COM 101 Midterm Exam Study Guide PDF

1 COM 101 Midterm Exam Study Guide Professor Eddie Merc, Ph.D. Chapter #1 Summary I. The Nature of Communication  Communication is a complex process through which we express, interpret, and coordinate messages wit...

1 COM 101 Midterm Exam Study Guide Professor Eddie Merc, Ph.D. Chapter #1 Summary I. The Nature of Communication  Communication is a complex process through which we express, interpret, and coordinate messages with others to create shared meaning, meet social goals, manage personal identity, and carry out one's relationships. o At its core, communication is about messages.  Messages: verbal utterances, visual images, and nonverbal behaviors used to convey thoughts and feelings o Encoding: the process of creating messages o Decoding: the process of interpreting messages o Feedback: verbal and nonverbal messages sent by receivers to let senders know how the message is being interpreted  How does one form and interpret messages? o A canned plan is a "mental library" of scripts each individual draws from to create messages based on what worked for them or others in the past. o A script is an actual text of what to say and do in a specific situation.  The communication context is made up of the physical, social, historical, psychological, and cultural situations that surround a communication event. o The physical context includes the location of a communication encounter, the environmental conditions surrounding it (temperature, lighting, and noise level), and the physical proximity of participants to each other. o Social presence is a sense of "being there" with another person virtually. o The social context is the nature of the relationship that already exists between the participants. o The historical context is the background provided by previous communication between the participants. o The psychological context includes the moods and feelings each person brings to the communication encounter. o The cultural context includes the beliefs, values, orientations, underlying assumptions, and rituals that belong to a specific culture.  Communication settings: the different communication environments characterized by the number of participants and the extent to which the interaction is formal or informal o Intrapersonal communication: interactions that occur in individuals' minds when they are talking to themselves  2 o Interpersonal communication: informal interaction between two people who have an identifiable relationship with each other o Small-group communication: three to twenty people who come together to interact with one another II. The Communication Process  The communication process is a complex set of three different and interrelated activities intended to result in shared meaning. o Message production: steps taken to encode a message o Message interpretation: steps taken to decode a message o Interaction coordination: behavioral adjustments each participant makes in an attempt to create shared meaning  Channel: the route traveled by the message and the means of transportation o Face-to-face communication has verbal symbols, nonverbal cues, and visual images. o Technologically mediated communication uses verbal symbols, nonverbal cues, and visual images, though nonverbal cues such as movements, touch, and gestures are represented by visual symbols. o Media richness refers to how much and what kinds of information can be transmitted via a particular channel. o Synchronicity is the extent to which a channel allows for immediate feedback.  Interference or noise: any stimulus that interferes with the process of sharing meaning o Physical noise: any external sight or sound that detracts from a message o Psychological noise: thoughts and feelings that compete with a sender's message for attention  A model of the communication process illustrates the communication process between two people. o The sender encodes messages based on his or her previous experience. o The receiver decodes the message from within the context of his or her previous experience. o Feedback provides information on how well the receiver understood the message. o Context permeates the process. o Noise may occur at various points, affecting the participants' ability to arrive at similar meanings. o The process becomes more complex when more than two people are included.  3 III. Characteristics of Communication  Communication has purpose. o One communicates to enhance and maintain one's sense of self. o One communicates to meet one's social needs. o One communicates to develop and maintain relationships. o One communicates to exchange information. o One communicates to influence others.  Communication is continuous.  Communication is irreversible.  Communication is situated.  Communication is indexical. o How one communicates is also an index or measure of the emotional temperature of one's relationship at the time. o Trust is the extent to which partners rely on, depend on, and have faith that their partners will not intentionally do anything to harm them. o Control is the degree to which partners believe themselves to be "in charge" in the relationship. o Intimacy is the degree of emotional closeness in a relationship.  