Message Locus and Message Content

Abstract

Results of several studies developed from a process model of coorientation are discussed and summarized. In the process model described, four cognitive states are defined in terms of the accuracy with which each person in a dyad perceives the similarity between his own orientation and the orientation of the other. Two new studies are reported: (1) allowing options in the locus of communication behavior, and (2) analyzing the degree of "self-disclosure" in messages generated with respect to different cognitive states. The frequency of messages with a locus external to the dyad was low and did not vary across coorientational states; in the second study, variance in self-disclosure was not explained by coorientational states. The new studies did, however, provide replication of previously demonstrated regularities in information giving and seeking behaviors. While seeking and giving of information have been found to vary predictably, the content of communication behavior has not.