SDS4410: Exam 1 Review

Culture

-"The language, values, beliefs, traditions, and customs people share and learn" -When you identify yourself as a member of a culture, you must (a) recognize yourself and others as sharing certain characteristics and (b) see others who don't possess these characteristics as members of different categories

Race

-A construct originally created to explain differences between people by ancestry; but as modern scientists explain, race has no biological basis -Ex. Some people with Asian ancestry are short, but others are tall

Communication

-About using messages to generate meanings -Holds true across a variety of contexts—public speaking, small groups, mass media, and so forth

Noise

-Anything that interferes with the transmission and reception of a message -External noise: includes factors outside the receiver that make it difficult to hear, as well as many other kinds of distractions (ex. loud music in a bar) -Physiological noise: involves biological factors in the receiver that interfere with accurate reception (ex. hearing loss, illness, and so on) -Psychological noise: refers to cognitive factors that make communication less effective (ex. a woman who is called "girl" may become so irritated that she has trouble listening objectively to the rest of a speaker's message)

Assimilation vs. accommodation

-Assimilation: adapting and conforming to the dominant (nondisabled) group- this involves de-emphasizing differences and in some cases staying quiet about disabilities -Accommodation: involves acknowledging one's disability and asking for ways that it can be accommodated; it can also include educating others about disabilities and actively dispelling misperceptions.

Salience

-Describes how much weight we attach to a particular person or phenomenon -Ex. Members of a school basketball team—some Asian, black, Latino, and white—are intent on winning the league championship. During a game, cultural distinctions aren't salient. There's plenty of communication, but it isn't fundamentally intercultural. Away from their games, however, they might notice some fundamental differences in the way members of each group communicate

Characteristics of communication channels

-Face-to-face: synchronous, rich, low permanence -Video chat: synchronous, moderately rich, low permanence -Telephone: synchronous, moderately lean (voice but no visuals), low permanence -Voice mail: asynchronous, moderately lean (voice but no visuals), moderate permanence (can be stored; typically deleted) -Text/instant messaging: asynchronous (but potentially quick), lean, moderate permanence (can be stored; typically deleted; some self-erase) -Email: asynchronous, lean, high permanence (often stored; often shared with others) -Social networking sites: typically asynchronous, lean (but can include photos, videos), high permanence (and very public)

Face and facework

-Face: describe this socially approved identity -Facework: describe the verbal and nonverbal ways in which we act to maintain our own presenting image and the images of others

Collectivistic culture

-Feel loyalties and obligations to in-groups: extended family, the community, or even organizations -Ex. Ecuador, Indonesia, Pakistan -View of self in relation to group: part of extended family or in-group; "we" or group orientation -Care philosophy: care for extended family before self -Group membership: emphasis on belonging to a very few permanent in-groups, which have a strong influence -What is rewarded: contribution to group goals and well-being; cooperation with in-group members; group decision making -Credit and blame assignment: shared by the group -Value duty, order, tradition, age group security, status, and hierarchy

Lie and benevolent lies

-Lie: a deliberate attempt to hide or misrepresent the truth. -Benevolent lie: defined (at least by the people who tell them) as not being malicious—and perhaps they are even helpful to the person to whom they are told

Asynchronous communication

-Occurs when there's a time gap between when a message is sent and when it's received -Ex. email, voicemail messages, letters, text messages, tweets

Disinhibition

-Occurs when there's a time gap between when a message is sent and when it's received -It is more likely in mediated channels than in face-to-face contact

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 -Ex. Irish Protestants and Catholics identify themselves as ethnically distinct from one another

High-context culture

-Relies heavily on subtle, often nonverbal cues to maintain social harmony -High-context communicators pay close attention to nonverbal behaviors, the history of relationships, and social rules that govern interactions -Most Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin America, and Southern European countries -Value relational harmony, maintained by indirect expression of options -Admire ambiguity and the use of silence

Feedback

-Response to a previous message -Can be verbal or nonverbal

Environments

-Sometimes called contexts -Fields of experience that help them make sense of others' behavior

Self-esteem

-The part of the self-concept that involves evaluations of self-worth. -How you feel about the qualities in your self-concept determines your self-esteem

Self-concept

-The relatively stable set of perceptions you hold of yourself -Ex. the most significant part of one person's self-concept might consist of social roles, whereas for another it might be physical appearance, health, friendships, accomplishments, or skills

Synchronous communication

-Two-way and occurs in real time -Ex. in-person communication, phone conversations, FaceTime

Low-context culture

-Uses language primarily to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas as directly as possible -To low-context communicators, the meaning of a statement lies in the words spoken -The US, Canada, and most Northern European countries -Value self-expression, striving to persuade others to accept one's viewpoint -Admire clear, direct speech

Individualistic culture

-View their primary responsibility as helping themselves -Ex. US, Canada, UK -View of self in relation to group: separate and unique individual; should be independent, self-sufficient -Care philosophy: care for self and immediate family before others -Group membership: flexible; friendships based on shared interests and activities -What is rewarded: individual achievement and initiative; individual decision making -Credit and blame assignment: individually assigned -Value autonomy, change, youth, individual security, equality

