Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 1
Running head: APPROPRIATENESS OF FACEBOOK IN RELATIONSHIP STAGES
Appropriateness of Facebook Usage in “Coming Together” Process on Knapp’s Model of
Relational Stages
Corresponding Author:
Felicity Abreu
Bryant University
1150 Douglas Pike
Smithfield, RI 02917
fabreu@bryant.edu
401-390-1713
Christine Forte
Bryant University
1150 Douglas Pike
Smithfield, RI 02917
cforte1@bryant.edu
781-789-4662
Ariana Giulford
Bryant University
1150 Douglas Pike
Smithfield, RI 02917
aguilfor@bryant.edu
718-702-7070
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 2
Abstract
This study examined the difference of appropriateness levels of Facebook behaviors between the
millennial generation and generation x based on Knapp’s “coming together” stages from
Knapp’s Relational Development model. Subjects were part of a small private northeastern
university. The objective of this study was to understand if there is a significant difference in the
2 generation’s levels of behavioral appropriateness. A Likert-scale survey measuring
appropriateness through 25 behaviors produced results from a statistical t-test supporting the
hypothesis: when compared to generation x, the millennials will found the Facebook behaviors
relating to the “coming together” stages more appropriate (millennials: M=69.93, generation x:
M=62.04).
Keywords: appropriateness, Facebook, millennial, generation x, Knapp’s Relational
Development Model, coming together stages.
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 3
Introduction
Do you often find yourself in a situation where people are constantly coming up to you,
asking you on dates? If so, you must be a rare gem. Nowadays, with the extreme usage of social
networks, specifically Facebook, we do not need to meet a face-to-face to ask someone on a date.
This, as many of us have probably noticed, is now part of the dating norm. A common question
asked is how appropriate it is to use social media at different stages in a relationship. In other
words, would we be more apt to ask someone if they have committed infidelity or say “I love
you” for the first time on Facebook? Also, would the current generation of college students find
certain SNSs more appropriate than their parents would? According to McCready (2011), we
would associate the younger generation, known as the “Millennials,” “with having easy access to
all forms of technologies” as opposed to their counterparts, Generation X (p. 12). The
Millennials may be more in touch with face-to-face communication, speaking over the telephone,
as well as more advanced technologies. We have found a gap in current research and believe it is
beneficial to examine how these separate generations deem it appropriate to use these
technologies throughout the forming stages of a romantic relationship.
Our study is specifically concerned with how Generation X and the Millennial generation
differ in their perception of appropriate usage of Facebook throughout the five sub stages of the
“coming together” stage of Knapp’s Relational Stage Model (Avtgis et al., 1998). This report
will begin by looking at scholarly literature focused on the differences of the perceptions,
attitudes and beliefs between Millennial and Generation X, the first stage of Knapp’s Relational
Stage Model (Avtgis et al., 1998), and Facebook as a social network site.
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 4
Review of Literature
SNS and Facebook
Social networking sites (SNSs) are a major medium for communicating in interpersonal
relationships. (Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 2012, p. 2). The
majority of activity on social networks consist of “viewing and posting, opinions, questions,
answers, photos, videos, personal information, and knowledge using the connectivity provided
by the community’s network platform” (Pagani, M., Hofacker, C. F., & Goldsmith, R. E., 2011).
Even more, of the social network sites available, Facebook seems to be the most popular.
(Edison Research, 2009).
The origination of Facebook was primarily intended for the use of college students (Hunt,
D., Atkin, D., & Krishnan, A. 2012, p. 187-188). With Facebook being the most popular social
networking site, more communication scholars have focused their studies on this channel; it has
been found that Facebook is used to maintain existing relationships than develop new ones
(Mansson, Meyers, 2011). With the aforementioned, we have evidence that Facebook was
primarily made for college students and used to mainly maintain existing relationships; however,
there are some users on Facebook who aren’t in college and use Facebook as a channel to
develop new relationships.
Generations
According to Holm (2012), there has been ongoing research about generational
differences over the years. Millennials are believed to be born approximately between 1980 and
2000 (Hartman, J. L., & McCambridge, J., 2011). According to McCready (2011), the
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 5
millennials are described as “techno-savvy” and have “easy access to all forms of technology (p.