Communication messages vary in conscious thought. o Spontaneous expression: messages spoken without much conscious thought o Scripted messages: messages drawn from canned plan libraries o Constructed messages: messages that are formed carefully and thoughtfully when known scripts are inadequate for the situation  Communication is guided by cultural norms. o Culture: a system of shared beliefs, values, symbols, and behaviors IV. Communication and Ethics  Ethics is a set of moral principles held by a society, a group, or an individual.  Every field of study—from psychology and biology to sociology and history—has a set of ethical principles designed to guide the practice of that field.  The general principles that guide ethical communication include the following: o Ethical communicators are honest. o Ethical communicators act with integrity. o Ethical communicators behave fairly. o Ethical communicators demonstrate respect.  4 o Ethical communicators are responsible.  Bright side messages: messages that are ethical and appropriate  Dark side messages: messages that are not ethical and/or appropriate o "Hard dark side" messages are somewhat ethical and unethical because they are honest, but also potentially damaging to the relationship. o "Easy dark side" messages are somewhat ethical and unethical because they are dishonest in order to maintain a good relationship. o "Evil dark side" messages are both disrespectful and damaging to the relationship. V. Communication Competence  Communication competence is the impression that communicative behavior is both appropriate and effective in a given situation. o It is achieved through personal motivation, knowledge acquisition, and skills practice.  Credibility and social ease also influence whether others perceive speakers to be competent communicators.  Communication apprehension is the fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with others. o Traitlike communication apprehension: anxiety in most speaking situations; 20 percent of people experience this o Audience-based communication apprehension: anxiety about speaking only with a certain person or group of people o Situational communication apprehension: short-lived feeling of anxiety that occurs during a specific encounter, such as a job interview o Context-based communication apprehension: anxiety only in a particular situation, for example, when speaking to a large group of people  A communication improvement plan consists of setting a new goal to resolve a communication problem, identifying procedures to reach the goal, and determining a way to measure progress. Chapter #2 Summary I. The Perception Process  Perception: the process of selectively and assigning meaning to information  The brain selects information, organizes the information, and interprets it.  Attention and selection depend upon needs, interests, and expectations.  5  The brain organizes stimuli using the principles of simplicity and pattern. o If the stimuli individuals attend to are complex, the brain simplifies them into some commonly recognized form. o The brain also makes sense of complex stimuli by relating them to things it already recognizes.  Interpretation of stimuli: assigning meaning to information gathered  Most of the perceptual processing individuals do happens subconsciously. o Automatic processing: subconscious approach that draws on previous experience to make sense of what we are encountering o Heuristics: short-cut rules of thumb for understanding how to perceive something based on past experience with similar stimuli o Conscious processing: slow, deliberative approach to perceiving where we examine and reflect about stimuli II. Perception of Self  Self-perception is the overall view individuals have of themselves, which includes both self-concept and self-esteem.  Self-concept is the perception individuals have of their skills, abilities, knowledge, competencies, and personality traits.  Self-esteem is the evaluation individuals make about their personal worthiness based on their self-concept.  Individuals cannot discover their personality traits until they uncover them through experience.  Self-concept is shaped by how others react and respond to individuals in two ways. o Individuals use other people's comments to validate, reinforce, or alter their perceptions of who they think they are. o The feedback an individual receives from others may reveal previously unknown abilities and personality characteristics.  Ideal self-concept is what individuals would like to be.  Self-esteem depends not only on what each individual views as worthwhile but also on the ideas, morals, and values of the family and cultural group(s) to which the individual belongs.  One's self-esteem can affect the types of relationships they form and with whom.  