Assessing Gibb's Supportive and Defensive Communication Climate: An Examination of Measurement and Construct Validity

This project investigated the utility of Gibb's (1961) theory of supportive and defensive communication as operationalized by Costigan and Schmeidler (1984) in their survey instrument. As part of a larger project, 202 randomly selected faculty members completed a survey assessing the supportive and defensive communication behaviors of their current department chair. These data were then examined to determine the internal reliability and consistency of the instrument, as well as underlying dimensional stability. The results of this analysis indicate the presence of significant multicollinearity and a 4-factor, rather than a 12-factor, solution as originally hypothesized by Gibb. The article concludes with suggestions for reconceptualizing and interpreting the communication climate construct as a function of two underlying dimensions, including one supportive and one defensive behavior focused on task and one supportive and one defensive behavior focused on interpersonal relationships.