COM 1000 Final Exam
Communication Age
An age in which communication, technology, and media converge and deeply permeate daily life.
Types of Informative Presentations
Demonstrative - Shows the audience how to do something and sometimes gives the audience to try. Explain - Explains a concept, idea, or phenomenon and allows someone to investigate a topic. Describe - Describes people, places, and events. Exploratory - Invites your audience to discover information.
New Media Theory
Designed to describe the unique, customized communication styles of today. - The shift in communication initiated the need for a new media theory.
Social Information Processing Theory (SIP)
Explains how CMC and face-to-face communication are both successful in building relationships. - Explains that relationships develop only to the extent that people first gain information about one another and then use that information to form impressions or mental images of one another.
Co-Cultural Theory (CCT)
Explores how people from a co-culture communicate with those from the dominant culture. - Assimilation (get rid of all cultural differences. fit in with the dominant culture. - Accommodation (persuade the dominant culture to change the rules of society so it can incorporate the life experiences of each co-culture group.) - Separation (rejecting the notion of forming a common bond with dominant group.)
Listening Process
Hearing - The physical process by which auditory stimuli enter the ears. - Get closer. - Eliminate distractions. - Focus your attention. Understanding - Attaching meaning to the words you hear in a conversation or presentation. - Be mindful. - Do your homework. Remembering - Use memory aids. - Avoid verbatim recordings. Interpreting - Make sense of the verbal and nonverbal codes and to assign meaning to the information received. - Ask questions. - Be holistic. - Consider the medium. Evaluating - Weighing the credibility and accuracy of the message to make an assessment about the information requires evaluation. - Avoid bias. - Be generous. Responding - Giving a response to the message, either verbally or nonverbally. - Be nonverbal attentive. - Reply with clarity.
Empathetic Listening
Listening to others by responding nonjudgementally to their needs (either physical or emotional).
Methods of Delivery
Manuscript Presentations - Read word for word. Memorized Presentations - Given from memory without notes. - May be given multiple times. Extemporaneous Presentations - Carefully prepared notes and outline. - Thoroughly practiced. - Sounds more natural. - Permits greater eye contact. Mediated Presentations - Speeches that use either manuscript, memorized, impromptu, or extemporaneous delivery but are viewed using some technological component. Group Presentations - Several people, each presenting a part of the speech. - Transitions are important to connect speakers and ideas of each speaker into one coherent message.
Group Think
Occurs when a group makes a faulty decision due to its members' collective inability to critically examine an issue. Symptoms or GroupThink - Believing the group is invulnerable to the risks that it takes. - Failing to asses either the ethical or moral consequences of a group decision. - Dismissing facts or opinions that contradict a group's established position on a matter. - Assuming that the rival groups lack the ability to solve a similar problem or make a similar decision. - Censoring or withholding personal contributions to group discussion.
Critical Listening
Occurs when you need to evaluate an argument or a stance and develop on opinion based on evidence. - This type of listening is the most demanding because you must simultaneously listen to the message and analyze its content.
Relational Climate
Overall emotional feeling or temp of the relationship.
Cultural Imperatives
Peace Imperative - people are dependent on one another to maintain peace. Economic Imperative - countries are becoming more and more interdependent in shaping a global economy. Technological Imperative - continues to gain more importance in today's society as technological advances make the world more easily accessible. Self-Awareness Imperative - it is important for communicators to learn about other cultures. Ethical Imperative - should guide you in doing what is right versus what is wrong in various communication contexts.
Communication Climate
References whether coworkers experience feelings of openness, trust, and support when interacting with one another.
Relational Self
The process of becoming who you are as a result of togetherness with others. - Creation of self is a collaborative process.
Mediated Self
We also live in the virtual world and interact with others there.
Echo Chamber and Why is it Dangerous?
Where beliefs and attitudes are solidified because they are the only ideas present. This is dangerous because it causes repetition within a closed system offering little to no change.
Communication Competence
A language user's knowledge and social knowledge of how and when to use utterances appropriately.
Interpersonal Communication
Communication with or between persons who approach one another as individuals in a relationship.
Expectancy Violations Theory
Develops a range of acceptable behaviors and if someone acts outside of this behavior, it is a violation of our expectancy.
Personal Perspectives of Relationship Development
Honeycott (Buddy who created it) Cognitions not behaviors shape our relationship perspectives.
