Theories and Models of communication
epistemology
"The theory of knowledge" The study of the origin, nature, method, and limits of knowledge
Qualitative Research
For interpretive --> THE WAYS WE PURSUE/TEST/DISCOVER and CONSTRUCT knowledge - An emphasis on understanding/deconstructing the meaning of the words - Textual analysis (describing and interpreting a message) --- interviews --- focus groups - Ethnography (natural setting, immersive observations)
Interpretive scholar researcher
Free will (= people exercise voluntary action) Personal values and beliefs cannot be independent from the truth Knowledge is not neutral, and liberation from oppression is key to research (more philosophical and more critical compared to social scientific -- differ how they pursue theory. the interpretive is better suited for theory discovery, social scientific more fitting for testing robustness and endurance of the theory interpretive paradigm gives birth to theory. soc. sci paradigm matures and solidifies the theory.)
COMMUNICATION ACCOMMODATION THEORY
Hypothesis: When we meet people from different cultural backgrounds or generational backgrounds, we adjust our speech styles to mesh with others' in order to gain approval. Epistemological stance: Objective Paradigm: Socio-psychological tradition
Sub-Branch of Cybernetic Tradition (psycho-physiological processing of information)
IMG Understand how people process information systems by measuring their psycho- physiological responses. Rather than relying on self reported data, they measure the natural responses. Heart rate = amount of attention (excel rates means your paying attention ) (Sweat = relates to the amount of arousal you feel) (facial emg = able to record and report emotional state) Psycho-physiological scholars believe they have a superior way of understanding human's true reactions/emotional state as they review and process stimuli. Better than the traditional self-report which has the ability of being manipulated.
Symbolic Interactionalism
INTERPERSONAL THEORY Main Hypothesis -- Humans act toward people, things, and events on the basis of the meanings they assign to them. Once people define a situation as real, it has very real consequences. Without language there would be no thought, no sense of self, and no socializing presence of society within the individual. (Small scale, explains the individual in society. Can explain social order & change. Tree/bugs example -- herbert blumer -- 3 tenants: 1) we act on the meaning we give to something, 2) we give meaning to things based on our social interactions, 3) the meaning we give something is not permanent) Paradigm -- Socio-cultural tradition Epistemological stance -- Interpretive
The social-psychological tradition
Individual social behavior - Communication as interpersonal interactions and influence - Epistemological stance: Objective, social scientific perspective - Methodological preference: Experiments and surveys - Main hypothesis: -- Truth can be discovered through systematic observations -- Theory should explain cause-effect relationships and allow us to make predictions (3 branches-- next slide)
McQuail 1987
Integration and Social Interaction > Identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging > Finding a basis for conversation and social interaction > Enabling one to connect with family, friends and society
PRIORITIZING THE FOUR FUNCTIONS
Originally, Hirokawa thought that no single function was inherently more central than the others. ---> Meta-analyses suggests that the evaluation of negative consequences of alternative solutions was by far the most crucial to ensure a quality decision. ---> Consequently, Hirokawa now splits evaluation of positive and negative consequences and speaks of five requisite functions rather than four. As long as a group covers all functions, the route taken is not the key issue. ---> Groups that successfully resolve particularly tough problems often take a common decision-making path: problem analysis, goal setting, identifying alternatives, and evaluating the positive and negative characteristics.
Cultural Approach to Organizations
Overview An organization doesn't have a culture, it is a culture—a unique system of shared meanings. A nonintrusive ethnographic approach interprets stories, rites, and other symbolism to make sense of corporate culture. Epistemological stance: Interpretive Paradigm: Socio-cultural tradition
Uses and Gratification
Overview: >Hypothesis: The media-effects tradition focuses on what media do to people. U&G focuses on what people do with media. Media consumption is a deliberate choice designed to satisfy particular needs. Media don't have uniform effects on the audience; effects vary according to the individual reasons for media use. >Epistemological stance: Objective > Paradigm: Socio-psychological
Elements of a socio-cultural model
Says that our language, our communication shapes our entire world view Symbolic codes -- the language itself (can include nonverbal body language) The cognitive customs -- the way that we've been taught to process information cultural traditions -- beliefs, attitudes & values Shared goals and rules -- the things that guide our actions ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE CONVEYED THROUGH COMMUNICATION
Symbolic Interactionalism
Self > Looking-glass self: A socially constructed, individuals' self-conceptions resulting from assimilating the judgments of significant other. > Simply put, imagining how we look to another person. (Derived from symbolic interactionism) (unnatural, not intrinsic -- put myself into another's perspective to try to understand what and who i am) I • The subjective self • Spontaneous driving force that fosters all that is novel • Ever-changing, elusive character (how I see myself subjectively, without trying to see myself through the other person's eye. But it happens quickly and then becomes comparative *fleeting/momentarily and immediately shifts to the ME construction ) Me • The objective self • The image of self from the eyes of a third person through 'I" • Happens after "I" is known (All possible through the function of language and interpretation)
Messages
The core of communication study Activities such as talking, writing, reading, listening, performing all involve some form of messages Text: A record of a message that can be analyzed by others (e.g., a book, film, photography, performance, or any transcript of a speech or broadcast) Because no human activity is free from creating messages, many academic fields intersect with communication studies. For example: Health/science communication Political communication Human-computer interaction
Can the manager be the agent of cultural change?
The cultural approach is popular with executives who want to use it as a tool. > Yet culture is extremely difficult to manipulate. Corporate cultures are altered by everybody, not just the manager. Even if such manipulation is possible, it may be unethical. > Linda Smircich notes that communication consultants may violate the ethnographer's rule of nonintervention and may even extend management's control within an organization.
Self Consistency (Elliot Aronson)
•Dissonance is caused by psychological rather than logical inconsistency. •Research such as the $1/$20 experiment provides evidence of self-esteem maintenance. •The amount of dissonance a person can experience is directly proportional to the effort he has invested in the behavior.
Self-affirmation to dissipate dissonance (Claude Steele)
•Focuses on dissonance reduction. High self-esteem is a resource for dissonance reduction. •Most people are motivated to maintain a self-image of moral and adaptive adequacy.
Personal Responsibility for bad decisions (Joel Cooper)
We experience dissonance when we believe our actions have unnecessarily hurt others. Dissonance is a state of arousal caused by behaving in such a way as to feel personally responsible for bringing about an aversive event.
Type of elaboration
> Audience elaboration doesn't always make your persuasion attempt successful. > Biased elaboration (topdown thinking) occurs when predetermined conclusions color the supporting data underneath à selective exposure; reinforcement > Objective evaluation (bottomup thinking) considers the facts on their own merit.
Intergenerational Communication
> Divergence is the norm and convergence is the exception. > Self-Handicapping: Face-saving strategy, typically from the elderly, that invokes age as a reason for not performing well. Talk about age Talk about health Don't understand the world today Patronizing Painful selfdisclosure Difficulty hearing Mental confusion
3 -- systematic hunches /theory continued
A theory not only lays out multiple ideas, but also specifies the relationship among them A theory ties together ides into a unified whole Eg. News stories that receive more coverage will become more salient on people's minds
For example
What is the major chronic health crisis Americans are facing right now? (obesity ads)
Why are the two schools of thought (interpretive and social scientific) important?
You cannot fully understand a theory without knowing its assumptions about truth, human nature, the purpose of theory, and its values. It is helpful when thinking through theories to have a way of organizing them into objective and interpretive worldviews. Understanding objective and interpretive points can help you decide what direction (method) to take your coursework Theorists in both camps believe their area of work will improve relationships and society.
Difference between an ordinary decision and an ethical decision
accepted rules may not apply and the decision maker must weigh values in a situation that he or she may not have faced before another difference is the amount of emphasis placed o a person's values when making an ethical decision values and judgments play a critical role in ethical decision making
Cognitive dissonance theory
¤ Main hypothesis: Cognitive dissonance is an aversive drive that causes people to (1) avoid opposing viewpoints, (2) seek reassurance after making a tough decision, and (3) change private beliefs to match public behavior when there is minimal justification for an action. Self-consistency, a sense of personal responsibility, or selfaffirmation can explain dissonance reduction. ¤ Epistemological stance: Objective ¤ Paradigm: Socio-psychological tradition
How do we measure people's uses and gratifications?
To discover why people consume media, they must be asked: Q: Can you trust self-reports? Q: Do the number of friends and usage time matter? Q: Do the number of followers and usage time matter?
Significance of the Theory
"Agenda setting theory saved media effects research and introduced middle range theories as the appropriate direction for future research." Professor W. Wanta Q: What do you think this means?
Expectancy Violation Theory
(Interpersonal communication theory) Judy Burgoon Main hypothesis --- Violating another person's expectations can be a superior strategy to conformity. When the meaning of a violation is ambiguous, communicators with a high reward valence can enhance their attractiveness, credibility, and persuasiveness by doing the unexpected. When the violation valence or reward is negative, they should act in a socially appropriate way. > Paradigm: Socio-psychological > Epistemological stance: Objective
Three branches of the social psychological tradition
*Behavioral* - Examines how people behave in communication situations - Considers the relationship between communication behavior and individual's personality, situational differences and learning *Cognitive Theory* -Concentrates on patterns of thought, how people acquire, store and process information, and how that may influence their behavior *Biological* -A person's personality traits, behavior, and way of thinking is actually the result of inborn neuro-biological influences SOURCE CREDIBILITY ------- There might be some conditions or personality traits that cause people to seek for source credibility, in which their evaluation of source credibility will say that because of my trait i disregard source credibility as a viable factor of communication persuasion and therefore, the consequent behavior is that I do not act upon whatever given message a credible source is giving me, because in my head it is the message that matters rather than the person that says it. (ex "high need for cognition" a trait that some are born with)
Ethical Imperative
- A good interpretive theory brings people's values into the open - The theorist actively seeks to acknowledge, identify, or unmask the ideology behind the examined message (scholars can not remain ethically detached, must be conscious that their theorizing will have an impact on society -- places responsibility onto the scholars) Krippendorff: "...theorists need to grant others that occur in your construction the same autonomy you practice constructing them."
