Exam 3 - Comm. Theory (YANG)

Origin of Group Think Research (i.e., Irving Janis' focus on foreign policy; classic examples)

Historical Faulty Decisions: - Bay of Pigs Invasion; The Challenger Launch; Pearl Harbor attack; Invasion of North Korea; Vietnam War; Watergate Coverup Janis wanted to understand how a blue-ribbon group (or any group) could make a terrible decision

Group Think vs. Abilene Paradox

Abilene Paradox: - A group of people collectively decide on a course of action that is counter to the preferences of many or all of the individuals in the group - Different from groupthink in terms of how they feel about their decision

Interpretive Approach

- Approach to knowing - More qualitative than quantitative

3 Assumptions of Group Think (Related Concepts: Cohesiveness, Affiliative Restraints, Homogeneity)

1. Conditions in groups promote high cohesiveness Cohesiveness: extent to which group members are willing to work together - Cohesion arises from a group's attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior 2. Group problem solving is primarily a unified process Groups are susceptible to affiliative restraints Affiliative Restraints: Group members hold input rather than risk rejection from the group - When group members do participate, they are likely to prioritize group preservation over the issues 3. Groups and decision making are frequently complex Group members must understand the alternatives available and be able to distinguish them. They must understand both the task and the people. - Mere presence of others has an effect Other variables that impact group dynamics - Demographic variables (e.g., age, gender); culture - Homogeneity: group similarity - Quality of effort and thinking

Assumptions (Audience Analysis (Transactional Perspective) / Ethos, Pathos, Logos)

1. Effective public speakers must consider their audience Audience Analysis - Audiences will judge a speech based on what they already know and believe - Examine the demographic traits of the audience - Audiences are not always rational - Audience determines the speech's end and object 2. Effective public speakers utilize these tools in their presentations Ethos: An ethical or moral argument - Character/ethics/credibility/goodwill of the speaker - Must consider the relationship between the speaker and the audience Pathos: An emotional argument - Emotion drawn out of the listener Logos: A logical argument - Includes the use of logical claims and clear language - E.g., syllogistic reasoning

3 Assumptions of Structuration Theory

1. Groups and organizations are produced and reproduced through the use of rules and resources - Each behavior is influenced and affected by the past, which serves as a reference for understanding what rules and resources are required to operate within the system - Communication interactions establish new beginnings by: i. Creating a new rule or expectation ii. Altering an existing rule, or iii. Reaffirming rules that have been used in the past 2. Communication rules serve as both the medium for and an outcome of, interactions - Rules simultaneously provide guidelines for and constrain a group's behavior - Rules that have worked well in the past are likely to be retained; rules that have not are likely to be modified or abandoned - We need to know the background that led to the rules 3. Power structures are present in organizations and guide the decision-making process - Power is perceived as the ability to achieve results and accomplish our goals - Power is viewed as a two-way street i. All group members have some sort of power, but some have more than others ii. Based on the history of an organization, typically rules have been established to grant some members a particular form of power over others

Assumptions

1. Humans are natural storytellers - The nature of humans is rooted in story and storytelling because stories persuade us, move us, and form the basis for our beliefs and actions - Narratives are universal across cultures and time 2. Decision about a story's worth are based on "good reasons" - Not all stories are equally effective to everyone; the deciding factor is personal preference rather than reason - People use narrative logic - which is more democratic and possessed by everyone - than formal logic 3. Rationality is based in people's judgements of a story's consistency and truthfulness 4. Good reasons are determined by history, biography, culture, and character - Fisher suggests that people are influenced by the context in which they are embedded (e.g., story of the 106-year-old voter) 5. We experience the world as a set of stories from which to choose. As we choose, we live life in a process of continual re-creation - A story may move us to change our own life or perceive life in a different way (e.g., Desperate Housewives produce changes in viewers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior)

3 Assumptions of OCT

1. Organizational members create and maintain a shared sense of organizational reality, resulting in a better understanding of the values of the organization - Emphasize the importance of people - Values: standards and principles within a culture that has intrinsic worth to a culture 2. The use and interpretation of symbols (verbal & nonverbal) are critical to an organization's culture - Symbols are representations for meaning, and are created, used, and interpreted by organizational members - Symbols communicate an organization's values (e.g., physical, behavioral, verbal) - Symbols have unique meanings to organizational culture (e.g., organizational stories, rituals, rites of passages) 3. Cultures vary across organizations; interpretations of actions within these cultures are diverse - Organizational cultures vary greatly - How members interpret organizational communication differs as they move from one organization to another

Why Do We Call It a "Paradigm" Instead of a Theory? Difference b/w Paradigms and Theories?

