Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

gender (feminine males, masculine females) were labeled cross-sex typed. Lastly, some individuals exhibited
both feminine and masculine traits, and these individuals were called androgynous.
Virginia Richmond and James McCroskey opted to discard the biological sex-biased language of
“masculine” and “feminine” for the more neutral language of “assertiveness” and “responsiveness.” 87
The combination of assertiveness and responsiveness was called someone’s
, which emphasizes that Bem’s notions of gender are truly representative of communicator
traits and not one’s biological sex. Before talking about the two factors of sociocommunicative
orientation, please take a few minutes to complete the Sociocommunicative Orientation Scale (http://
www.jamescmccroskey.com/measures/sco.htm). 88
Responsiveness
refers to an individual who “considers other’s feelings, listens to what others have to
say, and recognizes the needs of others.” 89 If you filled out the Sociocommunicative Orientation Scale,
you would find that the words associated with responsiveness include the following: helpful, responsive
to others, sympathetic, compassionate, sensitive to the needs of others, sincere, gentle, warm, tender, and
friendly.
Assertiveness
refers to individuals who “can initiate, maintain, and terminate conversations, according
to their interpersonal goals.” 90 If you filled out the Sociocommunicative Orientation Scale, you would
find that the words associated with assertiveness include the following: defends own beliefs, independent,
forceful, has a strong personality, assertive, dominant, willing to take a stand, acts as a leader, aggressive,
and competitive.
Versatility
Communication always exists within specific contexts, so picking a single best style to communicate in
every context simply can’t be done because not all patterns of communication are appropriate or effective
in all situations. As such, McCroskey and Richmond added a third dimension to the mix that they called
. 91 In essence, individuals who are competent communicators know when it is both appropriate
and effective to use both responsiveness and assertiveness. The notion of pairing the two terms against
each other did not make sense to McCroskey and Richmond because both were so important. Other
terms scholars have associated with versatility include “adaptability, flexibility, rhetorical sensitivity, and
style flexing.” 92 The opposite of versatility was also noted by McCroskey and Richmond, who saw such
terms as dogmatic, rigid, uncompromising, and unyielding as demonstrating the lack of versatility.
Sociocommunicative Orientation and Interpersonal Communication
Sociocommunicative orientation has been examined in several studies that relate to interpersonal communication.
In a study conducted by Brian Patterson and Shawn Beckett, the researchers sought to see
the importance of sociocommunicative orientation and how people repair relationships. 93 Highly assertive
individuals were found to take control of repair situations. Highly responsive individuals, on the other
hand, tended to differ in their approaches to relational repair, depending on whether the target was perceived
as assertive or responsive. When a target was perceived as highly assertive, the responsive individual
tended to let the assertive person take control of the relational repair process. When a target was
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Interpersonal Communication