Reform Society
- A good interpretive theory generates change (brings fresh perspectives to society, should bring positive change) - Critical cultural theorists: The world is an unjust place, and the role of theory is to reveal the political, economical, societal, and educational segregation and discrimination (people become familiar with the unjust system and they will challenge/seek to change it) *EX -- Feminist scholarship * EX -- Critical race Point out inequalities/start conversations/society moves past situations
aesthetic appeal
- A good interpretive theory is artistically written (counterpart of this in the objective paradigm is Occam's razor -- has very rigorous format, strict page formats) - By artfully incorporating imagery, metaphors, illustrations, and story into the core of the theory, the theorist can make his/her creation come to life
Community of agreement
- A good interpretive theory is well-supported within a community of scholars - Whether the theory is plausible or off the wall is decided by others in the field - Rhetorical validity is established when the work has been debated in the marketplace of ideas (Completed by publishing and peer review process)
Explanatory Power
- A good objective theory explains an event or human behavior - A good objective theory describes the process, focuses our attention on whats crucial, and helps us ignore what is trivial EXAMPLES - Cultivation theory: TV provides an alternate reality, when continuously exposed to overrules the actual reality we live in - Dialogic Theory: Dialogues conjure impressions of intimate interpersonal interactions, which produce positive psychological states
Parsimonious
- A good objective theory is as simple as possible - Occam's razor: Given two plausible explanations for the same concept, we should accept the simpler version. For example: The contingency theory of public relations Theory is criticized on the parsimonious criteria, because if you have to evaluate a large number of variables to come to a conclusion -- it is too complex to give an explanation as to what to do in a given situation
Falsifiability
- A good objective theory is testable - A scientific theory should be stated in such a way that it can be tested and disproved if it is indeed wrong The spiral of silence is disregarded in the falsifiability criteria because: The error in this particular theory is that it is difficult to understand what the minority state is Difficult to test what the intuitive way of thought is BECAUSE THE SPIRAL OF SILENCE DOESN'T WORK for falsifiable, some people believe that spiral of silence isn't a good scientific theory)
Practical Utility
- A good objective theory is useful (gives explanatory and predictable power) - A good theory can make life easier for you to understand and navigate
Predictable Power
- A good objective theory predicts what will happen - How does one make a prediction? --> Through gathering continuous empirical evidence EX (major hypothesis of cultivation theory) The more you watch prime time TV shows, the more you will think the world is a dangerous place EX Customers will have more favorable attitudes towards organizations (ORGs) that engage in dialogues with them compared to ORGs that do not. Gerbner's observation ---There is a positive correlation between TV viewing habits and your perception of the environment around you
The critical tradition
- Communication as a reflective challenge to unjust discourse - Epistemological stance: Subjective, interpretive perspective - Methodological preference: Ethnography, textual analyses, interviews - Main hypotheses: 1) The control of language to perpetuate power imbalances 2) The role of mass media in dulling sensitivity to repression 3) Blind reliance on the scientific method and uncritical acceptance of empirical findings (as means to turn a blind eye to oppression. Critical of the scientific method -- mass media is the devil, tried to maintain such power structures. Critical tradition scholars try to point out the dominant narrative/status quo that the mass media tried to perpetuate. The challenge the status quo)
The Cybernetic Tradition
- Communication as a system of information processing - Epistemological stance: Objective, social scientific perspective - Methodological preference: Surveys and experiments - Main hypotheses: The study of information processing, feedback, and control in communications systems Questions asked --> How do humans interact with computers?
The Socio-Cultural Tradition
- Communication as the creation and enactment of social reality - Epistemological stance: Subjective, interpretive perspective - Methodological preference: Ethnography, interviews - Main Hypotheses: ----> Our view of reality is strongly shaped by the languages we've used since infantry -------> The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: The structure of a language shapes what people think and do LANGUAGE determines thought
The phenomenological tradition
- Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue (the most subjective and interpretive of all 7 traditions because it postulates that intentional analysis of everyday experience comes from the standpoint of the individual that is living it.) - Epistemological stance: Subjective, interpretive perspective - Methodological preference: (Auto) Ethnography (self reflection), textual analyses, interviews. - Main hypotheses: ---------> intentional analysis of everyday experience from the standpoint of the person who is living it ---------> How "I" think is the center of analysis because no two people can experience the same thing
Cultural Studies
- Critical cultural studies begin with the premise that communication and power cannot be untangled (=overly political -- considering MASS MEDIA more than anything else) - The task of cultural studies is to examine how power circulates through communication and uncover these seemingly hidden political agendas - Popular culture often studied. - Why? pop cultural industries are deliberately used to distract people from recognizing unjust distribution of power. ------- Mediated: Books, magazines, newspaper, TV ------- Groups: Fans, Audiences Mass media linked to capitalism, patriarchy, dominance (Popeyes example - reinforces the power structure and minimized the role of a black person to the subordinate of oppression)
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH DIALECTICS?
- Denial Disorientation - Alternation - Segmentation Balance - Integration - Recalibration - Reaffirmation
Assumptions of the Cybernetic Tradition
- Disregard towards social context (noise is simply interference) -----> Missing how people come to information in the first place. time internship story -Mechanistic approach towards noise -Meeting of the minds (12:43 wk 2)
Criteria for a "good" interpretive theory
- Ethical imperative - Self-referential imperative - Aesthetic appeal - Community of Agreement - Reform of society - Qualitative research
Some limitations of the cultural perspective
- Focus on messages located in texts 1) What social messages are embedded in the text? 2) How do texts reinforce power? ---- Meaning in text is not automatically accepted by receivers You need to be able to identify unjust power structures -- If you don't know about the power structure the message will gloss over you - Representation as central to collective meaning-making - Focus on reception of texts - Instead, cultural studies allows for an active audience that creates meaning out of texts
Quantitative Research
- Social scientists tend to appeal to numbers for gatherin empirical evidence - Experiments (casual relationship) - Surveys (correlations) - Content analysis (exploratory studies)
Example -- Source Credibility
-- Always a sender and receiver encoding and decoding - Hovland's Yale team (1951) studied the relationships among communications stimuli audience predisposition and opinion change The explored: - Who: The source of the message - What: The content of the message - Whom: The audience characteristics (In this perspective, because communication is located in the human mind, we need to see the individual as the both the source and the destination of the message. So the individual process of encoding and decoding using the appropriate communication channels. If we consider source credibility -- when a person is hearing information from a given source they are going to come up with a different conclusion based on the attributes of the source.) - Hovland and his colleagues discovered that source credibility is vital to opinion shift. (If a credible source was giving a message people were more likely to switch opinions. the switch is based on the source and its trustworthiness) - Experts were more important for boosting opinion change, but its effect didn't last.
Characteristics of culture
---> Cultures are learned: >People are not "born this way" but learned and normed a specific way > The Jungle Book; Tarzan ---> Cultures are shared: > Cultures are group understandings > Each member of a culture must prove oneself to others by acting in culturally approved ways ---> Cultures are multifaceted: >Culture affects language, religion, basic worldview, education, etc., and all these factors influence one another. >What is acceptable in one culture may not be in another culture ---> Cultures are dynamic > Cultures are constantly changing > Baby boomers, generation X, Millenials, Generation Z ---> Cultural identities are overlapping: > People belong to multiple overlapping cultures > Overlapping identities can harmonize or create conflict
Ways of learning organizational cultures
---> Metaphors: > Widely used metaphors offer a starting place for assessing the shared meaning of a corporate culture. > Metaphors are valuable tools for both the discovery and communication of organizational culture. What your reviews are like: We hvae what are called "job dialogues," which happen on a yearly basis. It's basically a performance review with our leadership. They talk about your performance, passion, and development. I look forward to mine every year because it usually means a raise!
Three Prongs of Cultivation
1) Institutional process analysis >>• Asks the reasons why media produce the message they do. >>• Attempts to understand what policies or practices might be behind the scenes of media organizations. 2) Message system analysis >>• Uses content analysis to examine TV messages during prime time TV shows. >>• Index of violence: Coded for "dramatic violence." Anything problematic? >>• Equal violence, unequal risk: While the cumulative portrayal of violence varies little from year to year, minority groups are often the recipients of violence on TV, despite their under-representation. 3) Cultivation analysis >>• Deals with how TV's content might affect heavy viewers. >>• Cultivation: Refers to the independent contribution TV viewing makes to audience members' conception of social reality
Three revisions to CDT
1) Self Consistency (Elliot Aronson) 2) Personal Responsibility for bad decisions (Joel Cooper) 3) Self-affirmation to dissipate dissonance (Claude Steele)
Six Features of Rhetoric
1. A conviction that speech distinguishes humans from other animals 2. A confidence in the efficiency of public address 3. A setting of one speaker addressing a large audience with the intention to persuade. 4. Oratorical training as the cornerstone of a leader's education 5. An emphasis on the power and beauty of language to move people emotionally and stir them to action. 6. Rhetoric was the province of males. In a true rhetorical form, to say that our speech is truly rhetorical because it is supposed to solve political problems
2. GOAL SETTING
1. A group needs to establish rationale criteria for judging the solution 2. Desires or goals can mean different things for different people 3. Without such criteria, it will result in decisions made out of power, politics, or passion rather than reason
Checklist for RDT:
1. A new understanding of people 2. A community of agreement 3. Clarification of value 4. Reform of society 5. Qualitative research 6. Aesthetic appeal
4. EVALUATION OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRAITS
1. After a group has identified alternative solutions, the participants must test the relative merits of each option against criteria they believe are important ----> Positive bias: Finding favorable characters of alternatives > Findings negative characters of alternatives ----> Negative bias: Finding the downside of each alternatives > Finding positive qualities of each alternatives
Discussion questions
1. Are you truly an active audience of the media? 2. Can you think of other gratifications for media use? 3. Can you seek multiple gratifications at the same time? 4. What would be the best method to measure for uses and gratification?