12). This generation emerged into the world when technology, especially the internet, started
booming and becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life. The people of this generation
also grew up in school systems that favored and accommodated their self-esteem (Glass, A.,
2007) which explains their keen interest in technology. Without a doubt, the millennials are the
more familiar with technology than the older generations. Because of the time period and era in
which they were born, Millennials see the world differently than previous generations.
Generation X, which are the parents of the millennials, are described as being more
skeptical and practical compared to other generations; they also are more independent and seem
to adapt to a changing environment (McCready, p. 13, 2011). McCready claims this generation
was born between the years 1964 and 1980 (2011). Although millennials are extremely tech
savvy, Generation Xers also emerged into a society that computers were first introduced to. “The
most important thing to them is a work/life balance” Glass, A. (2007). This generation, although
not as tech savvy as the millennials, are aware of various technologies and are concerned with
their personal lives and work lives.
Today, the gap between the generations (also referred to the generation gap) is being
widely studied to better understand current society and how members can effectively
communicate and understand each generation. In World of Sociology, Gale (2001), the
generation gap is described as a culturally constructed idea and is believed to be affected by
social changes like technological advancements. From acknowledging the obvious “generation
gap” between the millennials and Generation X, the skills millennials possess ultimately lead us
to believe that they will find it more appropriate to use Facebook as a medium throughout
relationship stages.
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 6
H1a: The millennials are likely to deem Facebook appropriate in Knapp’s “coming
together” stages than generation X.
Relationship stages
Avtgis, West, and Anderson’s study (1998) adds an extension of Knapp’s (1978) original
relational stages model with the “creation of cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions” (p.
281). In this study, we will be focusing on the “coming together” stages of the model, which
includes Initiating, Experimenting, Intensifying, Integrating and Bonding (Avtgis, T.A., West,
D.V., Anderson, T.L., 1998, p. 281). To get a better idea of what each stage entails we must first
define the stages. In Conference Papers -- International Communication Association (2012),
“the initiating [stage] is defined as the first interaction between two individuals…the
experimenting is the next stage, wherein couples seek more in-depth information as a means of
determining whether or not a potential romantic partner would be a good fit…intensifying,
occurs when the relationship becomes less scripted…the integrating stage couples form a sense
of shared, a public relational identity…finally, couples publicly announce their relationship
formally and, sometimes, legally [in the bonding stage]” (p. 3-4). With a clearer understanding of
what occurs in each stage, we can have an idea what topics might be covered in the respective
stages. As each stage progresses to the next stage, the topics move from shallow to deeper
levels—the breadth and depth increases. This holds true to the social penetration theory coined
by psychologists Irwan Altman and Dalmas Taylor. According to Ayres, in short, this theory
says that as “[relationships] move from superficial to intimate exchange, questioning frequency
does not necessarily change but the nature of the questioning should” (1979).
Rationale
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 7
Due to the heavy usage of social networking sites, it is important to track what and how
people use it. These sites, used for many reasons, are used in a personal way for many users; so it
isn’t a surprise that relationships can be formed, maintained, and/or terminated through them.
Another interesting aspect of social networking sites are the users. There are many categories to
put users in—for instance: sex, ethnicities, religion, etc. One category that was most interesting
and had very few research studies concerning social networking sites was generations. Since
each generation grew up in different eras, the values and beliefs are different, as well. What may
seem traditional may be considered “old fashion” and is not adopted by the newer generation;
what the newer generation deems acceptable may not be recognized and acknowledged by the
older generation. Today, it isn’t unusual for many people to use social networking sites,
especially Facebook, to develop or create new relationships. The gap between generations can
cause them to use things and live life differently from each other. We can infer the generations
think Facebook is appropriate at various stages because we know that while this site is a
traditional communication channel for relationships for the millinneals, it is not for Generation X.
Method
Research Design
The data for this study were collected through the use of a Likert-type survey. The survey
was created from the research of Avtgis, West, and Anderson’s outline of Knapp’s Relationship
Stage Model for the “coming together” stage. A series of 25 ordinal-level questions were
arranged to allow for an overall interval-level response from each participant. The questions can
be divided into 5 subsections with 5 questions for each subsection. These subsections relate to
the 5 sub-stages of the coming together stage: initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating,
and bonding. The survey was designed to ask participants to indicate how appropriate they feel
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 8
each of the separate 25 behaviors are when using Facebook. Behaviors were statements such as
“Ask where they go to school,” “Ask for their phone number,” “Question them about their
religious views,” “Tell the other person I love them for the first time,” etc. Participants made
their indications on a 5-point scale: SA being strongly appropriate, A being appropriate, U being
undecided, I being inappropriate, and SI being strongly inappropriate. The survey also asks
simple demographic questions.
