Welcome to
Interpersonal
Communication!
Interpersonal Process
Why Do We Communicate?
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Physical Needs
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Identity Needs
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Social Needs
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Practical Needs
Or another way to look at this…
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“Being all that we can be”
Self respect, autonomy,
achievement, status, recognition,
attention
affection, belonging, acceptance,
friendship
Security, protection from physical
and emotional harm
Hunger, thirst, shelter, warmth, etc.
Interpersonal Process (continued)
• The Communication Process
• How we define “Interpersonal Communication”
• Communication Principles and Misconceptions
• Communication Competence
The Communication Process
The Linear View:
Message
Noise
Sender encodes
ideas and feelings
into a message
•External
•Physiological
•Psychological
Receiver decodes
the message
The Communication Process
The Interactive View:
Sender sends message
through behavior
(verbal and nonverbal)
Receiver decodes
the message
Message
Feedback
Sender decodes
feedback
Receiver sends feedback
through behavior
(verbal and nonverbal)
The Communication Process
The Transactional View:
Messages & Feedback
Communicator
sends and receives
messages, responds
and decodes
Communicator
sends and receives
messages, responds
and decodes
How we define “Interpersonal
Communication”
We can define interpersonal
communication
Quantitatively
or
Qualitatively
The Quantitative Definition:
“Interpersonal Communication
includes any interaction between two
people, usually face to face.”
•
Can be any two people
•
Occurs only between 2 people
The Qualitative Definition:
“Interpersonal Communication
occurs when people treat one another
as unique individuals, regardless of
the context in which the interaction
occurs or the number of people
involved.”
Opposite of interpersonal communication is impersonal
communication, not group, public, or mass communication.
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Uniqueness
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Interdependence
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Irreplaceability
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Disclosure
We can think of communication as lying on a continuum:
Interpersonal
Talking to your best friend about
something that made you feel really
embarrassed
Half-listening to your significant
other because you’re distracted
thinking about a big test you have
to take tomorrow
Making small talk with a
professor, talking about the
latest Gator game
Impersonal
Ordering a cup of coffee
from a cashier at Starbucks
Communication Principles and
Misconceptions
(Laura’s amazing educational video)
To recap in a slightly clearer
version…
• Communication Principles
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Communication can be intentional or unintentional
Communication is irreversible
All messages have a content and a relational dimension
Communication is unrepeatable
• Communication Misconceptions
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Not all communication seeks understanding
More communication is not always better
Communication will not solve all problems
Effective communication is not a natural ability
Communication Competence
“Effective communication involves achieving one’s
goals in a manner that, ideally, maintains or
enhances the relationship in which it occurs.”
•
There is no “ideal” or “effective” way to
communicate
•
Competence is situational
•
Competence can be learned
How do you know when you
have “arrived”?
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You make use of a large repertoire of skills
You are adaptable
You perform skillfully
You are involved
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Care about the other person
Care about what is being discussed
Care about understanding/being understood
Produce good results for you and the other person
• ***You are empathetic ***
• You demonstrate cognitive complexity
• You self-monitor
Performance
But it’s still a matter of balance…
Use of the competency
characteristics
• You can be so adaptable that
you aren’t really being true to
yourself…
• You can be so involved that
it’s intimidating or
overwhelming…
• You can self-monitor so
much that you become overly
self-conscious…
• You can think about so many
interpretations or approaches
to take that you don’t ever
act…