Cultural norms play a critical role in shaping both self-concept and self-esteem via independence/interdependence and masculinity/femininity. o Independent self-perceptions: based on the belief that traits and abilities are internal to the person and are universally applicable to all situations o Interdependent self-perceptions: based on the belief that traits and abilities are  6 specific to a particular context or relationship  The accuracy of self-concept and self-esteem depends on the accuracy of one's own perceptions and how one interprets others' reactions and responses. o Incongruence: gap between self-perception and reality o Self-fulfilling prophecy: inaccurate perception of a skill, characteristic, or situation that leads to behaviors that perpetuate that false perception as true o Filtering messages: individuals tend to pay attention to messages that reinforce their self-perception and ignore messages that contradict this image. o Media images: perception can become distorted as a result of individuals' interpretation of what they see on television, in the movies, and in popular magazines.  Body image is one aspect of perception that is often negatively affected by media. III. Self-Perception and Communication  Self-perception influences how individuals talk to themselves, how they talk about themselves with others, how they talk about others to themselves, the self they present to others, and their ability to communicate with others. o Self-talk: the internal conversations individuals have with themselves in their thoughts o Social construction of self: sharing different aspects of one's self-concept based on the situation and people involved o Self-monitoring: being aware of how one is coming across to others and adjusting one's behavior accordingly  Self-concept and self-esteem are fairly enduring characteristics, but they can be changed.  Improving self-perception improves how individuals interact with others, and improving how individuals interact with others improves self-perception. IV. Perception of Others  Uncertainty reduction theory is a communication theory that explains how individuals monitor their social environment to know more about themselves and others.  Impression formation: processes individuals use to form perceptions of others o Physical appearance: the first thing people notice about other people is how they look. o Implicit personality theory: individuals form impressions based on assumptions they make about other people's personalities. If a person sees someone displaying a  7 particular personality trait, they will assume that the person has other traits associated with it. o Assumed similarity: believing someone is similar to oneself in a variety of ways until new information contradicts this assumption  Attributions are the reasons individuals give for their own and others' behavior. o Situational attribution: attributing behavior to a cause that is beyond someone's control o Dispositional attribution: attributing behavior to a cause that is under another person's control  Social presence is the sense of being "there" with another person in a particular moment in time. o When people interact with others through a mediated channel, social presence is filtered through technology.  As individuals work to reduce uncertainty, they also must be careful to reduce perceptual inaccuracies. o Selective perception is the perceptual distortion that arises from paying attention only to what people expect to see or hear and ignoring what they don't expect. o Forced consistency is the inaccurate attempt to make several perceptions about another person agree with each other. o Prejudice is judging a person based on the characteristics of a group to which the person belongs without regard to how the person may vary from the group characteristic.  Stereotypes are exaggerated or oversimplified generalizations used to describe a group.  Discrimination is acting differently toward a person based on prejudice.  Racism, ethnocentrism, sexism, heterosexism, ageism, and ableism are all forms of prejudice in which members of one group believe that the behaviors and characteristics of their group are inherently superior to those of another group. V. Communication and Perception of Others  Guidelines to improve one's perceptions of others and their messages are as follows: o Question the accuracy of one's perceptions. o Choose to use conscious processing as one gets to know people. o Seek out more information to verify perceptions. o Realize that the perceptions of a person will change over time. o Seek clarification respectfully by perception checking.  8 Chapter #3 Summary I. Culture and Communication  Culture is the system of shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and norms that guides what is considered appropriate among an identifiable group of people.  Values are the commonly accepted standards of what is considered right and wrong, good and evil, fair and unfair, etc. o Ideal values: values that members of a culture profess to hold o Real values: values that guide actual behavior  Intercultural communication refers to the interactions that occur between people whose cultures are so different that communication between them is challenging. o Culture shock: psychological discomfort when engaging in a new cultural situation II. Dominant Cultures, Co-Cultures, and Cultural Identity  Dominant culture: the learned system of norms held by the majority group of empowered people in a society  Co-culture: a group of people within the larger culture who hold common values, beliefs, attitudes, and customs that differ from those of the dominant culture o Code switching is altering linguistic and nonverbal patterns to conform to the dominant culture or co-culture.  