This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Planalp, S. Articles by Benson, A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Friends' and Acquaintances' Conversations I: Perceived Differences

University of Colorado

Anne Benson

University of Colorado

Although interaction and intimacy are widely recognized as key concepts in understanding personal relationships, comprehensive theories of differences between intimate and non-intimate relationships have been grounded primarily in self-reports of general communication patterns rather than in observed interaction. This study was designed to investigate what observable cues in conversations distinguish friends' from acquaintances' conversations. Excerpts from 36 conversations were audio taped and played to observers who judged whether the conversations were between friends or acquaintances and what cues they used to make their judgments. Those cues served as the basis for an inductively derived category system. Major findings were that judges were 80 percent accurate and their judgments were based on a wide variety of cues. About half of the cues that could be coded reliably fell into three categories: mutual knowledge, intimacy of self-disclosure and relaxation. The other half, however, were dispersed across 27 other types of cues. Implications of these findings are then drawn for several existing theories and for further research.

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 9, No. 4, 483-506 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/0265407592094002


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. L. Alexander Relationship resources for coping with unfulfilled standards in dating relationships: Commitment, satisfaction, and closeness Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, October 1, 2008; 25(5): 725 - 747. [Abstract] [PDF]

				L. K. Knobloch and D. H. Solomon Relational Uncertainty and Relational Information Processing: Questions without Answers? Communication Research, June 1, 2005; 32(3): 349 - 388. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. LOIS Managing Emotions, Intimacy, and Relationships in a Volunteer Search and Rescue Group Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, April 1, 2001; 30(2): 131 - 179. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. P. Dillard, S. R. Wilson, K. J. Tusing, and T. A. Kinney Politeness Judgments in Personal Relationships Journal of Language and Social Psychology, September 1, 1997; 16(3): 297 - 325. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Metts Three Questions for Consideration Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, November 1, 1995; 12(4): 607 - 612.

				B. L. Fredrickson Socioemotional Behavior at the End of College Life Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, May 1, 1995; 12(2): 261 - 276. [Abstract]

				S. Sprecher and S. Duck Sweet Talk: The Importance of Perceived Communication for Romantic and Friendship Attraction Experienced During a Get-Acquainted Date Pers Soc Psychol Bull, August 1, 1994; 20(4): 391 - 400. [Abstract]

				S. Planalp Friends' and Acquaintances' Conversations II: Coded Differences Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, August 1, 1993; 10(3): 339 - 354. [Abstract]