ABSTRACT
Appropriateness and effectiveness are two components of interpersonal communication competence. Spitzberg and Phelps began scale development with a 26-item semantic differential instrument that had an unstable factor structure. Twenty items comprise each of the two scales. Seven-point Likert-type responses, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree, are used by communicators to indicate level of appropriateness and effectiveness for their partner or for a person they observe during conversation. Research indicates that the scales are internally consistent. Coefficient alphas for the effectiveness scale have ranged from.87 (Canary & Spitzberg, 1989) to.93 (Canary & Spitzberg, 1987). These scales have been used mainly in studies of conflict, and the results indicate the expected relationship with conflict strategy use. Factor analysis indicates that some items of the scales load on more than one factor and some items have low factor loadings.
