Communications Unit 1 - Lecture notes Entirety of Unit 1(Chapter 1, 2, 5, 7) PDF

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Professor Karen Issacs...

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Chapter 1 (Chapters are in the order we learned them) Communication: Process through which people use messages to generate meaning within and across contexts, cultures, channels, and media. -Ongoing and dynamic

Those who communicate will have a strong advantage in their: 1. Personal Life 

Humans gain identity through communication

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Helps in developing our self-concept

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Can affect our emotional and physical well being

2. Social Life: 

Communication is the primary was we connect with others

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Revealing identity, asking questions, solving problems, listening, remembering shared history, and planning for the future

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Endures or collapses

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Small Talk

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Verbal behaviors and destructive relationships are more likely to cause abuse

3. Professional Life: 

Critical for success

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80% of jobs said that communication skills are vital for the success of their company

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All jobs require the ability to listen carefully, explain ideas, meditate disputes, and motivate others

4. Civic Life: 

Vital to society

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Organize and improve our lives

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Ability to work with others

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Understand people

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Democracy fails without communication

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Diverse society

Interrelated parts that affect one another: 

Constantly interacting and changing- Interdependent

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Interacting elements- Organized whole

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Openness affected by outside factors

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Homeostasis: Change is inevitable and continuous- Internal or External

Communication is symbolic Symbols: abstract, arbitrary, ambiguous Content of meaning: literal message Relationship meaning between 2 communicators: Often non-verbal and is more important Goals: 1. Self-Presentation 2. Instrumental 3. Relationships Types of Models: Linear Model: Created by Howard Laswell and Shannon Weaver 

Sender -> Message -> Receiver

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The Sender: Decides on the message and encodes that message

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The Message: Transmitted

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The Receiver: Receives message, Decodes the message, Interprets the message

Noise: anything that interferes with a message being sent Interactive model: 

Encode/Decode Messages Encode/Decode

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Noise passes through all stages of the model making it difficult sometimes to understand what the message is

Transaction Model: 

Communicator A Communicator B

Role playing: Putting yourself in the position and role of the person your communication with to communicate more effectively Distortion: displaced or compounded by unintentional implication as the receiver constructs the message. Context, verbal, nonverbal Competence: appropriateness, effectiveness, ethics

Chapter 2 Self: 

George Herbert Mead – self is acquired in the process of communicating with others. o Self-reflection is the foundation of human identity.

The self 

is an ever-changing system of perspectives

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is formed and sustained in communication with others and ourselves

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changes and evolves during our lives.

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Includes views of ourselves, others and the social life that arises out of our experiences and interactions with others.

Self-Concept: 

Self-concept – who am I?

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Self-esteem – what is my worth?

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Related to attachment theory.

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Self-Discrepancy Theory o Self-esteem determined by a comparison of your ideal self and your “ought” self person others want you to be.

The generalized other

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the collection of rules, roles and attitudes endorsed by overall society and the social communities to which we belong.

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Mass media tells us how we should look, act, feel.

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Our culture gives us similar messages.

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Reflect prevailing social prejudices.

Society Shapes the Self 

All societies have ways of classifying people.

Four key categories in the US 

Race o Considered a primary aspect of personal identity o One of the first aspects we notice o Caucasian privilege continues – assumption that “white” is the standard/normal race. o Racial designations are socially constructed o More and more people have multiracial backgrounds.

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Gender o Important in Western culture o Historically, men valued more than women. o Men considered more rational, competent, entitled. o Gender roles are less rigid today. o Many gender expectations persist.

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Sexual Orientation o Heterosexuals are regarded as “normal.” o Privileges given to them. o Views are evolving.

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Socioeconomic Class o Harder to recognize and identify

o Affects friends, jobs, education, housing and lifestyle choices we see as possible. o How we see our place in the world – how we think, feel and act. o Affects ideas of what we need and what we are entitled to. Individuals Shape the Self: 

Particular others – specific people who are significant to us and who shape how we see ourselves. o These change during the course of our lives.

Attachment Styles 

patterns of parenting that teach us how to view ourselves and personal relationships.

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Form expectations for later relationships.

Secure Attachment: 

When primary care-giver responds in a consistently attentive and loving way

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Child develops positive sense of self and view of others

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Tends to be out-going affectionate and able to handle challenges and disappointments in close relationships.