Cultural identity: the part of one's self-concept that is based on how closely one associates with both the dominant culture and various co-cultures  Race: a term used to classify people based on biological characteristics  Ethnicity: a shared cultural identity that is learned  Native language: the language of one's ethnic heritage; typically, the language learned at birth  Sex: biologically determined physical traits  Gender: the learned roles and communication patterns deemed "appropriate" for males and females in the dominant culture  Sexual orientation: although laws that reflect a change in attitude toward sexuality are gaining popularity, people who are not heterosexual still face discrimination, as well as legal and physical threats  Religion: a belief system with a set of rituals and ethical standards based on a common perception of what is sacred or holy  Socioeconomic status (SES): the position of a person or family in the power hierarchy of a society based on income, education, and occupation  Age/generation: people born and raised in the same generation may identify with a co- culture distinct to it  Disability: any physical, emotional, mental, or cognitive impairment that impacts how a person functions in society  9 III. How Cultures Differ  Understanding how cultures differ becomes critical when individuals interact with people whose cultural norms differ from theirs, because it helps them empathize and adapt their communication patterns accordingly.  Individualistic cultures: cultures that value personal rights and responsibilities, privacy, voicing one's opinion, freedom, innovation, and self-expression  Collectivist cultures: cultures that value community, collaboration, shared interests, harmony, the public good, and avoiding embarrassment  Individualism and collectivism influence many aspects of communication. o Individualism and collectivism affect self-concept and self-esteem. o Emphasis on the individual leads members of highly individualistic cultures to be assertive and confront conflict directly, whereas members of highly collectivist cultures are more likely to engage in collaboration or to avoid conflict. o Individualism and collectivism influence how people make group decisions.  Context: the extent to which a culture's members rely on contextual cues to convey the meaning of a message o In low-context cultures, speakers use words to convey most of the meaning. o In high-context cultures, much of the speaker's message is conveyed indirectly and can be accurately interpreted only by referring to unwritten cultural rules and subtle nonverbal behaviors.  Chronemics: the study of how the perception of time differs among cultures o Monochronic cultures view time as a series of small units that occur sequentially. o Polychronic cultures, for example, Latin American, Arab, and Southern European cultures, view time as a continuous flow.  Uncertainty avoidance: the extent to which people desire to predict what is going to happen o Low uncertainty-avoidance cultures tolerate uncertainty and are less driven to control unpredictable people, relationships, or events. o High uncertainty-avoidance cultures have a low tolerance for uncertainty and a high need to control unpredictable people, relationships, or events.  Power distance: the extent to which members of a culture expect and accept that power will be equally or unequally shared o High power distance: cultures that view unequal power distribution as normal o Low power distance: cultures in which members prefer power to be more equally distributed  Masculine cultures: cultures in which men and women are expected to adhere to traditional gender roles  Feminine cultures: cultures in which people assume a variety of roles and are valued for doing so regardless of sex  Short-term oriented cultures: cultures that tend to value rewards in the here and now and emphasize quick results  Long-term oriented cultures: cultures that emphasize potential future rewards that will be realized after slow and steady perseverance toward achieving a mutually acceptable result  Indulgence focuses on pleasure versus restraint. o Highly indulgent cultures are driven by a value of enjoying life and having fun,  10 whereas cultures that value restraint tend to suppress gratification based on a set of strict social norms. IV. Developing Intercultural Communication Competence  Individuals can develop intercultural communication competence by first acknowledging potential barriers and then by employing several strategies to overcome them.  Several of the most common barriers to effective intercultural communication are as follows: o Anxiety: feeling some level of discomfort when one enters a cultural setting with unfamiliar norms and customs o Assuming similarity or difference: many people erroneously assume other cultures will be very different or very similar to their own o Ethnocentrism: the belief that one's own culture is superior to others o Stereotyping: perceptual shortcut in which people assume that everyone in a cultural group is the same o Incompatible communication codes: when others speak a different language than an individual does, it is easy to see that they have incompatible communication codes  But even when people speak the same language, cultural variations can result from belonging to different co-cultures. o Incompatible norms and values: sometimes, what is considered normal or highly valued in one culture is offensive in another  Different norms and values can cause serious problems when communicating unless we are aware of and respect differences.  