Communications 111

High/Low Context

A low context culture uses language primarily to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas directly as possible. A high context culture relies heavily on subtle often nonberval cues to maintain social harmony.

Achievement vs. Nurturing

Achievement culture describes societies that place a high value material success and a focus on the task at hand, whereas nurturing culture is a descriptive term for cultures that regard the support of relationships as an especially important goal.

Organization

After selecting information from the environment, we must arrange it in some meaningful way to make sense of the world. We call this stage organization.

Sex and Gender Roles

Although people often use the terms sex and gender as if they're identical, there is an important difference. Sex refers to biological characteristics of a male or female, whereas gender refers to the social and psychological dimensions of masculine and feminine behavior.

Evaluating

An evaluating response appraises the senders thoughts or behaviors in some way. The evaluation may not be favorable. Sometimes negative evaluations are purely critical.

Impression Management

At first face impression management might sound like academic label for manipulation or phoniness. There are certainly are situations where people misrepresent themselves to gain the trust of others. A manipulative date who pretends to be affectionate to gain sexual favors is clearly unethical and deceitful.

Physical Needs

Communication is so important that presence or absence affects health. Recent studies confirm that people who process a negative experience by talking about it report improved life satisfaction as well as enhanced mental and physical health, compared with those who think privately about it. A study conducted with police offices found that being able to talk easily with colleagues and supervisors about work trauma was limited to greater physical mental health.

Practical Needs

Communication is the tool that let us tell hairstylist to take just a little of the edges of the doctor where it hurts. Communication is and essential ingredient for success in virtually every career. Abraham Masslow suggests that human needs fall into five categories.

Identity Needs

Communications does more than enable us to survive, it is the way- indeed the major way we learn who we are. Our sense of identity comes from the way we interact with other people. We decide who we were based on how others react to us. Deprived of communication with others have no sense of identity.

Culture and Co-Culture

Culture is is the language, values, beliefs, traditions,and the customs people share and learn. Culture to the greater extent is a matter of perception and definition. Ex. skin color and how we seperate "us" from "them. Co-culture is used to describe the perception of membership in a group that is part of an encompassing culture. Members of co-cultures develop unique patterns of communication and connection. Deaf culture is a good

Involvement

Effective Communication occurs when the people care about one another and the topic at hand. Involvement has several dimensions. It includes commitment to the other person and the relationship, concern about the message being discussed and a desire to make the relationship clearly useful.

Empathizing

Empathizing is a response style listeners use when they want to show that they identify with a speaker. Empathy involves perspective taking, emotional, contagion, and genuine concern. When listeners put the attitude of empathy into verbal and nonverbal responses, they engage in empathizing.

Hurt the other person

Even if revealing hidden information leaves you feeling better, it might hurt others- cause them to be upset, for example, its probably easy to imagine yourself in a situation like this.

A Large Repertoire of Skills

Good Communication dont use the same approach in every situation. They know that sometimes its best to speak or be quiet. The chances of reaching your personal and relational goals and increase with the number of options you have about how to communicate.

Adaptability

Having a large repertoire of possible behaviors is one ingredient of competent communication, but you must be able to to choose the right one for the right situation. Effective Communication means selecting appropriate responses for each situation and for each recipient.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Hofstede Merkin uses the term uncertainty avoidance to reflect the degree to which members of a culture feel threatened by ambiguous situations and how much they try to avoid them. A cultures degree of avoidance is reflected on the way its members communicates.

Hearing vs. Listening

Listening and Hearing arent identical. hearing is the process in which sound waves strike the eardrum and cause vibrations that are transmitted to the brain. Listening occurs when the brain transmitted to the brain. Listening occurs when the brain reconstructs these electrochemical impulses into a representation of the original sound and then gives them to your brain whether you want them to or not. Listening is not automatic We stop listening when an object is unimportant or uninteresting.

Listening is not easy

Listening is more difficult than many realize. Common barriers to listening include information overload, personal concerns, rapid thought, and noise.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Members of an individualistic culture view their primarily responsibility as helping themselves, whereas communicators in collectivistic cultures feel loyalisties and obligations to one group: one's extended family, communication or even organizations.

Mindful Listening

Mindful Listening involves giving careful and thoughtful attention and responses to the messages we receive. You tend to listen mindfully when a message is important to you, and also when someone you care about is speaking.

Mindless Listening

Mindless listening occurs when we react react to others messages automatically and routinely, without much mental investment.

Will the effect be constructive?

Self Disclosure can be a vicious tool that if its not used carefully. Every person has a psychological "beltline" and below that betline are areas about which the person is extremely sensitive. It's important to consider the effects of your candor before opening up to others. Old business can be constructive, but they can also be devastating- to the listener, to the relationship, and to your self esteem.

How the self concept develops

Self concept doe not exist t birth. At 6 or 7 months infants begin to recognize "self" as distinct from surroundings. Interaction with others shapes the way individuals view themselves reflected appraisal and social comparison.

