Plans and the Initiation of Social Relationships

Abstract

Reseaivchers interested in cognitive approaches to relational communication have typically sought explanations for how cognition influences the interpretation of social actions. Few attempts have been made to understand how cognitive structures guide action production. This study extends the work of such researchers by demonstrating the relationship of plans to two social outcomes, loneliness and shyness. College students described how they would request a date from a member of the opposite sex and how they would ingratiate themselves to a new roommate. Each plan was judged for its effectiveness fie., likelihood of success) and analyzedfor the types of actions represented within it. As hypothesized, loneliness and shyness were inversely related to plan effectiveness in the date-requesting domain for males but notforfemales. Loneliness and shyness were inversely related to plan effectiveness in the roommate ingratiation situation for both sexes. Results are discussed in terms of their implicationsfor theories of planning and action production in social interactions. C ommunication researchers have begun to recognize the importance of cognitions about self and others in the understanding and production of communication in face-toface encounters in general, and the development of relationships in

Constrained rationality: Situational influences on information acquisition plans and tactics

“…Berger's (1988aBerger's ( , 1988bBerger & Bell, 1988;) recent work on conversational planning demonstrates the currently ambivalent state of research opinion regarding the effects of planning knowledge on conversational performance. An investigation of compliance-gaining plans (Berger, 1988b) revealed that persons who could quickly access plan alternatives (i.e., alternative persuasive arguments) were more fluent in their presentation of persuasive messages.…”

Breaking the rules: Personal control increases women’s direct relationship initiation

“…When asked to describe how they would initiate a romantic encounter with an opposite-sex partner, men are more likely than women to do so directly (e.g., by clearly asking for a date (Berger & Bell, 1988;Clark et al, 1999) rather than relying on more indirect strategies. The same pattern is evident in examinations of actual dating behavior.…”

The role of cognitive “performance orientation” in communication anxiety

“…Recent work by Ayres (1992) confirms that high CA's have negative and disrupted information processing both when expecting to give a speech and after the speech has been completed. In a similar vein Berger and Bell (1989) found that high anxious students had more difficulty in developing social plans to approach or initiate contact with someone, than did their low anxious counterparts. Indeed it is not uncommon to hear anxious people say they worry about not having the right "opening line" or that something they say will "come out wrong."…”