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
Human communication facilitated by a wide range of new media technologies such as Tumblr, Snapchat, e-mail message systems, message boards, and online games.
Listening vs. Hearing
Listening - An active process of receiving and understanding messages received either through listening to words or by reading text. - Listening is about attending to messages and making meaning, and it involves several simultaneous mental process that occur during communication. Hearing - What happens when sound waves are received by the ear and brain.
Maxims of Conversational Cooperation
Quality Maxim - The idea the communicators assume verbal messages are not being used to convey information that is believed to be false or lacks adequate evidence. Quantity Maxim - The expectations that verbal messages offer the appropriate amount of information, given the situation. Relevance Maxim - Maintains that communicators expect one another to be relevant in their verbal messages. Manner Maxim - The expectation that communicators be clear.
Cultural Influences on Relationships
Relationships are influenced by larger cultures like relation, ethics, nationalities.
Types of Evidence
Statistics - The key is to use these wisely and sparingly. Testimony - A statement of declaration by a person who has a connection to the topic. - These can provide credibility, add weight to arguments, and arouse emotions. Examples - Provide a strong way to connect and engage with the audience.
Values
Strategies, goals, and philosophies that act as guidelines for work behavior.
Communication
The collaborative process of using messages to create and participate in social reality.
Perception and 3 Components
The process of being aware of and understanding the world. - Three components of Perception: 1) Selection (selecting which messages and stimuli to concentrate on and respond to. 2) Organization (after we select which stimuli we are gong to pay attention to, we organize this information in a way that makes sense.) 3) Interpretation (giving meaning to information.)
Organization Communication
The process through which members develop, maintain, and modify practices through their communication with both internal superiors, subordinates, and peers and external clients, customers, and stakeholders.
Culture
The rules of living and functioning in society.
Barriers to Communication
- Stereotypes - Prejudice and Discrimination - Ethnocentrism (placing own cultural beliefs in a superior position.) - Hate Speech - School Bullying.
O'Keefe's 3 Message Design Logics
1) Expressive - Based on the idea that communication is a process in which persons express what they think or feel so others will know what they think or feel. 2) Conventional - Based on the idea that communication is a game to be played cooperatively, according to socially conventional rules and procedures. 3) Rhetorical - Based on the notion that communication involves the creation and negotiation of social selves and situations.
Communication as Social Construction
Further expands upon the idea that communication influences communicators. The social construction model stresses the ways communication shapes and creates the larger social realities in which we operate.
Convergence
How the main forms of technology mediated and face-to-face communication overlap and intersect in our daily lives. - Example: You continue a conversation with a friend in person that you began on Facebook about TV shows, which you both streamed online.
Cohesion
Occurs when members feel a sense of belonging to a group and can emerge in the forms of task cohesion--the degree to which members work toward a common goal--and social cohesion--the sense of community that develops among members. - When members consider their groups to be cohesive, they are more satisfied with their membership.
Strategies to Persuade
Provide Sufficiency of Evidence - Provide overwhelming evidence that any reasonable person would have to accept your position. Ask for a Suspended Judgement - If your topic is controversial or the members of your audience have strong opinions about your topic already, ask them to suspend their own judgment until after you present your arguments. Demonstrate Cost-Benefits - You are presenting your audience with the possible advantages of adopting your opinion, solution, or point of view. - The key is to show the audience what can be gained from the presentation. Seek Out Micro Changes - Instead of asking the members of your audience to adopt the big-picture purpose, you can ask them to make small changes in their behavior. Social Judgement Theory (SJT) - Individuals can be persuaded on a topic by being convinced to accept changes that are close to their already held beliefs. - Argues that if you want to persuade someone, your argument must be in her or his Latitude of Acceptance (close to the person's own held beliefs but not exactly the same belief.) - Latitude of Rejection - Occurs when the new argument is still too close to the reject category. - Latitude of Non-Commitment - Occurs when the new information causes the person not to accept or reject the position but instead to maintain his or her original position.
Methods of Getting Audiences Attention
Rhetorical Question - Asked in a manner that does not invite an actual response. Direct Question - Usually asks for a show of hands. Telling an Anecdote - Executed with detail, imagery, or humor, and can quickly pull the audience into your speech. Personal Experience - Provides a reference or framework for the audience. Offering a Quotation - Powerful way of gaining your audience's attention. Humor - Can be a good method because it creates goodwill between speakers and listeners.
