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why do we communicate

build a relationship

inquire

express feelings

inform

influence

levels of communication

tactical/interpersonal

operational/mass

strategic

tactical/interpersonal communication

refers to relationship building, inquiring, expressing emotions, informing, and influencing between two or more people. "lower level" than other types. eg: counselling

operational/mass communication

the process of informing or influencing through mass media to large population segments. eg: TV/radio/internet

strategic communication

the purposeful use of communication by an organization to *influence* a target audience with a specific goal. eg: political campaigns with a certain goal like stop smoking.

why is there a communication gap?

intentions / action / interpretation / impact

intentions are private (you know your own but have to guess others')

actions are public (they are the only observable part because they manifest themselves as behaviour)

interpretation is private (it depends on the listener's state of mind, memories, beliefs, experiences).

impact is private (the effect of communication is determined by the listener's decoding accuracy and interpretation, not by the speaker's intentions).

CPR

clarify the story / paraphrase / respond empathetically

clarify the story: clarify what you think you've heard with a direct question ("what did you mean by" "how did you feel when that happened")

paraphrase: put yourself in the other person's shoes, acknowledge how they're feeling based on what they said & on what you think you've heard - identify personal and probable impact. ("if i hear you correctly" "did i get this right")

respond empathetically: use feeling words to intuit the speaker's feelings. respectfully resist giving advice/changing the conversation in your direction. ("i can see why that makes you happy")

ROLES acronym

non-verbal communication

REGULATE / OPEN / LEAN / EYE CONTACT / SQUARELY

REGULATE your body - open posture, breathe.

adopt an OPEN body posture, uncross arms and legs.

LEAN toward the person.

EYE CONTACT to show you're present & attentive.

face the person SQUARELY to indicate interest

conflict management techniques

the disarming technique: find some truth in what the other person is saying, even if it seems unreasonable/unfair to you.

"i feel" statements: express your ideas and feelings directly and tactfully. use "i feel" statements - "i feel frustrated" rather than "you're making me frustrated"

set the time & pace: if you can't be present, suggest another time for the conversation - respectfully but firmly say you must take a break.

according to SR covey, we must seek first to understand. we typically listen at one of the four levels

1. ignoring the other person

2. pretending to listen

3. selective listening (information age)

4. attentive listening

define empathetic listening, covey approach

seeks to get inside the other person's perspective and see the world the way they do

4 stages of empathetic listening, covey approach

STAGE 1: mimicking content

this is the least effective listening stage

STAGE 2: rephrasing content

this is limited to verbal communication

STAGE 3: reflecting feelings

not just reflecting what the speaker said, but how they feel

STAGE 4: rephrasing content & reflecting feelings

incorporates stage 2 & 3, "giving the speaker psychological air" (covey). more experienced communicators can better accomplish this stage.

define empathetic listening, rogers approach

under rogers' approach, the listener is entering the world of the speaker, being sensitive of their feelings and becoming a confident companion to the other person in their inner world. they put aside any subjective views and values to enter into their world without any prejudices, laying oneself aside for the time being.

empathetic listening, rogers approach

empathetic AWARENESS skills:

- recognize the inherent dignity in myself and in the speaker

- instil a personal desire to want to listen to others

- think of positive qualities of the other person

empathetic LISTENING skills:

- transform my listening skills & quiet my mind

- i will listen through the words fully and openly

- vow not to interrupt people

- say back to the speaker what they say to me, capturing the emotion

GENERAL:

- organize and clarify your thoughts prior to speaking

- choose your words wisely

- express words with respect

- speak carefully & clearly

define golden nugget & how to get

golden nugget: information you want to gain that could move the process forward

method:

- through the conversation, identify a golden nugget

- continue the conversation to uncover additional golden nuggets

- develop a cohesive narrative

- ultimately reach our desired end state

mission analysis

mission analysis is essential and will drive your whole process, you need a good mission statement to align goals & effects.

analyze assigned vs implied tasks:

- two levels up: supervisor's supervisor

- one level up: your supervisor

- one level down: your staff/team member

constraints: must do

restraints: must not do

mission statement - goal: SMART

specific, measurable, attainable (y/n possible), realistic (% probability), timed.

factor analysis

technology/culture/psychology - target audience analysis

importance of communication, information age overview

- many jobs are being lost because of automation, AI. employers are looking to hire contractors to perform tasks that require specific skills, and reduce redundant roles.