A paradigm is BROADER than a theory; there's no genre that is not an episode in the story of life - An approach to theoretical thinking that is more encompassing than any one specific theory The term paradigm formalize and direct our understanding of ALL human communication

Syllogism

A set of propositions that are related to one another and draw a conclusion from the major and minor premise; deductive argument Major Premise (B -> A) e.g., All people are mortal Minor Premise (X -> B) e.g., Aristotle is a person Conclusion (X -> A) e.g., Aristotle is mortal In some situations, it may not be appropriate or possible to draw a clear syllogistic conclusion

The Pentad

Act (Behavior/Response) - What happened? Scene (Situation) - Where is the act happening? - Usually used to emphasize situational determinism and downplay personal responsibility Agent (Subject) - Who is involved in the action? Agency (Stimulus) - How do the agents act? - E.g., message strategies, storytelling, apologies, speech Purpose (Target) - Why do the agents act? *Attitude (Added 20 Years Later) - The manner in which an actor positions him- or herself relative to others Dramatic Ratios: The relative importance of any two terms of the pentad to discover a dominant element

Types of Elaboration: Biased vs. Objective Elaboration

BIASED: Top-down thinking in which predetermined conclusions color supporting data - Based on previous knowledge - May engage in elaboration activity, but the thoughts are controlled by an existing bias OBJECTIVE: Bottom-up thinking, in which facts are scrutinized without biased; seeking truth wherever it might lead - Central processing DOES NOT equal objective processing *Objective elaboration examines the perceived strength of an argument*

Ways to Prevent Group Think

CAN be avoided t'Hart suggests preventative measures: 1. Requiring oversight and control - Groups may create oversight committees to monitor the procedures associated with the decision-making - Monitoring may involve challenging the collective rationalizations and perceptions of the group 2. Embracing whistle-blowing in the group - Group members should be encouraged to voice their concerns; Groups should protect whistle-blowers because groups usually need dissenting voices when decisions have lasting and significant consequences 3. Allowing for objection - Groups should permit conscientious objectors to express their moral or ethical dissent as part of the decision-making process 4. Balancing consensus and majority rule - Consensus requires that all group members agree on a decision, which increases the pressure to conform - Groups should be willing to work toward majority support, which allows some group members to disagree with the decision being made

Central/Peripheral Route

CENTRAL ROUTE: message elaboration; cognitive processing that involves scrutiny of message content PERIPHERAL ROUTE: mental shortcut that accepts or rejects a message based on irrelevant cues as opposed to actually thinking about the issue Cues that trigger peripheral route: 1. Reciprocation: "You owe me"; give a little something to get something in return (e.g., free gift/sample) 2. Scarcity: "Quick, before they're all gone!"; When people believe something is in short supply, they want it more (e.g., "only 1 left; for a limited time only") 3. Authority: "Just because I said so" (E.g., Dr. XYZ) 4. Consistency (Commitment): "We've always done it that way" or "Foot in the door"; People want their beliefs to be consistent with their behavior (e.g., sign up for a membership, free return) 5. Liking: "Love me, love my idea"; the more people like someone, the more they'll be persuaded (e.g., celebrity effect; salesman's strategy) 6. Social Proof: "Everybody's doing it"; People feel validated based on others' behaviors (e.g., best seller)

GROUP THINK 💛💛

CH 14 A method of group deliberation used when members' desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action People are prone to groupthink when: i. highly similar and agreeable groups fail to fully consider any dissenting opinions ii. the group suppresses conflict iii. the group does not consider all solutions Groupthink theory focuses on sets of individuals whose main task is to: i. Make decisions and provide policy recommendations ii. Work toward completing jobs assigned to them (Problem-solving groups; Task-oriented groups)

STRUCTURATION THEORY 💚💚

CH 15 The key to making sense of the communication taking place within an organization is to examine the structures (foundations) through social interactions (e.g., orientation, meeting, training sessions, etc.) - Structuration is communicative

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE THEORY 💖💖

CH 16 - OCT 💓💓💓 Organizational Culture: A way of living in an organization; both visible and invisible - Includes the emotional and psychological climate (e.g., morale, attitudes, productivity, competition, autonomy, cooperation, etc.) and symbols (both verbal and nonverbal) - Different from general "culture" (e.g., races, ethnicities, etc.) A clearly defined hierarchy, whereby a system of things or persons are ranked one above the other within and among large, extended environments or large cooperative networks Organizational life is very complex and characterized by change Organizations can be best understood using a cultural lens (proposed by Clifford Geertz) Researchers can make sense out of an organization by examining the communication among its members Understanding individual organizations is more important to OCT than generalizing across them Culture is not something an organization has, but what is it