Listening Problems
Situational Distractions - Fail to limit our distractions. - When you are reading your textbook, turn off your phone or the TV. Source Distractions - Occur when the person or mediated message we are listening to exhibits a behavior that inhibits our ability to listen. - Examples: Accents from across the world, writing in all caps, etc. Medium Distractions - Occur when the channel through which the message is delivered obstructs our ability to receive the message clearly. - Example: Static coming through a TV screen. Failure to Focus on the Message - Mind wanders while you're trying to listen to a speaker. Bias - Any assumption or attitude about a person, issue, or a topic that is made before we have heard all the facts. Judging Too Soon - When you limit your own exposure to news and information, you may not get a full picture and may end up judging contrary information or jumping to conclusions too soon. Listening Anxiety - Occurs when a listener has anxiety that triggers the inability to process and interpret messages being sent by others.
Shared leadership
The communication behaviors any group member can enact to demonstrate leadership. - Rather than developing one person to take on a role, develop everyone so no matter who you pick, they can take on a role.
Plagiarism
Using someone else's language, ideas, or other original (not common knowledge) material without acknowledging its source. - Types: a) Global Plagiarism (Using an entire document as your own.) b) Patchwork Plagiarism (Combining several documents into one.) c) Text Stealing (MOST COMMON) (Using another person's words or original ideas.) d) Self-Plagiarism (Using your previous original work as new.)
Ethos, Pathos, Logos
- Credibility (When we trust that a person is knowledgeable in a subject area and ethical in his or her pursuits.) a) Deductive Reasoning (General conclusions to reach specific conclusion.) b) Inductive Reasoning (Specifics to reach general conclusion.) - Ethos (The credibility and ethical appeal of your presentation.) - Pathos (Involves passion or emotion.) - Logos (The logic, structure, evidence, and support for your argument. To achieve this, you must provide rational, systematic, and coherent reasons why your argument is believable.)
Strategies for Informative Presentations
- Define information - Organize information - Get the audience involved - Reduce audience misunderstanding - Give the audience incentives to listen - Be aware of different learning styles.
Communication Theory of Identity
- Developed by Michael Hecht (1993). - "Identity is inherently a communicative process." - Communication shapes identity while identity shapes communication (Communication = Identity). - Four Frames a) Personal (how you see yourself) b) Enacted (how do you communicate your identity to others.) c) Relational (how does your identity emerge between you and others) d) Communal (how do you share your identity with a larger group.)
HURIER
- Hearing - Understanding - Remembering - Interpreting - Evaluating - Responding
How to Reduce Communication Anxiety
- Solutions to conquer. - Practice your speech. - Systematic decentralization. - Imagine the interaction. - Focus on relationship with audience. - Breathing exercises.
Types of Visual Aids
- Text. - Graphs. - Models and objects. - Photographs. - Audio and video clips.
Relational Culture
A world constructed and sustained by partners in a relationship.
Cultural Competence
Ability of providers and organizations to effectively deliver needs that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs.
Small Group Member Roles
An established and repetitive pattern of communicative behaviors that members expect from one another. Initiator-Contributor Role - Assumes the role of the group task leader. Information Giver Role - Demonstrates the ability to provide and synthesize ideas and alternatives to and for group members. - Information giver is also expected to be proficient in using technology and seeking relevant information on the internet. Orienter Role - Responsible for challenging group members' ideas in a constructive manner. - As an orienter, you summarize your group's progress, question the solutions or options agreed on by the members, recommended alternative or additional solutions or options, or ask fellow members to articulate the position they have chosen. Recorder Role - Takes the minutes of meetings and records any other group actions that need to be stored as permanent records. - Also, this role carries with it procedural duties such as typing the agenda, making arrangements for group meetings, ensuring members receive copies of minutes of the meeting, and sending pertinent information to prepare for the next meeting. Encourager and Harmonizer Role - The most essential in affecting whether and how group members maintain their relationships. - Encourager Role - You recognize the contributions made by your group members and communicate with them in a warm and supportive manner. - Harmonizer Role - You mediate disagreements as they arise among your group members, and you attempt to ease group tension by engaging in humor.