Competent communication strategies are as follows: o Acquire accurate knowledge.  Formal study: one can learn about other cultures by reading about them in books, periodicals, and websites. One can read personal accounts and ethnographic research studies, take courses, and interview members of the group.  Observation: one can learn about a culture or co-culture by watching as members interact with each other in nonparticipant observation.  Immersion: actively participating in another culture is called participant observation. o Adopt an appropriate attitude.  Tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty about the other person in interpersonal communication. Adjust communication to demonstrate respect and to achieve mutual understanding.  Be open-minded.  Be altruistic rather than egocentric. o Develop culture-centered skills.  Practice listening.  Practice intercultural empathy in which one places oneself in the other person's cultural world and attempts to experience what he or she is experiencing.  Develop flexibility, the ability to adjust one's communication to fit the other  11 person and the situation. Chapter #4 Summary I. The Nature of Language  Language: a system of symbols used to communicate o Each verbal language consists of the following:  Lexicon: the collection of words and expressions in a language  Phonology: the sounds used to pronounce words  Syntax and grammar: rules for combining words to form sentences o Language community: all people who understand a particular language o Dialect: a unique form of a more general language spoken by a specific culture or co- culture  Speech communities: smaller groups that speak a common dialect o Idiolect: one's own individual unique pronunciations, grammar, and syntax II. Characteristics of Language  Sharing meaning can be difficult because people speak different languages and use different dialects and idiolects than those with whom they are communicating.  In any language, the words used to represent things are arbitrary symbols.  Not only is language arbitrary, but it is also abstract.  New words are constantly being invented and existing words abandoned or assigned new meanings. III. The Relationship between Language and Meaning  Semantic meaning is derived from the words themselves and how they are arranged into sentences. o Words have two types of meanings.  Denotation is the explicit meaning found in the dictionary of a language community.  Connotation is the implicit additional meaning one associates with a word. o The guidelines for improving semantics are as follows:  Use specific language.  Use concrete language.  Use familiar language.  Use descriptive details and examples.  Demonstrate linguistic sensitivity by using inclusive language.  Pragmatic meaning comes from understanding a message related to its conversational context. o A speech act is the utterance of a verbal message and what it implies about how the  12 listener should respond. o Individuals understand pragmatic meaning based on an assumption that both partners want to achieve mutual understanding. o The guidelines for improving pragmatics are as follows:  Tell the truth.  Provide the right amount of information.  Relate what one says to the topic being discussed.  Acknowledge when one's message violates a guideline.  Assume the best fit.  Sociolinguistic meaning varies according to the norms of a particular culture or co-culture. o Sociolinguistic misunderstandings occur when people interact with someone who operates using different norms regarding how words are combined, how and when to say what to whom, and verbal style.  All cultures use idioms, which are expressions whose meaning is different from the literal meanings associated with the words used in them.  A direct verbal style is characterized by language that openly states the speaker's intention in a straightforward and unambiguous way.  An indirect verbal style is characterized by language that masks the speaker's true intentions in a roundabout and ambiguous way. o The guidelines for improving sociolinguistics are as follows:  Develop intercultural competence.  Practice mindfulness.  Respect and adapt to the sociolinguistic practices of others. Chapter #5 Summary I. Characteristics of Nonverbal Communication  Nonverbal communication consists of all the messages individuals send in ways that transcend spoken or written words. o Nonverbal messages are cues individuals send with their body, voice, space, time, and appearance to emphasize, substitute for, or contradict a verbal message.  Nonverbal communication is inevitable.  Nonverbal communication is the primary conveyor of emotions.  Nonverbal communication is multi-channeled.  