COM Final Exam

Chapters 1-13

-communicator (simultaneous receiving and sending of messages)
-message
-environment (physical location, personal experiences, and cultural background)
-noise (external, physiological, and psychological)
-channel (meditated, face to face)

The components of the transactional model of interpersonal communication

-Large repertoire of skills
-Adaptability
-Ability to perform skillfully
-Empathy and perspective taking

Characteristics of competent communication

Cognitive Complexity

the ability to construct a variety of frameworks for viewing an issue

Richness

the abundance of verbal cues that add clarity to a verbal message ie: face to face communication

Leanness

messages that carry less information due to lack of nonverbal cues ie: text messages

Synchronous communication

communication that occurs in real-time ie: face-to-face communication

Asynchronous communication

communication that occurs when there is a lag between receiving and responding to messages ie: text messaging

Permanence

an aspect of meditated communication where the information of a message can be stored indefinitely ie: text messages.

High Context Culture

cultures that rely heavily on subtle, often nonverbal cues, and pay close attention to nonverbal behaviors, the history of relationships, and social rules that govern interactions.

Low context cultures

cultures that use explicit language to convey a message. What a speaker says in this culture is likely what they mean.

Individualistic cultures

members of this kind of culture are primarily focused on themselves and define themselves based on personal characteristics.

Collectivist cultures

cultures were loyalties and obligations are within a group, and members define themselves based on relation to others.

High power distance culture

cultures that view obeying authority as essential and members are expected to behave differently around authority figures.

Low power distance cultures

cultures that have minimized distinction between class and status and all members are expected to be treated equally

Uncertainty Avoidance

the degree of discomfort or threat people feel in response to ambiguous situations and how much they try to avoid them

Achievement cultures

cultures that place a high value on material success and focus on the task at hand

nurturing cultures

cultures that view the support of relationships as an especially important goal

Code-switching

the practice of adapting one’s manner of speaking when changing cultural or co-cultural contexts

Microaggressions

messages that communicate disrespect and disdain through brief verbal or nonverbal displays

self-fulfilling prophecy

when a persons’ expectations of an event, and subsequent behavior based on those expectations make the expected outcome more likely

Social Penetration Model

a model that describes relationships in terms of the breadth and depth of self-disclosure.

Johari Window Model

model that describes the relationship between self-disclosure and self-awareness.

Common Tendencies in perception

o We make snap judgments
o We cling to first impressions
o We judge ourselves more charitably than we judge others
o We are influenced by our own expectations
o We are influenced by the obvious
o We assume others are like us

Stereotypes

are exaggerated beliefs associated with a categorizing system

primacy effect

the tendency to pay more attention to and to better recall things that happen first in a sequence

Halo effect

the tendency to form an overall positive impression of a person on the basis of one positive characteristic

horns effect

the tendency to form an overall negative impression of a person on the basis of one negative characteristic

Confirmation bias

the tendency to seek out and organize data that supports already existing opinions

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to give more weight to personal qualities than to the situation when making attributions

self-serving bias

the tendency to judge oneself in the most generous terms possible while being more critical of others

(1) describe the behavior you noticed, (2) give at least two possible interpretations of the behavior, (3) request clarification about to how interpret the behavior

Three parts of a perception check

Empathy

the ability to project oneself into another person’s point of view in an attempt to experience the other’s thoughts and feelings

Phonological rules

are rules governing the way in which sounds are pronounced in a language

Syntactic rules

rules that govern the ways symbols can be arranged

Semantic rules

rules that govern the meaning of language

Pragmatic rules

rules that govern the interpretation of language in terms of its social context

“you” language

language that expresses the judgement of another person

Assertiveness

clearly expressing your thoughts, feelings and wants

1. a first-person expression of emotion “I feel”
2. a neutral description of the behavior “when you”
3. an explanation of the consequences or results the behavior has on you “because”

Three steps of constructing an I message

we” language

language that implies the issue is the concern or responsibility of both the speaker and the receiver of a message

Kinesics

the study of how people communicate through bodily movements

Oculesics

the study of how the eyes communicate

Haptics

the study of touching

Paralanguage

the nonlinguistic means of vocal expression such as rate, tempo, volume, pitch, and tone

Proxemics

the study of how communication is affected by the use, organization, and perception of space and distance

Territoriality

stationary area claimed by a persona or animal

Chronemics

the study of how human use and structure time

Monochronic

an approach to time management that emphasis punctuality, schedules and completing one task at a time

Polychronic

an approach to time management that emphasizes flexibility of schedules and pursuing multiple tasks at once

Silent listening

listening response in which staying attentive and nonverbally responsive without offering any verbal feedback

