Imagined interaction as an element of social cognition

Imagined interactions, family money management patterns and coalitions, and attitudes toward money and credit

“…Activity refers to how regularly or frequently an individual experiences an imagined interaction and is associated with the amount of actual communication that an individual experiences. Consistent with their levels of social communication, women have more frequent imagined interactions than do men (Edwards, Honeycutt, & Zagacki, 1989) and chronically lonely individuals experience fewer imagined interactions than do non-lonely individuals (Edwards et al, 1988). Similarly, cancer patients' actual communication about their illness is correlated with the frequency of their imagined interactions about the illness (Gotcher & Edwards, 1990).…”

“…They proposed that imagined interactions are similar to actual interactions in that they involve significant others and may be rambling or coherent, brief or lengthy. Others (e.g., Edwards et al, 1988;Zagacki, Edwards, & Honeycutt, 1992) also identified imagined interaction as an element of social cognition, proposing that imagined interactions allow individuals ''to plan and measure social action'' (p. 41) as instantiations of schemas and scripts (Schank & Abelson, 1977). Edwards et al found that imagined interactions involve significant others as imagined partners.…”

“…Two of the most important are rehearsal (Edwards et al, 1988), in that they are used to prepare for future interaction, and thinking about or resolving conflict (Honeycutt, 2003). Clarification of thoughts and feelings is also facilitated through imagined interaction (Edwards et al, 1988;Rosenblatt & Meyer, 1986) as is catharsis or stress reduction (Edwards et al, 1988;Gotcher & Edwards, 1990). Other functions may include substituting for actual interaction such as when actual communication is negatively sanctioned or when a significant other is not physically present (Berkos, Allen, Kearney, & Plax, 2001).…”

Imagined interaction and interpersonal communication

“…Categories were taken from the earlier research by Edwards et al (1988), which used an identical population and procedures. The categories were derived from the data in the earlier research by two coders who were representative of the population from which the data were drawn.…”

Rehearsing for confrontation

“…Symbolic interactionists have stressed the importance of the development of an internalized, generalized other to evaluate one's behavior and the significance of the ability to role-take in order to better adapt one's messages to the other (Manis & Meltzer, 1978). Recent research verifies both the existence of such internal conversations and their use for rehearsal (Edwards, Honeycutt, & Zagacki, 1988;Rosenblatt & Meyer, 1986). …”