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In recent years a number of research investigations have examined the process whereby messages interact with communicators in producing given behavioral outcomes. Potentially, of course, virtually any communication vari able may be instrumental in producing interaction. Nevertheless, most social communication involves the influence of the "common denominators" discussed in this section: tendencies toward cognitive consistency, credibility, personality attitudinal states, processes of influence, and message variables. The pattern of much human interaction reflects the tendency of man to behave in ways that minimize the internal inconsistencies among his beliefs, feelings, actions, and interpersonal relations. In "The Concepts of Balance, Congruity, and Dissonance," Robert Zajonc explains the essential features of three theories of cognitive consistency. Human interaction is typically a function of credibility or ethos of the communicator. "A Summary of Experimental Research in Ethos" by Kenneth Andersen and Theodore Clevenger, Jr., reviews research findings which specify how perceptions of a source by a receiver influence the response to a message. Another major determinant of human interaction is the personality make-up of those engaged in communication. In "An Overview of Persuasibility Research," Irving Janis and Carl Hovland demonstrate how personality factors influence one's response to varying forms of social in fluence. Also discussed in the essay are the importance of pre-dispositional factors in personality-those accounting for individual differences in the observed effects of communication when all communication stimuli are held constant. Another important factor in human interaction is the attitudinal stand of the receiver of messages. Attitudes may be generally defined as pre-dispositional responses, the internal "feelings" and cognitions which supposedly govern overt action. But messages may elicit disparate responses for individuals who take similar attitudinal stands on a topic. In "The Functional Approach to the Study of Attitudes" Daniel Katz suggests that the explanation for varying responses to messages may lie with the particular functions which attitudes have for those who hold them. Most people appear to change their minds readily on topics that are of no vital concern to them; but on issues which are highly relevant or ego-involving they seem to be far more resistant to change. Thus some attitudes are highly ego-involving, while others are not. The operation of ego-involvement in processes of social judgment and its importance in determining responses to messages are the objects of the essay by Roger Nebergall on "The Social Judgment-Involvement Approach to Attitude and Attitude Change." The type of influence process which is used in any given human interaction is yet another crucial factor determining behavioral outcome. Herbert Kelman, in his essay on the "Processes of Opinion Change," formulates a theoretical explanation for given forms of social influence based upon the concepts of compliance, identification, and internalization. The last factor to be examined as a determinant of interaction concerns the nature of the message itself. Arthur Cohen, in his essay on "The Communication," summarizes research findings which demonstrate how effectiveness or ineffectiveness of various patterns of organization influences the interaction and response of receivers to messages. Also in Part 4:
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