Interpersonal Communication Lecture Notes

Flashcards derived from lecture notes on interpersonal communication, focusing on key concepts related to meta-messages and their interpretations.

Interpersonal Communication

The transferring and understanding of meaning.

Basic message

Your literal words.

Meta message

What you actually mean beyond the literal words.

Verbal signals

Communication cues that include tone, intonation, and emphasis.

Non-verbal signals

Communication cues that include facial and body gestures.

Interpretation of meta-messages

The process of understanding the intended meaning behind communication, which can differ based on cultural and gender contexts.

Cultural differences in meta-messages

Variations in the interpretation of communication that depend on cultural backgrounds.

Gender differences in meta-messages

Differences in how men and women communicate, often discussed in the context of Deborah Tannen's research.

Deborah Tannen’s Power of Talk

A study of how communication styles vary between genders in aspects like taking credit, asking questions, and giving feedback.

Expertise

assuming that others are more competent than oneself, or assuming that the greater experience and expertise of others is cause for you to withhold your contribution

Social loafing

the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually

Weighting

inappropriately giving weight to a member’s contribution based on an irrelevant characteristic of that member

Groupshift (Polarization)

The tendency for groups to move toward a more extreme position than the average of all individual members’ positions.

Groupthink

The drive to achieve concurrence and agreement among all group members overrides realistic appraisal of alternative courses of actions.

Minority Influence

Groups tend to ignore, silence, and even shame those whose ideas differ from the majority view

Iceberg Model of Culture

Surface Level – Visible Artifacts – Norms • Hidden Level – Underlying assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, value

Visible artifacts

Visible manifestations of organization’s culture • Examples: Dress code, physical layout, symbols, logos, stories, jokes • Easy to observe, difficult to decipher

Espoused values, beliefs, and norms

Provide the day-to-day operating principles guiding member behavior – This is what is important to us (values) • The customer is always right • We believe in “failing fast” – This is how we behave around here (norms) • We have an open-door policy • We deeply value social connection • Can be articulated or unarticulated

Basic, underlying assumptions

Deeply held, taken for granted assumptions about behavior in a group • So strongly held that behavior based on any other premise is inconceivable • Extremely difficult to change

High-Power Distance

Accept position & follow authority • Concentrated & centralized authority • Hierarchical

Low-Power Distance

Right to contribute to decision making process • Decentralized authority & democratic relationships • Less hierarchical

Glocalization

Global but Responsive to Local Context+ Maintain Brand Integrity

GLOBAL DEXTERITY

The ability to adapt your behavior – smoothly and successfully – to the demands of a foreign culture, without losing yourself in the process