Crafting Persuasive Arguments
Argument by Example - Using examples as your main support for your persuasive appeal. Argument by Analogy - Compares different ideas or examples to reach a conclusion. - Might be literal or metaphorical. Argument by Definition - Use the definition of an idea or a concept as part of your persuasive appeal you are engaged in. - This is a type of deductive reasoning. Argument by Relationship - A general relationship or correlation of two ideas or concepts. - In this type of argument, specific examples or cases are either related to or caused by each other.
Consideration of Your Audience (Types and Methods of Analysis)
Audience Analysis - Gathering and analyzing information about an audience to make informed choices about content and delivery. - Types: a) Size of audience: larger audience, more formal. Smaller audience, more casual. b) Environment. c) Occasion. - Methods of Audience Analysis: a) Research your audience (online social networks, websites, newspapers.) b) Ask your audience (informant, surveys.) c) Watch your audience (feedback during presentation.)
Managing Meaning/Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory
CMM Theory focuses on how we coordinate our actions with others to make and manage meaning. According to CMM theory, communication involves 8 levels of interpretation: - Content (actual information contained in a spoken or written message.) - Speech Act (the various actions we perform through speech.) - Episode (broader situation created by conversational partners.) - Relationship (the relationship between the two of you has a tremendous impact on how they coordinate their actions and manage meanings.) - Self (each of us brings a script of who we are into every interaction.) - Culture (relates to a set of rules for acting and speaking, which determine what we consider to be normal and acceptable in a given situation.) - Coordination (the establishment of rules that help guide people through the intreating.) - Mystery (there is always room for the possibility of mystery, or idea that not everything within communication can be easily explained by understanding the situation.
Organizational Strategies
Chronological - Order of steps is important. Topical (MOST COMMON) - Information prepared according to subject matter. Spatial - Providing information by location physical relationship requires a spatial pattern. Cause-and-Effect - Addresses a topic in terms of a cause and its effect on another entity. Problem-Cause-Solution - About solving a dilemma. Monroe's Motivated Sequence - A persuasive organizational pattern popular with speakers. - Five Steps: 1) Attention (Capture the audience's interest. This step serves as the introduction.) 2) Need (In this first body point, you establish a problem and the fact that it is significant.) 3) Satisfaction (In the second main body point, you will set up a plan of action to solve the need.) 4) Visualization (In the last main body point, you will provide the advantages of your plan to the audience as well as the disadvantages if it is not implemented.) 5) Action (This step also serves as the conclusion. Here, you tell the audience members the immediate actions they can take to implement your plan and solve the problem.)
Communication as Interaction
Communication as a two-way process of reciprocal action. It takes the basic elements of the transmission metaphor and adds two important components: feedback and fields of experience.
Communication as Transmission
Communication involves a linear, one-way transfer of information. A source sends a message through a channel or a medium to a receiver in an environment of noise that serves as interference with effective transmission of a message.
Communication Networks
Consist of the formal and informal patterns of interactions that regulate the extent to which and how you and your organizational members talk with one another. Formal Communication Networks - Are both prescribed and sanctioned by the workplace and occur through downward communication, upward communication, and horizontal communication - Downward Communication - Initiated by superiors and directed toward their subordinates. - Upward Communication - Initiated by employees as a way to interact with their managers. - Horizontal Communication - Occurs solely between coworkers and enables them to coordinate their tasks, share information, engage in problem solving and decision making, and build rapport. Informal Communication Networks - Are established through the social interactions that occur among coworkers. - Not sanctioned by the organization and often emerge through ritualized or mundane activities in which employees participate such as taking a break, walking to and from the parking lot together, texting one another during the workday, chatting via Instagram, or contributing to gossip.
Functions of Verbal Messages
Creation - Verbal communication gives us the ability to create the social world around us. Participation - verbal communication allows us to participate in the social world by asserting, promising, apologizing, requesting, expressing, and performing.
Gottman's Four Horseman of the Apocalypse
Criticism, Defensiveness, Contempt, and Stonewalling. - Magic Ratio: Every negative interaction during conflict, a stable and happy marriage has 5+ positive interactions.
Types of Presentations
Epideictic Presentation - When you are introducing yourself or another person, celebrating an event, or commemorating a special occasion. - Often contain a strong emotional element. - Introduction, special events, eulogies. Informative Presentation - Seeks to convey new information and increase the audience's understanding about a topic. - Will explain a concept or process, describe an event or idea, or demonstrate how to do something. Persuasive Presentation - Seek to change, alter, or modify an audience's attitudes, beliefs, values, or outlook about a topic. - May also try to reinforce existing ideas.
