Conversation development patterns in small group interactions

Abstract

This study examined the speakers’ utterance tendencies from the perspective of conversational development within small groups. Forty-eight undergraduates (18-men and 30-women) participated in an experimental setting consisting of a small-group conversation, varying task conditions by discussion, or casual conversation. Three same-sex participants who were strangers to each other were allocated into each small group, and were asked to either deliberate and reach conclusion on an assigned matter, or to just become familiarized with each other, each session lasting 18 minutes. For each conversation task, principle components analysis was conducted to determine conversational development patterns. Multiple linear regression was conducted on each factor, to examine what personal dispositions affected the conversation pattern. As a result, it was found that extroversion and expressiveness influenced active conversation in the discussion condition, while little connection between personal traits and conversation characteristics were evident in the casual conversation condition. Discussion was conducted on the relationship between dispositions and utterance patterns in each task.View full abstract