Chapter 1 Chapter 2 1 Communication is defined as using symbols to represent ideas so that meanings can be shared Interpersonal communication is using symbols to represent ideas in order to share meanings and create a personal bond between people 2 The characteristics of interpersonal communications is that it is a continuous process dynamic process consequential irreversible and imperfect 3 The difference between content and relational messages A content message is the literal or typical meanings of the symbols used to communicate A relational message is meanings understood based on the nature of the relationship and the nature of the relationship between communication partners that is implied by the symbols that are used to communicate 1 Culture is a set of values and beliefs norms and customs and rules and codes that 2 Layers of culture are cultural institutions religion standpoints demo gender race socially define a group of people age and subcultures sororities 3 The different dimensions of culture uncertainty avoidance versus uncertainty seeking equality versus hierarchy individualism versus collectivism and low context versus high context The uncertainty avoidant culture consists of the importance of rigid rules and routines and precise messages The uncertainty seeking culture is diverse with a preference to risky experiences Low power culture is when all people have equal rights and opportunities High power culture is when there is a rigid hierarchy that exists based on power and status and compliant and respectful attitudes are valued Individualism is the importance of I privacy and independence Collectivism is the importance of we and harmony and face saving tactics are used to resolve collectivistic conflict Low context is when there s meaning explicitly stated in words and details to explain meanings are important High context is when meaning is unstated 4 Barriers to intercultural communication Stereotypes and prejudice Stereotypes are a set of qualities perceived to reflect the essence of a group Prejudice is when there is a negative attitude towards a specific group from judgement based on previous experiences and decisions discrimination sexiscm and racism 5 Ethnocentrism is seeing one s culture as more correct 6 Speech codes theory aims to describe the link between culture and communication Communication accommodation theory how people adjust their communication patterns when talking to others from a different cultural group Anxiety uncertainty management theory explains how uncertainty and anxiety affect intercultural communication 7 Culture may change from external forces by invention cellphone and diffusion adopting cultural practices of another group the government and institutional involvement in changing culture Chapter 3 roles 1 Self concept is each person s own view of self or knowledge you have about yourself Identity is an image you create for others the communicated self 2 The characteristics of self concept are subjective dynamic and multifaceted diverse 3 The four types of self from the Johari window are open self information about you that you are aware of and share with other people blind self what other people are aware of and you re not hidden self what you hide from others and unknown self not you or anyone else knows about it 4 We form our self concept through self observations social comparison social roles and feedback from others 5 Self esteem An overall judgement of one s self worth or value Communication apprehension individual s level of fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication 6 The layers of identity personal layer self concept communicated to others relational layer characteristics shaped by relationships communal layer group characteristics enactment layer characteristics revealed through communication and ethnic layer communal and expressed through personal enactment and relational layers 7 Social comparison theory we want to know how we re doing reduce uncertainty about opinions and abilities upward versus downward comparisons and we turn to people who are similar to us Chapter 4 1 Cognition refers to the mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension Perception is the process by which a person filters and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world 2 The stages of perception are selection organization and interpretation Selection is the process of choosing information to build a perception organization is arranging information into a coherent pattern and interpretation is the process of assigning meaning to information 3 Emotions affect perception because our feelings affect specific situations 4 The principle of least effort is the tendency to rely on stereotypes and other cognitive schemata more than the actual details of a situation 5 The dimensions of attribution Internal and external controllable and uncontrollable and stable and unstable Internal attribution is characteristics of an individual or personal forces while external is outside an individual luck or other people Controllable and uncontrollable attribution asks if the causes of an event are under your control Effort would be controllable but intelligence would not be Stable and unstable attribution asks if the causes of an event are persistent or temporary Stable causes would be having work before an exam while noise around your dorm room is unstable 6 Attribution biases can be internal or external ways of altering our conclusions and self enhancing self serving protect self esteem self centered egocentrism 7 Attribution biases are applied to close relationships using adaptive and maladaptive attributions Adaptive Positive behavior internal and stable causes Maladaptive negative behavior to external and unstable causes 8 Perspective taking reduces attribution bias because it is the process of imaging the world through another s vantage point Chapter 5 1 Language our vocab and knowledge about when to use particular words what they mean and how we put them together 2 The characteristics of language are language is abstract encourages the creation of new realities language is arbitrary there is no inherent reason for using a particular word to represent a particular object or idea language is related to culture reveal cultural norms and values 3 Denotation literal and public Connotation public and emotionally charged 4 Semantic guidelines for using words in phrases Syntactic guidelines for structuring