Comment
Contents have totally overlooked the vast research Early research on IIs examined their
Honeycutt on Crisp & Turner .............129
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Lee & Jussim on Crisp & Turner .......130
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
Bigler & Hughes on Crisp & Turner ....132
Crisp & Turner reply ...........................133
Ellenbogen et al. on Lahey ..................135
Greenberg on Fox et al. .......................136
Sammons & Newman reply ................137
DOI: 10.1037/a0018052
Imagined Interactions
James M. Honeycutt
Louisiana State University
Social scientists have been studying imag-
ined interactions since the mid-1980s and
have measured numerous physiological
correlates (Honeycutt, 2010). In this com-
mentary I assess the research reported in
Crisp and Turner (May–June 2009) and
highlight the underlying mechanisms of
imagined interactions that have empirically
been laid out across Thailand, Japan, and
the United States through confirmatory fac-
tor analyses (e.g., McCann & Honeycutt,
2006). The research in imagined interac-
tions has been so extensive that “II” is a
common acronym for the construct (for
reviews, see Honeycutt, 2003, 2010).
Crisp and Turner’s (2009) article is
excellent in its premise that prejudice
may be ameliorated through IIs. I agree
with their contention that “imagined con-
tact is . . . an exciting prospect because it
provides a simple, flexible, and effective
means of promoting more positive per-
ceptions” (p. 231). Yet, they seem to be
unaware that this statement reflects the
rehearsal function of IIs and the positive
valence characteristic of IIs. Some of
their suggested future research has al-
ready been done. For example, optimiz-
ing conditions for IIs, underlying mech-
anisms of IIs, as well as the range of
positive impacts IIs may have are re-
viewed in my books on IIs (Honeycutt,
2003, 2010). Crisp and Turner seem to
February–March 2010 ● American Psychologist
© 2010 American Psychological Association 0003-066X/10/$12.00
Vol. 65, No. 2, 129 –138
in this area over the past two decades.
Even a quick googling of the term imag-
ined interaction reveals behavioral out-
comes of IIs, including communication
competence as measured in terms of ver-
bal fluency, and reduced anxiety as mea-
sured in terms of speech disfluencies
(Honeycutt, 2010). In the following sec-
tion, I briefly describe II theory in answer
to Crisp and Turner’s call for distinguish-
ing underlying mechanisms.
Imagined Interaction Theory
Crisp and Turner (2009) began with a nar-
rative that is, in actuality, a verbal conver-
sation between the reader and an older
Black man who is portrayed as an outgroup
member. They asked the reader to imagine
the conversation. Though Crisp and Turner
did not recognize it as such, their narrative
is an induced II in which individuals must
imagine a conversation with a significant
other designated by the experimenter.
However, in our laboratory, my colleagues
and I then allow persons to converse. We
have induced actual conversational corre-
lates among couples in happy and conflict-
habituated relationships. We have also ex-
amined IIs and the phenomenon of road
rage, in which drivers vent at offending
drivers who cut them off in traffic (Honey-
cutt, 2010).
I have defined IIs as a process of so-
cial cognition whereby people imagine and
indirectly experience themselves in antici-
pated and/or past communicative encoun-
ters with others (Honeycutt, 2003). IIs have
their theoretical foundation in the work of
symbolic interactionists and phenomenolo-
gists. IIs possess characteristics similar to
those of real conversations, including being
fragmentary, extended, rambling, repeti-
tive, or coherent. Research related to inter-
group differences has revealed that stu-
dents in the 1989 Tiananmen Square riot in
Beijing had numerous IIs with government
interrogators (Honeycutt, 2003). The stu-
dents reported how IIs helped them to re-
main calm and believable in actual conver-
sations with others.
characteristics and their association with
personality, gender, marriage, and rela-
tional quality (for a review, see Honeycutt,
2003). There is a multidimensional instru-
ment, the Survey of Imagined Interaction,
which assesses IIs in contextual applica-
tions and has shown consistent alpha reli-
abilities (Honeycutt, 2003, 2010). The
characteristics of IIs are frequency (how
often persons experience them), emotional
valence (how enjoyable they are), discrep-
ancy (the degree to which they are different
from actual communication), dominance
(the amount that one’s self dominates the
talk), proactivity (IIs preceding actual en-
counters), retroactivity (IIs following en-
counters), specificity (amount of visual and
verbal imagery), and variety (number of
different topics and partners experienced).