This descriptive survey design is an overall appropriate mechanism for testing the
research hypotheses. Surveys were self-administered through mass administration as well as
Internet administration. There were no monetary expenses through the use of surveys, and we
were also able to reach a large cross section of people in a relatively short period of time
especially through the use of online surveying.
Variable Specification
Our variables are labeled as follows: the abstract dependent variable is the
appropriateness of the behaviors when using Facebook. The concrete independent variable is the
generations, X and the millennial generation. Conceptually, “appropriateness” can be thought of
as how a person finds something to be correct or relevant. For the purposes of this study,
participants are deciding how appropriate/correct/relevant each of the behaviors are when using
Facebook. One could theoretically measure appropriateness of these behaviors against real-life
interactions they have had online in the past. For the two generations, X and the millennial,
people could generalize the people in these generations to be teenagers and young adults
(millennial generation) and their parents (generation X).
In order to operationalize these variables, a scale needed to be created. Appropriateness
was measured by using the 25 question Likert scale which was based upon Avtgis, West, and
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 9
Anderson’s outline, which is already considered to be a valid and operationalized summary of
what is “appropriate” or usual to happen in the “coming together” stage of Knapp’s model.
Generation X and Generation Y were operationalized by simply citing the work of other scholars
who validated the existence of both generations, the years that are included for each generation,
as well as the attributes of each.
To certify reliability, we will be doing a Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability test to be sure our
scale is reliable and that there are no errors. We will also make sure we have intercoder
reliability. To certify validity, we asked professional communication scholars to measure the
content validity of our scale to approve it before the survey was passed out. Furthermore, we
should comment on the criterion validity of our scale. From the survey, we may be able to make
predictions about the future: using the scores measuring appropriateness, we can generalize that
our scale can be used to predict relationship maintenance patterns over the Internet. If
participants find certain behaviors to be inappropriate to do through Facebook, they will be less
likely to use those behaviors in Internet-related relationships. To test construct validity, we
should be focusing on the fact that how appropriate a participant finds a behavior to be relates to
the relationship with person they are thinking about when taking the survey. We would then
predict either a positive or negative relationship between the relation and run a statistical test to
find a correlation.
Sampling Method & Sample
All subjects in this study fall into two groups: any willing persons, both male and female,
who are born between the years 1964-1980 which represents Generation X. The other group is
any willing persons, both male and female, who are born between the years 1980-2000 which
represents Generation Y. Participants will take either the paper or online survey to measure how
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 10
appropriate they feel the use of Facebook is for certain behaviors relating to the “coming
together” stage.
The sample that will be used includes 400 participants, 200 from Generation X and 200
from Generation Y. A convenience sample will be used to secure the participants, and most will
be from a small, private Northeastern school. If 200 participants for each sample group are not
reached through online surveys, paper surveys will be handed out.
Procedure
Any willing participants will complete an online survey measuring the appropriateness of
“coming together”-related behaviors through the use of Facebook. Participants will first be
introduced to a cover sheet indicating the purpose of the study, participant confidentiality, as
well as who can be contacted if the participant has any questions. A signature from each
participant is also required on the cover page, and they must be at least 18 years of age.
Participants will be given instructions informing them of the scale being used and what the scale
is measuring. They will need about 2-5 minutes to complete the survey.
If the 400 person goal is not met through the use of the online survey, the paper selfadministration survey will be used. Willing participants will be given the same cover page with
the same indications and directions as the online survey. They will also use the same survey with
the same scale. The only difference is there will be a researcher in their presence who will collect
the survey when the participant has completed it. There will also need to be a total of 200 online
and 200 paper surveys if we need to utilize both methods.
Results
The behavior appropriateness scale was created based off of previous literature relating to
Knapp’s Relational Development model by Avtgis, West, and Anderson (1998) and was
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 11
validated by professional IRB members and the Cronbach Alpha’s test. The scale can be used as
a tool for determining how appropriate people find certain behaviors to be. It is coded so higher
scores represent participants finding behaviors to be more appropriate. The alpha reliability
found for the measure was .892, marking the scales reliability to fall in the good range.