Grouphate
Feelings of dread that arise when faced with the possibility of having to work in a group. - Emerges because group members misbehave, fail to contribute equally to the task, receive the same grade regardless of their input, and experience personality clashes with one another.
Small Group Development
Forming Stage - Begins when you are first introduced to your group. - Meet for the first time, learn about the task, become acquainted with one another. Storming Stage - Begins once you snd your group members have established a sense of comfort and some degree of familiarity with one another. - Actively share ideas, contribute to discussions, engage in low levels of self-disclosures, and your group begins to struggle with the assigned task. - Members start to disagree openly about group goals and the task. Norming Stage - You and your group members have resolved your initial conflicts and have begun to work together on the task. - Communication becomes more open and task-oriented as your group members begin to clarify your group roles, develop norms, and determine the appropriate courses of action to take. Performing Stage - Begins when group begins to focus on task completion. - Considered to be the stage at which group members produce the most work, you and group members focus your energy on task accomplishment and goal achievement. Adjourning Stage - Begins when a group reaches the end of its involvement.;
Methods of Evaluating Sources
In order to find the best and most credible research, you must ask about: Author's Expertise - Refers to author's credibility. Publisher's Authority - One of the best ways to help establish the publisher's authority is to look at the internet domain for the publisher's websites. Bias - Occurs when the author or publication has a particular point of view that will skew the information. Timeliness of the Information - Is a concern if you are presenting on a topic that is fast-changing or a current event.
Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions
Individualism vs. Collectivism Power Distance - The perceived equality or inequality felt between people in certain cultural or social contexts. - For example, a high level of power distance would be characterized by society in which slavery is accepted. Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity vs. Femininity Long-term vs. Short-term Time Orientation - Long-term orientation emphasizes processes for accomplishing tasks. - Short-term orientation is all about efficiency, production, and fast results.
Contexts of Communication
Interpersonal Communication - Communication with or between persons. - Occurs between people who approach one another as individuals in a relationship, whether it is a personal or intimate relationship. Small Group Communication - Communication among the members of a small group of people working together to achieve a common goal or purpose. - Must have at least 3 members in group. Public Communication - Situations in which a person delivers a message to an audience. Mass Communication - Messages transmitted by electronic and print media to large audiences that are distant and undifferentiated. Masspersonal Communication - Happens when a person uses a mass communication context for interpersonal communication or when a person uses an interpersonal communication context for mass communication.
Knapp's Stage Model (Model of Interaction Stages)
Initiating - Where partners make their first communication contact. Exchanging a simple greeting. Experimenting - Partners probe to see if there is common ground between them. As they reveal more information, they observe whether their disclosures are reciprocated. Intensifying - They develop greater intimacy and exchange a greater number and depth of self-disclosures. Communication is typically more affectionate and may revolve around expressing commitment or testing out labels like boyfriend or girlfriend. Integrating - Partners engage in communicating that weaves their lives together and solidifies their status a couple. Announcements as a couple may be made to friends, family and other social groups. Bonding - A public and formal declaration that "two have become one." A couple communicates their deep commitment to one another to the rest of the world. Includes rituals like weddings and commitment ceremonies. A relationship may remain in this stage indefinitely or until death do them apart. Differentiating - Characterized by communication that asserts the separateness of relationship partners. Rather then emphasizing a joint identity, partners talk in ways that stress their individuality and distance from one another. Circumscribing - Communication moves from identifying differences to restricting the communication between partners. Stagnating - Compares the relationship to a still, lifeless pond. The quantity and quality of communication continues to decline and partners experience a sense of hopelessness about relationship. Avoiding - Partners extend their declining communication by physically steering clear of one another. May rearrange their schedules to see one another as little as possible and desire permanent physical distance through separation or divorce. Termination - A reversal of the bonding stage. Termination signals the official end of the relationship.
Tethered Self
Living between the real world and life on the screen and participates in both realms at the same time, in a state of continual presence. - always aware of our connections online.
Difference between Informative and Persuasive Presentations
Main difference is the speaker's intent. - Persuasive intent: Giving new information while persuading. - Informative intent: Informing your audience with new information and increasing their understanding.