These characteristics have been found to be
associated with loneliness, locus of control,
introversion/extraversion, communication
competence, debt, bereavement, and appre-
hension in giving speeches (Honeycutt,
2003, 2010).
Crisp and Turner (2009) indicated that the
“perceived authenticity of the imagined en-
counter may be an important variable in future
research” (p. 237). This has been investigated in
terms of the discrepancy characteristic (Honey-
cutt, 2003). Low discrepancy is where the
imaginary encounter is congruent with the ac-
tual conversation, whereas high discrepancy re-
flects the actual conversation being very differ-
ent from what happens. My colleagues and I
(Honeycutt, 2010) have found that loneliness is
associated with having discrepant and vague
IIs. Discrepancy is negatively associated with
communication competence and relationship
quality (Honeycutt, 2010; Honeycutt, Zagacki,
& Edwards, 1992–1993).
There are six functions of IIs: (a) rela-
tional maintenance, (b) message rehearsal,
(c) self-understanding through clarifying
thoughts and feelings, (d) emotional cathar-
sis, (e) conflict linkage, and (f) compensation
(Honeycutt, 2003, 2008).
IIs help maintain relationships as in-
trusive thinking occurs in which the partner
is thought about outside of his or her phys-
ical presence. IIs are used to manage and
129
 link conflict. Individuals relive arguments
while simultaneously imagining statements
for ensuing encounters (Allen & Berkos,
2005–2006) such that conflict episodes are
linked together in memory. Another func-
tion of IIs is rehearsing messages. IIs also
allow people to clarify thoughts and pro-
mote understanding of their own views.
The catharsis function helps people to re-
lease feelings and anxiety (Honeycutt,
2003; Zagacki, Edwards, & Honeycutt,
1992). Relatedly, Crisp and Turner (2009)
indicated that if participants spend time
imagining an encounter, their levels of anx-
iety will be lowered and their attitudes will
be more positive when they enter the actual
conversation. This claim represents both
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
the proactive characteristic of IIs and the
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
catharsis function. Finally, IIs may be used
to compensate for a lack of actual conver-
sations.
Sample Behavioral Outcome of
Imagined Interaction
I concur with Crisp and Turner’s (2009)
indication that future research examining
the behavioral impact of imagined contact
between different groups is important. Ex-
tant research reveals the behavioral utility
of rehearsal. A study on planning to help a
friend with a drinking problem revealed
that individuals who were able to plan their
conversations displayed fewer object
adapters than those who completed a dis-
tractor task (Allen & Honeycutt, 1997). In
addition, participants in the planning task
who reported that their IIs were not dis-
crepant used the fewest adapters, whereas
the most adapters were used by high-dis-
crepant distractor participants.
Concluding Remarks
Continued research on IIs is needed to
further our understanding of conflict per-
sistence, whether individuals can be
taught to utilize IIs in a constructive
manner for the purpose of creating qual-
ity relationships, and how IIs are used to
adjust to life events. Interpersonal com-
munication is informed by a better under-
standing of intrapersonal processes af-
fecting daily experiences.
REFERENCES
Allen, T. H., & Berkos, K. M. (2005–2006).
Ruminating about symbolic conflict through
imagined interactions. Imagination, Cogni-
tion, and Personality, 25, 307–320.
Allen, T. H., & Honeycutt, J. M. (1997). Planning,
imagined interaction, and the nonverbal display
of anxiety. Communication Research, 24, 64 –
82. doi:10.1177/009365097024001003
130
Crisp, R. J., & Turner, R. N. (2009). Can imag-
ined interactions produce positive percep-
tions? American Psychologist, 64, 231–240.
doi:10.1037/a0014718
Honeycutt, J. M. (2003). Imagined interac-
tions: Daydreaming about communication.
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Honeycutt, J. M. (2008). Imagined interaction
theory: Mental representations of interper-
sonal communication. In L. A. Baxter & D.
