interpersonal communication uiowa

cooperative principle

The assumption that people who are talking to each other are working together to advance the conversation.

Definition of a theory

a description of the relationships among concepts that promote an understanding of a phenomenon

how we select what to pay attention to

point of view, intensity of stimuli, personal relevance, and consistency with norms and expectations

Characteristics

potential for universal meaning, variable intensity: analogic codes (symbols that bare a physical resemblance to the thing that they represent), simultaneous transaction, can complement, accent, substitute, and contradict.

self-disclosure

process of communication in which one person reveals information about themselves to another

micro-momentary expressions and deception

quick, instant, short expression that someone might have that shows an utterance of deceit

biased language

racist, sexist, heterosexist

Self-concept

the sum of total knowledge you have about yourself

self-serving bias

the tendency to makes internal attributions for our successes and external attributions for our failures

How power affects language use

the theory focuses on how we perform speech acts that might have a negative effect on a partner - criticizing a person, asking for a favor, or interrupting a conversation. When the other person has more power, we try to minimize the negative impact of our words. In addition, we have less freedom to impose on people with whom we have a more distant relationship. When we need to soften the impact of an intrusive speech act, we use polite messages.

Language is arbitrary

there is no inherent reason for using a particular object of idea

self-concept

total knowledge you have of yourself

communication theory of identity layers

- Personal: perceptions about yourself - Enacted: characteristics revealed through communication - Relational: characteristics that are related to relationships with others -Communal:related to a person's group membership

How feelings and communication are related

-Emotions cause communication -Communication describes emotions -Communication affects emotions -Emotions shape interpretations of messages

Components of emotion

-Self-perceptions: people's own awareness of how they feel -Physiological changes: physical changes that occur in conjunction with feelings -Nonverbal markers: changes in appearance that occur when a person experiences affect -Action tendencies: The behavior that emotions compel us to perform

How gender affects language

-Women tend to use more hedges, qualifiers and questions -Men tend to make more declarative statements

3 dimensions of relational communication

-affliliation/disaffiliation -dominance/submissiveness -involvement

appraisal theories of emotion

-appraisals: people monitor the environment to assess whether conditions help or hinder their goals (judgements are called appraisals) -action tendencies: the behavior an emotion compels us to perform, they are often behaviors that will close the gap between the appraised situation and our goals

Features of communication competence

-appropriateness: communication is appropriate when the messages that people produce match the requirements of the situation, we can tell what is appropriate due to social rules -effectiveness: your communication is effective when you are able to produce the outcomes that you want -satisfaction: competent communication is enjoyable -ethics: what constitutes right versus wrong or good versus evil, demonstrate respect for other people

How culture shapes communication and communication reflects culture

-boundary markers: culture marks messages or behaviors that are considered inappropriate -myths: sacred stories about heros or villians (ex. santa) -rituals: communion, national anthem, Christmas, 4th of July

transactional model of communication

-communication is continuous -interpersonal communication is dynamic -communication is created by own experiences -It is consequential, irreversible, and imperfect

Content and relationship-level meanings

-content: literal meaning conveyed -relationship: tells us how to interpret the content level

definition of emotions vs. moods

-emotion: fleeting feelings that arise in particular situations -moods: feelings that are lasting or ongoing

barriers to intercultural communication

-ethnocentrism: the tendency to see one's own cultural beliefs as more correct, appropriate, and moral than other cultures -marginalization: when less dominant groups fo people in a society are treated as inferior or unimportant

dimensions of attributions

-external (concluding that a person's behaviors are caused by the situation) vs. internal(concluding that behaviors are caused by characteristics of the actor) -controllable vs. uncontrollable

Facets of the self

-open self: information about you that you are aware of and that you share with other people -hidden self: information about you that you are aware of, but you keep secret from others -blind self: information about you that others are aware of, but you do not realize about yourself -unknown self: information about you that neither you nor others are aware of

Dimensions that distinguish culture

-outcome-oriented: value achievements, deadlines, and getting a job (American) -process-oriented: appreciate the experiences gained by working on a task -uncertainty-avoidance: prefer stable routines that avoid risks or novel experiences -uncertainty-seeking: prefer diverse, novel, and even risky experiences

characteristics of interpersonal communication

-purposeful: some kind of end goal -transactional: there is a give & take in relationship interactions -relational: defines and affects the relationship -irreversible: no take backs -synchronous: happening at the same time -IPC is complex: meaningful and purposeful

Characteristics of the self

-the self is subjective: you are who you think you are -the self is multifaceted: there are a number of sides to our self-concept that reflect the roles and relationships we have in different aspects of our lives -the self is dynamic: it changes over time and between situations

Definition of culture

-the values, beliefs, and customs that we share with a group of people -an unsaid system of symbols and meanings

maxim of relevance

A conversational rule that communicators should make contributions to conversation that are pertinent to the topic.

maxim of quantity

A conversational rule that communicators should provide sufficient information to advance the conversation.

