Relationship; *Organizational Communication;

This study reports on two investigations designed to determine the generalizability of source credibility scales for immediate superiors across organizati,..,al contexts. Semantic differential-type scales that have been found to load on factors of course credibility in previous studies were combined to provide an item pool for this investigation. In the first investigation, three groups of subjects were asked to vzspond to these scales as they referred to their immediate superior. Subjects were drawn from private industry, the Civil Service Commission, and the Department of the Navy. In the second investigation, 40 scale items were drawn from the original item pool and submitted to subjects across four organizations: private industry, Civil Service Commissior, Navy Department, and retail outlets. The results of the study indicate that there are four meaningful and statistically independent dimensions for the measurement of the source credibility of immediate superiors in an organizational setting. (Author) 4 U.S DEPARTMENT OP HEALTH