Special peers’ perceived use of communication openness and functional communication skills in specific organizational contexts

Myers, Knox, Palowski and Ropog's (1999) study evaluated communication openness and affective and non‐affective functional communication skills of information, collegial, and special peers in various organizations. In order to further explore the perceived communication behaviors of special peers, important persons in the work environment who have exceptionally close relationships with co‐workers, the present study focused only on the nature of these relationships within the specific context of two business, two government, and one non‐profit organizations. This study's findings reveal that there were no significant differences in the perceived communication openness of special peers regardless of the organizational context. However, data indicate that there was a significant difference in two affective and three non‐affective functional communication skills of government co‐workers as compared to business and non‐profit employees.