Johari's window

Open, hidden, blind, unknown self

Communication Accommodation Theory

Theory of how we can reduce and magnify communication differences between two people -convergence: movement toward matching others communication style -divergence: movement away from matching others communication style -accommodation: is multidimensional and dynamic

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that comes true because we are already acting as if it is true

hurt

a blended emotion that includes sadness, fear, and sometimes anger

social awareness

ability to understand emotions of other people and respond

relationship management

ability to use your awareness of your own emotions & those of others to manage interactions successfully

jealousy

an emotion that arises from perceptions that a valued relationship is threatened by a partner's competing interests

attributions

an explanation for why something happened

Adaptive attribution

an explanation that links positive behaviors to internal stable causes and negative behaviors to external unstable causes

nonverbal leakage

an idea that no matter how hard we try, there are nonverbal gestures and utterances that are indicative of deceit

Language is ambiguous

attachment of meanings to symbols

how to combat attribution biases

avoid forming an explanation based on only your POV, focus on behaviors and not on personalities, protect relationships you value by making adaptive attributions

Affectionate emotions

creating attachment and closeness with others

display rules

cultural prescriptions about when, where, and how emotions should be expressed

melancholic emotions

depression, grief, loneliness

selecting

directing attention to a subset of sensory information

fundamental attribution error

effect explaining the behavior of other in terms of internal instead of external causes

actor-observer effect

explaining one's own behavior with external attribution

How intimacy affects language use

formality, idioms, pronouns

biases

fundamental attribution error, self serving biases, actor-observer

self-conscious emotions

how people might see us individually

identity

image you have of yourself that is embodied in your communication

interpersonal communication

interpersonal communication is the use of symbols to represent ideas in order to share meanings and create a personal bond between people

Nonverbal channels

kinesics (facial expressions, eye movements), haptics (touch), physical appearance, environmental factors, proxemics (personal space), paralinguistic (characteristics of the voice), chronemics (use of time), olfaction (smell).

functions of nonverbal communication

liking, power regulating conversation: establishes relationship-level meanings, nonverbal communication regulates interactions (taking, keeping, yielding, and avoiding the floor), communicates emotions, can also deceive. Playing high and playing low

maladaptive attributions

linking negative behaviors to internal and stable causes and positive behaviors to external unstable causes

self-management

manage response to emotions and behave to specific emotions

generalized others

mental representation of the combines viewpoints of all other people

Self-awareness

monitor your own emotions and correctly define them

back-channel communication

non-language utterances that show understanding and involvement in a conversation. Hand gestures, shrugs, grunts (uh-huh, uh-uh)

Ways we learn about self-concept

on our own behavior, social roles, feedback from others, social comparison

Types of rules

regulative: where, how, with who and when constitutive: what messages mean in a certain situation

hostile emotions

relates to injury or are threats to our interpersonal relationships

totalizing

resolving or neglecting details, nuances, or complexity

the process of human perception

selecting, organizing, interpreting

particular others

specific people who are significant to the self and who influence the self's values, perspectives, and esteem

Emotions and their appraisals

table 7.2

Emotions and their action tendencies

table 7.3

emotional intelligence

the ability to understand and manage one's own moods and emotions and the moods and emotions of other people

connotative meaning

the implicit emotional or evaluative interpretation of a word

Working self

the information that dominates a person's sense of self in that particular moment

denotative meaning

the literal, public, or conventional definition of a word

organizing

the process of arranging information into a coherent pattern

interpreting

the process of assigning meaning to information

Nonverbal communication as a substitute, complement, or contradiction to verbal

using nonverbal communications to convey a message. Giving a thumbs up instead of yes, using eye contact to complement a conversation, and saying your happy with a sad face would be contradicting.

identity gaps

when there is a mismatch in qualities associated with 2 or more layers of identity

Language is consequential

when we use new language to represent our reality our words inevitably highlight some aspects of that reality and neglect others

language is abstract

words stand for objects, people, ideas etc, but words are not themselves the things that they represent

relationship between language and culture

· Communication reflects cultural history, values and perspectives · Communication can change culture

how stereotyping affects perception

· people are more likely to include information that is consistent with stereotypes when they share information about others from a different culture. People prefer generalizations instead of specifics when describing behavior that is consistent with stereotypes