LOGICAL FORCE AND TEMPORAL PERSPECTIVE IN SYSTEMS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

• Main Author: LAFLEUR, GARY BERNARD
• Language: ENG
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 1982
• Subjects: Communication
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI8210342

The major purpose of this work is to extend a general theory of interpersonal communication recently articulated by Vernon Cronen and W. Barnett Pearce, known as "The Coordinated Management of Meaning." The nature of this extension is to revise the models of that theory so that it might better represent and explain the generation of interpersonal logics of action. Toward this end, the present paper (1) describes a heuristic model of the complexities and flexibilities of persons' rules for meaning and action, (2) offers a revised measurement model for the determination of interpersonal logical necessities, (3) articulates a more complex view of the dimensions of temporal perspectives than has been previously described and (4) suggests alternative explanations for the interpersonal generation of unwanted but repetitive dyadic conversations. To explore these several theoretical revisions this paper also reports on case studies of five dyads who reported having experienced such unwanted and repetitive patterns. The findings of this exploratory study generally support each of the heuristic theoretical extensions developed in this paper.