Learning activity 1 Flashcards
Why we communicate: physical needs
It appears that a life that includes positive relationships leads to better health. Socializing for 10 minutes a day, for example, improves memory and boosts intellectual function, 10 and stress hormones decline the more often people hear expressions of affection.
Why we communicate: identity needs
we learn who we are and gain our sense of identity through interactions with others. Learning if we’re intelligent, creative, skilled, or inept does not come from looking in the mirror but from seeing how others react to us.
Why we communicate: social needs
Communication also satisfies a whole range of social needs that include pleasure, affection, companionship, escape, relaxation, and control. Research suggests a strong link between effective interpersonal communication and happiness.
Why we communicate: practical goals
communication is used most often to satisfy our instrumental goals; goals aimed at getting things done. For example, you use communication to tell the hairstylist to take just a little off the sides or to negotiate household duties with a roommate.
The process of communication: Linear view
a message flows from the sender to the receiver. Then the receiver becomes the sender and responds. This back-and-forth approach was referred to a linear communication model.
The process of communication: transactional view
The transactional communication model expands the linear model to better capture the complicated nature of human communication. Transactional communication model: A characterization of communication as the simultaneous sending and receiving of messages in an ongoing, irreversible process.
Communication principles: Can be intentional or unintentional
Some communication is clearly intentional: You plan your words carefully before asking for a big favour or offering criticism. In addition, we unintentionally send nonverbal messages. You might not be aware of your sour expression or sigh of boredom, but others see and hear them, nonetheless.
Communication principles: communication is irreversible
If you have ever said something and regretted it immediately, then you know that communication is irreversible.
Communication principles: it is impossible not to communicate
We never stop communicating because we constantly send nonverbal messages through our facial expressions, posture, age, ethnic group, clothing, and so forth.
Communication principles: communication is unrepeatable
Because communication is an ongoing process, it is impossible to repeat an event. A certain smile that worked well when you met a stranger last week might not work with one you encounter tomorrow
Communication principles: Communication has content and relational dimensions
the content dimension: A message that communicates information about the subject being discussed. And the relational dimension is a message that expresses the social relationship between two or more individuals.
Communication misconceptions: More communication is always better
Sometimes excessive communication is unproductive, like when two people “talk a problem to death” without making progress.
Communication misconceptions: meaning is in words
what makes perfect sense to you can be interpreted in entirely different ways by others.
Communication misconceptions: Successful communication always involves shared understanding
We don’t always want our communication to be clear and concise. For example, if you think that a friend has a grotesque tattoo and you’re asked what you think, then giving a vague, unclear response may be better.
Communication misconceptions: A single person or event causes another’s reaction:
If you lose your temper and say something to a friend that you immediately regret, your friend’s reaction depends on a host of events besides your unjustified remark. These include her frame of mind (uptight or mellow), her personality (judgmental or forgiving), her relational history (supportive or hostile), and so forth.
types of relational messages: affinity
degree people appreciate one another
types of relational messages: Immediacy
degree of interest/attention
types of relational messages: Respect
social need to be held in esteem by others
types of relational messages: Control
degree of power to influence one another
The nature of interpersonal communication: Two views
quantitatively and qualitatively.
- Quantitative definition impersonal communication, usually face-to-face, between two individuals.
- Qualitative communication in which the parties consider one another as unique individuals rather than as objects. Such communication is characterized by minimal use of stereotyped labels; unique, idiosyncratic rules; and by a high degree of information.
The nature of interpersonal communication: Personal and impersonal
impersonal (quantitative) is behaviour that treats others as objects rather than as individuals. Personal (qualitative).
Social media and interpersonal communication:
Social media collectively describes all the channels that make remote personal communication possible. Social media competence: think before you post, be considerate, respect the needs of your face-to-face conversational partner, keep your tone civil, and don’t intrude on bystanders.
metacommunication
refers to communication about the verbal and nonverbal messages that communicators send to one another.
Relationships (3 types)
- Social – short amount of time and intimacy
- Close – friendships, romantic, marital, family
- Therapeutic – purposeful – directed by nurse: helper/helpee
Communication competence
- No ideal way to communicate
- Competence is situational (can be competent in one situation and colossal in another)
- Competence is relational
- Competence can be learned
Characteristics of competent communicators
- Wide range of behaviours
- Ability to choose the most appropriate behaviour
- Skill at performing behaviours
- Cognitive complexity: The ability to construct a variety of frameworks for viewing an issue
- Empathy: The ability to project oneself into another person’s point of view, so as to experience the other’s thoughts and feelings.
- Self-monitoring: The ability to project oneself into another person’s point of view, to experience the other’s thoughts and feelings.
- Commitment: shows commitment to another person
Communicating with diversity and inclusion in mind: motivation
the desire to communicate successfully with strangers is an important start. People high in willingness to communicate with people from other cultures report a greater number of “intercultural” friends than those who are less willing to reach out.
Communicating with diversity and inclusion in mind: Tolerance for ambiguity
Tolerance for ambiguity will make it possible to accept equivocal and sometimes incomprehensible messages that characterize intercultural communication.
Communicating with diversity and inclusion in mind: Open-mindedness
When communication styles don’t match those of our own culture, we tend to think of them as “wrong.”
Communicating with diversity and inclusion in mind: Knowledge and skill
Knowing the rules and customs of other cultures can be helpful.