FIVE DIALOGUE STRANDS
1. Dialogue as constitutive ---• Communication defines the world, including creation and sustainment of relationship. ---• As communication practices change, so does the nature of their relationship. ---• Differences are cherished as much as similarities in relationships. 2. Dialogue as utterance chain ---• Utterance: What one person says on his or her turn of conversation ---• When utterances are linked to competing discourses, they are considered utterance chains. ---• Four different levels: cultural ideologies, relational history, notyet spoken responses from other, and normative evaluation of third party 3. Dialogue as dialectical flux ---• Spiraling inversion: Switching back and forth between two contrasting voices ---• Segmentation: A compartmentalizing tactics that allow one to identify different aspects of their relationship 4. Dialogue as aesthetic moment ---• A fleeting moment of mutual sense of completion in the midst of a fragmented experience.(e.g., exchanging wedding vows) 5. Dialogue as critical sensibility ---• An obligation to critique dominant, powerful voices (particularly if they suppress opposing views)
1. ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM
1. Group members must make realistic examinations of current conditions 2. Members must determine the nature, extent, and cause of problem --- a. How urgent/serious is the problem at hand? --- b. How this issue become a problem in the first place? --- c. What happens when we ignore this problem? 3. Misunderstanding of the situation surfaces when members make the final decision: --- a. Failure to recognize potential threats
3. IDENTIFICATION OF ALTERNATIVES
1. Hirokawa and Gouran stressed the important of having multiple options 2. Groups need to identify course of action 3. Hirokawa and Gouran argued that it is important to generate as many alternatives as realistically possible
ASSUMPTIONS OF THE THEORY (Relational Dialectics)
1. Relationships are not linear. 2. Relational life is characterized by change. 3. Contradiction is the fundamental fact of relational life. 4. Communication is central to organizing and negotiating relational contradictions.
Social Penetration Theory Assumptions
1. Relationships progress from non-intimate to intimate. 2. Relational development is generally systematic and predictable. 3. Relational development includes de-penetration and dissolution. 4. Self-disclosure is at the core of relationship development.
What is a theory? (defined by judy Burgoon)
A theory is a set of systematic, informed hunches about the way things work 1. A set of hunches 2. informed hunches 3. systematic hunches
7 different traditions in the field of communication scholarship
1. The social-psychological tradition (behavioral, cognitive & biological) 2. The Cybernetic Tradition (communication as a system of processing information) 3. The Rhetorical Tradition (Public Speaking) 4. The Semiotic Tradition (symbols) 5. The Socio-Cultural Tradition (We are who we are bc of language) 6. The Critical Tradition (critical eye on pop-culture) 7. The phenomenological tradition (standpoint of the individual examining it)
Critique of the theory
1. The theory lacks explanation and prediction. 2. Scholars question the testability of whether or not people can accurately report the reasons for their media use. 3. U&G does not offer much practical utility on whether users are active participants or not. ---> 1. Rubin modified the theory by claiming that activity was actually a variable in the theory. 4. However, U&G has generated a large body of quantitative research. 5. Future studies need to focus on making testable predictions about media effects based on how media are used for this theory to be a stronger theory.
Parts of communication
1. messages 2. creating of messages 3. interpretation of messages 4. a relational process 5. messages that elicit a response
Critique of the theory
1.Critics are not convinced that cultivation research establishes the causal claim that heavy TV viewing leads a person to perceive the world as mean and scary. •>Q: What is the difference between correlation and causation? 2. Test ability is seen as low because there is a lack of longitudinal studies. 3.Cultivation effects tend to be statistically small. 4.The theory must adapt to the new media environment of cable and satellite.
Research on Cultivation Analysis
1.Cultivation takes time. 2 Cultivation analysis relies on surveys instead of experiments. 3.Gerbner's basic prediction was that heavy TV viewers (4+ hours per day) would be more likely than light viewers (less than 2 hours per day) to see the social world as resembling the world depicted on TV. ▪ Q: What do you think of Gerbner's classification of light vs. heavy viewers?
Major Findings of Cultivation Theory
1.Positive correlation between TV viewing and fear of criminal victimization • As TV viewing increases, so does the tendency for fear of victimization. 2.Perceived activity of police • People with heavy viewing habits believe that five percent of society is involved in law enforcement. 3.General mistrust of people • Heavy viewers are more suspicious of people's motives. 4.Desensitization towards violence → The Mean World Syndrome
Communicating Ethically
7 traditions have deeply rooted history Scholars frequently but heads about their perspectives. Scholars are very proud of the tradition that they come from. Important to remember that the communication scholarship as a whole is innately concerned with our obligation to society. The way we communicate should be ethical and professional. CREDO 1) We advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential to the integrity of communication. 2) We endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible decision making fundamental to a civil society. 3) We strive to understand and respect other communicators before evaluating and responding to their messages. 4) We promote access to communication resources and opportunities as necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well-being of families, communities, and society. 5) We promote communication climates of caring and mutual understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of individual communicators. 6) We condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity through distortion, intimidation, coercion, and violence, and through the expression of intolerance and hatred. 7) We are committed to the courageous expression of personal convictions in pursuit of fairness and justice. 8) We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality. 9) We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences for our own communication and expect the same of others.
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL Two different routes to persuasion
> According to Petty and Cacioppo, there are two different mental routes to attitude change. Central > Involves message elaboration > A person carefully thinks about issue-relevant arguments in persuasion > Argument quality Peripheral > A mental shortcut > A person accepts or rejects a message without thinking too much >Speaker credibility, reaction of others, external rewards The central route and the peripheral route are not mutually exclusive, but are rather poles on a cognitive continuum. central /high effort <--------> Peripheral/ low effort
Dialectics and the environment
> Altman originally thought that openness is the predominant quality of relationship changes. > However, the desire for privacy may counteract a unidirectional quest for intimacy. > A dialectical model: People want both intimacy and privacy in their social relationships. --> The tension between openness and closedness results in cycles of disclosure or withdrawal. > Environment can be an important factor for social penetration.
THE CHALLENGE OF MEDIA ECOLOGY
> Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without a knowledge of the way media work as environments. > All environments are inherently intangible and interrelated.
Parasocial relationship with media
> Audience form interpersonal relationships with characters and organizations from mass media and popular culture. > One party knows a great deal about the other, but the other does not. ---> 1. A bond of intimacy and familiarity is created and the viewers feel they really know the media character. ---> 2. The viewer is made to believe that the person on the screen is communicating directly to them, and that is what they will be like in real- life as well.
How do we make media choices?
> Based on the gratification we seek from a particular medium! 1. The key to understanding media depends on the type of needs a person satisfies when selecting a media message. 2. But in reality, what are you thinking when you turn on the TV, the internet, the radio, etc.? > Media competes with each other for your time as well as other activities that don't involve media exposure. > The need that motivates media consumption must be identified in an effort to understand why people make the choices they do. > Media affect different people differently. Why? ---> Because audiences are made up of people who are not identical. > These differences determine the outcome or gratification a viewer receives.
EVT ... YAY or NAY
> Burgoon sought to adjust and redesign a theory that never quite worked in practice as well as the theoretical blueprint says it should. > Despite problems, Burgoon's theory meets five of the six criteria for a good scientific theory. --- Explanatory --- Testable --- Parsimonious --- Quantitative research --- Offers practical advice (Predictive power is weak in overall theories, but strong over other interpersonal theories) > Recent research suggests that EVT has better predictive power than other interpersonal theories.
Reducing dissonance
> Change behavior/cognition ---> Stop eating fried chicken. > Justifying the behavior/cognition by adding a new constant ---> I'll spend an extra hour running tonight to burn it off. > Justifying the behavior/cognition by changing the conflicting cognition ---> You need to cheat once in a while to stay on the diet.
THREE DIALECTICS THAT AFFECT RELATIONSHIPS
> Closeness --> Integration Separation = •Autonomy-Connection •Inclusion-Seclusion > Certainty --> Stability-Change = • Certainty-Uncertainty •Conventionality Uniqueness Transparency (open self) --> Expression Non-expression = •Openness-Closedness •Revelation-Concealment
Communication Privacy Management
> Communication Privacy Management theory maps out ways people handle their conflicting desires for privacy and openness. 1. Petronio's theory describes the way people form their personal rules for disclosure, how those who disclose private information need to coordinate their privacy boundaries with the borders drawn by their confidants, and the relational turbulence that occurs when parties have boundary rules that don't match. 2. Petronio claims that the personal rules that guide our privacy/disclosure decisions are based on five different criteria ----- 1. culture, gender, motives, context, risk-benefit ratio. 3. Once information is shared, boundary coordination depends on: boundary linkage, boundary ownership, and boundary permeability between co-owners. 4. Boundary turbulence is the product of parties' inability to coordinate their privacy rules and boundary management
Relational satisfaction
> Comparison level (CL): The threshold above which an outcome appears attractive. > This is an overall standard for a specific type of relationship. > One's CL for friendship, romance, or family ties, etc., is pegged by one's relational history (=the baseline of past experience). > Sequence and trends play large roles in evaluating a relationship. > (Relational satisfaction - ability of a person to feel satisfied with a relationship, CL or comparison level. Everyone has an evaluation criterion for how the relationship should work/flowEXà long distance phone call expectancyHighly individualized, the more satisfied you are with the comparison level, the more satisfied you will feel with the relationship itself.)
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
> Conventional thought: Media are mere channels of message delivery. It's the message that creates change. > When McLuhan said, "the medium is the massage," he wanted us to see that media—regardless of content— reshape human experience and exert far more change in our world than the sum total of all the messages they contain. > Medium is defined in a broad sense. > Conventional theories in mass media focused on the content and overlook the medium. ---> However, content doesn't exist outside of the way it's mediated. > A medium shapes us because we partake of it repeatedly until it becomes an extension of ourselves.
Cognitive Dissonance -- Minimal justification for action
> Conventional wisdom suggests that to change behavior, you must first alter attitude. ---> Festinger reverses the sequence. > In addition, he predicts that attitude change and dissonance reduction depend on providing only a minimum justification for the change in behavior. "Would I Lie for a dollar?"
DEALING WITH CONTRADICTIONS
> Denial: Responding to only one side of the tension while ignoring the other side. Not satisfying > Disorientation: Escaping the tension by ending the relationship. Dysfunctional. > Alternation: Taking turns being privileged. > Segmentation: Choosing to deal with one side of the tension in one area of life, and the other side of the tension in another area of life. > Balance: Compromise between two opposing forces. Assumes that when one party wins, the other loses. > Integration: Develop behaviors that will satisfy both sides on the tension at the same time. Partners respond simultaneously to conflicting forces. > Recalibration: Reframing a tension so there is no longer an opposition. Temporal remedy. > Reaffirmation: Accepting the tension as a normal and healthy part of a relationship.
