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VARIATIONS IN THE PATTERNS OF RESPONDENT EXPRESSIONS OF RELATIONAL CONTROL AS A CONSEQUENCE OF DIFFERENCES IN RHETORICAL SENSITIVITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF DECISION MAKING GROUPS
Abstract
Rhetorical Sensitivity describes the attitude toward encoding related to need satisfaction. Nonsensitive persons, termed Noble Selves or Rhetorical Reflectors, are believed to concentrate on satisfying their own needs, or those of others, while Rhetorically Sensitive persons search for means of mutual need satisfaction. This research attempted to determine if this attitudinal difference was behaviorally manifested. Subjects were administered RHETSEN II, a scale measuring their attitude toward encoding, and assigned to five or six-person groups. Groups set and met goals over a five week period, during which their meetings were tape recorded. Because relational control is both a significant interpersonal need, and is reflected in the sensitivity concept, the system for coding behavior categorized messages into one of three control vectors: up, a message to gain relational control; across, a message to neutralize control; or down, a message to yield control. Data were matrixed by speaker and vector, and analyzed using a Minimum Information Discrimination Statistic. Six groups were studied. In four, individuals who differed in rhetorical sensitivity differed in their behavior. In the others, conflict over control of relationships occurred and differences in behavior were not observed. In three of the four groups in which differences in behavior were observed, they were consistent with differences in rhetorical sensitivity among group members. Noble Selves, sensitive persons, and Rhetorical Reflectors differed from each other in three major ways. First, Rhetorical Reflectors were more willing to place control of relationships in the hands of others. Second, Noble Selves engaged in more symmetrical behavior, while Reflectors established more complementary relationships. Third, sensitive persons and Rhetorical Reflectors are more adaptive to differing circumstances than Noble Selves. The primary limitation on these conclusions is imposed by questions about the reliability and validity of RHETSEN II. Future research must resolve these questions.
Subject Area
Communication
Recommended Citation
RYBACKI, DONALD JAY, "VARIATIONS IN THE PATTERNS OF RESPONDENT EXPRESSIONS OF RELATIONAL CONTROL AS A CONSEQUENCE OF DIFFERENCES IN RHETORICAL SENSITIVITY AMONG THE MEMBERS OF DECISION MAKING GROUPS" (1983). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8328191.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8328191