Nonverbal communication is ambiguous. II. Types of Nonverbal Communication  Kinesics: the term for what and how body motions communicate o Gestures: movements of hands, arms, and fingers to accompany or replace a verbal message  Emblems: gestures that substitute entirely for a word or words  Illustrators: gestures that clarify a verbal message  13  Adaptors: unconscious responses to physical or psychological needs o Eye contact (oculesics): how and how much individuals look at others when communicating o Facial expression: using facial muscles to convey emotions o Posture: how individuals position and move their bodies  Body orientation: how an individual positions his or her body in relation to other people  Body movement: changing body position o Haptics: the term for what and how touch communicates  Spontaneous touch: automatic and subconscious  Ritualized touch: scripted rather than spontaneous  Task-related touch: used to perform a certain unemotional function  Paralanguage: the voiced part of a spoken message that goes beyond the actual words o Pitch: the highness or lowness of vocal tone o Volume: the loudness or softness of vocal tone o Rate: the speed at which a person speaks o Voice quality (timbre): the sound of a person's voice that distinguishes it from others o Intonation: the variety, melody, or inflection in one's voice o Vocalized pauses: extraneous sounds or words that interrupt fluent speech  Proxemics: how space and distance communicate o Personal space: the distance individuals try to maintain when they interact with others o Territorial space: the physical space over which individuals claim ownership o Acoustic space: the area over which one's voice can be comfortably heard  Chronemics: how individuals interpret the use of time o If individuals' approach to time is different from those with whom they are interacting, their behavior could be viewed as inappropriate and put strains on the relationship.  Physical appearance: how individuals look to others o Today, more than ever, people use clothing choices, body art, and other personal grooming to communicate who they are and what they stand for. o When individuals meet new people, they are likely to form their first impression of the new people based on how they are dressed and groomed.  Media richness: how much and what kinds of information can be transmitted via a particular channel o Face-to-face is generally the richest channel and the standard against which other channels are measured.  Individuals also observe nonverbal cues and physical context to interpret a speaker's meaning.  The less information offered via a given channel, the leaner it is; the leaner the channel, the greater the chances for misunderstanding.  14 III. Guidelines for Improving Nonverbal Communication  When sending nonverbal messages: o Consciously monitor nonverbal messages. o Align the nonverbal messages with the purpose. o Adapt the nonverbal messages to the situation. o Reduce or eliminate distracting nonverbal messages.  When interpreting nonverbal messages: o Remember that the same nonverbal message may mean different things to different people. o Consider each nonverbal message in context. o Pay attention to the multiple nonverbal messages being sent and their relationship to the verbal message. o Use perception checking. Chapter #6 Summary I. What Is Listening?  Listening consists of complex affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes. o Affective processes are those that motivate one to attend to a message. o Cognitive processes include understanding and interpreting message meaning. o Behavioral processes are those related to responding with verbal and nonverbal feedback. II. Challenges to Effective Listening  Listening apprehension is the anxiety individuals feel about listening.  Listening style is an individual's favored and usually unconscious approach to listening. o Content-oriented listeners focus on and evaluate the facts and evidence. o People-oriented listeners focus on the feelings their conversational partners may have about what they are saying. o Action-oriented listeners focus on the ultimate point the speaker is trying to make. o Time-oriented listeners prefer brief and hurried conversations and use nonverbal and verbal cues to signal that their partner needs to be more concise.  Individuals process information in two ways—passively or actively. o Passive listening is the habitual and unconscious process of receiving messages. o Active listening is the deliberate and conscious process of attending to, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding to messages.  15 III. Active Listening  Attending is the process of willfully perceiving and focusing on a message. To become a good active listener, one should consider the following: o Get physically ready to listen. o Resist mental distractions. o Hear the person out.  Understanding is accurately interpreting a message. Four strategies to improve listening to understand are as follows: o Identify the main point. o Ask questions. o Paraphrase the message.  Content paraphrases focus on the denotative meaning of a message.  Feelings paraphrases focus on the emotions attached to a message. o Empathize.  Empathic responsiveness occurs when individuals experience an emotional response parallel to another person's actual or anticipated display of emotion.  