Self-disclosure (SPT)
> Depth of penetration refers to the degree of intimacy. 1. Peripheral items are exchanged on a faster pace 2. Self-disclosure is a two-way street 3. Penetration starts rapidly but slows down as you get closer to the inner core 4. De-penetration happens when people drift apart >Breadth of penetration refers to the range of areas which disclosure takes place
RELATIONAL DIALECTICS
> Dialectical tension can be constructive as it provides an opportunity for dialogue. > Baxter uses the tug-of-war metaphor to explain and introduce less bothersome terminologies to the paradoxical proposition. > Relational dialectics is not referring to being of two minds, but rather positioned in the relationship between parties.
Ability for elaboration
> Distraction disrupts elaboration. > Knowledge increases elaboration. > Repetition may increase the possibility of elaboration.
An ethical reflection of EVT
> EVT focuses on what is effective. (when does violation work? What makes violation effective?) > According to the Kantianism perspective, we have a moral obligation to be truthful, and there are no mitigating circumstances. > Categorical imperative: A method of determining right or wrong through the ethical valence of the act, regardless of the motive. KANT (Doesnt matter if you're young or attractive, if you break the norm it is wrong)expec
FACE AND PREDICTABLE STYLES OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
> Eight distinct responses to situations in which there is an incompatibility of needs, interests, or goals. 1. Avoiding: Withdrawal 2. Obliging: Accommodating or giving in 3. Compromising: Bargaining or seeking the middle way 4. Integrating Problem solving; collaborating to seek win-win 5. Dominating: Competing to win 6. Emotional expression: Venting of feelings 7. Passive aggressive: Making indirect accusations 8. Third-party help: Seeking an external mediator
The ethnographic method
> Ethnography: Participant observation. The researcher situates oneself to experience the organization as a member would experience it. Provide thick description. > Five tasks of an ethnographer: 1. Accurately describe talk and actions and the context in which they occur. 2. Capture the thoughts, emotions, and the web of social interactions. 3. Assign motivation, intention, or purpose for what people said and did. 4. Artfully write this up so readers feel they've experienced the events. 5. Interpret what happened; explain what it means within this culture.
EXPRESSION AND NONEXPRESSION
> Expression ---• The disclosure and honesty ---• The desire to share intimate ideas and feelings > Non-expression ---• Keeping certain facts, thoughts, ideas to yourself ----• The desire to maintain privacy
ABOUT "FACE"
> Face is a metaphor for our public self-image - the way we want others to see us and treat us. >Facework refers to specific verbal and nonverbal messages that help to maintain and restore face loss, and to uphold and honor face gain. > Facework and corresponding styles of handling conflict vary from culture to culture. ->>Ting-Toomey suggests that face maintenance is the crucial intervening variable that ties culture to people's ways of handling conflict.
THE MULTIPLE FACES OF "FACE"
> Face is actually a universal concern because it is an extension of self-concept ->> The meaning of face differs depending on differences in cultural and individual identities. > Face concern focuses on whose face a person wants to save. 1. One can save one's own or the others face. 2. Individualistic cultures: My face > Your face 3. Collectivistic cultures: My face < Your face > Mutual face: An equal concern for both parties' image, as well as the public image or their relationship. (a.k.a. Our face)
Critique of the theory
> Festinger never specified a reliable way to detect the degree of dissonance a person experiences. --> Patricia Devine applauds researchers who have attempted to gauge the arousal component of dissonance. > Daryl Bem believes that self-perception is a simpler explanation of attitude change than cognitive dissonance. ---> His version of the $1/$20 experiment supports his contention. ---> Bem suggests that cognitive dissonance does not follow the rule of parsimony. > Despite detractors, cognitive dissonance theory has energized objective scholars of communication for 50 years.
Persuasion through dissonance
> Festinger's theory offers practical advice for those who wish to affect attitude change as a product of dissonance. > Apply the concepts of selective exposure, post-decison dissonance, and minimal justification to manage dissonance effectively. > You can also induce dissonance to bring attitude and behavioral change
Cultivation Theory Introduction
> George Gerbner argued that heavy television viewing creates an exaggerated belief in a mean and scary world. > Violence is television's principal message, and particularly for devoted viewers. > Gerbner was concerned that violence affects viewers' beliefs about the world around them and the feelings connected to those beliefs, more than it affects viewers' behavior. > Cultivation theory is not limited to TV violence: it can help people theorize about other TV affects on how people view social reality.
HOT VS. COOL MEDIA
> HOT: ---> Extends single sense ---> Low audience participation ---> Specialized and fragmented ---> Radio, print, books, photographs COOL: > Low definition > High audience participation > Holistic, general patterns > TV, cartoon, telephone Does this make sense?
Cultivation Theory
> Hypothesis: Television has become society's storyteller. Heavy television viewers see a vast quantity of dramatic violence, which cultivates an exaggerated belief in a mean and scary world. Mainstreaming and resonance are two of the processes that create a homogeneous and fearful populace. > Epistemological stance: Objective > Paradigm: Socio-cultural; socio-psychological
Central or the peripheral route?
> IF listeners are motivated and able to elaborate a message, rely on factual arguments • When using the central route, however, weak arguments can backfire. > IF listeners are unable or unwilling to elaborate a message, rely on packaging rather than content • When using the peripheral route, however, the effects will probably be fragile and short-lived .
COLLECTIVIST VS. INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURES
> Individualistic culture: Wherein people look out for themselves and their immediate family. I-identity. > Collectivist culture: Wherein people identify with a larger group that is responsible for providing care in exchange for group loyalty. We-identity
Should you emphasize personal identity or social identity?
> Initial orientation: The communicator's predisposition to focus on either their individual identity or group identity. > Intergroup encounters often encompass: 1. Collectivist cultural context 2. Distressing history of interaction 3. Stereotypes 4. Norms (expected behavior) for treatment of groups 5. High group solidarity and high dependence
EVT and Interaction Adaptation
> Interaction adaptation theory (IAT): A systematic analysis of how people adjust their approach when another's behavior does not mesh with one's interaction position. > Interaction position: a person's initial stance toward an interaction, influenced by RED. --- Requirements --- Expectancy --- Desire > The pattern of response is reciprocal and of convergence.
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL
> Main hypothesis: Message elaboration is the central route of persuasion that produces major positive attitude change. It occurs when unbiased listeners are motivated and able to scrutinize arguments that they consider strong. Message-irrelevant factors hold sway on the peripheral path, a more common route that produces fragile shifts in attitude. > Epistemological stance: Objective > Paradigm: Socio-psychological
RELATIONAL DIALECTICS
> Main hypothesis: Social life is a dynamic knot of contradictions, a ceaseless interplay between contradictory or opposing tendencies such as integration-separation, stability-change, and expression-nonexpression. Quality relationships are constituted through dialogue, which is an aesthetic accomplishment that produces fleeting moments of unity through a profound respect for the disparate voices. • > Epistemological stance: Interpretive • > Paradigm: Phenomenological
Mainstreaming: Blurring, Blending, an Bending of Viewer Attitudes
> Mainstreaming: ---> The process by which heavy viewers develop a commonality of outlook through constant exposure to TV message. ---> • Traditional differences diminish among people with heavy viewing habits. ---> • They assume that they are middle class and believe that they are political moderates. > Resonance ---> • The condition that exists when the viewers' real-life situation is similar to that of the TV world. ---> • The resonance process causes the power of TV's messages to be stronger.
Social Penetration Theory
> Major hypothesis: Developed by Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor, SPT explains how relational closeness develops. Closeness develops only if individuals proceed in a gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to intimate levels of information exchange as a function of both immediate and forecast outcomes. > Epistemological stance: Objective > Paradigm: Social-psychological This theory will tell us about maintaining and developing relationships Theorists argue it does not happen overnight -- it takes time and investment It is systematic and predictable. There are sequences associated -- as we move through sequences, you'll have a better idea if a relationship will develip or not Self disclosure is at the core of relationship development
INTRO TO THE THEORY
> Marshall McLuhan believed that media should be understood ecologically. > Media ecologists study media environments. ---> 1. How do people interact with media? ---> 2. How do these interactions shape our culture and our daily experiences? > Changes in technology alter the symbolic environment > The socially constructed, sensory world of meanings that in turn shapes our perceptions, experiences, attitudes, and behavior.
Critique of the Theory
> McCombs later revised agenda setting a theory of limited media effects. > Framing (and second-level agenda setting) reopens the possibility of a powerful effects model. -Gerald Kosicki questions whether framing is relevant to agenda-setting research. - Although it has a straightforward definition within agendasetting theory, the popularity of framing as a construct in media studies has led to diverse and perhaps contradictory uses of the term. > Agenda setting fares well according to the evaluation criteria for empirical research.
CRITIQUE OF THE THEORY
> McLuhan did not adequately support his claims. • His proposals are very difficult to understand. > Some lament that McLuhan was too private in his Christian faith and merely explored rather than openly deplored the effects that electronic media have had on public morals. > Deterministic theories have difficulty with the criterion of falsifiability.
Sophistication of the gratifications
> McQuail (1987)offers four typologies of common reasons for media use > Information --> Finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world --> Seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices --> Gaining a sense of security through knowledge
ETHICAL REFLECTION: POSTMAN'S FAUSTIAN BARGAIN.
> Media regulate and dictate what kind of content it can carry. > The primary task of media ecology is to make moral judgments. > New technology always comes with the Faustian bargain Three questions to consider with any given new technology 1. What is the problem to which this technology is a solution? 2. Whose problem is it, actually? 3. Is there is a legitimate problem here to be solved, what other problems will be created by my using this technology?
Peripheral cues
> Most messages are processed through the peripheral route. > The most obvious cues for the peripheral route are tangible rewards (e.g., movie tickets for blood donation). > Source credibility is also important. ---> The principal components of source credibility are likability (e.g., celebrities) and expertise (e.g., doctors). ---> Source credibility is salient for those unmotivated or unable to elaborate. > Peripheral route change can be either positive or negative ---> It won't have the same robustness, resistance to counter persuasion, or behavioral change of message elaboration.
Ethical reflection
> Nilsen proposes that persuasive speech is ethical to the extent that it maximize people's ability to exercise free choice. > Philosophers and rhetoricians have compared persuasion to a lover making fervent appeals to his beloved—wooing an audience, for example. > For Nilsen, true love can't be coerced; it must be freely given. > Nilsen would approve of persuasive appeals that encourage message elaboration through ELM's central route.
It's all in the perception....
