Ending social encouters

Certain classes of verbal behavior-content summary statements (S_c); affective summary statements (S_a); continuity (C), justification (J), and well-wishing (W) statements; and statements of positive affect (P)-were hypothesized to be constituents of interpersonal endings. These statements are shown to increase during the terminal phase of a social encounter as a function of whether the conversation is between friends or strangers and whether it is structured or unstructured. A hypothesis concerning the sequence in which these five classes of statements will occur during the ending of an interaction, namely, [S_c] → [J] → [_Sa^P] → [C] → [W], is tested and confirmed.