Perspective taking occurs when individuals use everything they know about a sender and his or her circumstances to understand the sender's feelings.  Sympathetic responsiveness is feeling concern, compassion, or sorrow for another's situation.  Remembering is being able to retain and recall information later. Three techniques to improve one's ability to remember information are as follows: o Repeat information.  Repetition is saying something aloud or mentally rehearsing it two, three, or four times. o Construct mnemonics.  Mnemonic devices associate a special word or very short statement with new and longer information. o Take notes.  Note taking is a powerful tool for increasing recall during lectures, business meetings, and briefing sessions.  Evaluating is the process of critically analyzing a message to determine its truthfulness, utility, and trustworthiness. o Separate facts from inferences.  Facts are statements whose accuracy can be verified as true.  Inferences are assertions based on the facts presented. o Probe for information.  Responding is providing feedback. IV. Listening Response Strategies  Regardless of the situation, listeners should respond in ways that demonstrate respect as well as clarity.  16  Sometimes the appropriate response is to reassure, encourage, soothe, console, or cheer up. o Supportive responses create an environment that encourages the other person to talk about and make sense of a distressing situation.  When individuals simply cannot agree with what a speaker says, their messages will be most effective if they clearly demonstrate respect.  The goals when providing a formal constructive speech critique are to be respectful, honest, and helpful. o When critiquing content, comment on the appropriateness of the speech for that particular audience and the use of facts and inferences, the logic of the arguments, and evidence used to support ideas. o When critiquing structure, focus on the introduction (attention catcher, thesis statement, main point preview), organizational pattern of main points, transitions, and concluding remarks. o When critiquing delivery, comment on the use of voice (intelligible, conversational, expressive) and use of body (attire, poise, eye contact, facial expressions, gestures). o When critiquing presentational aids, talk about construction (large, neat, colorful, visual symbol system) and integration (concealed, revealed, and referenced during the speech). Chapter #7 Summary I. Types of Relationships  Interpersonal communication is all the interactions that occur between two people to help start, build, maintain, and sometimes end or redefine their relationship.  Interpersonal relationships are defined by the sets of expectations two people have for each other based on their previous interactions.  Healthy relationships are satisfying to all those involved.  Acquaintances are people individuals know by name, but with whom their interactions are limited. o Most conversations are impersonal. o Individuals' goals when communicating with acquaintances are usually to reduce uncertainty and maintain face. o Acquaintanceship guidelines are as follows:  Initiate a conversation.  Make comments relevant.  Develop an other-centered focus.  Engage in appropriate turn-taking.  Be polite.  Friends are people with whom individuals voluntarily negotiate more personal relationships.  17 o Individuals often refer to friends according to the context in which they typically interact with them. o Friendship guidelines are as follows:  Initiation: be proactive.  Responsiveness: listen, ask questions, and respond.  Self-disclosure: friendships are based on the exchange of personal information.  Emotional support: provide comfort and support when needed.  Conflict management: handle disagreements effectively through conversation.  Intimates are people with whom individuals share a high degree of interdependence, commitment, disclosure, understanding, affection, and trust. o A platonic relationship is an intimate relationship in which the partners are not sexually attracted to each other or do not act on an attraction they feel. o A romantic relationship is an intimate relationship in which the partners acknowledge their sexual attraction. o Trust is placing confidence in another in a way that almost always involves some risk.  Trust is essential for maintaining intimate relationships.  When there is a severe breach of trust, individuals may even abruptly end the relationship altogether. o One's cultural identity may influence intimacy. o Intimacy development norms also vary across cultures. o Intimacy guidelines are as follows:  Be dependable.  Be responsive.  Be collaborative.  Be faithful.  Be transparent.  Be willing. II. Disclosure in Relationship Life Cycles  Even though no two relationships develop in exactly the same way, all relationships tend to move through identifiable and overlapping phases of coming together and coming apart. o This moving back and forth among the phases is known as the relationship life cycle.  Disclosure is the process of revealing confidential information. o Disclosure can come in the form of self-disclosure, which is the confidential information individuals deliberately choose to share about themselves, and other- disclosure, which is the confidential information shared about someone by a third party.  