Questioning

type of listening repose in which a listener seeks additional information

Open questions

questions that allow a variety of responses

closed questions

questions that allow only a limited range of answers

Sincere questions

genuine attempts to elicit information

counterfeit questions

disguised attempts to send a message rather than elicit information

Paraphrasing

restating of the speaker’s thoughts or feelings in the listener’s own words

Parrot phrasing

directly restating the speaker’s words

Empathizing

response style listeners can use to show the speaker deidentify with them

Supporting

the listening response that reveals the listener’s solidarity with the speaker’s situation

Analyzing

a listening response type that involves sharing an interpretation of the speaker’s message

evaluating

listening response that appraises the sender’s thoughts or behaviors in some way

Advising

a listening response in which the receiver offers suggestions about how the speaker should deal with the problem

Active listening

responses are more reflective and less directive such as silent listening, questioning, and paraphrasing

Things to consider when choosing the best listening response

match the response to the nature of the problem, think about the other person, and think about yourself, your strengths, and weaknesses as a communicator

Emotional intelligence

the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and to be sensitive to other’s feelings

Self-awareness

being in touch with one’s own emotions and one of the five components of emotional intelligence.

Reappraisal

rethinking the meaning of emotionally charged events in ways that alter their emotional impact

Facilitative emotions

emotions that contribute to effective functioning

debilitative emotions

emotions of high intensity and long duration that prevent a person from functioning effectively

rumination

reoccurring thoughts not demanded by the immediate environment

Initiating

the first stage in relational development in which the interactants express interest in one another

Experimenting

An early stage in relational development, consisting of a search for common ground

Intensifying

A relational stage following experimenting in which the interactants move toward integration by increasing their amount of content and breadth and depth of their self-disclosure

Integrating

A relational stage in which the interacts begin to take on a single identity

Bonding

A stage of relational development in which the partners make symbolic public gestures to show that their relationship exists

Differentiating

A relational stage in which the partners reestablish their individual identities after having bonded

Circumscribing

A relational stage in which partners begin to reduce the scope of their contact and commitment to each other

Stagnating

A relational stage characterized by declining enthusiasm and standardized forms of behavior

Avoiding

A relational stage immediately prior to terminating in which the partner minimize contact with each other

Terminating

The concluding stage of a relationship characterized by the acknowledgement of one or both parents that the relationship is over

Connection-autonomy dialectical tension

the tension between the need for integration and the need for independence in a relationship

Predictability-novelty dialectical tension

the tension between the need for a predictable relational partner and one who is more spontaneous and less predictable

Openness-closedness dialectical tension

: the tension between the desire to he honest and open and the desire for privacy

content message

the dimension of a message that refers to the subject or content of the actual message

relational message

the dimension of a message that refers to the impact the relationship has on the sending, receiving or interpretation of a message

o 1. Acknowledgement of responsibility “I broke your lamp”
o 2. Offer or repair “I’ll replace it”
o 3. Expression of regret “I’m sorry”

Three important components of an apology

Dialectical tensions

relational tensions that arise when two opposing or incompatible forces exist simultaneously.

Metacommunication

messages (usually relational) that refer to other messages; communication about communication.

Conversation orientation

degree to which open climate of discussion on a wide array of topics are favored

Conformity orientation

how much stress is put on the uniformity of values, beliefs, and attitudes

Pluralistic family communication pattern

Family communication pattern with high conversation and low conformity. Communication is open and unrestrained with all family members contributions evaluated on their own merits

Protective family communication pattern

Family communication pattern with low conversation and high conformity. Communication is centered around authority and there is reluctance to share thoughts and feelings

Consensual family communication pattern

Family communication pattern with high conversation and high conformity. Communication reflects the tension between the hierarchy of the family and retaining open dialogue

1. Words of affirmation
2. Quality time
3. Gifts
4. Acts of service
5. Physical touch

Five love languages

Expectancy Violation

an instance when others don’t behave as we assume they should

o Expressed struggle
o Interdependence
o Perceived incompatible goals
o Perceived scarce resources
o Inevitability

components of interpersonal conflict

-Criticism: attacks on a person’s character
-Defensiveness: protecting oneself by denying responsibility
-Contempt: comments that belittle or demean
-Stonewalling: withdrawal from an interaction; shutting down.

Gottman’s Four Horseman

Accommodation

a lose-win conflict style in which one person defers to the other

Compromise

a conflict style in which both people get only part of what they want because they sacrifice some their goals

Collaboration

A win-win conflict style where both parties work together to find a solution were neither one has to sacrifice, and both meet their goals