The Self Fulfilling Prophecies

Self concept is such a powerful influence on the personality that is not only determine how you see yourself in the present but also can actually affect your future behavior and that of others. A self fulfilling prophecy occurs when a persons expectations of an event and her or her subsquent behavior based on those expectations make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true.

Types of self fulfilling prophecies

Self imposed prophecies occur when your own expectations influence your behavior. Ex-"this will be a bad day" A second category of self fulfilling prophecies occurs when one persons expectations govern anothers action. ex. "special children in class led to changes in their intellectual performance.

Is disclosure reciprocated ?

There's nothing quite as disconcerting as talking your heart out to someone, only to discover that the other person has yet to say anything to you that is half as revealing. What is important is that there is an appropriate balance of disclosure for maintaining each party's investment in the relationship.

Relational Roles

Think back to the "Who am I?" lts likely your list included roles you play in relations to others: daughter, roommates, spouse, and friend. Roles like this dont just define who you are-they also affect your perception.

Social Influences

Within culture our personal point of view plays a role in shaping perceptions. Social scientist have developed standing point theory to describe how a persons position in society shapes her or his view of society in general and specific individuals. Standpoint theory is most often applied to the differences between the perspectives of privileged social groups and people who have less power, and to the perspective of women and men.

Gender Identity

being open about their gender identity has advantages including a sense of of being authentic with others and belonging to a supportive co-culture. On the other hand, the disclosure can be risky. people may be shocked or judgmental.

Decrease in relational sat is...

loss of control

Noise

noise: Physical and mental words often present distractions that make it hard for us pay attention.

Personal Concerns

personal concerns: We are often wrapped up in personal concerns of more immediate importance than the messages others are sending.

selection

Because we are exposed to more input than we can possibly manage, the first step in perception is the selection of which data we will attend to. There are several factors that cause us to notice some messages and ignore others.

Influenced by the obvious

Being influenced by what is most obvious is understandable. We select stimuli from out environment that are noticeable-that is, intense, repetitious, or otherwise attention grabbing. The problem is that the most obvious factor is not necessarily the only cause- or the most significant one-of an event.

Common Tendencies in Perception

By now its obvious that many factors affect the way we interpret the world. Social scientist use the term attribution to describe the process of attaching meaning and behavior. We attribute meaning to both our actions and to the actions of others, but we often use different yardsticks. Researchers have uncovered several perceptual tendencies that may lead to inaccurate attributions.

Benefits of self disclosure

CATHARSIS- Sometimes you might disclose information in an effort to "get it off your chest" Catharsis can indeed relieve the burden of pent up emotions, but when its the only goal of of disclosure, the result of opening up may not be good. SELF-CLARIFICATION- It is often possible to clarify your beliefs, opinions, thoughts, attitudes, and feelings by talking about them with another person . This is sort of gaining insight by "talking the problem out". SELF VALIDATION- If you disclose information with the hope of seeking the listeners agreement , you are seeking validation of your behavior- confirmation of a belief you hold about yourself. Self validating disclosure seeks confirmation of important parts of your self concept. RECIPROCITY- A well-documented conclusion from research is that one persons act of self disclosure increases the odds that the other person will reveal personal information. There is no guarantee that revealing personal information will trigger self-disclosures by others, but make your own honesty can create a climate that a level of candor might get a responses of "wow me too". IMPRESSION FORMATION- Sometimes we reveal personal information to make ourselves more attractive and research shows that this strategy works. RELATIONSHIP AND ENHANCEMENT- Researchers demonstrates that we like people who disclose personal information to us. In fact, the relationship between self disclosure and liking works in several directions. MORAL OBLIGATION- Sometimes we disclose personal info out of sense of moral obligation. People who are HIV Positive for example, are often faced with the choice of whether they should tell their health care providers and their partner.

Honesty, Depth, and Availability of Sharing Information

Honesty: As long as you are honest and accurate to the best of your knowledge, communication can qualify as an act of self disclosure. On the other hand, painting an incomplete picture of yourself is not genuine disclosure. Depth: A self disclosing statement is generally regarded as being personal containing relatively rather than "surface" information. Of course, what is personal and intimate for one person may not be another. Availability of Information: Self disclosing messages must contain information that the other person is not likely to know at the time or be able to obtain form another source. For example, describing your conviction for a drunk driving accident might seem as an act of serious disclosure because the info. concerns you, is offered intentionally, is honest, and accurate,and is considered personal.

Analyzing

In analyzing a situation, the listener offers an interpretation of a speakers message. An analysis can create more problems than it solves. Sometimes interpretation may not be correct, and you must check your analysis is correct.

Face to Face impression management

In face to face interaction, communicators can manage their front in three ways- manner, appearance, and setting. A second dimension of impression management is appearance, the personal items people use to shape an image.

