THE EFFECT OF CONVERSATIONAL STRATEGIES IN VIDEOTAPE MODELING ON OBSERVER ATTRACTION.

摘要

This study was built upon a study by Scott & Edelstein (1981). Five videotaped conversational styles were presented by male and female models, and the effects of conversational style on date initiation by opposite sex partners was compared. Strategies consisted of: (1) Positive Self-Presentation, (2) Other-Enhancement, (3) Combined Strategy, (4) Incompetent Strategy, and (5) Neutral Strategy. The subjects were 150 male and female undergraduates, divided into ten groups in a 2 x 5 completely randomized factorial design. Each group of subjects was exposed to only one strategy. Male subjects observed a female model version of the assigned strategy, and female subjects observed the male model. The subjects then filled out interpersonal attraction and dating potential questionnaires.; Responses to items on the Interpersonal Rating Scale were analyzed using a 2 x 5 multivariate analysis of variance. This was followed by independent analyses of variance and Newman-Keuls post-hoc comparisons for each item. As was expected, the Incompetent Strategy was rated lower on 9 of the 13 items than Positive Self-Presentation and Other-Enhancement Strategies on most of the items. Contrary to prediction, however, the experimental strategies did not consistently elicit more attraction than the Neutral Strategy, and the Combined Strategy was not more successful in this respect than Positive Self-Presentation or Other-Enhancement.; An Analysis of Variance was then performed on the summed scores of the rating scale. The results were similar, except that for the male model, the experimental strategies were more effective than the Neutral Strategy. The same trend was not found for the female model. This trend suggests that for women a mere increase in verbalization may be sufficient to ensure an effective interaction with men. Overall, it was concluded that Positive Self-Presentation, Other-Enhancement, and Combined Strategy are not significantly different from each other in effect, but are significantly more effective in eliciting a positive response than the Incompetent Strategy. This implies that either Positive Self-Presentation or Other-Enhancement are useful in social skills training, but no additional advantage may be gained by combining the two strategies.