The Effects of Utterance Balance in a Conversation on a Neutral Observer's Impressions of the Conversants and the Conversational Process

Abstract

A dyadic conversation is a dynamic interaction between conversants, which may influence the impressions about the conversants and the conversational process. Focusing on the reciprocity of conversational utterances as a pattern of interpersonal interaction (Burgoon et al., 1995), the present research examined the effects of utterance balance on neutral observers' impressions of the conversants and the conversation itself. Neutral observers' impressions were examined because they are more detached observers than the conversants themselves. In Experiment 1, a naturally occuring conversation was used as a stimulus. A stimulus in Experiment 2 was a conversation between confederates who talked about a topic given by the experimenter. In both experiments, utterance balance did not affect observers' impressions about the conversants; however, the conversation was evaluated more positively when the conversational utterances were balanced than when they were not. A future study should examine the conversants' own impressions of each other.View full abstract