Understanding Communication Models & Interpersonal Relationships: Context, Noise, Emotion , Study notes of Communication and Development studies

Download Understanding Communication Models & Interpersonal Relationships: Context, Noise, Emotion and more Study notes Communication and Development studies in PDF only on Docsity! • communication is context-driven • dependent on situation, surroundings, and companions • context affects what we can say and when we can say it Linear Model of Communication sender message receiver • noise can be • physical distractions • physiological distractions • speech impediments, deafness, blindness • psychological noise • biases, prejudice • things that make the audience or the sender less likely to listen to a person or a certain set of arguments • semantic noise • focused on interpretation of language • when the sender and receiver have different meanings for the same term • the only thing that matters is what the audience hears • as we become more effective communicators, what we are doing is reducing the difference between what we mean to say and what we are understood by the audience to have said Interactional Model of Communication sender message/feedback receiver channel Cultural Norms • everything is mixed and open • oftentimes mixed-age, mixed-gender Relationship between send and receiver • depth of relationship, trust present Historical Context • deals with previously sent messages between the same sender and receiver Transactional Model of Communication • the roles of sender and receiver switch frequently • communication is cooperative • depends on the exchange of messages and sharing of interests • constantly trying to find instances of our world views overlapping noise Interpersonal Communication • impersonal interpersonal • vectors • relational history • prior shared experiences, ranging from limited to expansive • relational rules • what is expected from and allowed of each other in a relationship, ranging from being set by individuals to set by society • relational uniqueness • how the two communicators define their relationship relative to other relationships, ranging from limited (individuals) to expansive (group membership) • interpersonal communication - the process of method transaction between people to create and sustain shared meaning • communication is not an event, it is an ongoing process • everything we communicate recalls what was previously said and anticipates what will be said in the future • communication is irreversible (nothing can be “unsaid”) • messages are exchanged both verbally and nonverbally in a constant stream • the problem of language is dishonesty • how can we trust what is said and how much can we trust Basic Principles of Interpersonal Communication • communication is unavoidable • refusal to communicate with someone communicates something very clearly • symbol exchange • representation of ideas or emotion • governed by rules • we have rules so that we can communicate effectively (grammar rules) • reduces uncertainty and allows for expectations • communication is learned • learn how to be better or worse; learn from parents • content information and relational information • the message that is meant to be conveyed (be there at 8:00) but also how the sender wishes for the receiver to receive their message • you canʼt divorce a message from its connotation • communication does not solve all problems • can create problems • part of being an effective communicator is realizing when to stop talking •Stages of Communication Attending and Selecting • have to decide what stimuli are going to receive attention and response • goal is to limit information to a manageable amount • education is primarily designed to do this • a high context culture revolves around situational and contextual circumstances • the only very scripted instances in American culture are rituals and ceremonies Distribution of Power • in a high power distance, a great deal of respect and formality is used • in a low power distance society, familiarity is more normal • there can be culture clash between two cultures that have differences in distance of power Masculinity and Femininity • has to do with whether a culture emphasizes traditional gender roles • masculine cultures focus on ambition, achievement, and competition • feminine cultures focus on nurturing, social welfare, equality, and cooperation Individualism vs. Collectivism • individualism values competition over cooperation • collectivism believes that individual needs are secondary to those of the community or the group • high power distance, masculine values, and collectivism are the marks of a good company to put a factory Assignment: • Pick a national culture that is not your own and place it on the 4 axes with a 2-page double-spaced paper. Give 2 communication reasons and/or examples why that is for each axis. Common Challenges in Intercultural Communication Ethnocentrism • judging one culture by the standards of your own culture Anxiety and Uncertainty • people become anxious of those who are different than us, whether it be race or economic status Misinterpretation of Behavior • language and accents Assumptions of Similarity or Difference • dialectics Preparation for Intercultural Communication Understand Your Biases • if you come from a culture where something is expected, realize that expectation and that it may not be the universal expectation Educate Yourself • thereʼs always research you can do where you can get a better idea of how to interact with other cultures Tolerate the Unknown Practice Cultural Respect • donʼt point out everything you find to be atypical • distinguish between cultural empathy and cultural relativity • cultural empathy is the learned ability to accurately understand the experiences of another culture • cultural relativity is the inability to condemn the practices of another culture Try to Relate to the Individual, Not to the Culture • an American cannot and should not have to account for America, so donʼt expect the same thing from another Listening is the auditory reception of verbal signals Hearing vs. Listening • hearing is a physiological process • you hear 100% of what occurs in your environment • listening is the active, purposeful attention to certain sounds in your environment • Four Types of Listening: • appreciative listening - when we listen for pleasure (music, why we listen to the same stories repeatedly) • empathic listening - listening to provide emotional support (at a funeral, to someone elseʼs problems) • comprehensive listening - when we listen to understand the message (in class, to receive instructions, a church service) • critical listening - when we listen to make assessments about truth or falsehood of statements (attendance at an event that you do not agree with) • Stages of Listening • receiving - hearing and attending to a message (includes some form of acknowledgement) • recalling - understanding a message and storing it for future use • rating - evaluation of a message, distinguishing between fact, inference, and opinion • a fact is something that can be observed with the five senses, not necessarily your own • we draw conclusions based on the data we have available, which may be incomplete • opinions - a amalgam of beliefs and inferences • responding - observable feedback is provided to the sender (verbal or nonverbal) • Problems in Listening • noise • message overload - too many messages, creating difficulty in listening to one in particular • message complexity - when what the sender is saying is beyond your ability to comprehend • preoccupation - when youʼre paying attention to something else • listening gap - the time difference between our ability to hear something and our ability to comprehend it • selective listening - listening to some things but not others • logorrhea - when you talk too much • feign attention • gap filling - when we quit paying attention because we assume what theyʼre going to say next • defensive listening - when we view innocent comments as personal attacks • ambushing - to listen for the sake of collecting information to use later on • being hung up on appearance, unable to get past it Emotion the critical framework that orients us toward the things that are important in our lives • axes of emotion • positive to negative; active to passive • internal emotion - the kind of emotion that you feel about yourself • “emotions you need other people for” - jealousy • prototype approach positive happiness joy love filialeuphoria crush • emotion in dualistic terms (lust vs. repulsion, love vs. hate) • yet, thatʼs rarely how emotions are felt • emotions are often mixed • so driven to describe emotions • we have meta-emotions • “i am angry that i am impatient” • emotions about other emotions Models of Emotion • social model of emotion • we can see that different cultures center around different things • biological model of emotion • we feel emotions for the purpose of self-continuation • we feel love so that we reproduce and repopulate • if this model is true, then what attracts us to others should remain stagnant Talking About Emotions • emotional experience - actually feeling the emotion (“butterflies”)