The late 1970s through the 1980s witnessed a shift from message-centered accounts to a relational lens where meaning emerges through ongoing negotiation, interpretive themes, and contextual cues. Clarity as a universal goal was challenged by strategic ambiguity and channel selection, reflecting a broader view of how organizations and individuals manage multiple goals and relational dynamics. Methodologically, researchers combined experiments on nonverbal behavior with theory-building around how relational messages are constructed and signaled through communicator style.