An Examination of Information Processing in Initial Interaction through Linking Input, Structure, and Outcome: Effects of Preinteraction Expectancies on Interpersonal Attraction and Interaction Structure [1] (1988)
Doctoral advisor
Dean E. Hewes
Other advisors
Robert W. Norton, Master's Thesis
Robert Hopper, Undergraduate Thesis, UT-Austin
James M. Honeycutt (born 1958) is an American academic who is currently a lecturer on the faculty of Organizational Behavior, Coaching, and Consulting at the UT-DallasNaveen Jindal School of Management.[2] A Distinguished ProfessorEmeritus of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University,[3][4] he is best known for his Theory of Imagined Interactions (IIs).
[5][note 1][6]IIs are a form of social cognition in which an individual imagines and therefore indirectly experiences themselves in anticipated and/or past communicative encounters[note 2] with others.[7]IItheory appears in communication encyclopedias,[8][7][6][5] handbooks [9][10] and graduate[11][12] and undergraduate textbooks.[13][14][note 3]
Early life and education
Honeycutt was born and raised in Dallas, Texas in 1956 to Frank and Arletha Honeycutt.[note 4][15] He attended Lloyd V. Berkner High School,[16] and graduated from UT-Austin in 1979, with a B.S. in interpersonal communication and a minor in social psychology. His honors thesis, advised by Robert Hooper, was "Matching of Interruptions, Talk Duration, Silence in Symmetrical and Complementary Dyads Based on Predispositions Toward Verbal Behavior".[17]
Honeycutt graduated in 1981 with an M.S. in interpersonal communication with a minor in statistics and research methods from Purdue University. His Master's thesis, chaired by Robert W. Norton, was "Relative Commitment of an Individual and the Discriminability of Communicator Styles Used in the Marital Relationship". He received his Ph.D. from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1987. His dissertation, "An Examination of Information Processing in Initial Interaction through Linking Input, Structure, and Outcome: Effects of Preinteraction Expectancies on Interpersonal Attraction and Interaction Structure", chaired by Dean E. Hewes, led tofive publications in peer-reviewed journals.[15]
Academic career and teaching
Honeycutt was hired as an assistant professor at LSU in 1986, He received tenure and was promoted to associate professor in 1991, full professor in 2001, and received the honorific Distinguished Professor in 2012.[18] In 1998, he served briefly as a visiting professor at UCSB. He retired from LSU as distinguished professor emeritus in 2019, and returned to his hometown of Dallas, Texas where he is a lecturer at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Honeycutt founded the Matchbox Interaction Lab at LSU in 2007 where individuals, couples, and groups participating in research as subjects discuss topics which are usually promoted by researchers, who then leave the room. Researchers observe the interactions in the lab through one way glass, in addition to full audio and video recording capabilities.[19] If the research requires physiological data, the lab has the capability to record variables like heart rate and galvanic skin response. The name "Matchbox" was coined by students because when fiery conflict interactions occur between subjects based on the researchers' prompt, it's like the researcher lit a match that "sparked" the conflict.[19]
Research
Honeycutt's original work focused on the conflict-linkage function of IIs, which explains why arguments are so persistent in interpersonal relationships. Individuals may ruminate about conflicts through recalling prior arguments while also imagining anticipated conflict in future interactions. Imagining conflict interactions not only keeps the argument fresh in the mind, but can cause physiological arousal and stress reactions.[10] Over time, II theory has expanded to encompass other functions and has been applied in multiple contexts.[7]
Honors
He was honored as an Outstanding Scholar in Communication Theory by the Southern States Communication Association in 2013.[20] The National Communication Association's Social Cognition Division awarded his first book on Imagined Interactions [21] the Distinguished Book Award in 2006.
Honeycutt, James. M.; Vickery, A. J.; & Hatcher, L. C. (2015).The daily use of imagined interaction features [2]. Communication Monographs 82 (2): 201–223.
Eldredge, J. H., Honeycutt, J. M., White, R. C., & Standige, M. (2016). On the functions of imagined interactions in night dreams [3]. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 35, 244–257. doi:10.1177/0276236615595231
Honeycutt, J. M. (2004). interaction conflict-linkage theory: Explaining the persistence and resolution of interpersonal conflict in everyday life Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 23, 3-25. doi:[https://doi.org/10.2190%2F240J-1VPK-K86D-1JL8 10.2190/240J-1VPK-K86D-1JL8. (review article)
Honeycutt, J. M., Cantrill, J. G., & Greene, R. W. (1989). Memory structures for relational escalation: A cognitive test of the sequencing of relational actions and stages. [4]. Human Communication Research, 16, 62-90. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.1989.tb00205.x
Honeycutt, J. M.; Woods, B. L.; & Fontenot, K. (1993) The endorsement of communication conflict rules as a function of engagement, marriage, and marital ideology. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 10 (2): 285–304. . [5]
Giles, H., Fortman, J., Honeycutt, J. M. & Oti, H. (2003). Future selves and others: A lifespan and cross-cultural perspective. Communication Reports, 16, 1-22. doi: 10.1080/08934210309384486 [6]
McCann, R. M., & Honeycutt, J. M. (2006). A cross-cultural analysis of imagined interaction]. Human Communication Research, 32, 274-301.doi: 10.1111%2Fj.1468-2958.2006.00276.x [7]
McCann, R. M., Honeycutt, J. M., & Keaton, S. A. (2010). Toward greater specificity in cultural value analyses: The interplay of intrapersonal communication affect and cultural values in Japan, Thailand, and the United States. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 39, 157-172. doi:10.1080/17475759.2010.534862 [8]
Honeycutt, J. M., & McCann, R.M. (2008). Predicting intrapersonal communication satisfaction on the basis of imagined interactions in the Pacific Rim]. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 37, 25-43. doi:10.1080/17475750802077362 [9]
Honeycutt, J. M. (2020). On the correspondence between meta-emotions, cardiovascular arousal and imagined interaction discrepancy]. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 6, 82–91. [10]
Honeycutt, J. M., Frost, J. K., & Krawietz, C. E. (2019).Applying signal detection theory to conflict escalation as a consequence of victimization with physiological arousal covariates. Journal of Aggression, Conflict, and Peace Research. doi:10.1108/JACPR-10-2018-0386 [11]
^IIs are distinct from fantasy due to their focus on actual or plausible interactions
^ This undergraduate text uses simplified language. Ch.10 refers to "imagined conversations", citing Honeycutt's imagined interactions research (endnote 21). Ch.9 indicates "some research suggests that serial conflicts persist when people rehearse interactions in their minds prior to engaging in them," citing Honeycutt's II conflict-linkage research (endnote 6).[14]
