Communications

Hearing

Passive, automatic, physical process of sound waves hitting the eardrum

Listening

Active process of receiving, making meaning of, and responding to messages

Being mindful

Being fully present in the moment; step 1 and the foundation of listening

Physically receiving messages

Step 2 of listening; hearing sounds, reading lips, interpreting nonverbal behavior or ASL (hearing falls here)

Selecting and organizing

Step 3 of listening; choosing what to pay attention to and organizing it using schemata

Physiological influences

What's happening in your body (e.g., hunger) that affects what you select to listen to

Expectations

What you think the other person will say; influences what you select to listen to

Social roles

Your role (e.g., student) affects what information you think is important to listen for

Prototypes

Cognitive schema; an ideal example of a category (e.g., Elle's ideal boyfriend)

Personal constructs

Cognitive schema; scales you use to judge people (e.g., kind vs. not kind)

Stereotypes

Cognitive schema; generalized expectations about a group

Scripts

Cognitive schema; expected sequence of events in a situation

Interpreting

Step 4 of listening; subjective process of organizing and making sense of perceptions

Responding

Step 5 of listening; showing interest with observable feedback (nodding, questions, eye contact)

Remembering

Step 6 of listening; recalling what you heard (we forget a lot even when listening carefully)

Situational obstacles

Listening challenges unique to a setting or space

Incomprehensibility

Situational obstacle; language or transmission problems (unknown language, dropped call)

Message complexity

Situational obstacle; message packed with technical detail, jargon, or intricate reasoning

Message overload

Situational obstacle; receiving more messages than you can interpret, evaluate, or remember

Environmental distractions

Situational obstacle; external stimuli like loud music or side conversations

Internal obstacles

Listening challenges unique to you

Preoccupation

Internal obstacle; absorption in your own thoughts or concerns

Prejudgement

Internal obstacle; judging someone or their ideas before hearing them

Lack of effort

Internal obstacle; listening is hard work and sometimes we don't want to do it

Reacting to emotionally loaded language

Internal obstacle; having a larger response to certain words or phrases

Not recognizing diverse listening styles

Internal obstacle; what "good listening" looks like differs across cultures and genders

Informational listening

Listening to understand information and ideas (e.g., in lecture)

Critical listening

Listening to analyze and evaluate the content or the speaker's character (e.g., someone selling you something)

Relationship listening

Listening to support another person or understand how they feel; listening just to listen, not to solve

Pseudolistening

Ineffective listening; pretending to listen

Monopolizing

Ineffective listening; hogging the stage by keeping the focus on yourself

Conversational rerouting

Form of monopolizing; bringing the conversation back to you

Interrupting

Form of monopolizing; stopping the conversation to introduce a new topic

Selective listening

Ineffective listening; focusing only on parts of communication that interest you or fit your beliefs

Defensive listening

Ineffective listening; perceiving an attack or criticism when none was intended

Ambushing

Ineffective listening; listening carefully to a speaker in order to attack them

Culture

Beliefs, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience shared by a group and passed down across generations

Social community

Group living within a dominant culture but sharing values and practices distinct from it (e.g., race, gender, class, sexual orientation)

Standpoint theory

Culture includes social groups that shape the perceptions, identities, and opportunities of their members

Standpoint

Political awareness of a community's circumstances and the power dynamics that keep them in place

Individualism

Dimension of culture; people emphasize themselves as individuals (e.g., US, Australia)

Collectivism

Dimension of culture; people emphasize connection to family, groups, and clans (e.g., many Asian cultures)

Power distance

Size of the gap between people with high and low power and how normal that gap is considered

Low power distance

Less structured hierarchy (e.g., students call professors by first name)

High power distance

More structured hierarchy; rude to treat high-power people like low-power people

Masculinity (dimension)

Culture values aggressive, competitive, individualistic, dominating communication

Femininity (dimension)

Culture values gentle, cooperative, caring communication

Short term orientation

Culture emphasizes the present and living for the moment (e.g., US)

Long term orientation

Culture emphasizes saving, long-term planning, and respect for elders (e.g., many Asian countries)

