Communication in Relationships 04 192 201 Professor Nogueira MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE Chapter 1 What is Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal Communication o Using symbols to represent ideas in order to share meanings and create a personal bond between people o Creates a connection between people such that one person s actions affect and reflect the other person s actions o Involves paying attention to the characteristics and circumstances that make the participants unique individuals Characteristics of Interpersonal Communication Feedback future exchanges lasting impressions Meanings change and unfold all the time o Consequential Produces outcomes o Continuous o Dynamic o Irreversible o Imperfect Cannot take back what has already been said toothpaste Misunderstandings encoding decoding things are sometimes lost in Features of Interpersonal Communication translation o Fidelity The clarity of a message the extent to which meanings can be correctly inferred from symbols When a receiver can hear the message understand the symbols and interpret meanings accurately o Appropriateness When the messages that people produce match the requirements of the situation guided by social rules Competent communication is also enjoyable When after a good conversation you might be energized feel happy and enjoy a sense of connection with your interaction partner When you are able to produce the outcomes that you want When you can produce the outcomes you seek with no more than a reasonable amount of effort o Satisfaction o Effectiveness o Efficiency o Ethics A consideration of right VS wrong or good VS evil 1 Involves using values as a moral guide when you interact with other people Ethical communicators make their values and assumptions clear to others and they demonstrate a respect for the values and assumptions that other people express Content and Relational Messages ex Can I borrow your car tomorrow o Content messages o Relational messages The literal or typical meanings of the symbols used to communicate The nature of the relationships between communication partners that is implied by the symbols that are used to communicate Communication Competence o Competence proficiency o Involves balancing all the different features of interpersonal communication o Conditions that promote communication competence Motivation Knowledge Takes effort you need to pay attention to what is and is not appropriate and satisfying Knowing what kinds of comfort the other person wants and how to provide it If you actively seek knowledge you can become more expert at identifying the interpersonal communication behaviors that are appropriate and effective within particular situations The ability to create symbols and perform behaviors that are clear appropriate satisfying effective efficient and ethical given social situation Skills Positive Negative and Curvilinear Associations o Positive o Negative When an increase in the amount frequency or intensity of one phenomenon corresponds with an increase in another phenomenon Ex communication competence getting a job When a decrease in the amount frequency or intensity of one phenomenon corresponds with an increase in another phenomenon Ex nervousness getting a job o Curvilinear When the positive or negative association between two phenomena exists only up to a certain point and then reverses Ex friendliness helps get you a job being too friendly hurts your job prospects Chapter 2 Culture and Interpersonal Communication Layers of Culture 2 o Cultural Institutions Broadest level Brings in people from all backgrounds Elements important to a cultural society education economic system government family religion o Standpoints Similar life experiences or social economic circumstances Like viewpoint ex First world problems o Speech communities norms and values rings o Subcultures People who have regular contact with each other develop shared They use and interpret symbols similarly ex Greek letters wedding Language used by doctors VS language used by lawyers Speech communities that share some unique practices within a broader cultural group ex Syllabus office hours Greek letters you don t see these outside the college community At RU we have a more specific subculture of American colleges ex Grease trucks RU Screw Scarlet Knight How cultures form and change o Selectivity Culture emerges when members select beliefs and practices as meaningful Ex when writing an email we put emphasis on beginning with a greeting not necessarily what specifically it is o Socialization o Change Transmit information about the culture to newcomers Newcomers adopt the cultural practice Ex can be focused like new job training or college orientation or more subtle like moving to a new culture and observing the practices BIG PART child raising people in different cultures raise and interact with babies differently that let them know their importance place Culture changes over time Ex unmarried couples living together children being born to unmarried parents Change due to inventions cell phones the internet Facebook Change due to diffusion when cultural practices of one group are adopted by another group US culture usually invades other countries and sometimes take over even more than their own media Rituals Myths Boundary Markers o Rituals Carefully scripted performances that mark culturally significant events 3 Ex weddings walking down the aisle and exchanging rings graduation diploma o Myths Ex Boy who cried wolf o Boundary Markers Sacred stories in which the characters and their actions embody core cultural themes Messages that signal that an action is inappropriate or off limits within a cultural group Ex online we can actually report something FtF we have other Communication Accommodation Theory ways o A model that describes how cultural group memberships influence interpersonal interactions Characteristics of the participants speech can become more similar to each other or they can become more distinct Can be conscious or unconscious Reflect a desire to increase or decrease the connection to a partner Marginalization and Ethnocentrism o Marginalization o Ethnocentrism When less dominant groups are treated as inferior or unimportant Evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one s own culture Sex and Gender o Sex o Gender Refers to whether a person is BIOLOGICALLY male or female Refers to a SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION of one s psychological identity as