Four features of interpersonal communication

1. Uniqueness: whereas social rules and rituals govern impersonal exchanges, the nature and history of particular relationships shape interpersonal exchanges; ex. with one friend you might exchange good-natured insults, whereas with another you are careful never to offend 2. Interdependence: highly interpersonal communication exchanges reveal that the fate of the partners is connected; ex relationship with a restaurant server differs from relationship with friend that affects you 3. Self-disclosure: in interpersonal exchanges, we often share important thoughts and feelings, usually reflecting our comfort with one another; ex. saying "I really hate when you do that!" to a close friend 4. Intrinsic rewards of interacting: communicators in relationships characterized by impersonal exchanges seek extrinsic rewards—payoffs that have little to do with the people involved

How many needs do people satisfy in communication according to Adler?

4

Considering the fact that communication is irreversible, what can we do to soften the impression we made?

Apologize

Code-switching

a practice when communicators often adapt their manner of speaking when they change contexts

Cognitive complexity

ability to construct a variety of different frameworks for viewing an issue

Hyperpersonal communication

accelerating the discussion of personal topics and relational development beyond what normally happens in face-to-face interaction

Ethnocentrism

an attitude that one's own culture is superior to others. An ethnocentric person thinks—either privately or openly—that anyone who does not belong to his or her in-group is somehow strange, wrong, or even inferior

Prejudice

an unfairly biased and intolerant attitude toward others who belong to an out-group

Privacy management

describe the choices people make to reveal or conceal information about themselves

Significant other

describes a person whose evaluations are especially influential

Social media

describes all the communication channels that allow community-based input, interaction, content sharing, and collaboration

Leanness

describes messages that carry less information due to a lack of nonverbal cues; ex. most social media are much leaner

Social perception model

describes relationships in terms of breadth and depth of self-disclosure

Achievement culture

describes societies that place a high value on material success and a focus on the task at hand

Channel

describes the medium through which messages are exchanged

Characteristics of competent communicator according to Adler include:

empathy

Social comparison

evaluating ourselves in comparison with others

Relational dimension

expresses how you feel about the other person: whether you like or dislike the other person, feel in control or subordinate, feel comfortable or anxious, and so on.

Relational dimension of communication is related to:

expressing your feelings toward a person

Interpersonal communication

interaction distinguished by the qualities of uniqueness, interdependence, self-disclosure, and intrinsic rewards

Masspersonal communication

interaction that crosses boundaries between mass and interpersonal contexts

Content dimension

involves the information being explicitly discussed: "Please pass the salt"; "Not now, I'm tired"; "You forgot to check your messages."

Reflected appraisal

mirroring of judgments of significant others

Characteristics of the self-concept are not:

motivating

Reference groups

others against whom we evaluate our own characteristics

Self-fulfilling prophecy describes a situation which occurs when:

persons expectations of an event make it more likely to occur

Uncertainty avoidance

reflects the levels of discomfort or threat people feel in response to ambiguous situations and how much they try to avoid them

Nurturing culture

regards the support of relationships as an especially important goal

Mediated communication

sending messages via technological channels such as phones, email, and the internet

Johari Window

shows us our understanding to what is not known to ourselves, known to others, not known to others, and known to ourselves

Equivocation

statements that are not literally false but cleverly avoid an unpleasant truth (ex. calling a friend's speech "interesting" instead of saying "You messed up")

Multimodality

the ability and willingness to use multiple channels of communication

Communication competence

the ability to achieve goals in a manner both effective and appropriate

Richness

the abundance of nonverbal cues that add clarity to a verbal message

Impression management

the communication strategies people use to influence how others view them

Power distance

the degree to which members of a society accept an unequal distribution of power

Transactional communication

the dynamic process in which communicators create meaning together through interaction

Intersectionality

the interplay of social categories, including gender, race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and disability status

Perceived self

the person you believe yourself to be in moments of honest self-examination; it may not be accurate in every respect.

Self-monitoring

the process of paying close attention to one's own behavior and using these observations to shape it

Intercultural communication

the process that occurs when members of two or more cultures or co-cultures exchange messages in a manner that is influenced by their different cultural perceptions and symbol systems, both verbal and nonverbal

Public image

the way we want to appear to others. In most cases the presenting self we seek to create is a socially approved image: diligent student, loving partner, conscientious worker, loyal friend, and so on

Which communication model brings an idea that meanings exist in and among people?

Transactional model

T/F All behavior has communicative value.

True

T/F Communication can be learned.

True

T/F Self-disclosure has to be honest, deep, informative, and shared in a specific context.

True

T/F Self-esteem might predict behavior.

True

T/F There is no difference between self-concept and self-esteem.

False

Is there an ideal way to communicate?

No

What communication could be considered self-disclosing?

One that contains personal information about the sender and one where sender communicates information verbally

What are two dimensions of communication competence according to Adler?

Effective and appropriate

Transactional communication model relates to the following idea:

Sending and receiving are usually simultaneous, environment and noise affect communication, meanings exist in and between people, and channels make a difference