Braithwaite (Eds.), Engaging theories in in-
terpersonal communication (pp. 77– 87).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Honeycutt, J. M. (Ed.). (2010). Imagine that:
Studies in imagined interaction. Cresskill, NJ:
Hampton Press.
Honeycutt, J. M., Zagacki, K. S., & Edwards, R.
(1992–1993). Imagined interaction, conversa-
tional sensitivity and communication compe-
tence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personal-
ity, 12, 139 –157.
McCann, R. M., & Honeycutt, J. M. (2006). A cross-
cultural analysis of imagined interaction. Human
Communication Research, 32, 274–301. doi:
10.1111/j.1468-2958.2006.00276.x
Zagacki, K. S., Edwards, R., & Honeycutt, J. M.
(1992). The role of mental imagery and emo-
tion in imagined interaction. Communication
Quarterly, 40, 56 – 68.
Correspondence concerning this comment should
be addressed to James M. Honeycutt, Department
of Communication Studies, Center of Imagined
Interaction Research, Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803. E-mail: sphone@lsu.edu
DOI: 10.1037/a0018195
Back in the Real World
Yueh-Ting Lee
University of Toledo
Lee Jussim
Rutgers University
Crisp and Turner’s (May–June 2009) re-
search on “imagined intergroup contact”
(p. 231) has much to commend it. Its goals
of reducing prejudice are laudable, espe-
cially with a motivation to “prepare people
to engage outgroups with an open mind”
(p. 231). The method is relatively simple,
easy, and inexpensive to use. Conse-
quently, it has a great deal of flexibility and
can be fairly easily implemented almost
anywhere. Furthermore, an impressive
body of research shows that it often has the
intended effect of reducing prejudice. Easy,
flexible approaches are almost always a
good start and are clearly better than doing
nothing at all.
On the other hand, it also reflects the
widespread tendency of mainstream social
psychology to focus almost entirely on in-
dividualistic intrapsychic phenomena. In
February–March 2010 ● American Psychologist
some ways, it reminds us of Edward C.
Tolman’s rats, which would starve to death
(some of his colleagues claimed) because
they became lost in thought at the choice
point of the maze.
This article also reminds the first au-
thor (Y.-T. Lee) of the story of Nan Yuan
Bei Zhe (“Destination in the South but
Heading to the North”) from ancient China.
In the period of the Warring States (475
BCE–221 BCE), a statesman who was
riding in a horse-drawn carriage intended
to go to the State of Chu, where he planned
to take care of important state affairs. The
State of Chu was located in the South, but
he was heading north. Along the road, a
wise man who noticed that the statesman
seemed very anxious and went very fast
asked, “Where are you heading, sir?”
Statesman: We are going to the State of Chu.
Wise man: Why are you going to the North while
the State of Chu is located in the South?
Statesman: Our horse runs fast!
Wise man: Though your horse runs fast, your
path is incorrect.
Statesman: It is no problem because I have a lot
of monies with us to cover our expenses.
Wise man: Though you have a lot of monies, this
is not the right direction you are taking.
Statesman: Our horse driver is good!
Wise man: The better your driver is and the
faster your horse is running, the farther you are
from your destination—the State of Chu. (Trans-
lated by Y.-T. Lee from the Zhan Guo Ce, a
classical work compiled by scholar Liu Xiang of
the Han dynasty)
The message of this story is that ap-
plying horsepower in the wrong direction is
worse than not going anywhere. We are not
claiming that this particular article, per se,
is going in the wrong direction. Nonethe-
less, in the past 30 years, fellow social
psychologists have been getting further
into individual cognition and further away
from real social and cultural problems.
Over 15 years ago, Lee (1994) pointed out
in the American Psychologist that main-
stream social psychology paid too much
attention to individualism (including indi-
vidual cognition) and experimentalism
while neglecting social and cultural prob-
lems that exist in real history and in real
cultural and social settings. Has this
changed? The main carriage of social psy-
chology keeps on driving north, farther and
farther away from attempting direct change
of real social and ethnic problems or group
tensions. As Fiske, Harris, Lee, and Russell
(2009) aptly pointed out, psychologists
seem to have largely ignored actual dis-
crimination.
Also, much of American social psy-
chology seems stuck on considering (in the
grand scheme of world events) relatively
modest prejudices—support or opposition