COMM 3620 Module 4 Exam Study Guide Chapter 12 Interpersonal Influence Interpersonal Influence the use of communication to change another person s beliefs attitudes or actions to influence their decision Goals end states or outcomes that a person wishes to achieve or maintain Interpersonal Influence Goals desired outcomes you can achieve only if you convince another person to cooperate with you Gain assistance Can I borrow your class notes Give advice I think you should quit smoking Share activity I think we should do something tonight Primary Goal the influence goal that motivates the interaction communication Identity Goals concern the image you want to project Interaction Goals focus on managing the conversation Relationship Goals address your association with your communication partner Personal Resource Goals involve maximizing your assets and minimizing costs Arousal Goals refer to managing your emotions Secondary Goal considerations other than the primary goal that arise during interpersonal influence interactions and shape communication strategies Although your primary goal determines what your conversation is about your secondary goal determines the specific messages that are exchanged during an influence interaction Goal Strain the existence of two or more goals for interpersonal influence that are incompatible with each other Your goal of influencing a close friend to lose weight conflicts with presenting yourself as likeable and nonjudgmental Managing Multiple Goals Choose One Goal Prioritize pursue the single most important goal and abandon all the rest Sequence Goals pursue goals one at a time over the course of an interaction Pursue All Goals Simultaneously focus on a general concern that is common to all of your goals Compliance Seeking Messages utterances designed to get somebody to agree with a Explicitness the degree to which a message clearly reveals a speaker s intentions I want us to date each other exclusively Dominance the extent to which a speaker expresses power through the form and content of request an influence message Take the trash out You have to help me Argument the degree to which reasons are given for complying with a request Can I turn in my paper late low in argument I ve been diagnosed with mono and I can t attend class for two weeks can I turn in my paper late high in argument Obstacles to Interpersonal Influence Lack of Possession the message target doesn t possess the resources needed to comply I can t support your candidate for the school board because I m not eligible to vote in this state Imposition complying with the influence attempt would impinge on the message target s prior plans I can t loan you my car because I need it to take my mother to an appointment No Incentive the speaker doesn t perceive a reason to comply with the influence attempt I m not going to change my eating habits my diet is fine for a person my age Recalcitrance the speaker doesn t want to comply with the influence attempt I don t want to date you exclusively Postponement the speaker puts off complying with the influence attempt until some unspecified time in the future I ll clean up the apartment when I m not so busy with my classes Violation the message target sees the influence attempt as inappropriate or something the message source is responsible for You shouldn t ask me to proofread your paper you should take care of that for yourself Politeness Theory a set of assumptions about how intimacy and power are related to the use of more or less polite influence messages Face the public image of ourselves we put out into the world Positive Face our desire to be well liked and admired by others Negative Face our desire to be autonomous and unconstrained Coercive Power the ability to use threats and punishment to gain compliance Face Threatening Act a request for compliance that violates one s positive or negative face Boss may fire you for unsatisfactory performance Reward Power the ability to use incentives to gain compliance Boss has ability to give you a raise or a promotion Legitimate Power the degree of power gained by one s position or title Boss s position in the company Referent Power the extent to which individuals are well liked and admired The extent that you like your boss Expert Power the extent to which individuals have information knowledge and expertise on a given topic Boss has more information than you regarding the operations of your company Upward Influence seeking compliance from a communication partner who has more power High Stakes Episodes interpersonal influence interactions that involve a lot of secondary goals Build coalitions with other coworkers Appeal to friendship and loyalty Initiating a romantic relationship Gaining assistance from somebody in power 1 Identify primary and secondary goals in social influence and be able to identify examples of each Influence Goals Gain Assistance Can I borrow your class notes Give Advice I think you should quit smoking Share Activity Let s do something tonight Change Orientation Here s why you re wrong about gun control Change Relationship We should agree not to date other people Obtain Permission Hey Dad can I use the car Enforce Rights and Obligations You promised to take out the trash So how about it Although your primary goal determines what your conversation is about your secondary goals determine the specific messages that are exchanged during an influence interaction 2 What are three strategies for managing multiple interpersonal influence goals Prioritize pursue the single most important goal and abandon all the rest Davis decides that appearing smart is most important to him so he only hints indirectly that he d like a study partner Pursue Goals in Sequence pursue goals one at a time over the course of an interaction Davis begins by complimenting Kelly so she ll know he respects her and then focuses on showing her that he s smart Pursue all Goals Simultaneously focus on a general concern that is common to all of your goals Davis focuses on having a fun interaction with Kelly because that is likely to let her know he respects her protect his identity and net him a study partner all at the same time 3 Describe the characteristics of compliance gaining messages Explicitness Dominance Argument Compliance Gaining Messages Pre giving I bought you a present but first you need to clean the apartment Liking I think you re great Would you clean the apartment Promise I ll make your favorite dinner