- AI is effecting employment: decreasing employment due to automation in the manufacturing, retail, accounting, & financial analysis sectors. only the top producers are growing through AI-related content creation. companies in many areas (medical professionals, education, mental health counselling) are being forced to modify their communication strategies.

- information age: whereas 7.8 million items in the UBC library are 17 terabytes of memory, the internet generated 3800 TB of memory per second.

false information: misinformation vs disinformation

misinformation: misunderstandings. you don't give misinformation, information is cherry picked / whole picture not given.

disinformation: deliberate falsehood created to manipulate/deceive people

propaganda

propaganda is the dissemination of a narrative intended to influence people to think and act in a particular way for a specific purpose. it serves the interests of those spreading it, and often hinder's the public's ability to make informed decisions.

why do false narratives resonate?

uphold public persona

confirmation bias

false appeal to authority (appeal to someone who actually doesn't know anything)

strawman argument (distorting the opposing argument to make it easier to refute).

glittering generalities & name-calling (calling on an emotionally appealing phrase that has no supporting information/evidence).

dunning-kruger effect (limited competence - overestimated abilities, experts - less confidence)

appeal to fear & victimhood

social in-group conformity

direct anger toward an out-group

why is it difficult to censor false information in a democratic society?

public backlash due to information collateral damage

difficult to detect and prove

the censorship cat and mouse game favours the spreders

low cost and high ROI for the spreader

the EBO approach

EBO: effect-based operation

focuses on the desired goals, attempting to use minimum resources, seeks to understand the causal linkages between events - actions - results. helpful in understanding the secondary & tertiary consequences of actions.

eg:

goal - feeding a hungry child. potential actions - handing the child a meal, directing the child to a soup kitchen/food pantry, providing the child/guardian a job to earn income to afford daily meals.

components of EBO

physical component: actions, organizations, equipment, systems, training

moral component: provides the base from which we derive morale, cohesion, esprit de corps (common pride), collective will. this is often the reason different groups take different approaches to the same situation.

intellectual component: conceptual elements of education, perceptions and understanding of the operating environment, set up by their education, background, etc.

physical effects: from the physical plane, tangible undertakings that consume resources & produce immediate, first-order effects on the physical plane through actions.

psychological effects: from the psychological plane (moral x intellectual), these effects modify behaviours, perception, understanding, motivation, conviction, emotions, commitment, and the will of individuals.

the OODA loop

observe / orient / decide / act

designed to help people make better decisions by continuously collecting feedback & observations.

observe: gathering information from the environment to understand the current situation. use CPR & roles.

orient: the information gathered is analyzed and interpreted. this involves understanding the context & making sense of the data. use mission analysis & factor analysis.

decide: based on the analysis, a decision is made on the best course of action. identify ~3 COA's and select the best effect

act: implementing the decision towards achieving the desired end state, evaluate the results (MOP/MOE), monitoring the results & feeding back into the observation stage.

influencing

seeks to change the will, perception & understanding of target audiences to adopt a particular course of action. must be conceived, planned, and targeted.

creates first-order effects on the psychological plane, and sometimes, second-order effects on the physical plane.

RICE

reward / ideology / coercion / ego

achieving an influencing behaviour goal informed by gold nuggets

factors that influence perception

situation: eg culture

perceiver: eg personality

target: object, people, or event. eg familiarity

bruner's model of the perceptual process

when percievers encounter an unfamiliar target, they are open to the informational cues contained in the data & the situation surrounding it. they need additional information based on perceptions of the target to resolve ambiguity.

three characteristics:

selectivity - not all cues used, used ones are given emphasis

constancy - the tendency for the target to be perceived in the same way over time/across situations.

consistency - the tendency to select/ignore/distort cues to fit together the form a homogenous image of the target.

biases in perception

primary effect: relying on early impressions

recency effect: relying on last impressions

central traits/halo effect: relying on characteristics

implicit personality theories: relying on characteristics that go together (eg hardworking so honest)

projection: attributing ones' own thoughts and feelings to others (i'm like this, they must be too).

pygmalion effect: self-fulfilling prophecy (i expect them to do well so they can do no wrong).

what do biases in perception lead to?

stereotyping: generalizing people in a specific social category

self-serving bias: taking credit for success and denying responsibility for failure

actor-observer effect: actors vs observers view the causes of an actor's view differently

what can amplify stereotyping?

