The influence of communicative competence upon roommate satisfaction

Previous research has found significant correlations between communication skills and the quality of one's roommate relationship. The causal direction of these correlations, however, has been uncertain. It could be as easily argued that roommate satisfaction leads to communicative competence as communicative competence results in satisfaction with one's roommate. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between communicative competence and roommate satisfaction via a cross‐lagged research design. Communicative competence was operationalized by the Communicative Adaptability Scale (CAS, Duran, 1983) and Communication Satisfaction with the Com‐Sat measure (Hecht, 1978). Results indicate that communicative adaptability is a causal factor in roommate satisfaction. The causal relationships of the specific dimensions of the CAS to roommate satisfaction are discussed as well as implications of these findings for future investigations.