> Objective Accommodation - You are attempting to converge, but it doesn't work - >> You may be converging toward a stereotype of that particular social group. > Subjective Accommodation - You may be converging, but it's perceived as diverging... >> Tone, body language, can often miss the mark
Elaborated arguments
> Objective elaboration examines the perceived strength of an argument. ---> Petty and Cacioppo have no absolute standard for differentiating between strong and specious arguments. ---> Strong arguments: One that generates favorable thoughts. > Thoughtful consideration of strong arguments will produce positive shifts in attitude. --- 1. The change is persistent over time. --- 2. It resists counter-persuasion. --- 3. It predicts future behavior. > Thoughtful consideration of weak arguments can lead to negative boomerang effects. > Mixed or neutral messages won't change attitudes, simply reinforce original attitudes.
Rubin's typology of eight motivations for TV viewing
> Passing time > Companionship > Escape > Enjoyment > Social Interaction > Relaxation > Information > Excitement
Motivation for elaboration
> People are motivated to hold correct attitudes. > The number of ideas a person can scrutinize is limited, so we tend to focus on issues that are personally relevant. --- 1. Personally relevant issues are more likely to be processed on the central route. --- 2. High risk messages are also more likely to to be processed on the central route • > Certain individuals have a need for cognition, regardless of the issue. These people will work through many of the ideas and arguments they hear.
The active audience
> People deliberately use media for particular purposes ---> Fundamental assumption of Katz > Exposure to media messages do not affect everyone in the same way ---> Fulfill different purposes at different times Media choices are personal
Main components of SPT (Social Penetration Theory)
> Personality Structure: --•Multilayered structure of personality --•Deeper layers are more vulnerable, private, protected, and central to self-image (person's history/belief/anything that makes you unique. Deeper layers are more vulnerable, private, protected and central to self-image. Outer layers are public and superficial. Individuals that only get through your public layer would not have a good chance of developing a meaningful relationship with you - inner layers are more private and have a lot to do with insecurity - putting yourself out there, vulnerability allows you to develop intimacy) Self-Disclosure --•The main route to deep social penetration, --•The voluntary sharing of personal information (e.g., history, beliefs & values, secrets) with another person verbally. --•There are different depth and breadth of self-disclosure (Main route to social penetration. We get to this layer through disclosure. Happens in a verbal format. Differences between depth and breadth. In order for intimate relationships to develop we need to go deep, and we need to go wide. (sports facts example - all great, but its just sports, no breadth of discussion))
Critique of the theory
> Petronio thinks it's simplistic to equate self-disclosure with relational closeness. --> Alternative motives for disclosing intimate relationship is possible. > Disclosure boundaries can be personally created, often shifting, and frequently permeable. > Can a complex blend of advantages and disadvantages be reliably reduced to a single index? > Are people so consistently selfish that they always opt to act strictly in their own best interest? > Paul Wright believes that friendships often reach a point of such closeness that self-centered concerns are no longer salient.
Criticizing the theory
> Petty and Cacioppo have elaborated ELM to make it more complex, less predictive, and less practical, which makes it problematic as a scientific theory. > As Paul Mongeau and James Stiff have charged, the theory cannot be adequately tested and falsified, --> Strong vs. Weak argument. --> High credibility vs. Low credibility --> Highly attractive vs. Unattractive > Despite these limitations, the theory synthesizes many diverse aspects of persuasion.
Cognitive Dissonance -- Reassuring post-decision dissonance
> Post decision dissonance creates a need for reassurance. 1. The more important the issue, the more dissonance. 2. The longer an individual delays a choice between two equally attractive options, the more dissonance. 3. The greater the difficulty involving reversing the decision once it has been made, the more dissonance. > Buyer's remorse
Ethical reflection
> Psychological egoism reflects many social scientists' conviction that all of us are motivated by self-interest. > Ethical egoism: People should live their lives to maximize their own pleasure and interest. > Epicurus emphasized the passive pleasures of friendship, good digestion, and above all, the absence of pain. > Other philosophers (Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Friedrich Nietzsche, Ayn Rand) echo the Epicurean call for selfish concern.
THE FACE SELF-CONSTRUAL
> Self-construal: Varied self-images within a culture. (a.k.a., self-image). It is the independent and interdependent self. ->> The independent self is more self-face oriented. This view of self is most prevalent within individualistic cultures. ->> Interdependent self is more concerned with other-face and is closely aligned with collectivistic cultures. > Individuals within a culture have different images of self as well as varied views on the degree to which they try to give others face or restore their own face in conflict situations.
INTEGRATION-SEPARTION
> Separation --- • The need to be your own person ---• The need to do things independently > Integration ---• The need to be close to other ---• The desire to link actions and decisions "No relationship can exist by definition unless the parties sacrifice some individual autonomy. However, too much connection paradoxically destroys the relationship because the individual identities become lost."
New Media and Agenda-setting effects
> Several studies point to a decrease of traditional media's singular influence on setting the agenda (Meraz, 2009; 2011). > Meraz (2009) examined the media's agenda setting power in the age of social media, and suggested that traditional media effects are no longer universal or monopolized→ Blogs are redistributing power between traditional media and citizen media. > A follow up study suggested that when it comes to influencing intermedia agendas, traditional media were unable to set political blogs' agendas, while political blog networks were able to set traditional media's online news agenda (Meraz, 2011).
Will I become good friends with you?
> Social Exchange Theory (SET): The status of a relationship depends on the evaluations of the rewards (+) and costs (-) of interaction between two parties. >If the perceived mutual benefits outweigh the costs of greater vulnerability, social penetration will take place. Three main components: >Relational outcome >Relational satisfaction >Relational stability Related heavily to philosophy and egoism
STABILITY AND CHANGE
> Stability ---• The need for consistency and stability with the relationship ---• Consistency, reliability, and dependability in a relationship > Change ---• The need for fresh and new experiences ---• Originality, freshness, and uniqueness in the relationship
Relational stability
> The comparison level of alternatives (CLatl): The best alternative relational outcomes available outside the current relationship... OR > The worst outcome a person will accept and still stay in a relationship." > The relative values of Outcome, CL, and CLalt help determine one's willingness to disclosure: ✓ Optimum disclosure will occur when both parties believe that Outcome > CLalt > CL. ✓ A relationship can be more than satisfying if it is stable, but other satisfying options are also available (in case this relationship turns sour). > (Relational Stability - We consider the best alternatives that are available outside of the relationship. The comparison level of alternatives can explain why people stay in abusive relationships; they don't see a better alternative outside of the relationship -- no motivation to exit)
Second-Level Agenda Setting
> The media not only tells us what to think about, but how to think about it as well. > Second-level agenda setting is the transfer of attributes. > Attributes are the characteristics that tell us how to think about the objects. >>Substantive attributes: Characteristics of news that help us cognitively structure news and concerns among various news topics. >>Affective attributes: Components of news coverage that conjure emotional reactions from audiences. i.e., tone
Face-giving
> The other-concerned facework strategy used to defend and support another person's need for inclusion. > It means taking care not to embarrass or humiliate the other in public. > Typically associated with collectivist cultures.
RELATIONAL DIALECTICS
> There are virtually no scientific laws that neatly order the experience of human relationships. > This is because social life and personal ties are highlighted with tension, struggle, and general messiness that cause an unceasing interplay between contrary tendencies. Dialects: Conflicts between two important but opposing needs or desire.
Relational outcome
> Thibaut and Kelley suggest that people try to predict the outcome of an interaction before it takes place. 1. The economic approach to determining behavior dates from John Stuart Mill's principle of utility. 2. The minimax principle of human behavior claims that people seek to maximize benefits and minimize costs. 3. The higher we index a relational outcome, the more attractive the behavior that might make it happen. > Social exchange theory assumes that people can accurately gauge the benefits of their actions and make sensible choices based on their predictions. >IF one sees much more benefit than cost, more information disclosure will happen. > (Relational outcome - strong assumption that people can assess the outcomes before the action (how true do we think this is? Can we really predict?) Gives us an idea as to when relationship disclosure is going to happen)
CRITIQUE: PASSING THE OBJECTIVE TEST WITH A GOOD GRADE.
> Ting-Toomey and Oetzel have conducted extensive survey research to craft and test an objective theory. ->> They use the constructs of self-construal and face concern to explain why that's so. ->> Ting-Toomey has laid out "conflict face-negotiation theory" in 24 testable hypotheses. > Ting-Toomey has made the choice to sacrifice simplicity for validity, which makes the theory tougher to grasp. >For more than two decades as a third-party neutral mediator, Em has found the theory has practical utility.
COMPETENT INTERCULTURAL FACEWORK
> Ting-Toomey's goal for her theory goes beyond identifying the ways people in different cultures negotiate face or handle conflict. >Three requirements need to be met to effectively communicate cross-culturally: 1. Knowledge is the most important dimension of facework competence. 2. Mindfulness shows a recognition that things are not always what they seem. It's a conscious choice to seek multiple perspectives on the same event. 3. Interaction skill is your ability to communicate appropriately, effectively, and adaptively in a given situation.
Peripheral power
> Tom Cruise & ___ > LeBron James & ___ > Donald Trump & ___ > Taylor Swift and & ___ > A speaker's competence or character could also be stimuli to effortful message elaboration. > In addition, the listener's mood can also serve as a peripheral cue. > It's impossible to make a list of cues that are strictly peripheral; cues that make a listener scrutinize a message are no longer mindless.
Cognitive Dissonance Selective exposure
> We avoid information that is likely to increase dissonance. > People select information that line up with what they already believe and ignore facts or ideas that ran counter to those beliefs. ---> However, selective exposure only explains about 5% of why we choose the information we choose. > Frey concluded that selective exposure exists only when information is known to be a threat. > Warm personal relationships are the best environment for considering discrepant views
EVT shortcomings
>EVT does not fully account for the overwhelming prevalence of reciprocity in interpersonal communication. > Does not explain where communicator reward valence supersedes behavior valence when the two are incongruent. --- What happens when an unattractive person engages in a positive behavior? Or vice-versa? > Predictive power of the theory is weak.