Low context communication

xplicit, detailed, precise; everything spelled out; less interpretation needed; typical of individualistic cultures

High context communication

Indirect and vague; meaning conveyed implicitly; listener must interpret using shared knowledge; typical of collectivist cultures

Adages

Cultural sayings that reveal what a culture values (e.g., "the early bird catches the worm")

Person centered communication

Recognizing another person's perspective and taking it into account instead of assuming

Uncertainty reduction theory

People find uncertainty uncomfortable, so they use communication to reduce it

Ethnocentrism

Putting your own ethnicity or culture at the center and treating it as the standard for judging others

Cultural relativism

Recognizing that cultures vary in thought, action, beliefs, and values without ranking them

Resistance

Least accepting response to diversity; attacking others' practices or claiming your own culture is superior

Tolerance

Accepting differences even if you don't approve of or understand them

Understanding

Seeing differences as rooted in cultural teachings; no tradition is inherently better

Respect

Valuing others' customs and values even if you don't adopt them

Participation

Most accepting response; incorporating some practices of other cultures into your own life

Self

Multidimensional process of forming and acting from social perspectives that arise in communication with others and ourselves

Physical self

Dimension of self; what your body looks like (race, height, weight)

Emotional self

Dimension of self; how sensitive you are

Cognitive self

Dimension of self; your intelligence and intellectual aptitudes

Social self

Dimension of self; the roles you play (daughter, friend, parent)

Professional self

Dimension of self; your professional identity (student, teacher, manager)

Intrapersonal communication

Communication with yourself

Salient identities (US)

Race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class

Particular others

Specific significant people (family, close friends) who influence your values, perspectives, and self

Reflected appraisal

The image of ourselves that we perceive others communicate to us; "looking glass self"

Direct definition

Communication that tells us who we are by explicitly labeling us (e.g., "big, strong boy")

Social comparison

Comparing ourselves with others to judge our talents and qualities; relative, not absolute

Self disclosure

Revealing personal info about ourselves that others are unlikely to discover otherwise

Open information

Known to self and known to others (e.g., your name)

Blind information

Not known to self but known to others

Hidden information

Known to self but not known to others (secrets)

Unknown information

Not known to self or others

Attachment styles theory

Childhood patterns of interaction with caregivers teach how we view ourselves and others and predict adult relationships

Secure attachment

Caregiver consistently attentive and loving; views self as worthy and others as worthy

Dismissive attachment

Caregiver uninterested, rejecting, or abusive; views self as worthy and others as unworthy

Fearful attachment

Caregiver negative, rejecting, or abusive; views self as unworthy and others as unworthy

Anxious/ambivalent attachment

Caregiver inconsistent and unpredictable; views self as unworthy and others as worthy

Life scripts

Family-taught guides for how your life is supposed to go (roles, plots, rules for living)

Group

Three or more people who interact over time, depend on one another, and follow shared rules to reach a common goal

Team

Special kind of group with different, complementary member resources and a strong sense of collective identity

Climate communication

Creating and sustaining an open, engaged atmosphere; the "vibe" (recognizing others, harmonizing, building enthusiasm)

Procedural communication

Orders ideas and coordinates contributions; how the group functions (agendas, guiding participation, recording progress)

Task communication

Giving and analyzing information and ideas; actually completing the work

Cohesion

Collaborative vitality that enhances members' energies and strengths; rises and falls together with participation

Groupthink

Absence of critical, independent thought caused by excessive cohesion

Illusion of invulnerability

Groupthink sign; belief the group can't make bad decisions

Illusion of agreement

Groupthink sign; communication continues but there's no disagreement

Group size

Larger groups mean less individual contribution; smaller groups are more cohesive and satisfying

Power

Ability to influence others

Power over

Ability to help or harm others; emphasizes status

Power to

Ability to empower others to reach their goals

Distributed power structure

All members have roughly equal power

Hierarchical power structure

One or more members have greater power than others

Group norms

Informal rules guiding how members think, feel, and act; define what is "normal"