Lecture On Interpersonal Communication

Question 1

Know uncertainty reduction theory.

Answer 1

Theory explaining social interactions in the beginning of a relationship:

• Any new relationship is full of uncertainty about the other person
• We want to reduce uncertainty to increase predictability
• This is particularly true when:
  
  1. We anticipate future interaction
  2. The other person has something we want
  3. The other person’s weird
• Theory Predictions:
  1. High uncertainty leads to low liking; low uncertainty leads to high liking
  2. Hi uncertainty leads to greater level of reciprocity in disclosure
  3. As the amount of communication goes up the level of uncertainty goes down

Question 2

Know why Smalltalk is important and how to improve one’s Smalltalk skills.

Answer 2

1. The importance of Smalltalk:
   - Early in a relationship, each of you is deciding if you want to further develop the relationship, in part, based on Smalltalk
   - Important for effectively maintaining a network of acquaintances where the relationship is neither very shallow, nor very deep
   - communicates collegiality in the workplace
2. Improving Smalltalk skills:
   - Don’t wait for the other person to introduce himself, do it first yourself
   - Remember the other person’s name
   - Maintain eye contact when culturally appropriate but do not stare
   - Convey interest and liking- smile, nod, lean forward
   - Talk less, listen more. Get the other person to talk about herself
   - Be positive, do not complain, do not share negative thoughts
   - Avoid personal/controversial topics- religion, politics

Question 3

Social information processing theory

Answer 3

Major differences between CMC and F2F communication:

1. Time delay is greater in CMC
   a. Expressing the same idea takes four times longer in CMC compared to F2F
   b. CMC we sip information-slowly, F2F We gulp information-faster
2. Most CMC forms lack nonverbal cues
   a. Vocalics: anything that is spoken and heard except for words
   b. Proxemics: space between communicating individuals
   c. Haptics: sense of touch
   d. Etc.
   e. Why care about nonverbal cues? 65% of interpersonal communication is nonverbal; 93% of emotion expression is whatever

Question 4

Hyper personal perspective

Answer 4

Some CMC relationships can grow more intimate than F2F communication:

1. Selective self presentation: people are able to sustain an overwhelmingly positive impression online; it is hard for anybody to contradict their presentation unlike in the off-line world
2. Self-fulfilling prophecy: a situation where one’s expectations of others encourage them to confirm our expectations
3. Asynchronous nature of CMC: We communicate when we feel the time is right; we plan the message carefully-this minimizes miscommunication and makes communication more enjoyable
4. Over attribution of similarity: many CMC spaces focus on specific problems or hobbies; people meeting there feel they are similar in regards to that specific problem or hobby; we extrapolate a more extensive similarity between us and other users. We will think otherwise only in the presence of strong dissimilarity evidence.