Information Overload

Information overload: the sheer amount of information most of us encounter everyday makes it impossible to listen to everything we hear.

Interpretation

Once we have selected and organized our perceptions, we interpret them in a way that makes some sort of sense. Interpretation- attaching meaning to sense data- plays a role in virtually every interpersonal act.

Ability to Perform Skillfully

Once you have chosen the appropriate way to communicate, you have to perform that behavior effectively. In communication, as in other activities, practice is key to a useful performance. Much of the information in interplay will introduce you to new tools for communicating.

Empathy/ Perspective Taking

People have the best chance of developing an effective message when they understand and emphasize with other persons point of view. Because others arent always good at expressing their thoughts and feelings clearly, the ability to imagine how an issue look from another perspective suggests why empathy is such an important communication skill.

Self Monitoring

Psychologist use the term self monitoring to describe the process of paying close attention to ones one behavior and using these observations to shape the way one behaves. Self monitors are able to detach a part of their consciousness to observes their behavior from detached viewpoint, making observations such as "im making a foul of myself. "

Risks of self disclosure

REJECTION- The fear of disapproval is powerful. Sometimes exaggerated and illogical, but there are real dangers in revealing personal information. NEGATIVE IMPRESSION-Even if disclosure doesn't lead to total rejection, it can create a negative impression. DECREASE IN RELATIONAL SATISFACTION-Besides affecting other's opinions of you, disclosure can lead to a decrease in the satisfaction that comes from a relationship. LOSS OF INFLUENCE- Another risk of disclosure is potential loss of influence in the relationship. Once you confess a secret weakness, you control over how the other person views you can be diminished. LOSS OF CONTROL- Revealing something personal about yourself means losing control of the information. HURT THE OTHER PERSON- Even if revealing hidden information leaves you feeling better, it might hurt others- cause them to be upset, for example, its probably easy to imagine yourself in a situation like this.

Ethnicity and Race

Race is a category originally created to explain differences between people whose ancestors originated in the different regions of the world-Africa, Europe, and so on. Ethnicity is used more commonly. Ethnicity refers to the degree to which a person identifies with a particular group usually on the basis of nationality, culture or some other unifying perspective.

Rapid thought

Rapid thought: Careful Listening is also difficult because our minds are so active.

Supporting

There are times when other people want to hear more than a reflection of how they feel. Supporting responses reveal the listeners solidarity with the speakers situation.

We cling to first impressions

Snap judgments are significant because our initial impressions of others often carry more weight than the ones that follow. This is due in part to what social scientists call the primarily effect. The term hallow effect describes the tendency to form an overall positive impression of a person on the basis of one positive characteristic. The horns effect occurs when a negative appraisal adversely influences the perceptions that follow.

Listening Defined

So far we have used the term "listening" as if it needs no explanation. We define listening at least the interpersonal type- as the process

Social Needs

Some social scientist have argued that besides helping define who we are, communication is the principal way relationships are created . "talk friendships into existence". Communication is the primarily goal of human existence. Children who grow up into strong in strong friendships and romantic relationships when they become adults. Many people arent very successful at managing their interpersonal relationships.

Cognitive Complexity

The ability to construct a variety of different frame works for viewing an issue. Imagine that a longtime friend seems to be angry with you. Researchers have found that a large number of constructs for interpreting the behavior of others leads to greater "conversational sensitivity".

Occupational Roles

The kind of work we do also governs our view of the world.

Power Distance

The principal of "all men are created equal" is s fundamental that we accept it without question . However, not all cultures share this belief. Geert Hofstede coined the term power distance to describe the degree to which members of a society accept an unequal distribution of power. Cultures with low power difference believe in minimizing distinctions between various social classes.

Negotiation

The process by which communication influence each other's perceptions through communication is known as negotiation.

We make snap judgments

We make snap judgments

Disclosing the Self

What we choose to disclose about ourselves is an important component of impression management. Self disclosure is more than hiding secrets, it is impossible not to make yourself not known to others. For communication act to be considered self-disclosing it must contain personal information about the sender, the sender must communicate this formation verbally, and the other person must be the target.

We judge ourselves more charitably to others

Whereas we may evaluate others critically, we tend to judge ourselves more generously. Social scientist use two theories to explain their phenomenon. The first called the fundamental attribution error: the tendency to give more weight to personal qualities than to the situation when making attributions. The self serving bias means that when we perform poorly, we make usually blame external forces-and we credit ourselves rather than the situation when we behave well.

Communication and Self Concept

self concept is the relatively stable set of perceptions you hold of your younger self. One way to understand self concept is to imagine a special mirror would be your self concept. ex. looking at the mirror seeing not only physical features but also emotional states, talents, likes, etc.

Socioeconomic Status

social class can have a major impact on how people communicate. people in the united states typically identify themselves as belonging to the working class, middle class, or upper class and they feel a sense of solidarity with people in the same social strata. Social upbringing can have an effect on communication style.