ERIC Number: ED157111
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1978-Apr
Pages: 50
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Disconfirming (Double Bind) Effects of Incongruent Multi-Channel Messages.
Rummel, Lynda; And Others
In an experiment designed to explore the immediate disconfirming effects of strong and mild incongruent messages and the impact of certain contextual constraints on disconfirming effects, 192 male undergraduates evaluated videotaped examples of strong and mild sarcasm and joking and the complementary congruent forms of straightforward positive and negative remarks for confusion and discomfort, in eight contexts. Booklets containing descriptions of a situation and scales for evaluating the comfort and clarity of videotaped messages were distributed to the subjects. Statistically significant context effects were obtained only for the strong joking and mild sarcasm messages. Mild incongruent messages (mild joking and mild sarcasm) were least clear. Strong joking, mild positive, and mild negative messages were more clear than the mild incongruent messages, but less clear than strong positive, strong negative, and strong sarcasm. It can be concluded that the context did not have a meaningful influence on subjects' responses to multichannel messages. (Eight tables are included.) (JF)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: N/A
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Central States Speech Association (Chicago, Illinois, April 13-15, 1978)