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Emotion plays an integral role in our everyday communication experiences. We experience joy and frustration when attempting to interact with a child who is just acquiring language. We feel anxious-and perhaps challenged–when confronted with a new boss or future in-laws, and we may fumble or blunder as a result of our emotional state. We closely monitor facial expressions and other emotional indicators when conversing with people from different cultures. And we may feel sadness ordespairwhen the evening news assaults us yet again with images of human tragedy from around the globe. Much of who we are and how we relate to others is influenced by emotions. Surely, such potent phenomena deserve careful study. Yet, surprisingly, communication scholars are only just beginning to grapple with issues of emotion. Some of this delay may be the result of historical forces. Until the 1960s, many social …