Bridget McCullough
Professor Baldinger
COMM 496
16 October 2014
Reflective Research Synopsis:
Socio-psychological Tradition in Communication
Within communications there are seven traditions that are utilized to break down
communication. They explain it from various perspectives to give a more holistic understanding
of successful communication. One of the seven is the socio-psychological tradition; the aspect
of communication that it focuses on is the impact that relationships and communications have on
an individual. There are two primary components of an individual that are impacted by their
interactions: cognitive and behavioral. While there was not an abundance of information on this
subject, the work of American psychologist Carl Hovland was reflective of the sociopsychological tradition, with focuses on the effectiveness of persuasion (social communication)
on an individual’s perspective (psychological ideals).
The interpersonal communication that takes place, anything from conversation to
listening to a lecture in class, has an effect on the intrapersonal outcomes of an individual. One’s
communication can impact their emotional, cognitive, and personality traits. This reflects works
of other social scientists, such as Harry Harlow, that people are a product of their environment.
Their environment is not only the geographical area in which they were raised, but also the
family dynamic they were raised in that impact their perspective on various aspects of their selfimage and cognitive tendencies. The outcomes of their interactions and environment also impact
how they relate to others in different settings. Having a knowledge of one’s audience’s cognitive
and behavioral tendencies is quintessential for having a positive and lasting impact on them.
Karl Hovland and Irving Janis conducted research at Yale University, which helped
determine conditions and material that help their message to resonate the most. There were three
factors that impact the changes that take place at the end of communication. They include an
independent variable, internal psychological influence, and an attitude change: 1. source factors
→attention→ opinion change, 2. message factors→ comprehension→ perception change, and 3.
audience factors→ acceptance→ behavior change. In addition to noting these three factors that
lead to changes in the audience, Hovland and his team at Yale found that the credibility of the
source was most important initially but wore off as time passed. This is known as the “sleeper
effect”. They found that as more time went on the source where they had received the
information from was forgotten and only the information was remembered.
While there was not very much information available on this tradition of communication,
it still affects individuals on a regular basis. The socio-psychological tradition illustrates how
interpersonal communication has a cause and effect impact on intrapersonal communications.
The sender of the message, how the message is sent to the receiver, and the way that it is
perceived all have an effect on the recipient. Interactions are formative to how someone reacts to
various stimuli in different situations of communication. However, it impacts individuals on a
deeper level; the cognitive operations used to sort the information that has been taken in end up
playing in a role in the behaviors portrayed.
Overall, the socio-psychological tradition is one to take into consideration if one wants to
be a successful communicator. Whether giving a professional presentation or having an intimate
conversation, it is essential to be aware of the cause and effect impact that takes place when
communication occurs. Having a knowledge of your audiences’ foundation can be useful in the
persuasiveness of one’s message. Not only where they are from, but also their learning styles
have a great influence on how the message is received. As we can see from Hovland’s research,
credibility is important but is forgotten. Most importantly for effective communication
according to the socio-psychological tradition is a memorable message.