| The study drew from Communication Game and Constructivist theories of communication and involved a comparative analysis of the relative influences of communication goals, and individual differences in interpersonal construct system development (i.e., cognitive differentiation) and interpersonal orientations (i.e., self-monitoring) on message production, and the social cognitive consequences of message production upon individuals' memories and evaluations of person-related stimulus information. Results partially replicated and extended previous Communication Game, Constructivist, and Self-Monitoring research, e.g., individuals modified stimulus information to express evaluative agreement with the message-recipient's attitude toward the person described, and message production subsequently influenced individual's memories and evaluations of the information to some extent; however, individuals high in cognitive differentiation and high self-monitors tended to address different message recipient characteristics relevant to different communication goals more so than other groups of individuals. Moreover, subjects' responses indicated that their perceptions of their communication goals might be quite different from what has been assumed to be their goals in previous studies. This latter finding questioned some of the basic assumptions of the Communication Game perspective and its methodological paradigm. Taken together, results suggested the need to examine more closely the relationship between individual differences and communication goals as well as the relationship between communication goals and communication rules. Results were discussed in terms of their implications for Communication Game, Constructivist, and Self-Monitoring theories and research. |