RHETORIC THEORY❤️❤️

CH 18 🔴🔴🔴🔴 "The available means of persuasion" - Needed by all people in all walks of life Credited to Aristotle - Drew attention to public speaking Focuses on: - Public Speaker - Audience - Speech

DRAMATISM

CH 19 Seeks to understand the actions of human life as drama / life is drama Places a critical focus on the acts performed by various players, which are central to revealing human motives - It is well suited to address communication among a text, the audience for that text, and the inner action of the text (e.g., motives, choices) Kenneth Burke - Self-taught scholar - Most interdisciplinary theorist (e.g., literature, theatre, comm., history) Drama as Metaphor 1. Drama indicates a grant sweep; Burke intended to theorize the whole range of human experience 2. Follow recognizable types or genre (language use) 3. Drama is always addressed to an audience Burke's Focus on Symbol Systems Explains His Wide Appeal Language is always the most important symbol - Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (language relativity)

NARRATIVE PARADIGM 💜💜

CH 20 - NP The belief that humans are storytellers and that values, emotions, and aesthetic considerations ground our beliefs and behaviors - We are more persuaded by a good story than by a good argument

OC and the Cultural Metaphor

Cultures are intricate like spider webs, which need constant maintenance - Spun by spider - Intricate design - Each web is unique - Complexity & diversity People are critical to the organization, just like a spider is to a web - We contribute to the culture through social interactions (e.g., gossiping, joking)

ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL 💙💙

EML: CH 15 💙💙💙

Ethnographic Understanding (Interpretive Approach to Knowing)

Ethnography: A qualitative methodology that uncovers and interprets artifacts, stories, rituals, and practices to reveal meaning in a culture - Methods of investigation employed in ethnography: direct observation, interviews, participant observation - Researchers should act as ethnographers to understand an organizational culture (e.g., field journal, thick description) - A balance must be struck between naturally observing and recording behavior and integrating a researcher's values into the process

3 Types of Rhetoric

Forensic (or Judicial/Courtroom) Speaking - Past - Establish guilt/innocence with facts - Need to establish motivation for doing wrong Epideictic - Present - Generally informed by the studies of virtues - Cannot be separated from ethos Deliberative - Future - Attempts to influence those who consider future policy - Personal identification is a critical element

Antecedent Conditions of Group Think

Group Cohesiveness Desirable characteristic of group dynamics, but may cause pressure to conform Structural Factors - Group insulation - Lack of impartial leadership - Lack of decision-making procedures - Homogeneity Group Stress Internal and external ANTECEDENTS LEAD TO CONCURRENCE SEEKING Concurrence Seeking: Try to reach consensus in group's final decision

Dramatism as "New" Rhetoric (e.g., Burke's Cycle)

Identification: Overlap of substance between people - New rhetoric focuses on identification; this may include partially 'unconscious' factors in its appeal - Old rhetoric focuses on persuasion; stress upon deliberate design Substance: general nature of something - e.g., the substance of a person: demographic characteristics, talents, occupation, experiences, personality, beliefs, etc. Role of Guilt: The process of guilt and redemption underscores the entire concept of symbolizing - Guilt is a central motive for human communication and action, and intrinsic to the human condition (e.g., tension, anxiety, embarrassment, shame, disgust, and other unpleasant feelings Guilt/Redemption Cycle Follows A Predictable Pattern Order of hierarchy suggests that social order exists in the form of categories, which are created through our ability to use language - E.g., rich and poor, haves and have-nots - These categories form social hierarchies, and we often feel guilt as a result of our place in the hierarchy Negative: the times people see their place in social order and seek to reject it - "Rotten with perfection" - Symbols allow people to imagine perfection, and they feel guilty about the difference between reality and imagined perfection REDEMPTION THROUGH VICTIMAGE Speaker has two choices: Mortification: Turn in on ourselves; confession of guilt and request for forgiveness Scapegoating: Naming an external enemy as the source for all personal or public ills Redemption: Rejection of the unclean and a return to new order after guilt has been temporarily purged