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Doesn’t lose self-esteem easily.

Fearful Attachment: 

Occurs when caregiver communicates in negative, rejecting or abusive ways.

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Child infers he/she is unworthy of love and that others are not loving.

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See self as unlovable and others rejecting.

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Become apprehensive about relationships.

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As adults may avoid others or feel insecure in relationships.

Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment: 

Fostered by inconsistent treatment from caregiver – sometimes loving and attentive and other times rejecting or indifferent.

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Inconsistent and unpredictable.

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Creates anxiety.

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Child views self as the problem or cause of this inconsistency.

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As adults, are preoccupied with relationships – drawn to them but aware they can hurt.

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May invite affection one day and reject it another.

Dismissive Attachment: 

Promoted by caregivers who are uninterested, rejecting or abusive.

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The individual rejects that view that they are unlovable BUT dismiss others as unworthy.

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Develop a positive view of self AND a low regard for others and relationships.

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View relationships as unnecessary and undesirable.

Life Scripts 

rules for living and identity.

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Define our roles, how we are to play them

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Basic elements of what our families see as the right plot for our lives.

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Basic identity scripts are formed by age 5.

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Unconscious process over which we have no say.

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As adults we can review and challenge and change the scripts that have been given us.

Reflected appraisal 

process of seeing ourselves through the eyes of others. Also called the looking-glass self.

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this is how infants begin to create self.

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Continue throughout our lives

Self-fulfilling prophecies 

expectations and judgments of ourselves that we bring about through our own actions.

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We may believe inaccurate things about ourselves.

Direct Definition 

communication that explicitly tells who we are by labeling us and our behaviors.

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Can teach gender roles.

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Positive labels enhance self-esteem.

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Negative labels can destroy self-esteem.

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Can take place as family members respond to a child’s behavior.

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Children learn how others see them; what others value and expect of them.

Social Comparisons 

rating ourselves relative to others in regards to talents, abilities, qualities, etc.

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Gauge ourselves to decide whether we are like them or different from them.

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Helps us determine where we fit.

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People are most comfortable with others who are like them.

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Engage in comparisons to assess specific aspects of ourselves.

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Determine how we measure up.

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Self-concepts are challenged, changed, reinforced, enlarged by our self-disclosures and others responses.

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Self-disclosure – revelation of personal information about ourselves that others are unlikely to learn on their own.

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Self-disclosure takes place most often when the communication climate is affirming, accepting and supportive.

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Exception – the “stranger on the plane” phenomena.

Self

Self-disclosure 

Depth (intimacy)

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Breadth (amount)

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Early disclosures are highly susceptible to misinterpretation.

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Fosters personal growth

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Increases closeness (intimacy).

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Online self-disclosure

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Invent selves that don’t match reality.

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Online dating more successful where substantial positive self-disclosure and honest about intentions.

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Not primary communication dynamic in enduring relationships

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Once a relationship is established, disclosure declines over time.

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We tend to construct attributions that serve our personal interests

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How we perceive ourselves determines how we react to situations

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Can distort our perceptions, o excessive credit for what we do well – internal, stable factors and personal control o deny responsibility for our failings – external, unstable events beyond personal control.

Your private self 

Combination of self-awareness, self-concept, self-esteem

Your public self 

The self you present to others.

Your face 

The positive self you want others to see

Your mask 

Outward presentations designed to cover private aspects of your self.

Losing face 

Doing something that contradicts the face or mask you are presenting.

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Can cause embarrassment, shame, humiliation, sadness

Maintaining face 

Acting in a way that reinforces the face or mask you are presenting.

Perception: 

An active three part interrelated process

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Perception and communication influence each other.

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Perception shapes our understanding

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Communication also influences our perceptions of people and situations.

Step 1- Selecting what to perceive 

What you define as important

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External Phenomena

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Things that stand out o larger, more intense, unusual o Change o Self concept o Our needs, interests motives o Tend to perceive things we desire as more accessible or closer than they are.

Step 2- Organize what you perceive 

Constructivism o Theory of how we organize & interpret our experiences by applying cognitive schemata or schemata (schema) o Rely on four schemata o Mental structures used to organize & interpret experience.

Protypes: 

Most representative examples of a category.

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An ideal or best example.

