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Journal Article 1: Smart, K. L., & Featheringham, R. (2006). Developing effective interpersonal communication and discussion skills. Business Communication Quarterly, 60, 276–283.

Abstract: Regardless of the content specialty—from accounting to information systems to finance—employers view effective communication as critical to an individual’s success in today’s competitive workplace. Most business degree programs require a business communication course to help students develop communication skills needed both in getting a job and in succeeding in the workplace. In addition to traditional writing and speakng proficiency, business communication courses should also stress the less emphasized but necessary skills of listening, phone usage, meeting management, collaboration, and interpersonal communication. To provide specific help in developing interpersonal communication and discussion skills critical to success in business and society (McPherson, 2005), this article promotes effective discussion in a group setting. Specifically, this activity helps students identify and practice effective interpersonal behaviors in a professional context while exploring relevant issues confronting managers and businesses today.

Journal Article 2: Dibble, J. L., Wisner, A. M., Dobbins, L., Cacal, M., Taniguchi, E., Peyton, A., . . . Kubulins, A. (2013). Hesitation to share bad news: By-product of verbal message planning or functional communication behavior? Communication Research, 42, 213–136.

Abstract: Research on bad news delivery reveals a reliable temporal delay in the onset of the bad news message from the sender to the receiver. Two experiments utilized a false feedback test design to determine whether the delay is better accounted for by negative verbal message planning, politeness, or both. Both studies (Ns = 135 and 138) featured participant-senders who delivered either scripted or unscripted good, neutral, or bad news to a stranger. News valence, delay before response, and reluctance were measured. Both experiments supported the functional politeness explanation. Study 2 also supported the negative verbal message–planning explanation. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Journal Article 3: Burgoon, J. K., Buller, D. B., White, C. H., Afifi, W., & Buslig, A. L. S. (1999). The role of conversational involvement in deceptive interpersonal interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 669–686.

Abstract: Interpersonal Deception Theory (IDT) postulates that interactive deception differs from noninteractive deception due to combined influences of deceiver goals and social skills, mutual influence processes between sender and receiver, feedback, and interaction dynamics. An experiment tested hypotheses that (a) interactive deception displays differ from truthful ones only at the outset of interaction and approximate truthful displays over time, (b) displays are moderated by deceiver social skills, (c) deceivers adapt to receiver communication with reciprocal or compensatory displays, (d) low involvement by receivers conveys negative feedback that instigates more behavioral adjustments by deceivers than does high involvement, and (e) receivers’ postinteraction judgments of deceivers are directly related to deceiver behavioral displays. An experiment in which senders alternated between telling the truth and deceiving, and partners varied their own level of involvement, produced supportive results that have implications for the stability of, and causal mechanisms underlying, deception displays and interpersonal communication generally.