THE PROCESS OF VERBAL ACTIVITY IN DYADIC COMMUNICATION AND MANIFEST ANXIETY

Abstract

The present study was an attempt to provide data as to relationship between the level of manifest anxiety of each subject and their verbal activity in a dyadic communication situation. The subjects communicated with each other by their verbal activities only.
Thirty six female students, tested by a modified form of Taylor's manifest anxiety scale (MAS) served as Ss. The Ss were divided into three groups; H (high anxious) -M (middle anxious), M-M and L (low anxious) -M. Each group included six dyads.
The conditions of acquaintance permitted face-to-face contact and no-acquaintances were introduced in the experiment.
The main results were as follows:
1. It was a general trend that verbal activity increased with the passage of time of dyadic communication in the H-M and L-M groups, while in the M-M group, the initial level of activity was maintained for all sessions.
The interrelations among the initial levels of verbal activity of the three groups were M-M>L-M>H-M. But, this changed to L-M>M-M>H-Mwith the passage of several sessions. In regard to the amount of verbal activity of each subject in H-M, L-M groups, the results were H>M, and L<M in each.
2. The acquaintance condition had the effect of decreasing the verbal activity differences between the two subjects in each dyad, while the tendency was not clear in the M-M groups.
It might be stated that the presence or absence of discrepancy in the levels of manifest anxity between the two subjects in each dyad caused either an “imbalance” or a “balance” state.
From this standpoint, the amounts of verbal activity indyadic communication were regarded as potencies for releasing tension between subjects.
Further, a positive correlation was shown between the levels of manifest anxiety and verbal activities. It was considered to be consistent with the hypothesis of manifest anxiety as drive, or the hypothesis of anxiety as arousal.