Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

variables for a single person. Now the word “variable” simply refers to anything that can vary from
person-to-person: for example, your height, weight, public speaking anxiety, best friend relationship
satisfaction, etc. There are thousands of possible variables that social scientists studying interpersonal
communication can examine. However, we generally don’t examine a single variable in isolation. We’re
more likely to examine two or more variables.
To help us examine the idea of relationships, we’re going to use an article from Melissa Wanzer
and Melanie Booth-Butterfield that examine someone’s “humor orientation.” 3 The variable “humor
orientation” is measured by a survey, which you can learn more about on Steven Booth-Butterfield’s
website. Humor orientation is the use of jokes and joking during interactions with other people. In this
study, the researchers had Person 1 complete the Humor Orientation (HO) Scale (self-reported HO)
and had Person 2 complete the HO about Person 1 (other-reported HO).
Positive
One of the first significant findings in this study was a positive relationship between someone’s perception
of another person’s humor orientation (other-reported HO) and their popularity (social attractiveness).
The term “positive relationship” here simply means that as someone’s score on the HO measure went up
(people were seen as using more jokes and joking during their interactions with others), the more popular
they were viewed by other people. In a positive relationship, the opposite is also true. People who were
not viewed as using jokes and joking during their interactions were viewed as less popular by others. In
essence, in a positive relationship as scores on one measure go up, the scores on the other measure go
up. As scores on one measure go down, then scores on the other measure go down.
Negative
The second type of relationship we find using statistics is called a negative relationship. A negative
relationship occurs when scores on one variable go up and scores on the second variable go down. In the
Wanzer and Booth-Butterfield study, the researchers found that people who viewed themselves as having
a strong humor orientation (higher scores on the HO scale) reported lower levels of loneliness. As scores
for someone’s HO went up, then scores for reported loneliness went down. Again, the opposite is also
true. As someone’s HO went down, their scores for reported loneliness went up.
No Relationship
The final type of relationship regularly found in research by interpersonal communication scholars is
no relationship between two variables. In essence, not finding a relationship between variables means
that, as scores on one measure went up, scores on the second measure didn’t go up or down at all. Most
interesting in the Wanzer and Booth-Butterfield study was when they found no relationship between
an individual’s rating of their HO (self-reported HO) and someone else’s perception of their social
attractiveness (popularity). In essence, you can think you’re the funniest person in the world, but it will
not relate to someone else’s perceptions of social attractiveness.
Note of Caution
Now that we’ve explained the three basic types of relationships commonly discussed in interpersonal
communication research, we do want to raise one seriously important point. Correlation does not equal
causation. The statistical test that we commonly use to examine relationships is called a correlation.
Interpersonal Communication
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