The Rhetorical Tradition
A conglomerate of both interpretive and scientific - Communication as artful public address - Epistemological Stance: Subjective, interpretive persective... but can also be objective - Methodological Preference: Textual analyses, content analyses, surveys, experiments - Main Hypotheses: --- We use all available means of persuasion, focusing on lines of argument, organization of ideas, language use, and delivery in public speaking
Self-Referential Imperative
A good interpretive theory offers fresh perspectives into the human condition Interpretive scholars typically examine a one-of-a-kind speech community that exhibits a specific language style (research is contextualized -- should reveal as much as possible about the distinct characteristics of the context that they are working with, and through the contextualized truths, they can offer fresh perspectives into human conditions. PURPOSE -- offer new understandings of people/human behavior and social conditions.) CAUTION: Are we reading our thoughts into the text, rather than allowing the text to speak to us as it is? - The theorist is both the cause and the consequence of the observation. Therefore, you must include yourself s a constituent of your own constructions. (should be conscientious of the cause and the consequence of the observation -- revealing and embracing as much as possible of the researcher's own personal bias )
THE FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVE
A perspective approach that describes and predicts task-group performance when four communication functions are fulfilled. Analysis of the problem --> Goal setting --> Identification of alternatives --> Evaluation of positive and negative traits Group decision-making process needs to fulfill these four functions in order to reach a high quality decision and combat group think.
Communication Accommodation Strategies -- DIVERGENCE
Accentuate the differences between you and another Deliberately avoid accommodating your vocabulary, tone, rate of speech, example
Who's to blame for obesity?
According to media: 1) individual-> diet, physical activity, genetics 2) societal-> food industry, government (tax), SES status (income) According to polls: individual>>societal
Communication Accommodation Strategies --CONVERGENCE
Adapt speech to become more similar with another person Adjust nonverbal cues and choice of vocabulary, etc. Mutual appreciation as an end result
Shannon-Weaver's model of Communication
Although there are 7 different traditions of the communication scholarship, a lot of these concepts overlap. Some terms act as umbrella and can be used in ore than one area -- easy to get confused
Typical process of cognitive dissonance
Conflict Experience --> Decision --> Dissonance --> Dissonance Reduction
Culture and organizations
Anthropologist Clifford Geertz views cultures as webs of shared meaning, shared understanding, and shared sense making. Geertz' work has focused on Third World cultures, but his ethnographic approach has been applied by others to organizations. In the field of communication, Michael Pacanowsky has applied Geertz's approach in his research of organizations. Pacanowsky asserted that communication creates and constitutes the taken-for-granted reality of the world.
Expectancy Violation Theory
Applied test of the original model Noticeable deviations from what we expect cause a heightened state of arousal and spur us to review the nature of our relationship with a person. --- 1. There exists a threat threshold: a hypothetical boundary of intimate space --- 2. A person with punishing power should observe proxemic conventions or stand slightly farther away than expected. --- 3. An attractive communicator benefits from a close approach. Burgoon's original theory was not supported by her research, but she continued to refine expectancy violations.
Symbols
Arbitrary words and nonverbal signs that bear no natural connection with the things they describe. Symbolic meanings are learned within a given culture
Cognitive Dissonance Attitude/Behavior
Attitude: I am going on a diet and will loose weight before the wedding. Behavior: Just ate a bucket of fried chicken.
Attribution Theory
Attribution: When we observe people and try to figure out their intent or disposition... Boils down to: "People who do things like that are like that" Depends on a) the other's ability b) external constraints and c) effort expended Scenario: You are a married couple and your spouse is surfing the internet while talking to your mother on the phone.
Why do people converge/diverge
Basic idea Desire for approval ->> Convergence ->> Positive outcome BUT 1. Does not explain why we communicate in a divergent want 2. Does not take into account that we are representatives of a group
FOR THOSE WHO THINK YOU ARE "RIGHT"
Be skeptical of personal opinions. ---> Groups often abandon the rational path due to the persuasive efforts of other self-assured group members. Follow John Dewey's six-step process of reflective thinking 1. Recognize symptoms of illness. 2. Diagnose the cause of the ailment. 3. Establish criteria for wellness. 4. Consider possible remedies. 5. Test to determine which solutions will work. 6. Implement or prescribe the best solution. Hirokawa and Gouran's four requisite functions replicate steps two through five of Dewey's reflective thinking. To counteract faulty logic, insist on a careful process.
2 -- Informed Hunches/theory continued
Before launching a theory, your idea(s) should go through a significant amount of verification (experiment/research) A theorist should be familiar with alternative explanations and interpretations Finding previous literature, running experiments, conducting interviews, etc., is important
Core Concepts of Expectancy Violation Theory
Burgoon Ecpectancy --> Predicted rather than what is desired --> Based on context, relationship, and communicator characteristic Violation Valence (Value with breach of expectations.) --> The positive/negative value placed on a specific unexpected behavior --> Negative valence: Do less than expected --> Positive Valence: Do more than expected Communicator Characteristics / Communication Reward Valance --> The sum of positive/negative attributes the person brings to the encounter --> The potential the person has to reward in the future People who more easily get away with violating the expectation: >young people >people with warm personality > females > attractive people
Critique of the theory
CAT can be evaluated using the six criteria for good social science. 1. Explanatory power: Describes and explains behavior well. 2. Predictability: The theory has consistently predicted what will happen in specific situations. 3. Parsimonious: The structure and underlying terminology are not always represented consistently with even the meaning of "accommodation" slippery. 4. Falsifiable: It isn't as testing the whole theory is not possible. 5. Quantitative methods: admirably used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods ->> Triangulation CAT can be beneficially applied to any situation where people from different groups or cultures come in contact
Difference between CL and CLalt
CL: >Your overall standard for a specific relationship. >Stays fairly stable over time. >You (= previous experience) are your own comparison. CLalt: >Your evaluation of other relational options at the moment. >A comparison between what you have with one person and what you can have with another person.
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. >> Dissonance is an aversive motivational state << ----->>Humans have a basic need to avoid dissonance and establish consistency. The tension of dissonance motivates the person to change either the behavior or the belief. The more important the issue and the greater the discrepancy, the higher the magnitude of dissonance.
Messages that elicit a response
Communication in its broadest interpretation may be defined as the eliciting of response. If a message fails to stimulate any cognitive, emotional, or behavioral reaction, it cannot be referred as communication. Q: Where does nonverbal communication fall in?
Expectancy Violation Theory
Communicator Reward Valence > The sum of positive and negative attributes brought to the encounter, plus the potential to reward or punish in the future. (If the person has the ability to reward or provide you with something, they have a positive reward valance) > Attributes such as status, ability, physical attractiveness can play a role in the equation. (the reward and punish is the most important -- so when the physical attractiveness and reward power contradict each other, the reward power supersedes.) > However, the reward & punish power is the most important factor. --- Puzzling violations force victims to search the social context for clues to their meaning. The perceived positive or negative value assigned to a breach of expectations, regardless of who it is. Once we deal with someone who acts outside the range of expected behavior, we switch to evaluation mode. When a behavior has a socially recognized meaning... --- Do more (=approach) than expected when the assessment is positive. --- Do less (=avoid) than expected when the assessment is negative. When interpretation of a behavior is ambiguous... --- We interpret the violation in light of how it will affect our lives.
So is this symbolic interaction a good theory?
Consider the components of a good interpretive theory. > Mead meets clarification of values, offers a new understanding of people, uses ethnographic research, and has a community of agreement. > Does not call for a reform of society, in fact says little about power or emotion. Lacking in this realm > The theory also has fluid boundaries, vague concepts, and an undisciplined approach that lack aesthetic appeal. Not a very specific metaphor/quote that is utilized continuously > Mead overstates his case, particularly when distinguishing humans from other animals. Q: So, what do you think? (---> Quantitative lens will reveal no, it is not a good theory -- but it should be reviewed through an interpretive lens)
A Sampler of Applied Symbolic Interaction
Creating reality • Developed by Erving Goffman • Social interaction as a dramaturgical performance • The impression of reality fostered by performance is fragile, and must constantly be reassured (Fragile reality needed constant reassurance) Meaning-ful Research • Participant observation (ethnography) should be the method of choice (cannot be done through self reported survey or controlled experiments, can only be done through deep participant observation -- so we know how people assign meanings) Generalized other • The tragic potential of symbolic interaction • Negative responses can consequently reduce a person to nothing (words have power because of the meaning and the constructs assigned to it)
Critique of the theory
Critical theorists attack the cultural approach because it does not evaluate the customs it portrays. > The goal of symbolic analysis is to create a better understanding of what it takes to function effectively within the culture. Adam Kuper is critical of Geertz for his emphasis on interpretation rather than behavioral observation. The cultural approach may also fall short on aesthetic appeal.
Critique of the theory
Critical theorists attack the cultural approach because it does not evaluate the customs it portrays. ◦ The goal of symbolic analysis is to create a better understanding of what it takes to function effectively within the culture. Adam Kuper is critical of Geertz for his emphasis on interpretation rather than behavioral observation. The cultural approach may also fall short on aesthetic appeal.
What is and isn't culture?
Culture: Systems of shared meaning (Geertz) 1. There is no need to distinguish between high (classic literature, compositions) and low (popular) culture 2. Culture is not whole (different subgroups) or undivided (still share similarities) Cultural performance: Actions from members that constitute and reveal their culture. An ensemble of text. Soft science: An interpretive search of meaning rather than experimental science in search of law.
Social scientific researcher
Deterministic (= people respond to external stimuli) Personal beliefs & values should not interfere Empirical evidence is key
Expectancy Violation Theory
Edward Hall Personal space expectation > Personal space: The invisible, variable volume of space surrounding an individual that defines that individual's preferred distance from others. > The size and shape of our personal space depends upon cultural norms and individual preferences. (Can be impacted by an individual's geographical upbringing) > Personal space is always a compromise between the conflicting approach-avoidance needs that we as humans have for affiliation and privacy. > Under some circumstances, violating social norms and personal expectations is a superior strategy to conformity. (We talk about certain circumstances where these invasions of personal space could be positive)
McQuail 1987
Entertainment > Escaping, or being diverted, from problems > Relaxing > Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment > Filling time > Emotional release > Sexual arousal
Expectancy Violation Theory
Expectancy What is predicted to happen in a given situation, rather than what one desires to happen. > Context: Cultural norms, spatial arrangements. > Relationship: Familiarity, similarity, liking, and relative status. > Communicator characteristics: Age, sex, place-of birth, physical appearance, personality, and communication style.
FACEWORK STRATEGIES
Face Restoration > Self-concerned facework strategy used to preserve autonomy and defend against loss of freedom. > It often involves justifying one's actions or blaming the situation. >Typically associated with individualistic cultures.
