interpersonal communication

How does communication help us with our physical needs?

Communication helps us meet physical needs by helping us get support, resources, safety, and care from other people.

How does communication help us identify ourselves?

Communication helps us develop our identity because other people’s responses and feedback influence how we see ourselves.

What are the four needs communication can fulfill?

Physical, identity, social, and practical needs.

What are practical needs?

Practical needs are needs that help us accomplish everyday goals, tasks, or activities.

What is the transactional model of communication?

The transactional model sees communication as an ongoing process where people simultaneously send and receive messages and create meaning together.

Why did the transactional model replace the linear model?

Because communication is not simply one person sending a message to another. Both people influence the interaction at the same time.

What is noise?

Noise is anything that interferes with communication.

What are the three types of noise?

External, physiological, and psychological noise.

What is a theory?

A theory is an explanation that helps us understand and predict communication behavior.

Why is theoretical research important in communication?

It helps us understand how communication works, predict communication outcomes, and learn how to communicate more effectively.

Why do researchers test theories?

Researchers test theories to determine whether their predictions are supported by evidence.

What is face?

Face is a person’s claimed sense of favorable social self-worth or projected other-worth in a public situation.

What is facework?

Facework is the verbal and nonverbal communication we use to maintain our own image and the image of others.

What does saving face mean?

Saving face means protecting someone’s positive social image or self-respect.

What is the difference between short-term and long-term face saving?

Short-term face saving protects someone’s image in the immediate situation, while long-term face saving focuses on protecting the relationship and person’s image over time.

Give an example of nonverbal face-saving.

Giving someone a supportive look, changing the subject, or avoiding embarrassing them publicly.

What is Warranting Theory?

Warranting Theory explains how people judge the credibility and accuracy of information about another person, especially online.

What is a low warrant?

A low warrant is information that the person can easily create, control, or manipulate.

What is a high warrant?

A high warrant is information generated by other people that the person has less control over.

Why do people trust high warrants over low warrants?

People tend to trust high warrants more because they are harder for the person being described to control or manipulate.

Are we more likely to trust a caption written by ourselves or a comment written by someone else?

Usually a comment written by someone else because it is other-generated information and has a higher warrant.

What is Uncertainty Reduction Theory?

URT explains how people communicate to reduce uncertainty about others, especially when strangers first meet.

What are the two types of uncertainty?

Cognitive uncertainty and behavioral uncertainty.

What is cognitive uncertainty?

Uncertainty about what another person is like, thinks, or believes.

What is behavioral uncertainty?

Uncertainty about how another person will behave or what they will do.

What are the three main uncertainty-reduction strategies?

Passive, active, and interactive.

What is a passive strategy?

Observing someone without directly interacting with them.

What is an active strategy?

Getting information about someone indirectly, such as asking another person.

What is an interactive strategy?

Communicating directly with the person to learn more about them.

What is Social Penetration Theory?

SPT explains how relationships develop through self-disclosure and increasingly deeper communication.

What is self-disclosure?

Self-disclosure is the intentional sharing of personal information about yourself with another person.

What is breadth?

Breadth is the number or range of different topics people discuss.

What is depth?

Depth is how personal or intimate the information people share is.

What is the key assumption of SPT?

Relationships generally develop as people gradually move from superficial communication toward deeper levels of self-disclosure.

What are the four stages of Social Penetration Theory?

Orientation, exploratory affective exchange, affective exchange, and stable exchange.

What happens during the orientation stage?

People share basic, safe, and superficial information.

What happens during stable exchange?

People know each other very well and communicate openly and comfortably.

What is self-concept?

Self-concept is the set of perceptions we have about ourselves.

What is the perceived self?

The perceived self is how we privately see and understand ourselves.

What is the presenting self?

The presenting self is the image of ourselves that we show to other people.

What is the difference between perceived self and presenting self?

The perceived self is how we see ourselves, while the presenting self is how we present ourselves to others.

How can online impressions differ from in-person impressions?

Online, people have more control over what they show because they can choose and edit photos, posts, captions, and other information.