Intrapersonal Communication Theories 10 30 2012 Symbolic Interaction SIT or Symbolic Interactionism George Herbert Mead Mead fascinated by human s ability to use symbols o Mind Self and Society 1934 Published theory o Herbert Blumer came up with term Symbolic Interactions Goal of SIT o To explain how humans through interaction with one another create symbolic worlds and how these worlds affect behavior Ontological assumptions communication is a social endeavor interaction people working together to create worlds Correspondence important to him Symbolic action Human to human Assumption regarding meaning and behavior o Fall under Ontology assumption we have to buy into to buy into this particular theory o People act based on symbolic meaning created between them Meaning in created through interaction between people Meaning is modified through an interpretive process Created meaning affects behavior Key concepts o Mind Defined Ability to use symbols that have common Explanation we can not interact with others until we social meanings learn language Language defined shared system of verbal and nonverbal symbols organized in patterns to express thoughts and feelings Language uses significant symbols symbols with shared meaning Similar to definition of mind mind constitutes people s ability to use language significant symbols Through language we Share meanings Anticipate responses of others Mind reflects and creates society Use language to learn norms of society Change norms Mind allows thought inner conversation Without social interaction we can t think Thought allows role taking taking the perspective of others Role taking leads to o Empathy see world though there lense o The development of self Defined ability to reflect on ourselves from the perspective of others Explanation self develops from role taking taking the perspective of others Looking glass self Cooley 1912 o Self Look in the mirror and ask ourselves what other people think of me that allows us to develop a sense of self Pygmalion effect Living up to other expectations People label us in some way and we live up to those labels o Rosenthal study teachers told that 25 of class was gifted wasn t true randomly chosen teachers reached them in certain ways and students actually became more gifted because they were treated special o Society Defined the web of social relationships human create Explanation Exists prior to individuals Created by individual interacting Creates individual self s Particular others significant others o Family peers spouses Generalized others society as a whole o Labels for categories like gender Research related to SIT o Mind self and society 1934 o Chicago school university of Chicago Mead and Blumer Qualitative way look at conversation and extract meaning o Iowa school university of Iowa Manford Kuhn 20 statement test Study in a quantitative way self concept and how it develops tested mean idea through 20 statements test new Iowa School Carl Couch student of Kuhn Not social scientific theory not tested in empirical ways Qualitative methods o Irving Goffman o Trevino Legel and draft o Larossa Main Criticisms o Scope too broad o Precision ignores important concepts Emotions where do they fit in their effect Self esteem evaluation of self How does SIT define communication o Intentional o Correspondence o Successful o Ethical Honest o Symbolic actions o Cognition thought perception o Human to human SIT s Meta theoretical assumptions o Ontological Do humans make real choices Yes choice what symbols we use Is human experience basically individual or social Is human experience contextualized Depend on context to form meaning can change based on situation o Epistemological Knowledge not certain can change social constructivism knowledge through experience how does theory get tested much more qualitative testing case studies and conversation analysis o Axiological Values could play a part in constructing reality not as obvious Scientific v humanistic continuum o Falls on the humanist side 10 30 2012 Coordinated Management of Theory Cronen Pearce Harris 1982 o Chapter The Coordinated Management of Meaning A Theory of Communication Goal of CMM CMM is a Rules Theory o To explain how people co create meaning in conversation o What happens in conversation as a result of following rules Goal action linkage o What happens when different rules meet Explanation o People use rules to create and interpret meaning o Use different rules get different meaning o Meaning is constantly coordinated Constantly trying to understand one another Assumptions guiding CMM o People create systems of meaning not a systems theory Organize meaning hierarchically People take a look at the words and figure out what they mean context Temporally time o People co create reality social ontological assumption o Behavior not interpretable except in context of larger system Personal and interpersonal meaning Personal meaning is meaning created for selves intra part of theory Interpersonal meaning is meaning between two people coordinated meaning Hierarchy of meaning Six Levels What words mean when language system is shared We can do things to people based on language that we use intent behind words praise hurt compliment o Content o Speech Acts sarcasm o Contract o Episodes Relationship that two people in interaction have Friend v professional contract o Life Scripts We look at conversations in time order Even if not clear beginning middle and end we put a beginning to it we punctuate even where it starts gives us meaning of event to us Nagging withdrawal cycle of marriage Field of experience Take experiences of past conversation to new conversation and helps us determine meaning Life scripts we create in context of relationship or on our own effect meaning we come to can cause conflict in relationships o Cultural Patterns People from different cultures have different experiences when two cultures communicate have this problem besides language problem o Exists when people attempt to make sense of messages in The Coordination of meaning conversation o Three possible out comes Coordination depend on o Sense of Morality Ethics Roles me paly in life different roles different right and responsibly in conversation with someone o Available resources Life scripts previous knowledge of situation o Following rules Rules o Descriptions of how to process information o Provide common symbolic framework for communication o Provide opportunity for choice
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