ABSTRACT
In order to develop a unique measure of group members’ affective orientations to group communication, Anderson et al. (2001) first asked 60 graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in group communication classes to describe satisfying member relationships in groups, based on their own experiences. Content analysis of their descriptions revealed that relational satisfaction in small groups was characterized by feelings of affection, inclusion, liking, trust, friendship, freedom to communicate, involvement, and getting to know each other, among others. Together with concepts from other, related measures as well as theoretical literature on the “relational side” of groups (Keyton, 1999, 2000), the authors used findings from the content analysis to formulate 12 items designed to measure the relational satisfaction construct. Each is assessed on a five-point scale ranging from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).
