The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the personality characteristics of dominance and submissiveness on the communication patterns of women in mixed-sex dyads. / A criterion group design was used, with the criterion of dominance determined by the Dominance (Do) and Dependency (Dy) scales on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Forty female college students were randomly assigned (within the classification of dominant or submissive) to mixed-sex dyads with either dominant or submissive male confederates. Four groups were thus formed which included: Group 1, dominant female subjects with dominant male confederates; Group 2, dominant female subjects with submissive male confederates; Group 3, submissive female subjects with dominant male confederates; and Group 4, submissive female subjects with submissive male confederates. A 2 x 2 factorial design was employed in the analysis of the data. The dyads were given an exercise on reducing campus crime to generate data on their communication patterns and attitudes toward the process, the outcome, and their partners in the exercise. Audiotapes of the discussions were analyzed using the Allred Interaction Analysis (AIA). / The results indicated that submissive women with submissive partners used a smaller percentage (p < .05) of vertical statements (18%) than did dominant women interacting with dominant partners (34%) or with submissive partners (35%). There was also a significant difference (p <. 001) in whose choices were used first the joint ranking of the best ideas for reducing campus crime. In those dyads containing a dominant man, almost all (19 of 20) chose the man's ideas first. In dyads containing a submissive man, however, both partners' choices were selected (13 of 20 used the woman's choices first). There was a significant subject by confederate interaction effect (p < .01) regarding the subjects' expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the discussion. Groups 2, 3, and 4 (dominant-submissive, submissive-dominant, submissive-submissive) expressed greater satisfaction with the outcome than did those subjects in Group 1 (dominant-dominant). The results of Factor III (Activity) and Factor IV (Dynamism) of the semantic differential form substantiated that the experimental conditions were met by the confederates. / Implications for both future research and practice with individuals, couples, and families were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-03, Section: B, page: 1236. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74454 |
| Contributors | MARR, JEAN A., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 135 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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