Intro to Comm Theory Test 3

Who are the theorists of Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making?

Hirokawa (looking for quality solutions) and Gouran (wanted appropriate decisions)

What kind of theory is Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making?

group theory

What is functional approach?

we can use communication to describe and predict our group's performance if we look at the different functions/steps

What are the four functions of effective decisions making?

1. analysis of the problem

2. goal setting

3. identification of alternatives

4. evaluation of positive and negative characteristics

Function for Effective Decision Making: Analysis of Problem

- figure out nature, extent, and cause of the problem

a. be realistic

b. misunderstandings

c. faulty analysis

d. breakdown the problem

Function for Effective Decision Making: Goal Setting

- criteria

- goals needed

Function for Effective Decision Making: Identification of Alternatives

- start identifying all the different types of options and alternatives to solve the problem

Function for Effective Decision Making: Evaluation of positive and negative characteristics

- positive bias: like a solution immediately based on things like who came up with it or the key idea

- negative bias: disliking a solution immediately based on things like who came up with it or the key idea

What is talk?

main channel through which all of our information travels

What are the 3 types of communication in decision-making groups, and how do they work?

1. promotive: any communication that is moving you towards your goal

2. disruptive: any communication that is moving you away from your goal

3. counteractive: person that jumps in and turns the focus back to the main goal

What is some practical advice for group function?

- being humble concerning the wisdom of our own opinions

- taking positive measures to promote clear thinking within the group

What are examples of culture?

clothes and dressing, working schedules, language, medical cure, religion, food, folk art, celebrations, jokes, and manners

Hofstede's Four Dimensions of Culture

- power distance

- masculinity

- uncertainty avoidance

- individualism

Hofstede's Four Dimensions of Culture: Power Distance

- divide of power, different places hold different measures of power

- low power distance = more equality

Hofstede's Four Dimensions of Culture: Masculinity (for a country aspect)

- stereotypical adjectives for masculinity (heroism, independent, always competing to be first, wealth)

- femineity county: equality, unity, nurturing, cooperation, modesty, being more humble look more at quality of life vs. winning

Hofstede's Four Dimensions of Culture: Uncertainty Avoidance

can handle uncertainty and life will be what it will be, if you can't handle uncertainty you will try to fix everything

Hofstede's Four Dimensions of Culture: Individualism (or collectivism)

- in an individual society, "I" is most important, all value ourselves over everyone else, my success, my achievement

- collectivism: everybody else is important, the group/team/family is more important than myself

Who is the theorist of Communication Accommodation Theory?

Howard Giles

Accommodation

adjust or shift or change your communication to reduce social distance between you and another person

Nonaccommodation

behavior that maintains and increases social distance

What is social distance

how close or similar you feel to someone

Convergence

strategy of adapting our communication to become similar to someone else, purposefully manipulate the words we use

Convergence examples

bilingual or trilingual, would you converge your language when going to an interview or talking to a little kid? can do it consciously or unconsciously?

Why does convergence occur?

- we want to feel closer to the other person

- adapt our talk: because we want understanding to happen

- discourse management: we will edit our certain whole topics of a conversation if we know that topic will cause controversy or an argument

Divergence (the norm)

make them seem more different, more distance, strategy of trying to accentuate to differences

What motivates us to converge or diverge?

- desire for approval

- intergroup contact

- motivational continuum

Other forms of nonaccommodation

- self-handicapping: used primarily by the elderly to save the face/image of themselves when they use age as a reason for not doing something well providing painful self-disclosure, hearing difficulty, mental confusion

- maintenance: lack the skills to be able to accommodate

- overaccommodation: trying too hard to connect that it sounds foolish

What is the critique of Communication Accommodation Theory

enormous scope: just massive

Who is the theorist of Face Negotiation Theory?

Stella Ting-Toomey

What are the major assumptions of Face Negotiation Theory?