- uphold public persona

- confirmation bias

- false appeal to authority

- strawman argument

- glitering generalities & name calling

- dunning-kruger effect

- appeal to fear & victimhood

- social in-group conformity

- direct anger toward an out-group

quantitative vs qualitative research

quantitative: associated with traditional scientific method of measuring/gathering data. more organized & objective, findings can be generalized to other individuals or populations. typically experimental designs.

qualitative: like quantitative, uses a systematic approach, but usually more subjective. preferred method when the study is phenomenological (relating to phenomena). at the heart of this style lies the belief that reality is based on perceptions, and can vary from person to person, and changes over time.

culture

the customs and beliefs, art, way of life, and social organization of a particular country or group.

example: arlie hochschild & the lineup. explains why right wing is appealing - waiting in line for the "american dream", people in the middle think those at the end will take their place.

cultural identity

- society

- time

- power

- environment

- communication

- justice

cultural assessment matrix

PMESSI

political / military / economic / social / information / infrastructure

ASCOPE

areas / structures / capabilities / organizations / people / events

physical & psychological planes

MICRO:

- physical component (behaviours)

- moral component (attitude)

- intellectual (individual lens & perceptions)

MACRO:

- physical component (laws & customs)

- moral component (cultural identity)

- intellectual (cultural lens)

social psychology

gordon allport: social psychology is the scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings.

psycholanalysis

a set of theories & techniques for researching unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion, and behaviour.

two types: freudian vs jungian

freudian psychoanalysis

emphasizing the role of unconscious thoughts/feelings/memories in shaping behaviour. highlighting the dynamic between the id, superego, & ego.

id: primal, instinctual, pleasure principal

supergo: moral conscience, internalized social rules, ideals

ego: rational mediator

jungian psychoanalysis

highlighting the dynamic between the persona, ego, self, shadow, and collective unconscious.

persona: social mask

ego: hidden persona - stops identification w shadow

shadow: core, dark true self

collective unconscious: contains universal experiences & archetypes (symbolic meanings), shared by all humans

crowd behaviour

according to gustavo le bon, in groups people lose their sense of individuality which can lead to impulsive or uninhibited behaviours.

crowd behaviour is characterized by

- anonymity: feeling of invincibility, loss of personal responsibility. lack of self-restraint allows individuals to accept the instinctual drives of their unconscious.

- contagion: the spread of particular behaviours into a singular mind, sacrificing self-interest for collective interest.

- suggestibility: crowds are swayed by emotion, imagery & charisma (rather than reason). they are very malleable to suggestion by their strongest members.

PR & advertising history overview

according to edward bernays, a major feature of democracy was the manipulation of the electorate by mass media & advertising. this has been criticized for manipulating public opinion in ways that undermine individual autonomy & democratic values.

characteristics of successful PR & advertising

emotional response: consumers are influenced by unconscious desires, fears, social pressures not just needs.

linkage: products link to lifestyle, aspirations, persona

association: products are associated with cultural symbols, values, ideals.

engineering consent: creating social norms

endorsement: messages are more persuasive if they appear to come from experts

supports social causes: creating goodwill to increase sales

personality

the combination of characteristics/qualities that form an individual's distinctive character

behaviourism

a foundational school of psychology for analyzing personality.

behaviourists focus on observable behaviours, not internal thoughts/feelings. personality can be understood through the patterns of behaviour exhibited by individuals, in response to their environment

rooted in the principles of conditioning

principles of conditioning

behaviourism is rooted in the principles of conditioning:

classical conditioning: learning through association, pavlov's dog - associating a neutral stimulus with a significant stimulus

operant conditioning: how rewards & punishments influence behaviours - BF skinner. reinforced - more likely to occur, punished - less likely.

environmental influence: personality is not biologically determined but significantly shaped by environmental factors, reinforcements, consequences people experience throughout their lives

big 5 personality traits

openness / conscientiousness / extraversion / agreeableness / neuroticism

provide a comprehensive framework for understanding human personality

structured analytical methodology

accounts for cognitive lens and perceptual biases that impact the analysis of information when conducting a factor analysis

factors that impact decision making

- validity, complicity & content of the information

- cultural context of the situation, observer & target

- social influences, such as crowd behaviours

- understanding the personalities, the observer's biases, and target vulnerabilities