Freshmen Engagement Through Communication: Predicting Friendship Formation Strategies and Perceived Availability of Network Resources From Communication Skills

Abstract

First-time freshmen completed communication skills questionnaires at the beginning of a fall semester. Approximately 6 weeks later they completed another questionnaire regarding friendship formation strategies and the perceived availability of resources from their new social network. Results suggest that different profiles of communication skills predicted how much freshmen reported using group involvement, online social networking, disclosure, responsiveness, and invitations as friendship formation strategies. Communication skills and friendship formation strategies were also associated with the perceived availability of social, personal, and instrumental resources. Implications for freshmen's social integration into a new university environment are discussed.