| This is an audience survey research conducted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Fall of 1985. It encompasses, for the first time, all mass media, personal communication and video tape recorders (VCRs) from an audience perspective. The study was based on a sample of 1000 young adults drawn from the population of high school and college students in the city of Riyadh. The high school sample was a probability sample that consisted of 600 students (males and females). The college sample was a judgmental sample that consisted of 400 students (males and females). The purpose of the study was the investigation of the relationship between perceived communication competency in interpersonal communication and mass media consumption.;In regard to measurements, interpersonal communication competence was measured by Cegala's Interaction Involvement Scale. The audiences' cognitive and affective needs were measured by items developed from the literature on uses and gratification, which were pilot-tested in Saudi Arabia.;Other major findings of this study are: that personal communication was found to be the best satisfier of audiences' affective needs including entertainment and escapist needs; mass media were found to gratify cognitive/information needs; video cassette recorders (VCRs) were not perceived as satisfying young adults' entertainment needs in Saudi Arabia; and finally, young men and women were found to differ significantly in some aspects of their media consumption habits.;Based on interfacing two communication models, interpersonal communication competence and uses and gratifications, three hypotheses were tested. The first two hypotheses were intended to find out if perceived interpersonal communication competence is related positively to information needs and negatively to escape needs of uses and gratifications. The third hypothesis was to test if there is a difference in the use of mass media for news between those individuals who perceive themselves to be competent in interpersonal communication, and those who perceive themselves as less competent. The three hypotheses were supported. In general, the findings of this study indicate that competent interpersonal communicators' media behavior is instrumental and goal-directed. |
