ABSTRACT
A LTHOUGH social interaction involves a complex interchangeof visual and aural stimuli, one principle guiding these inter-changes and supported by several behavioral studies is the principle of mutual influence (Cappella, 1981, 1985). By mutual influence is meant that the verbal, vocal, and kinesic messages emitted by one person in interaction affect the probability that equivalent or functionally similar behaviors will he transmitted by the other. Mutual influence processes have been studied under the labels of reciprocity, compensation, matching, convergence, divergence, interspeaker influence, and other terms. However, the term "mutual influence" emphasizes the bidirectionality of the effects, is not tied to a particular direction of effect, and is not associated with a particular theoretical position.