- people are always negotiating face

- facework differs across culture

Collectivist culture

- population: 2/3

- orientation: "we"

- social rules focus on promoting selfishness

- working as a group

- doing what's best for society

- families and communities have a central role

Individualistic Culture

- population: 1/3

- orientation: "I"

- uniqueness

- autonomy

- independence

- self-sufficiency

What is self-construal?

self-image and how connected or separate I feel from my group memberships

What is face?

the image we project outward when we are conversing with other people; projected image of ourselves when we're in a certain situation

What is self-face?

worried about how I appear, how I'm being seen, don't want to embarrass myself, protecting my face

What is other-face?

more concerned about the other person you're talking to, don't want the other person to be embarrassed

What is mutual-face?

looking out for both people in that conversation, self and other person in that interaction

What is face restoration? (originally face saving)

individualistic; the strategy where you are defending yourself, verbal or nonverbal actions to protect yourself

What is facegiving?

collectivist; willing to make yourself look like a fool to protect someone else's image, don't want to embarrass someone else in public

Primary Conflict Style: Dominance (individualist, face restoration)

- defend: defend yourself, prove you are right, protecting yourself, trying to win your position

- express: trying to say how it impacts us, how feel, blaming the other person for making us mad or sad

- aggression: raising your voice, getting closer, high emotions, direct and in their face

Primary Conflict Style: Avoidance (facegiving)

- give in: accommodating style, give up in order to cease argument

- pretend: doesn't matter, doesn't exist, doesn't affect us

- third party: talk to someone else to help you resolve conflict

Primary Conflict Style: Integration

- apologize: both people have to apologize

- private talk: talk in private to protect your faces, remove it

- remain calm: both people not letting their emotions come in

- problem solve: compromise

- respect: both parties have to be respectful to one another

What are the three things to remember when communicating cross-culturally?

- knowledge: know and try to understand the other culture you are communicating with

- mindfulness: recognize things are not always as they seem

- interaction skill: work to adjust and adapt to avoid ego-centrism

What is the critique of Face Negotiation Theory?

- all survey-data is self-reported

- the theory has become more complex, making Ting-Toomey sacrifice simplicity for validity

Sex

refers to the biological aspects of maleness or femaleness

Gender

implies the psychological, behavioral, social, and cultural aspects of being male or female (social construct)

Sexual Orientation

the nature of a person's emotional, romantic, and or sexual attraction to other people

Who is the theorist of Muted Group Theory?

Cheris Kramarae

What is the definition of muted?

started talking about how people's language and words are muted; language serves certain people rather than all people

Key ideas of Muted Group Theory

- language is a man-made construction

- feminist theory: argues that women's thoughts lack worth; male dominance is a problem

- women are a muted group: women have no voices (limited); women are a minority group in society

What are the core assumptions of Muted Group Theory?

- women are a muted group

- others can be muted; people belong to low power groups who must change their language when communicating publicly, can't ever truly express true thoughts because you are always changing language

- changing language: black hole in someone else's universe

What happens as a result of being muted?

ignored --> unspoken --> unthought (lost, gone)

How are men gatekeepers?

- mainstream = malestream

- men are getting to choose what will or will not appear in mass media

How can women translate meaning?

- talk like a man: talk louder, talk firmly, sports analogies, word choice

- think like a man: emotionless, logical, scientific

What are alternative channels women can use to communicate?

personal diaries, letters, stories, art, poetry, podcasts, etc.

What is the main goal of Muted Group Theory?

to change the man-made linguistic system that keeps women 'in their place'

What is the critique of Muted Group Theory?

too accusatory/ confrontational

Who are the theorists of Feminist Standpoint Theory?

Sandra Harding & Julia T. Wood

Social Location

group membership that shapes our experience of the world and our ways of understanding it; argues things like gender, class, sexual orientation, religion, disability, etc. will affect your social location

standpoint affects:

our worldview and how we see and understand things

partiality

a recognition that no one has a complete view of the social hierarchy; all standpoints are biased; subjective; we see the world in a different way

situated knowledge

all knowledge is grounded in context and circumstances; knowledge is situated in time and place

knowledge

all of our knowledge depends on our group membership; all groups have their specialized knowledge

standpoint

our perspective achieved by critical reflection of our own power and its relationship to the consequences to those that oppose the status quo

What is intersectionality?

interconnections among socially constructed categories of sex/gender/race/class/sexual orientation/religious/etc. these statuses combine in complex ways to influence advantages and disadvantages

What is the critique of Feminist Standpoint Theory?

creates mixed opinion - some gratitude and for others difficult to hear