Interpersonal Communication Benefits Quiz

Study Notes

Interpersonal communication is crucial for personal and professional success.
Effective communication involves a complex interplay of various elements.
Understanding communication skills leads to better relationships and career prospects.
Ethical considerations are essential in all interpersonal interactions.
Adapting to different contexts and reducing noise enhances communication effectiveness.

Interpersonal communication is the verbal and nonverbal interaction between two or more interdependent people.
Involves at least two individuals.
Includes both verbal and nonverbal elements.
Emphasizes interdependence between communicators.
Circular rather than linear in nature.
Simultaneous sending and receiving of messages.

Source-Receiver: Each person acts as both sender and receiver.
Interpersonal Competence: The ability to communicate effectively, including knowledge of appropriate topics and nonverbal behavior. This correlates positively with college success and job satisfaction.
Encoding-Decoding:
- Encoding: Producing messages (speaking, writing).
- Decoding: Understanding messages (listening, reading).
Code-Switching: Adapting language style to different situations.

Messages: Signals received by senses (auditory, visual, tactile, etc.). Can be intentional or unintentional and include metamessages (messages about other messages).
Feedback: Messages sent back to the speaker about their communication.
Feedforward: Information provided before the primary message.
Channels: Mediums through which messages pass, often multiple channels used simultaneously (e.g., face-to-face, telephone, email, social media).

Noise: Anything that distorts a message, including:
- Physical noise: External interference, e.g., background sounds.
- Physiological noise: Internal barriers, e.g., hearing loss.
- Psychological noise: Mental interference, e.g., biases.
- Semantic noise: Differences in meaning systems.
Context: Environment influencing communication, which has several dimensions:
- Physical dimension: Tangible environment.
- Temporal dimension: Time and sequence of events.
- Social-Psychological dimension: Status, roles, and norms.
- Cultural dimension: Cultural beliefs and customs.

Effects: Consequences of communication on participants, including cognitive effects (changes in thinking), affective effects (changes in attitudes, values, and emotions), and behavioral effects (changes in actions).
Ethics: Study of right and wrong in communication, with both objective (universal standards) and subjective (context-dependent standards) views. Consideration of ethical dimensions in all communication acts.