5 Cannons of Rhetoric

Invention: The integration of reasoning and arguments in speech - Broadly related to the body of information and knowledge a speaker brings to the speech Arrangement: Organization of content - Avoid complicated schemes of organization - Threefold approach i. Introduction: catch attention ii. Body: give arguments and details iii. Conclusion: summarize and arouse emotions Style: Language selection - Word choice, imaginary, and appropriateness - Use metaphor to help audiences visualize Delivery: Nonverbal presentation - E.g., eye contact, gestures, physical appearance, etc. - Should be natural and not distracting; audiences reject delivery that seems planned or staged Memory: Storing information (e.g., invention, arrangement, style) - Having a basic understanding of material and speaking technique

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Language shapes social reality and view of the world through language structure; it is difficult to think about concepts or objects without words for them Lexical Choice: Words available to describe certain things - E.g., articles définis/conjugaison in French; Kungfu; Tai Chi; Mahjong, guanxi; Sofa, coffee, sushi, curry, ballet Words, thoughts, and actions have extremely close connections with one another

Motivation and ability to process the message influence whether they will go through central or peripheral route

MOTIVATION: Personal relevance, need for cognition (related concepts: information overload) *People are motivated to hold correct attitudes* Information Overload: - People are exposed to many persuasive messages but can only examine a limited number of ideas at the same time - Most are motivated to elaborate ideas with which they are highly ego-involved (i.e., whether the consequences matter) Need for Cognition: - Desire to seek clarity of thought and the enjoyment of thinking through ideas ABILITY: intelligence, concentration *Once people show an inclination to think about the content of a message, are they able to do so?* Issue-Relevant Thinking (Elaboration) Requires: 1. INTELLIGENCE: - (e.g., Can we use the following statement to persuade lower-educated populations? If not, how to revise?) 2. CONCENTRATION: - Distraction disrupts elaboration (e.g., environment, important events - Repetition may increase the possibility of elaboration, but too much repetition causes people to resort to the peripheral route

5 Types of Communicative Performance

Members act out communicative performances creating a unique organizational culture (performances may overlap) Ritual: Occur on a regular, reoccurring basis - Personal: checking voicemail and email - Task (Job-Related): Issuing tickets, collecting fees - Social: Happy-hour gatherings - Organizational: department meetings, company picnics Passion: Organizational stories that members enthusiastically share with one another - Story-telling, information-sharing - Stories, metaphors, exaggerated speech - "Follow the chain of command or it'll get wrapped around your neck" "This is the most unappreciative class" Social - Civility, politeness, courtesy; extensions of etiquette - Smiling and greeting each other every morning - "Thank you's" Politics - Communicative attempts to influence others - Acquire and maintain power to achieve goals - Intimidation rituals, use of informants, bargaining Enculturation - Learning about the organization - Obtain necessary info and skills - Learning/teaching roles, orientations, interviews

Peripheral Route: What are peripheral cues (e.g., speaker credibility) and how do they influence the persuasive effects?

Most messages are processed peripherally; most obvious cues for peripheral routes are TANGIBLE rewards Speaker Credibility: Is salient to those unmotivated or unable to elaborate; an important peripheral cue - Primary components: likability and expertise (e.g., celebrity, Nobel prize winner) - Cue helps aid in reaching a quick decision but does nothing for message elaboration Factors also affecting peripheral power: - Perceived credibility - Mood {Ex. Penner and Fritzshe's study of Magic Johnson's HIV announcement suggests that the effect of even powerful peripheral cues is short-lived} - Speaker competence or character - NO variable is always a shortcut on the peripheral route

Key Concepts

Narration - An extremely broad concept includes and verbal or nonverbal account with a sequence of events to which listeners assign a meaning; all communication is narrative - Not a specific genre, but a mode of social influence Narrative Rationality - Provides us with a means for judging narratives - Principles of narrative rationality: 1. Coherence: structural, material, characteriological 2. Fidelity Coherence: Internal consistency of a narrative; all the story pieces are present and the storyteller has not left out important details or contradicted elements of the story i. Structural: the flow of the story - Q: Are important details included? ii. Material: congruence between one story and other related stories - Q: How does it compare to other stories? iii. Characterological: Believability of the characters in the story - Q: Do characters behave/think consistently? Fidelity: Truthfulness or reliability of the story; the elements of a story represent social reality - The story rings true (echoes to) with the listener's experiences and stories they may tell about themselves - Q: Does the story fit our concept of the world? The Logic of Good Reasons: Primary to assess narrative fidelity: presents a listener with a set of values that appeal to her/hum and form warrants for accepting or rejecting the advice advance by any form of narrative

Oldest Communication Theory (Test of Time)

No other theory in the communication discipline has withstood the test of time as well as Aristotle's Rhetoric. With centuries behind it and public speaking textbooks, teachers, and researchers communicating Aristotelian principles, it's hard to believe that any other theory in the field of communication will ever achieve such longevity.