The hypothesis predicted that the millennials are likely to deem Facebook appropriate in
Knapp’s “coming together” stages than generation X. The sample consisted of 70 people from
the millennial generation and 45 from generation X. Males were represented by 49 participants
while women had 77. An independent t-test was conducted to determine if a difference existed
between the millennial generation’s level of appropriateness [M=69.93, SD=12.670] and
generation X’s level of appropriateness [M=62.04, SD=12.649]. The Levene’s test for equality
of variance was not significant (F= .025, p>.05), so equality of variances can be assumed,
t(3.259), p=.001. Based on the mean values for the two generations, the millennial generation
had statistically significantly higher levels of appropriateness. The calculated Cohen’s d value
revealed the effect size between the means: Cohen’s d =0.6227. This is a medium effect size.
Discussion
In the section below, the findings structured around the hypothesis are discussed and then
implications and limitations are made:
The main purpose of this study was to see if there is a difference among behavioral
appropriateness level between two generations—generation X and the millennials—using
Facebook in the “coming together” stages of Knapp’s Relational Development model. The
findings (Cohen’s d) suggest that there is a “medium effect size” in the difference between
appropriateness level among generation X and the millennials. This difference is between the
means for appropriateness measurements for both generations. While we cannot say generation
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 12
X do not find the behaviors to be appropriate, it is justifiable to claim that their appropriateness
levels are not as high as those from the millennial generation. Hence, we accept the alternative
and reject the null hypothesis.
The scale used is coded so that the higher scores represent appropriate usage of Facebook
during the “coming together” stages. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability found for the scale in this
study was .892; as aforementioned, this allows the scales reliability to be included in the “good
reliability” range. We used this type of scalar reliability test because it is most commonly used
with social scientists for single administration reliability tests. There were two coders, one read
the results to the other who manually recorded them into an excel spreadsheet. We looked further
into an important concept in measurement, validity. The content of what was being measured
was examined and confirmed by Kevin Pearce, Ph.d. The criterion validity was satisfied when
the consent form and survey was accepted by the chair representative, Sukki Yoon, of a small
private northeastern university’s Institutional Review Board committee. In addition, the construct
validity is satisfied acknowledging that it is theoretically accurate.
The findings ensured that, although Facebook was initially originated for the use of
college students and maintaining relationships (Mansson, Meyers, 2011), there are users who
aren’t college students and Facebook can be used for developing new relationships. Another
relationship found in the findings is between generational differences and technological
intelligence. Since generation X wasn’t immersed into a technological world like the millennials
(McCready, p. 13, 2011), the millennials would deem it more appropriate to use Facebook for
relationship development purposes
Limitations
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 13
There were several limitations throughout this study. The first was the timing of when
this study had to be conducted, which had to fit into a 14-week semester. This is a limited time to
produce an in-depth study. As researchers, each had limited experience in the research field
when beginning this study. From this, there are most likely minute errors in the methods and the
way the research was approached. Another drawback was that the survey had to be created by
the researchers since a previously created scale did not exist in previous research that measured
appropriateness of behaviors in Knapp’s “coming together” stages. An additional limitation to
consider relates to the sample population. Since the sample was limited to the small, private,
northeastern university it was easier to retrieve data from millennials than the generation x.
Overall, there were not an equal amount of millennials and generation X participants. Faculty
and professors, who represented the older age range, were either too old to represent generation
X or were at the higher end of the millennials age (more participants were not needed for this
generation). The goal was to reach 400 participants and, unfortunately, there were only 115. This
was due to the differences in numbers of people in the two generations at the university. Even
more, there were not equal representations of male and female participants. The sample was also
nonrandom because a convenience sample was used. Furthermore, the researchers attempted to
control who would take the survey in order to get a certain number of subjects in each generation.
Recommendations
Future scholars should consider researching the difference between millennials and baby
boomers. Including a generation older than generation x will most likely reveal more significant
results due to the difference of their level of mediated technology comprehensive. Researchers
should also be sure they have access to their sample so they may retrieve equal amounts of data
from each generation in order to have accurate significance. Another future study may address
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 14
this question: is there a relationship between the increase in breadth and depth of a Facebook
conversation and levels of appropriateness? An experimental case would be helpful in order to
manipulate the independent variable to understand the cause of why millennials find it more
appropriate then generation x to use Facebook to form new and maintain relationships.
Appropriateness of Mediated Interpersonal Comm. 15
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