"Imagined interactions," which refer to a cognitive process whereby individuals imagine themselves having conversations with significant others, captures a dimension of intrapersonal communication barely understood by communication researchers. To examine this multifunctional concept, a study considered the role of "imagined interactions" in message selection and interpretation and in interpersonal relationships. Seventy subjects, students at a large southern university, ranging in age from 17 to 62 with 22 being the mean age, responded to a survey and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Results indicated that: (1) imagined interactions tend to occur with romantic partners, members of the opposite-sex, and family members; (2) imagined interactions have relational significance; (3) respondents would report that the self talks more than the other in imagined interactions; (4) lonely respondents experienced less communication satisfaction and more negative emotions from their imagined interactions than nonlonely individuals; (5) many of imagined interaction topics are concerned with issues in opposite-sex relationships; and (6) imagined interactions occurred regularly with intimate partners. (Fifteen tables of data are included, and 39 references are appended.) (MS)