Logical Fallacies
Non Sequitur Argument - Conclusion has no relationship statement. - Does not follow a logical conclusion. - Example: "I know I will be a good parent because I have blond hair." The conclusion, "because I have blond hair." is irrelevant to being a good parent. Ad Hominem - Attacking the person instead of the information in presentation/article. - Example: "I'll never attend Penn State University; all the students rioted in support of their coach when it was reported that some members of the athletic office covered up the sexual abuse of children." Red Herring - Distract from the argument by using non relevant information. - Example: Discussing the dangers of underage drinking and the student brings up numerous problems with campus security. Either/Or Arguments - Oversimplify issues by offering only two solutions even though other options exist. - Ignores the complexity of issues and polarizes the discussion. - Example: "Either our company expands this product line this specific way, or we go out of business." Slipper Slope - Represents the notion that when a single step is made, a host of other consequences will follow. - Once the ball starts rolling, it doesn't stop. - Example: "If I do poorly on this exam, I might fail the class. If I fail the class, I won't graduate. If I don't graduate, I'll never get a job. etc." Hasty Generalization - Few examples generalized to larger concept or information without evidence. - When we look at one or two examples and generalize them to a much larger concept, or we accept information that is not supported with evidence. - Example: "I'll never buy a house because the basements always flood. My cousin's basement flooded, and it was a mess." Bandwagon - Decisions based one popularity or popular opinion. - Example: If a popular athlete wears a certain brand, then it must be the best brand on the market.
Communication Traditions
Oral Tradition (Oral Culture or the Oral Age) - Consists of cultural messages or traditions verbally transmitted across generations. - Can be classified as primary orality, which is a culture that has no knowledge of technology beyond the spoken word, or as second orality, which is when verbal communication is sustained through other technologies, such as phones or internet. Written/Print Tradition - Written - Early forms of written communication such as scribe and hieroglyphics, immediately follows the Oral Tradition. - Print - The creation and distribution of printed text, is the next identifiable period of technological development. - Printing Press - A mechanical device that applies pressure from an inked surface to a print medium. - Development of the Written/Print Tradition allowed for the expansion of literacy and the ability to produce and share information with the public, rather than being limited by oral communication and geographic location. Electronic Tradition (First Media Age) - Included media that require users to make use of electronics to access content. - During this era, news and information were released through a highly centralized production. New Media Tradition (Second Media Age)
Forming Relationships
Proximity - Distance between the two. - Most likely to form relationships with people who are close by. Physical Attraction - Bodily traits are attractive. Halo Effect - Lets our perceptions of one positive trait influence our perception of a person. Horn Effect - Lets our perceptions of one negative trait influence our perception of a person.
Types of Persuasive Claims
Questions of Policy - Persuading for a change to an existing law, plan, or policy, or creating a new policy. Questions of Value - Used when trying to persuade the relative merits--good/bad, moral/immoral--of a position. Questions of Fact - Used when one person tries to persuade another that a fact is or is not true.
Functions of Nonverbal Communication
Repeating Accenting - A nonverbal message may highlight the verbal message by emphasizing or enhancing a certain point. You may stress the word "despise" in "I despise this weather" to emphasize your strong negative feelings. Conflicting - You may use a nonverbal message to contradict your verbal message. You may say "I'm having a great time at this party," while simultaneously shaking your head no. Complementing - A nonverbal message can reinforce a verbal message. You might tell your friend that you're listening, while making sure to perform the nonverbal behaviors associated with listening. Regulating - Nonverbal messages often manage the flow of verbal conversation. You may raise your hand to signal that you would like to say something. Substituting - The use of nonverbal message can replace a verbal message. Example would be pointing when asked where an item is located.
Four Types of Schemas
Schemas (Mental structures developed from past experiences that help us respond to some stimuli in the future.) 1) Prototypes (An image of the best example of a particular category. Help us answer the question "What is it?" we we encounter a message or situation.) 2) Stereotypes (Generalizations made to an entire group of people or situations on the basis of the observed traits of one or a few members of the group.) 3) Interpersonal Constructs (Bipolar dimensions of judgment used to size up people or social situations. In other words, constructs are sets of opposing terms like "outgoing versus shy" we can use to judge others.) 4) Scripts (Organized sequences of action that define a well-known situation.)
