Analysis Of Roommate Similarities

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INTRODUCTION

“Personality begins where comparison ends- Karl Lagerfeld © 2011.” This quote is a foreshadow for what is to follow, for a 100 freshman residents and their Residence Assistant. Not all roommates will be your best friends but not all will be your enemy. It is important to know during your young adult life, which types of people are compatible for your personality to ensure a smooth and fun living experience.

Roommate Similarity and Communication Traits

The article that I chose to write for my paper was, Roommate Similarity: Are Roommates Who are Similar in Their Communication Traits More Satisfied, by Matthew M. Martin (West Virginia University) and Carolyn M. Anderson (University of Akron). “The study investigated roommates who were similar in their communication traits would express more satisfaction and affection for their roommates (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.46).” The study decided to look into three specific personality traits; Willingness to Communicate, Interpersonal Communication Competence, and Verbal Aggression (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.46). Both Anderson and Martin came up with three hypotheses to find an answer to their questions.
HI: “Roommates who are both high in willingness to communicate will report higher social affinity and communication satisfaction than roommates who are (a) both low in willingness to communicate or (b) where one roommate is low and the other is high (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.47).”
This explains, that people who are more willing to communicate with one another were more likely to receive positive feedback from another person, increasing the satisfaction between each other (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.47).
H2: “Roommates who are both high in interpersonal communication ...

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...rbal Aggressiveness total ranged from 10.00 to 50.00 (M=23.62, SD=5.56). (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.48)
The study surrendered many important results. First, the results proved that “Roommates who are prosocially similar (e.g., both low in verbal aggressiveness versus both high in verbal aggressiveness) express more satisfaction with and liking for their roommates (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.50).” Those roommates who were both high in verbal aggressive have a less satisfying relationship, since this trait is damaging (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.50). Second, roommates who claimed they were high in Willingness to Communicate or Interpersonal Communication Competence relationships found their relationships more satisfying. Finally, this study overall proved if people think they are comparable to another person the more they liked them (Anderson & Martin, 1995, p.50).

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