Interpersonal Communication Flashcards
Interpersonal Communication
Deliberate or accidental transfer of meaning between 2 people.
Interpersonal competence: ability to communicate effectively with others
Interpersonal comm and health
IC is often linked to health intentions and behaviors. Media campaigns seek to stimulate interpersonal comm.
Getting health info from media and interpersonal channels amplifies the message. Media exposure + interpersonal talk = info has a high impact
Information seeking and avoidance in health contexts
Information management: any act related to seeking, avoiding, providing, appraising and interpreting information. Infor management is often collaborative between healthcare providers and patients.
When patients seem uncertain or confused, doctors provide less information. Doctors also give more info to younger, well-educated patients than their counterparts.
Contextual factors of info management: socio-cultural context shapes whether/how comm occurs and is understood, interpreted, and acted upon.
- Cross-cultural differences
- Health literacy
- Channels of info: people who need health info are often ill-equipped to find it
- Cognitive state: impact that stress and medication has on receiving info
People often attempt to get info from their doctors using indirect methods.
- Deference to authority: don’t want to question an authority figure
- Norms of politeness
- Doctors fail to recognize when patients are using indirect methods
Uncertainty
People feel uncertain when:
- Details of situations are unknown, complex or unpredictable
- Info is unavailable or inconsistent
- People feel insecure about their lack of knowledge
- Uncertainty causes feelings of anxiety, distress, depression and loss of control
Uncertainty and health
Patients feel uncertainty when:
- They don’t have enough info about their own illness and treatment
- They question their doctor’s skills and judgment
- They have a weak relationship with their doctor
- Recommended tests and procedures are too complex to understand
Managing uncertainty: Information seeking
Passive: an individual gains information through observation; indirectly.
Active: collecting information by asking someone else like a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or peer (how reliable is the source though?)
Experimental: collecting information through experiences, like “I know what this medical test is like because I’ve had it before”
Extractive: collecting information online
Uncertainty and information avoidance
Information avoidance can happen if:
- Having info about an issue is stressful or upsetting to them
- Someone thinks that they can’t handle knowing info
- Info avoidance often happens with stigmatized issues like STI testing
Uncertainty and long-term illness
Patients develop strategies to cope with chronic uncertainty in long term illnesses.
- Accepting uncertainty: nothing in life is permanent
- Reframing through processes and decision-making: I have to live in the moment
Social support & health (1)
Social support: social network’s provision of psychological and material resources to benefit someone’s ability to cope with stress.
Types of support:
- Instrumental: tangible aid
- *Informational: advice, guidance
- Emotional: empathy, reassurance
*Informational support is only effective to relieve stress if:
- It was solicited
- It’s useful to solve the problem
- The source is trusted and knowledgeable
- The other person perceives they can carry it out = self-efficacy
- The other personal perceives it will work = response efficacy
Social support & health (2)
Communication with close friends and partners is useful to lessen illness-related stress and uncertainty.
- Verbal: expressing empathy, inquiring about needs
- Non-verbal: affectionate touch, spending time with them
How social environment improves health
Stress-buffering
- Connectedness to other people provides psychological and material resources needed to cope with stress. In a stressful time, people can turn to others for support.
Main effects
- Social connectedness is beneficial no matter their level of stress. Social connection keeps people healthy.
- Connectedness affects psychological states like identity, purpose, self-worth, which influence health decisions. People who feel connected to others tend to make healthier decisions.
Family Communication Patterns Theory
The theory links family cognitions and communication to individual members’ psychological and behavioral outcomes. In other words, how people act depends on the family they come from. 2 dimensions:
Conformity
- High conformity = family members express similar values and attitudes. Emphasis is on family harmony.
- Low conformity = family members express varied values and attitudes. Emphasis is on individuality.
Conversation Orientation
- High conversation = family members speak freely about a wide range of conflict issues
- Low conversation = family members discuss a small range of conflict issues
Family types
Pluralistic: open communication and high levels of emotional supportiveness. High conversation, low conformity.
Protective: emphasize upholding family rules and avoiding conflict. Low conversation, high conformity.
Consensual: pressure for agreement among family members but allows for some expression of divergent ideas and feelings. High conversation, high conformity.
Laissez-faire: family members interact infrequently; often look outside the family for support. Low conversation, low conformity.
