterized by underbenefitedness. Further, the use of maintenance efforts by individuals in overbenefited relationships was explored. In addition, this study examined the relative contribution of self‐reported maintenance strategies, perception of partners’ maintenance strategies, and equity in predicting the relational characteristics. Overall, the level of felt equity was found to be related to individuals’ use of, and perceptions of partners’ use of, maintenance strategies in a pattern consistent with equity theory. However, the findings varied somewhat when relying on wives’ versus husbands’ equity judgments. Moreover, self‐reported maintenance strategies as well as perceptions of partners’ maintenance strategies predicted the relational characteristics of control mutuality, liking, and commitment.
Intercultural communication apprehension (ICA) is conceptualized as the fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated interaction with people of different groups, especially cultural and ethnic and/or racial groups. Based on this conceptualization, two scales were developed, including the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension (PRICA) and the Personal Report of Interethnic Communication Apprehension (PRECA). In Study I, the initial scales consisted of 16 items each and were administered to 396 participants. Factor analyses reveal a unidimensional factor structure and high reliabilities for both scales. Construct validity measures were also administered in Study I. In Study II, modified versions of both scales along with criterion‐related validity items were administered to 369 participants. Factor analyses confirmed the unidimensional factor structure of both scales. Responses to the predictor items indicate that both scales possess criterion‐related validity.
This study examined the scope of Berger and Calabrese's (1975) uncertainty reduction theory of initial interaction. Multivariate analysis of covariance was employed to examine the influence of attitude similarity (similar vs. dissimilar), cultural similarity (intracultural vs. intercultural communication), culture (Japan vs. the United States), and self‐monitoring (covariate) on intent to interrogate, intent to self‐disclose, intent to display nonverbal affiliative expressiveness, attraction, and attributional confidence. Results indicate that each of the independent variables influences the set of dependent variables. The findings support Hall's (1976) high‐low context culture distinction and prior research on self‐monitoring, as well as supporting and beginning to identify boundary conditions for uncertainty reduction theory.
Comparison of communication apprehension levels of Puerto Rican college students with U.S. mainland students indicate the Puerto Ricans are much less apprehensive about communication in their native language than are the U.S. students but are much more apprehensive about communication in English. Additional findings indicate that apprehension in a first language is a much better predictor of apprehension in a second language than is self‐perceived competence in that second language. It is suggested that the problem of communication apprehension must be addressed by second language teachers if students are to be taught to be truly bilingual.
Most relationships are not set on trajectories toward intimacy; instead, communication is used to maintain relationships. This study determines how intimacy level of the relationship, partner's relationship intent, and gender affect the communication strategies selected to maintain relationships at particular levels. A factor analysis of Ayres's relationship maintenance instrument supports Knapp's explanation of movement occurring within and between relational stages in order to stabilize a relationship at a given level. Although relationship type did not affect the maintenance strategies chosen, partner's relationship intent and the sex‐composition of the dyad had a significant impact upon the selection of directness strategies. While significant differences were found only on the directness scale, individuals are not necessarily more likely to select directness strategies than balance or avoidance tactics. More elaborate investigation in this area may isolate the variables that are predictors of relationship maintenance strategy choices and may examine their relative success in stabilizing the relationship.
Examined levels of communication apprehension among 209 Japanese university students in speaking Japanese and English. Questionnaire results indicate that there was extremely high communication apprehension in these Ss in both languages. Implications for 2nd language instruction are drawn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the relationship between ethnic background and emergent cultural competencies in friendships in the US. A discursive, interpretive perspective served to delineate normative dimensions in competent intra- and intercultural friendships involving Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Anglo Americans. Competence was approached as a problematic set of predicaments in which interlocutors co-construct identities and coordinate action. Similarities and differences in competencies were pinpointed through identification of norms (appropriate conduct for ethnic identity, gender, and relationship) as well as outcomes (the resulting feelings about self, other, the topic, and the friendship). The competencies identified in this study are consistent with core symbols identified in the discourse of friends in previous studies, in that Latinos emphasized relational support, Asian Americans emphasized a caring, positive exchange of ideas, African Americans emphasized respect and acceptance, and Anglo Americans emphasized recognizing the needs of the individual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
African American and European American perceptions of interethnic communication effectiveness were compared. Interethnic communication was conceptualized as a problematic event (perceptually organized into communication issues). Hypotheses proposed that ethnic identity would predict conversational issues which, in turn, would predict satisfaction. Nine issues salient to communication were derived from previous research: powerlessness, stereotyping, acceptance, goal attainment, authenticity, understanding, expressiveness, shared worldview, relational solidarity, and relaxation. The hypotheses were tested for differences between African Americans and European Americans with additional tests far relationship closeness. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the factorial validity of the issues and indicated that identity had both political and social dimensions for African Americans but only a single dimension for European Americans. Path analysis did not support the causal ordering. However, when the causal link between identity and issues was eliminated and satisfaction was regressed on the entire set of predictor variables the multiple Rs were above .91 for both ethnic groups. Different issues were associated with satisfaction for each group and for close and distant relationships for each ethnic group.
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