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They allow us to group people, events, situations into broad categories.

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Not all share the same prototypes.

Personal Constructs: 

Mental yardstick that allows us to measure a person or situation along a bipolar dimension of judgment. o Ex. Intelligent – not intelligent o Kind – not kind o Friendly – aloof o Safe – dangerous o Allow us to make more detailed assessments. o Rely on a limited set of personal constructs.

o Important for assessment of others o Will be related to how we view others or how we define the relationship. o Assess people according to constructs we use not all that are possible. Stereotypes: 

Predictive generalization about a person or situation.

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Based on general category (prototype) or personal constructs in which we place it.

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Don’t necessarily reflect actual differences or similarities

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Help us predict what will happen.

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What the person might do, think, feel or say.

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May keep us from seeing differences.

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May be either accurate or inaccurate.

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Our understanding may be at fault

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The individual may not conform to the stereotype

Scripts: 

A guide to action.

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A sequence of activities of how we and others are expected to act in a specific situation.

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Guide many of our daily activities.

Step 3: Interpreting what you perceive 

The subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience

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Why things happen or why people act as they do

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Everyone experiences this

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Attribution o how we create interpretations o The act of explaining why o Something happens o A person acts a particular way

Locus

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Was it caused by something internal to the individual (personality, character) or external (outside forces).

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Stability – o Will the factor change (unstable) over time or stay the same (stable).

Specificity 

The explanation as a result of global factors or specific factors.

Responsibility 

Is it possible to control or beyond personal control.

Attribution Error: 

Fundamental attribution error

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Tendency to attribute others’ behaviors to internal factors rather than external

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Actor-observer affect o Tendency to make external attributions to your own behavior. o Self-serving bias o We tend to construct attributions that serve our personal interests o Can distort our perceptions, o excessive credit for what we do well – internal, stable factors and personal control o deny responsibility for our failings – external, unstable events beyond personal control.

Influences of perception Physiological Factors: 

Differ in our sensory abilities and physiologies.

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Five senses – taste, touch, sight, smell, hearing – not the same for everyone.

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Physiological state – biorhythms

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Can effect our psychological state.

Expectations: 

How we act may be affected by priming of expectations.

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May cause us to focus on positive or negative aspects.

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Technology has changed our expectations about time and response.

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Expectancy Violation Theory: o When expectations are not met. o We become more cognitively alert. o Influences on how we interpret violations of expectations o Is the violation positive or negative? o Extent to which it deviates from the expected behavior. o The more it deviates the more difficult it is to interpret it and cope with it. o Impact of the violation on the relationship.

Cognitive Abilities: 

How elaborately we think and the extent of our knowledge affect how we select, organize and interpret our perceptions.

Cognitive Complexity: 

The number of personal constructs used, how abstract they are, how elaborately they interact to shape perceptions.

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Number and types of schemata used.

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Affects the accuracy of perceptions.

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Older we get the richer our perspective becomes.

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Influences our perspective of others. o More complexity makes it easier to integrate new information into a coherent account o Less complexity causes us to ignore information that doesn’t “fit” or simply replace the old perception.

Social Roles: 

Shape our perceptions and communication.

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The training we receive and the demands of a role affect to what we notice, interpret, evaluate, and respond.

Culture

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beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that a number of people share

Social community 

a group of people who are part of an overall society

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they hold values, understandings, and practices not shared by outsiders

Principle of Co-Varying Attribution: 

When a person engages in repetitive pattern of behavior, others attribute it to internal or external cause that seems consistently related.

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If negative – attribute it to negative personal qualities.

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If positive – attribute it to external factors beyond your control.

Forming Impressions: 

Mental images of who people are, how you expect them to act and how you feel about them.

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Gestalts o Constructing a general impression of a person that is positive or negative. o Begins in the first few seconds of meeting someone. o Assume that groups of traits are related. o Halo effect – dismissing significance of behavior o Horn effect – give negative interpretations to behaviors of people we don’t like

Algebraic impressions 

Analyzing positive and negative things you learn about someone to create overall impression.

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Change as you learn more.

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Information that is negative, unusual, important given more weight

Stereotypes 

Categorize people into a social group and evaluate based on information related to that group.

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Ignore individual uniqueness.

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Internet enables stereotyping

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Use the perception-checking process

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