Social Penetration Theory (Onion Theory)
Shows how relationships progress toward intimacy as a result of self-disclosure from both partners. - Views disclosure in terms of breadth, or the number of topics discussed, and depth, or the amount of information revealed about a topic. - Core Personality (truly trusting) --> Inner Layers (values, political views, fears) --> Middle Layers (more personal, social issues, talk, etc.) --> Superficial Layers (food, music). - Theory maintains that as two people learn more details about each other, self-disclosures become more intimate and partners share more and more information about themselves. - Self-Disclosure: The act of revealing information about one's self to others.
Warranting Theory
Suggests that in the presence of anonymity, a person may potentially misrepresent information about his or her self. - Introduction of the warranting construct argues that an individual is less likely to distort representations of themselves when the receiver has access to other members of the sender's social circle.
Workplace Socialization
The process by which organizational newcomers learn about the values, norms, and expectations that will enable them to become fully contributing members of the workplace and occurs in three stages. 1. Anticipatory Stage - Begins the moment that individuals begin to prepare for a future job at a workplace. - Individuals explore possible jobs and organizations, determine whether they possess the requisite skills and abilities needed for a specific job, and contemplate whether their needs and calls are congruent with the needs and values of a prospective workplace. 2. Assimilation Stage - Starts once employees begin their first day of work. They are integrated into the culture of the organization over time with hopes that they will embrace the norms and values of the workplace. - This stage can occur over an infinite amount of time, consists of two interrelated phases: Encounter Phase (breaking in) and Metamorphosis Phase (once newcomers become comfortable in their work role.) 3. Exit Stage - Begins once an employee decides to disengage from the workplace. In this stage, workers voluntarily or involuntarily leave the workplace for a host of reasons.
Communication as Transaction
Was introduced to acknowledge that people are connected through communication, and that they accomplish something in communication beyond merely relaying messages back and forth. Participants are simultaneous sender-receivers linked in relationship to one another. Every message has two dimensions: contend and relationship.
Triangle of Meaning
- First point of the triangle is "narwhale", the unicorn of the sea. - Second point represents the thoughts about the symbol. - third point is the actual narwhale as an object. - Together, all the points compose the meaning of narwhale: the word, the ideas, and the object.
Conflict-Handling Styles
Avoiding Conflict-Handling Style - You have a low concern for meeting the needs of both yourself and your group members. - To group members, you appear uninterested in or apathetic toward the conflict. Dominant Conflict-Handling Style - You are more interested in satisfying your own needs than satisfying the needs of your group members. - When you use this style in a small group, you risk alienating your group members and violating their trust because your motivation may be viewed as suspect and you may be perceived as having a hidden agenda. Compromising Conflict-Handling Style - You strive to find a middle ground between meeting your own needs and meeting the needs o your group members. Obliging Conflict-Handling Style - You are highly concerned with meeting the needs of your group members while ignoring your own needs. - You might choose this because you value relationships you develop with your group members or because you have a strong desire to be accepted by your group members. Integrating Conflict-Handling Style - You are concerned with meeting the needs of both yourself and all your group members. - You refuse to avoid sacrificing either your needs or the needs of your group members for the good of the group.
Artifacts
The objects that employees can see, touch, or hear that provide them with an initial impression of how the organization operates. - Symbolic Artifacts - Center how the workplace uses language and nonverbal codes to represent the allies of the organization. - Role Artifacts - Focus on the specific cultural roles coworkers play within the workplace. Most influential role is the Hero Role (exerts a tremendous amount of influence on other employees.) - Interactive Elements - Revolve around the informal and formal communicative events, recognized and sanctioned by the workplace, in which coworkers participate. Includes banquets, gift exchanges, and break room banter. - Contextual Elements - Refer the parameters surrounding the existence of the workplace, such as its location or history.
Workplace Dissent
When employees feel as if they are no longer a vital part of the company and they begin to disagree or express contradictory opinions about the organization, its policies and practices, and its employees. - Upward Dissent - Expressed by voicing concerns about the workplace directly, openly, and clearly with superiors because subordinates believe that they will take these concerns seriously. When you engage in Upward Dissent, you do so without any fear or retaliation because you are confident that these concerns will be perceived as constructive. - Latent Dissent - Expressed, too, by sharing concerns about the workplace, but is done so in an aggressive manner. - Displaced Dissent - Expressed by discussing work-related concerns with people outside of the organization such as family members and friends.
Cultural Awareness
Your ability to communicate effectively when encountering differences of ethnicity, race, language, religion, marital status, or sexual orientation is an essential component to being an educated citizen.
