Interpersonal influence refers to the strategies and tactics relational partners use to establish, reinforce, or alter each other's cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. It is argued that in close relationships, influence is used to attain instrumental goals, manage the relationship, and maintain desired identities. Six strategic categories, involving 36 tactics, were created to assess influence during the videotaped disagreements of fifty couples (N = 100). Correlational results suggest that: (1) relational partners are more persuasive when using strategies of other-support and content-validation and less persuasive when using content-invalidation, (2) greater satisfaction is experienced when one's partner uses other-support strategies and does not use accusations, and (3) relational message interpretations of equality, immediacy, informality, and similarity are associated with content-validation and other-support strategies; while interpretations of dominance, lack of immediacy, and lack of equality are associated with content-invalidation and other-accusations. An exploratory effort is made to determine which nonverbal behaviors are most closely associated with verbal strategies and how they predict outcome and global measures.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 243-253). Available also in digital form from UMI Company.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1986. / Typescript. Bibliography: leaves 141-144.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / 1 electronic text (153 p.) : digital, PDF file. Title from title screen. Jaye Atkinson, committee chair; Cynthia Hoffner, Yuki Fujioka, Merrill Morris, Elisabeth Burgess, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Mar. 26, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-135).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a brief communication and problem-solving skills training program for premarital couples. The study proposed that couples who participated in the training program would demonstrate significant increases in verbal facilitative and problem-solving behaviors as well as in relationship satisfaction. The research design was a pretest-posttest control group design. Couples were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups; there were 10 couples in each group. The experimental treatment was a one-day workshop which trained couples in eight specific listener and speaker skills and a four-step problem-solving procedure. The training methodology included lecture, discussion, modeling, behavior rehearsal, and feedback. The instruments used were the Marital Interaction Coding System (MICS), the Premarital Communication and Problem Solving Rating Scale (PCPSRS), and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). Data analysis included analysis of covariance and correlated t tests. The results indicated that couples who participated in the training did not significantly differ at posttest from the control couples on any of the measures. The experimental couples did not show significant gains from pre- to posttest on any of the measures; however, six control couples who participated in the training after posttesting did show a significant increase in their use of problem-solving statements at the time of follow-up testing. The researcher-constructed PCPSRS was found to correlate positively and significantly with the DAS. A consumer satisfaction questionnaire found that all the participants who received training reacted favorably to this experience. Limitations of the study are noted and recommendations for further research are made.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-86). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99299

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 55 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-49).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.