ETHICAL REFLECTION
Habermas suggests a rational group process through which people can determine right from wrong. Being ethical means being accountable. People in a given culture or community can agree on the good they want to accomplish and over time build up wisdom on how to achieve it. The person who performed an act must be prepared to discuss what he or she did and why he or she did it in an open forum→ The public sphere! ---> An ideal speech situation where participants were free to listen to reason and speak their minds without fear of constraint or control.
Do convergence & divergence actually work?
Have you ever found someone's attempt at convergence "fake" or off-putting? -OR- • Have you ever found someone's attempt at divergence actually interesting & unique!?
Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making
Hypothesis: Groups make high-quality decisions when members fulfill four requisite functions: (1) problem analysis, (2) goal setting, (3) identification of alternatives, and (4) evaluation of positive and negative consequences. Most group communication disrupts progress toward accomplishing these functional tasks, but counteractive communication can bring people back to rational inquiry. Epistemological stance: Objective Paradigm: Socio-psychological & cybernetics
FACE-NEGOTIATION THEORY
Hypothesis: People who have an interdependent selfimage in a collectivistic culture are concerned with giving other-face or mutual-face, so they adopt a conflict style of avoiding or integrating. People who have an independent self-image in an individualistic culture are concerned with protecting self-face, so they adopt a conflict style of dominating • Epistemological stance: Objective Paradigm: Socio-cultural and socio-psychological traditions)
Agenda-Setting Theory
Hypothesis: The media tell us (1) what to think about, and (2) how to think about it. The first process (agenda setting) transfers the salience of items on their news agenda to our agenda. The second process (framing) transfers the salience of selected attributes to prominence among the pictures in our heads. > Epistemological stance: Objective > Paradigm: Socio-psychological tradition
REFINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FACE CONCERN AND CONFLICT STYLE
Integration: > Apologize > Private talk > Remain calm > Problem solve > Respect Dominance > Defend > Express emotion > Aggression Avoidance > Give in > Pretend > Third-party Those most concerned with self-face will try to dominate. People with an other-face concern will attempt to avoid conflict. Parties with a mutual-face concern will favor integrating strategies.
Culture as a metaphor of organizational life
Interest stemmed from modern interest in the economic success of Japanese corporations. Organizations look radically different depending on how people in the host culture structure meaning. What is a corporate culture? 1. The surrounding environment that constrains a company's freedom of action. 2. An image, character, or climate. 3. Culture is not what something has, it's what something is.
What are the two different perspectives for communication scholarship? (bud AD example)
Interpretive or social scientific The difference between interpretive and social scientific is how they understand and pursue truth... singular, multiple, objective or subjective interpretive lens -- the ads are seen as a form of cultural communication. The objective is to uncover the symbolic cultural meanings that are embedded throughout the advertisement interpretive-> We tried to dissect the symbols embedded in the message, and if we're successful in dissecting the messages it is good and makes the advertisement effective social/scientific -- The Budweiser advertisement is using a classic psychological method called resonance. Resonance conjures positive feelings because when we recall memories or experience they will bring toward the feelings that we had at the time. People in general will have a very fond memory of growing with their companion animals. social - scientific-> This ad works because people can resonate with the message. This resonance will bring good feelings which will ultimately bring about sales.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Invisibility > We are immersed in media environment. > We need to focus on our everyday experience of technology rather than abnormalities. > A medium shapes us because we partake of it continuously until it becomes our extension. > It's the ordinariness of media that makes them invisible. Complexity > Research on media ecology is sparse because it takes up the challenge of trying to understand the interplay in a culture that changes at blazing speed. > It takes a special ability to be able to stand back from the action and take in the big picture.
The objective-Interpretive Continuum
It is important to remember that the objective and interpretive theory do not necessarily exist independently from each other. Rather It is a process, where at one end of the theory is the objective paradigm and at the other end is the interpretive paradigm What you'll notice when applying to our material specifically is that each given communication theory will fall into the objective or interpretive paradigm but some objective theories may overlap more so, or may inch more into the interpretive paradigm and vice versa. So the more distant it is from each other, the more solid in its school of thought and there will be some that group within the middle range where we can utilize both the objective and the interpretive paradigm.
EVT in real life
Kanye west/Taylor Swift at award show
Interpretive approach
Key words -- subjective interpretations assumptions: 1. Truth is to be constructed, not discovered 2. We can never entirely separate the "knower from the known" (aka - the person from the understanding) 3. There are multiple truths (=meanings) possible 4. Meanings and value are assigned to specific communication contexts 5. Such meaning ascription is guided by one's personal experience, culture, etc. 6. A theory is used to make sense of unique communication events (rather than test and predict)
Symbolic Interactionalism
Language: Second principle: Meaning arises out of the social interaction people have with each other, rather than being inherent in objects. > Meaning is negotiated through the use of language. > Symbolic naming is the basis for society—the extent of knowing is dependent on the extent of naming. (if we can not name something we can not give meaning to it) > Symbolic interactionism is the way we learn to interpret the world. --- A symbol is a stimulus that has a learned meaning and a value for people. --- Our words have default assumptions. (associated with certain words or symbols) --- Significant symbols can be nonverbal as well as linguistic.
EVT in Pop Culture
Legally blond cover, Miss Congeniality cover, How to lose a guy in 10 days cover
*^ Alternative perspective: Ethical reflection
Levinas insists that the identity of our "I" is formed by the way we respond to others, not how others respond to me. > Ethical echo: The belief that we all have a responsibility to take care of each other. (Ethical consequences for the structure of identity, so we know their humanity register is not put on hold. We are not risking their human nature and identity in the processing of generalized others) > For an "I" to find its identity in caring for the Other, it is important to not let their humanity register and put our identity at risk.
Who sets the agenda for agenda-setters?
MEDIA AGENDA > Gatekeepers (news Editors) > Public Relations (Information subsides) > Interest aggregations (Front groups, activists) > Inter-media (Other news ORGs)
Criteria for A "good" social scientific theory
Main 4: - Predictable - Explanatory Power - Parsimonious (Occam's Razor) - Falsifiability Additional criteria: Practical Utility & Quantitative Research
*> Identity
Mead understood identity as a part of a larger societal process. I/Me does not exist outside of the societal social structure
The Semiotic Tradition
More subjective and interpretive. Leans more significantly toward the interpretive paradigm Important because we are surrounded by symbols and icons in today's age (scull symbol on a bottle, red cross on the railroad) - Communication as the process of sharing meaning through signs - Epistemological Stance: Subjective, interpretive, perspective - Methodological Preference: Ethnography, Textual analyses -Main Hypotheses ----> The study of verbal and nonverbal signs that can stand for something else, and how their interpretation impacts society ----> Words don't have precise definitions. Meanings are created and shared by people rather than naturally embedded in words
Prime-time
Most watched: 9:15-9:30pm Least Watched: 10:45-11pm
Accommodation:
Moving toward or away from others by changing your communicative behavior. Interethinic communication VS. Intergenerational communication
Theory Metaphors
NETS -Nets cast to catch the world -We endeavor to make the world finer and finer -catch and cast existing phenomenon in the world -----some concepts will slip through LENSES -Theories shape our perception by focusing on some things while disregarding others -Framing theory (helps us focus our attention) MAPS -Maps of the way communication works -Need theory to guide us through unfamiliar territory
A Sampler of Applied Symbolic Interaction
Naming> • Labels force us to view ourselves through a warped mirror • These grotesque images are not easily dispelled (To label is to name and to name is to provide sense and meaning-- can have consequences Positive and negative) Self-fulfilling Prophecy> • A particular implication of the looking-glass self (if we tell our selves something repeatedly, or over and over again, we will come to believe it) • Each of us affects how others view themselves • Our expectations evoke responses that confirm what we originally anticipated, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy • Pygmalion effect Symbol manipulation> • Symbols can galvanize people into united action • Smokey the bear (considered one of the most effective wildfire campaigns-- disassociating bears with scary images)
MEDIA ECOLOGY
OVERVIEW • Hypothesis: The media must be understood ecologically. Changes in communication technology alter the symbolic environments. We shaped our tools and they shape our perceptions, experiences, attitudes, and behavior. Thus the medium is the message. > Epistemological stance: Interpretive > Paradigm: Socio-cultural tradition
Interpretation of messages
People make meanings out of words "Humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they assign to those people or things." "Pat and I spent the night together"
Spiral of Silence Theory
People possess an intuitive knowledge of understanding what the prevailing mass opinion is, and we choose to be silent or not speak about it if we feel our opinion is contrary to the mass opinion. The minority viewpoints grow more and more distant, and spiral into a state of silence BECAUSE THE SPIRAL OF SILENCE DOESN'T WORK for falsifiable, some people believe that spiral of silence isn't a good scientific theory)
McQuail 1987
Personal Identity > Finding reinforcement for personal values > Finding models of behavior > Identifying with valued other in the media > Gaining insight into one's self
Additional Criteria for good social scientific theory
Practical Utility & Quantitative Research
Scientific theory criteria for evaluation
Prediction of future Explanation of date Relative simplicity Testable hypothesis practical utility quantitative research
Expectancy Violation Theory
Proxemics >Edward Hall --> pointed out that there are cultural boundaries >Rural areas tend to have stricter and more confined limits to space, urban areas are more flexible Public Space --> strangers / Social Space--> classmates / Personal Space --> Close friends/Family / Intimate Space --> Self/partners Saying hello --> handshake, kiss, greeting.. (Can change based on cultural norms and expectations) >Burgeon didn't argue that crossing over the threat threshold that forms the boundary of intimate distance causes physical and psychological discomfort. Instead, she argued that there are times when breaking the norm is actually positive.
Lets be critical
Q: Couldn't it be that the media agenda and public opinions simply reflect reality? >>Ray Funkhouser documented a situation in which the twin agendas did not merely mirror reality >>Iyengar, Peters, and Kinder's experimental study confirmed a causal relationship between the media's agenda and the public's agenda. Q: Couldn't it be that only passive viewers are affected by the media's agenda? >>Those with need for orientation (index of curiosity): particularly if the topic is highly relevant & but I am uncertain.
Critique of the Theory
Q: If a theory lacks the ability to predict and explain; if the theory is overly complex and ubiquitous, should it be considered a theory at all?
