Chapter 8 Developing and Maintaining relationships
Social Information Processing Theory
Argues that communicators use unique language and stylistic cues in their online messages to develop relationships that are just as close as those that develop face to face, but often take more time to become intimate
impersonal communication
Communication between people about general information, such as saying "hi" to someone in the hallway
intensification stage of a Relationship
Occurs when relational partners become increasingly intimate and move their communication toward more personal self-disclosure
Third party mediation
The partners have a friend or family member mediate the reconciliation
high affect
The partners resolve to be nice and polite to one another and possibly remind each other of what they found attractive about the other in the first place
Initiating Stage of a Relationship
You make contact with another person
friendship
a close and caring relationship between two people that is perceived as mutually satisfying and beneficial
love
a deep affection for and attachment to another person involving emotional ties, with varying degrees of passion, commitment, and intimacy
companionship
a feeling of fellowship or friendship
family
a social group whose members are bound legal, biological, or emotional ties, or a combination of all three
openness
a state in which communicators are willing to share their ideas and personal information
Reconciliation stage of a Relationship
attempts to rekindle an extinguished relationship.
intimacy
closeness and understanding of a relational partner
hyperpersonal communication
communication that is even more personal and intimate than face-to-face interaction
personal and social needs
companionship, stimulation, meeting goals
dialectical tensions
conflicts between two important but opposing relational needs or desires * autonomy vs connection * openness vs closedness * predictability vs novelty
predictability
consistency, reliability, and dependability in a relationship
Managing Relationship Dynamics
costs and rewards reducing uncertainty dialectical tensions
connection
dependence
Termination stage of a Relationship
end a relationship
Communication Privacy Management Theory
explains how people create and manage privacy boundaries in their relationships, choosing if and when to disclose their own private information
autonomy
independence
stimulation
intellectual, emotional, and physical
interactive strategies
involve communicating directly with the person
active strategies
let you obtain information about a person more directly by seeking information from a third party
strategic topic avoidance
maneuver the conversation away from potentially embarrassing, vulnerable, or otherwise undesirable topics
Meeting Goals
mundane needs for achieving practical goals
proximity
nearness
passive strategies
observing others in communication situations without actually interacting with them
tacit persistence
one or both partners refuse to give up on the relationship
Repair stage of a Relationship
partners attempt to save or repair their relationship by changing their behavior, interactions, or expectations.
Avoidance
partners avoid spending time together and begin to miss each other
mutual interaction
partners begin talking more often, becoming friends
spontaneous development
partners wind up spending more time together due to common interests, (children, dog, house etc)
Reducing Uncertainty
passive, active, interactive
Stable Stage of a Relationship
relationship is no longer volatile or temporary
social relationships
relationships that are functional within a specific context but are less intimate than friendship
self-disclosure
revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
attractive qualities
sense of fun, outgoing personality, intellectual prowess, simply warm smile
turning point
significant relational events which spark positive or negative changes that stand out defining relationships
novelty
something new or unusual
closedness
the desire to maintain one's privacy in a relationship
Rewards
the elements of a relationship that you feel good about
interpersonal communication
the exchange of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs between two or more people
similarity
the tendency to perceive things that look similar to each other as being part of the same group
social exchange theory
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
Costs
the things that upset or annoy you, cause you stress, or damage your own self-image or lifestyle
Social Penetration Theory
theory that proposes relationships develop through increases in self-disclosure, like peeling an onion layer by layer
boundary turbulence
threat to your privacy boundaries
declining stage
uncertainty events, interference, unmet expectations
relational network
web of relationships that connect individuals to one another
Declining stage of a Relationship
when the relationship begins to come apart
Exploratory Stage of a Relationship
you are seeking relatively superficial information from your partner