8 Symptoms of Group Think (in 3 Categories)

Overestimation of the Group: The erroneous belief that the group is more than it actually is 1. Illusion of invulnerability 2. Belief in the inherent morality of the group - Ignore the ethical implications of the decisions Close-Mindedness: Willingness to ignore differences in people and warnings about poor group decisions 3. Out-Group Stereotypes - This leads the group to underestimate its opposition 4. Collective Rationalization - Discount warnings and do not reconsider assumptions Pressures Towards Uniformity: Occurs when group members go along to get along 5. Self-Censorship 6. Illusion of Unanimity 7. Self-Appointed Mindguards 8. Pressure on Dissenters

What are the rules, and how do they influence the structures of organizations?

Rules are used to state expectations of behavior and communicate within the organization, creating a structure - Social institutions are produced, reproduced, and transformed through the use of riles - The structure of these institutions is the focus of ST Structure & Rules: Double-Edged Sword - Restrict behaviors - Guide understanding and interaction with others - Rules may be explicit or implicit

Central Route: What are strong, weak, and neutral elaborated arguments, and what are their effects respectively?

STRONG ARGUMENTS: Claims that generate favorable thoughts when examined - Thoughtful consideration of strong arguments positive major shifts in attitude: i. The change is persistent over time ii. It resists counter-persuasion iii. It predicts future behavior WEAK ARGUMENTS: Processed through the central route can have negative boomerang effects - Weak arguments could be those that: i. Use opinions unrelated to the subject ii. Are not supported by facts, figures, or reasons iii. Not clear or logical in organization MIXED/NEUTRAL MESSAGES: Won't change attitudes and in fact reinforce original attitudes

What Was the Paradigm Shift?

Significant change in thinking from viewing persuasion as resulting from well-reasoned arguments (i.e., rational paradigm) to acknowledging that humans are often more persuaded by a good story - In a unified sense without negating traditional rationality

Key Concepts

Structuration The process by which systems are produced and reproduced through members' use of riles and resources - Allow people to understand behavior patterns System A group or organization and the practices (e.g., meeting ) they engage in to achieve goals Structure The rules and resources members use to guide behavior and sustain the system - Learned from organization, experiences, and personal rules __________________________________________________________________ Agency The specific behaviors or activities that humans engage in and that are guided by the rules and contexts in which interactions take place Agents The person who produces and reproduces the social world ___________________________________________________________________ Reflexivity A person's ability to monitor his/her actions and behaviors - Organization members can look to the future and make structural changes if it appears things will not work according to plan Discursive Consciousness Can be put into words; articulation of reasoning for behavior Practical Consciousness CANNOT be put into words; articulation of reasoning for behavior ____________________________________________________________________ Duality of Structure Members of an organization depend on rules and resources to guide their communication behaviors - Structure created from both the top-down and bottom-up - Structure as both medium and outcome in nature ____________________________________________________________________ Allocative and Authoritative Resources Resources: Power individuals bring to a group Allocative: Ability to generate material assistance (e.g., money, supplies, etc.) Authoritative: Ability to generate interpersonal assistance (e.g., reward, coercive, referent, legitimate, expert) i. Reward Power: Based on ability to provide positive reinforcements (e.g., raises) ii. Coercive Power: Based on ability to exact punishment (e.g., pay cuts, layoffs) iii. Referent Power: Based on established personal relationships (e.g., celebrities) iv. Legitimate Power: Based on an individual's position or title (e.g., CEO) v. Expert Power: Based on an individual's knowledge (e.g., doctor)

Message Elaboration

The extent to which a person carefully thinks about issue-relevant arguments in persuasive communication

Narrative Malleability

The notion that people's minds can be changed about something based on good stories told by a credible storyteller - E.g., success of Tips from Former Smokers Campaign

Ethical Reflection of Persuasion (Nilsen's Significant Choice)

Thomas Nilsen proposes persuasive speech is ethical to the extent that it maximizes people's ability to exercise free choice "Only a self-determining being can be a moral being; without significant choice, there is no morality" - Love Analogy: True love can't be coerced; it must be freely given Nilsen would encourage message elaboration through a central route

Application of Time and Space

Two Dimensions of ALL social interactions in an organization: Temporal (Time) & Spatial (Space) - Communication is viewed as existing in "real" time and "real" locations - We hear messages as they occur in context; space is a contextual element that has meaning for the various members of an organization