Perceptions of communication behavior associated with relationship terms

Abstract

Individuals use a variety of terms to designate the nature of their relationships with others, e.g., friend, lover, pal, etc. Although expectations for certain types of communicative behavior surely accompany the use of these terms, it was not clear what their communicative referents were. The first phase of this study obtained intimacy‐scaled ratings from 100 subjects to 62 relationship terms. Then more than 1,000 subjects ranging in age from 12 to 90 from eight locations across the United States responded to the six relationship words selected (lover, best friend, friend, pal, colleague, acquaintance) in terms of associated communicative behavior. The three factors central to these responses (personalness, synchrony, difficulty) were then used to analyze the relationship terms varied according to the gender, age, and marital status of the subject and the composition of a relationship to a specific other by gender. Among other findings: All age groups perceived increases in both personalized and synchronized communication as the terms rated became more intimate. Difficult communication was perceived as a part of both intimate and nonintimate relationships. Personalized communication was associated more with female and male‐female relationships than with male relationships. Younger respondents (below age 22) perceived more personalized and synchronized communication in all relationships than did those over age 41.