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Abstract This study examines conversational relevance and topic extension in a situation where communicators are attempting both to be attentive to their partner and to introduce a new topic. Extending previous research that examined conversational relevance in "issue‐event"; structured conversations, the experiment tests a set of hypotheses about conversational extensions in a multiple‐goal situation. In contrast to prior research which found no evidence that social‐motivational factors influenced conversational extensions, this study demonstrated that the priority of respondents' goals influenced the directness of links with the conversational issue. In addition, direct evidence is provided that conversational attentiveness is realized through extensions of the partner's issue. Several other ways in which multiple goals influence the nature of conversational extensions are discussed and directions for future study are suggested.
Karen Tracy (Sat,) studied this question.