CMST 1600 Midterm Study Guide:

A student starts seeing herself as intelligent because teachers and parents have consistently praised her academic abilities. Which theory explains this?

Symbolic Interactionism

• Looking-Glass Self

• Self-concept develops through others' reactions.

• The student forms her identity based on how she believes others view her.

Before posting a photo on Instagram, someone thinks carefully about how friends will react. Which theory explains this?

Symbolic Interactionism

• Role-Taking

• Looking-Glass Self

• Individual imagines others' perspectives before acting.

A professor unexpectedly gives a student a standing ovation after a presentation. Which theory explains the student's reaction?

Expectancy Violations Theory

• Expectations were violated.

• Positive Violation Valence.

• Unexpected behavior draws attention and requires evaluation.

A stranger sits directly next to you in a nearly empty lecture hall, making you uncomfortable. Which theory explains this?

Expectancy Violations Theory

• Expectation about personal space was violated.

• Negative Violation Valence.

• Unexpected behavior creates evaluation.

Two classmates start by discussing homework, then over several months begin sharing family problems and personal fears.

Social Penetration Theory

• Self-Disclosure

• Increasing Depth

• Increasing Breadth

• Relationship grows through gradual sharing.

Former best friends stop sharing personal information and only discuss school.

Social Penetration Theory

• Depenetration

• Relationship moving toward less intimacy.

Before meeting a new roommate, you check their Instagram and ask mutual friends about them.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

• Extractive Strategy

• Active Strategy

• Goal: reduce uncertainty before interaction.

You have a semester-long group project with someone you've never met, so you start asking them questions to learn more.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

• Interactive Strategy

• Information seeking reduces uncertainty and increases predictability.

Two people meet in an online class and become close friends after months of texting despite never meeting in person.

Social Information Processing Theory

• Online relationships can become meaningful.

• Verbal cues replace nonverbal cues.

• Relationships develop over time.

Someone spends 20 minutes carefully editing a text before sending it to a romantic interest.

Social Information Processing Theory

• Hyperpersonal Communication

• Channel Effects

• Online communication allows message editing.

A student wants to spend every weekend with their partner but also wants time alone to focus on personal hobbies.

Relational Dialectics Theory

• Connection vs. Autonomy

• Relationships involve competing tensions.

A friend wants to tell their roommate everything, but also wants to keep some family issues private.

Relational Dialectics Theory

• Openness vs. Closedness

• Tension between disclosure and privacy.

A student club recruits members, develops rules, assigns officer positions, and plans events.

Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO)

• Membership Negotiation

• Self-Structuring

• Activity Coordination

• Communication creates the organization itself.

A nonprofit posts mission statements online and communicates with donors to shape its public image.

Communicative Constitution of Organizations (CCO)

• Institutional Positioning

• Organization communicating with outsiders.

Employees are allowed to give suggestions during meetings, but management always makes the final decision.

Critical Theory

• Involvement

• Employees have voice but not decision-making power.

A company includes workers, managers, community members, and customers in major policy decisions.

Critical Theory

• Participation

• Stakeholder Democracy

• Shared decision-making power.

An employee changes the way they speak and dress so they fit more easily into the dominant workplace culture.

Co-Cultural Theory

• Assimilation

• Attempt to fit into dominant culture.

A student advocates for gender-neutral bathrooms on campus and pushes the university to change policy.

Co-Cultural Theory

• Accommodation

• Attempt to change dominant structures to be more inclusive.

You communicate with your best friend through texting, Snapchat, FaceTime, Instagram, and in-person conversations.

Media Multiplexity Theory

• Strong Tie

• Strong relationships use many communication channels.

You only email a classmate when working on assignments, but never interact elsewhere.

Media Multiplexity Theory

• Weak Tie

• Few communication channels indicate weaker relational ties.

**A student is assigned a group partner they've never met and spends time learning about them before the project starts.

Which theory best explains this? What theory would explain what happens afterward if they become close friends?**

URT first

• Goal = reduce uncertainty

• Focus = initial interactions

• Information seeking

SPT second

• Goal = develop intimacy

• Focus = relationship growth

• Self-disclosure

URT = "Who are you?"

SPT = "Let me tell you about myself."

**A couple becomes increasingly close over several years through sharing deeper personal information.

Which theory explains this?

What theory would explain their ongoing struggle between independence and closeness**

SPT

• Relationship growth

• Self-disclosure

• Intimacy

RDT

• Relationship tensions

• Connection vs autonomy

• Tensions never disappear

SPT: How relationships grow.

RDT: What happens after they grow.

**Two people develop a strong friendship through months of texting despite never meeting in person.

Which theory best explains this?

What theory would become more useful if they eventually text, call, FaceTime, and interact on social media?**

SIP

• How relationships develop online

• Hyperpersonal communication

• Verbal cue substitution

MMT

• Number of communication channels

• Strong ties use more media

SIP: Can online relationships become close?

MMT: How many channels do close relationships use?

A person's self-esteem changes because of how others react to them.

Which theory explains this?

What theory would explain becoming close with another person?

Symbolic Interactionism

• Identity

• Meaning

• Looking-glass self

SPT

• Intimacy

• Disclosure

• Relationship growth

Symbolic Interactionism: Who am I?

SPT: How do we become close?

Someone behaves unexpectedly during a first meeting.

Which theory explains gathering information about them?

Which theory explains your reaction to their unexpected behavior?

URT

• Reducing uncertainty

• Information seeking

EVT

• Unexpected behavior

• Evaluating violations

URT: Learning about people.

EVT: Reacting to surprises.

**A researcher studies how communication organizes work within a company.

Which theory applies?

If the focus changes to who gets to make decisions and whose voices are excluded, which theory applies?**

CCO

• Organizational processes

• Four flows

Critical Theory

• Power

• Participation

• Democracy

CCO: How organizations function.

Critical Theory: Who benefits from that functioning.