18  Social penetration theory describes the different kinds of self-disclosure individuals use in their relationships. o Breadth has to do with the range of different subjects one discusses with one's partner. o Depth has to do with the quality of information shared, which can range from relatively impersonal and "safe" to confidential and "risky."  The Johari window is a tool for examining the relationship between disclosure and feedback in the relationship; it consists of four panes that comprise all information about oneself. o The open pane represents information about oneself that both oneself and one's partner know. o The secret pane contains information one knows about oneself but the partner does not know. o The blind pane contains information one's partner knows, but that one does not realize about oneself. o The unknown pane contains information that neither one nor one's partner knows. III. Stages of Relationships  Every relationship develops and changes with time; these changes can be described as coming together, staying together, and coming apart.  Communication during the stages of coming together focuses on reducing uncertainty as individuals try to understand how their partner sees the world. o People tend to assume they are similar until they learn about differences.  People make inferences about others' general attitudes, values, and ways of thinking. o As the relationship develops, individuals continue coming together by disclosing more and engaging in more physical contact. o As a relationship develops, partners will feel psychologically closer.  Relational maintenance consists of communication strategies used to keep a relationship operating smoothly and satisfactorily. o Relational maintenance strategies include prosocial behaviors; observing ceremonial occasions; thanking, praising, and expressing appreciation; spending time together, both with one another and with mutual friends; communicating honestly and frequently about both deep and everyday topics; and offering words and actions that demonstrate affection and respect for one another. o Partners also sacrifice by putting their needs or desires on hold to attend to the needs of their partner or the relationship. o Because conflict is inevitable in developed relationships, individuals may do or say  19 things that hurt their partner.  When one or both partners fail to engage actively in relational maintenance strategies, the relationship may begin to come apart and could eventually end altogether.  The communication in declining relationships is marked by four stages: o The circumscribing stage, during which communication decreases in both quantity and quality o The stagnating stage, during which partners just go through the motions of interacting without enthusiasm or emotion o The avoiding stage, during which partners create physical distance by making excuses not to do things together o The terminating stage, during which partners no longer interact with each other  Grave-dressing attempts to explain why a relationship failed.  Relationship transformation is the process of changing a relationship from one level of intimacy to another. IV. Dialectics in Interpersonal Relationships  A dialectic is a tension between conflicting forces.  Relational dialectics are the competing psychological tensions that exist in any relationship. o Three dialectics common to most relationships are the tugs between autonomy and connection, openness and closedness, and novelty and predictability.  Autonomy: the desire to do things independent of one's partner  Connection: the desire to do things and make decisions with one's partner  Openness: the desire to share intimate ideas and feelings with one's partner  Closedness: the desire to maintain one's privacy in a relationship  Novelty: originality, freshness, and uniqueness in a relationship  Predictability: consistency, reliability, and dependability in a relationship  Strategies to manage dialectical tensions are as follows: o Temporal selection: choosing one desire and ignoring another for the time being o Topical segmentation: choosing certain topics to satisfy one desire and other topics to satisfy the opposite desire o Neutralization: compromising between the desires of one person and the desires of the other o Reframing: changing the perception about the opposing desires so they no longer seem quite so contradictory  20 V. Technology and Interpersonal Relationships  Technology is changing how people build and maintain relationships.  People also strategically manage what others know about them via their online profiles and social media postings.  Hyperpersonal communication is online interaction in which senders have a greater capacity to strategically manage their self-presentation.  Media multiplexity is using more than one medium to maintain relationships.  Polymedia refers to how navigating among various technologies influences relationship formation and development.  Tips for reducing virtual miscommunication are as follows: o Speak the right "language." o Amplify the signal. o Respond promptly. o Avoid sloppy e-mailing. o Encourage everyone to expect problems. Aloha from Professor Eddie Merc, Ph.D.