THE POWER OF GROUP COMMUNICATION
Randy Hirokawa and Dennis Gouran believe that group interaction has a positive effect on decision making. 1. Members care about the issue 2. Members are reasonably intelligent 3. Members face challenging tasks that call for innovative, factual, and clear thinking Hirokawa seeks quality solutions; Gouran desires appropriate decisions. The functional perspective illustrates the wisdom of joint interaction.
Social Identity Theory
Social Identity Theory > Group memberships and social categories that we use to define who we are. > Our social identity is based on our intergroup behavior - and this affects our communication. > We may need or want to emphasize our distinctiveness or difference, based on whether we sense in-group or out-group status. > When in-group: Desire for approval ->> Convergence ->> Positive Outcome > When out-group: Need distinctiveness ->> Divergence ->> Negative Response
Symbolic Interactionalism
Society > Generalized other: The composite mental image a person has of his or her self based on societal expectations and responses. (BASED ON SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONS) Others can be various entities such as family, friends, teachers, and media. > The generalized other shapes how we think and interact with the community. --- The "me" is formed through continual symbolic interaction. --- The "me" is the organized community within the individual. > There are various voices of how my generalized self should interact with others. --- Second generation immigrants --- Army --- Religious groups BARBIE EXAMPLE -- "Average" Whatever you agree upon is based on your community of agreement
Stages of self disclosure (4)
Stage 1 - Orientation: - Small talk -- The first stage follows the standards of social norms -- exchanging superficial information, nothing that's terribly revealing, nothing emotional. Stage 2 - Exploratory affective stage: •Start to reveal ourselves, expressing personal attitudes about moderate topics (e.g., government, education). Exploratory exchange - explore things about them like their interests and hobbies. Stage 3 -Affective Stage: Start to talk about private and personal matters. •Use of personal idioms, criticism and arguments may arise. •There may be intimate touching at this stage. Affective Exchange - emotional, reveal personal emotionally charged information, how you feel about things in your life. Most relationships don't get past stage 3 (90%) Stage 4 - Stable Stage: The relationship now reaches a plateau. •Some of the deepest personal thoughts belief, and values are shared. •Each can predict the emotional reactions of the other person. Stable exchange - True intimacy, stable relationships, can tell the person literally anything. Stage 5 - Penetration on stage (optional): •When the relationship starts to break down and costs exceed benefits, then there is a withdrawal of disclosure • This leads to termination of the relationship.
Conducting Agenda-setting research
Step 1) Examine Media Agenda > Examined the pattern of news coverage across major print and broadcast media. > Looked for the location and the length of the story (= prominence). Step 2) Compare with public agenda > Comparison of the rank of importance between media's agenda and public opinion polls. > Nearly identical rank-order between the two.
Ways of learning organizational cultures
Stories: >Collective memory of an organization that provide windows into the core of an organizational culture. > There are corporate, personal, and collegian stories. > Stories contain a mosaic significance. Ritual >Rituals articulate multiple aspects of cultural life. >Some rituals are nearly sacred and difficult to change.
CRITIQUE OF THE THEORY
The exclusive focus on rationality cause mixed experimental results. The FOICS method all but ignores comments about relationships inside and outside the group. Stohl and Holmes emphasize that most real-life groups have a prior decision-making history, and are embedded within a larger organization. ---> Advocate adding a historical function ---> Advocate an institutional function Recently, Gouran has raised doubts about the usefulness of the functional perspective for all small groups. ---> It's beneficial for members to fulfill the four requisite functions only when they are addressing questions of policy. ---> Groups addressing questions of fact, conjecture, or value may not find the requisite functions relevant.
Symbolic Interactionalism
The first principle: Humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they assign to those people or things. Stimulus (can be anything person/symbol) -> Interpretation -> Response For example... What does it mean to wear a ring? • Right hand ring finger vs. Left hand ring finger • Male vs. female
A relational process
The flow of communication is always flux, never the same, and can only be described with reference to what went before and what is yet to come. Communication is a relational process because it takes place between two people, and because it affects the nature of the connections among those people. "Pat and I spent the night together."
Agenda Setting Theory at its simplest
The media tells us not what to think, but what to think about
A MEDIA ANALYSIS OF HUMAN CULTURE
The tribal age (Acoustic Era) ---> The senses were more advanced than visualization. ---> Hearing, touching & smelling. ---> Hearing is inherently public and equalà communities ---> Primitive people lived richer lives than literate descendants. The Literacy Age (Visual Era) ---> Literacy moved people from collective involvement to private detachment. ---> Literacy encouraged logical, linear thinking, mathematics, science, and philosophy The Print Age (Visual Era) ---> The printing press made visual dependence widespread. ---> Development of national language produced nationalism. ---> Fragmentation of society. The Electronic Age (Instant communication) ---> A global village. ---> Electronic media are detribalizing humanity. ---> Privacy is a luxury. ---> No more linear logic. We focus on what we feel. The Digital Age ---> Wholly electronic. ---> Increasingly personalized mass media.
Assumptions of the socio-cultural perspective
The world is never experienced directly The world is constructed through communication Communication creates individuals
1 -- A set of hunches/theory continued
Theories involve an element of speculation (eg. Newton's Law of gravity) Theory is not just one inspired thought or isolated area, but multiple ones -- happens over and over again A theory offers some sort of explanation A theory offers some indication of scope
What is communication?
There are more than 120 definitions of communication including: "communication is a process of acting on information" "communication is a process whereby people assign meanings to stimuli in order to make sense of the world" "communication is the transmission of information, ideas, emotions, etc., by the use of symbols" BY THE BOOK: "communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elicit a response."
Symbolic Interactionalism
Thinking > Third principle: An individual's interpretation of symbols is modified by his or her own thought process. > Symbolic interactionists describe thinking as an inner conversation, or minding. --- Minding is a reflective pause that only humans do. --- We naturally talk to ourselves in order to sort out meaning. > Whereas animals act instinctively and without deliberation, humans are hardwired for thought. --- Humans require social stimulation and exposure to abstract symbol systems to have conceptual thought. (we come to think and are only able to act after we process the information) --- Language is the software that activates the mind. > Humans have the unique capacity to take the role of others.
What is your epistemological stance on communication scholarship?
This question means -- "do you identify yourself as an interpretive scholar or as a social scientific scholar?"
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE FOUR FUNCTIONS
Three types of communication in decision-making groups: 1. Promotive: Interaction that calls attention to one of the four decision-making functions. 2. Disruptive: Interaction that detracts from the group's ability to achieve the four task functions. 3. Counteractive: Interaction that refocuses the group. Since most communication disrupts, effective group decision making depends upon counteractive influence. Hirokawa's Function Oriented Interaction Coding System (FOICS) classifies each functional utterance for analysis.
ELEMENTS OF THE THEORY (Relational Dialectics)
Totality > People in a relationship are interdependent. > When something happens to one person, it will affect the other person as well. Contradiction > The dynamic interplay between unified oppositions. > The central feature of the dialectic approach. Process > Processual nature of relationships and their change over time. > Noticing how someone is different from the way they were. Praxis > People make choices > Practical experience of having a relationship exposes one to the needs and value of another.
THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION IN THE FOUR FUNCTIONS
Traditional wisdom suggests that "talk" is how information travels between participants. ---> Verbal interaction makes it possible for members to: 1) distribute and pool information, 2) catch and remedy errors, and 3) influence each other. ---> Ivan Steiner claimed that actual group productivity = potential productivity - losses due to processes. ---> Communication is best when it does not obstruct or distort the free flow of ideas. In contrast, Hirokawa believes that group discussion creates the social reality for decision making.
Interpretive theory criteria for evaluation
clarification of values aesthetic appeal community of agreement reform of society qualitative research
BUD ad interpretation
interpretive lens: interpretive lens -- the ads are seen as a form of cultural communication. The objective is to uncover the symbolic cultural meanings that are embedded throughout the advertisement according to medhurst? --the reunion symbolizes the typical and classic mythic pattern of birth-> death-> rebirth. The foals growth, joining the Clydesdale and re-encountering his previous owner symbolizes this 3 step process. Medhurst emphasized the 3 year passing in the advertisement. The number 3 represents a long standing belief or tradition that is also classic in western history. It relates directly to the bible. Jesus laid in his tomb for 3 days, when he resurrects it was as if he never went away. That transfers into the message of the advertisement -- it was as if the horse never went away. All of his behaviors were the same as before the horse went away. These symbols are prevalent in our narrative upbringing. Recognizing these symbols create an understanding. Life is fleeting, but the one constant through the message of the Budweiser advertisement, that beer -- a Budweiser is always there. This creates a positive association, and could result in purchases. social/scientific lens: The Budweiser advertisement is using a classic psychological method called resonance. Resonance conjures positive feelings because when we recall memories or experience they will bring toward the feelings that we had at the time. People in general will have a very fond memory of growing with their companion animals. Viewers will watch the ad and see the man's connection with his growing pet will resonate with viewers and remind them of their own memories of having a pet. That positive feeling will be transferred over to the product that is being advertised. Effective advertisement is whether a positive emotional state is conjured while watching the advertisement.
Social Scientific Approach
key word -- objectivity assumptions: 1. The truth exists 2. The truth is singular 3. Communication scholars can access (=discover) this truth through unbiased observation 4. Research and theory should uncover a cause-and-effect relationship 5. Theory should allow us to describe, explain, and predict a human behavior 6. A theory is adopted to test if it covers the whole truth
Creation of messages
the content and form of a text are usually constructed, invented, planned, crafted, constituted, selected, or adopted by the communicator In other words the communicator is making a conscious choice of message form and substance Of course, there are mindless communication messages --mental shortcuts/automatic processing of messages EX: "Pat and I spent the night together."
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
the idea that different languages create different ways of thinking "The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group... The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached... We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predisposed certain choices of interpretation." - Edward Sapir (1929)
violation valence
the perceived positive or negative value assigned to a breach of expectations, regardless of who the violator is (in reality it can never happen independent from the person associated with the violation) > Once we deal with someone who acts outside the range of expected behavior, we switch to evaluation mode > When a behavior has a socially recognized meaning... (when the violation is positive, you can feel comfortable in violating their space. When the assessment is negative you should not invade that person's space) ---> Do More (= approach) than expected when the assessment is positive ---> Do less (= avoid) than expected when the assessment is negative. > When interpretation of a behavior is ambiguous... ---> We interpret the violation in the light of how it will affect our lives
