Santrock, Human
Adjustment
Chapter 7:
Communicating
Effectively
Prepared by Terry Pettijohn
7-2
Chapter Outline
Exploring Interpersonal Communication
Verbal Interpersonal Communication
Nonverbal Interpersonal Communication
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Learning Goals
1. Describe the basic aspects of interpersonal
communication.
2. Explain the keys to effective verbal interpersonal
communication.
3. Describe the elements of nonverbal interpersonal
communication.
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EXPLORING INTERPERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
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Messages
The Transactional Aspect of Communication
Context
Defining Interpersonal Communication
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Messages
Message = information being delivered from
sender to receiver
 Encoding - act of producing messages
 Decoding - act of understanding messages
 Noise - environmental, physiological, and
psychological factors that decrease likelihood a
message will accurately be encoded or decoded
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The Transactional Aspect
of Communication
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 Communication includes both context and relationship
dimension
 Communication is transactional - ongoing process
between sender and receiver
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Context
 Context - environment in which messages are sent
and received
– context influences form and content of social
communication
– context especially important in cross-cultural
communication
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Defining Interpersonal Communication
 Interpersonal communication - ongoing transactional
process that involves at least two individuals, each of
whom acts as both sender and receiver
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Figure 7.1 Some Important Components of
Interpersonal Communication
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Review - Learning Goal 1
– What are key aspects of messages?
– Why is interpersonal communication described as
transactional?
– How does context influence communication?
– How can interpersonal communication be defined?
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VERBAL INTERPERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
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Speaking Skills
Listening Skills
Self-Disclosure
Conflict and Assertiveness
Gender and Verbal Communication
Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
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Speaking Skills
 To communicate effectively, speakers need to consider
background, needs, and abilities of listeners
 Denotation - objective meaning of words
 Connotation - subjective meaning of words
– Speakers must consider connotative meanings of words for
listeners
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Speaking Skills
 Messages conveyed more effectively when spoken in
simple, concrete, and specific way
 Good speakers make verbal and
nonverbal messages consistent
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Listening Skills
 Hearing - physiological sensory process in which
auditory sensations are received by the ears and
transmitted to the brain
 Listening - psychological process of interpreting and
understanding what someone says
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Figure 7.2 Percentage of Time Spent by College
Students in Different Communication Activities
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Adjustment Strategies
for Becoming a Better Listener
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1. Don’t hog the conversation
2. Pay careful attention to person talking
3. Use reflective listening and paraphrasing
4. Actively synthesize themes and patterns you hear
5. Give feedback in competent manner
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Self-Disclosure
Self-disclosure = communication of intimate
details about ourselves
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The Johari Window
Johari Window = model of self-disclosure that helps us
understand proportion of information about ourselves
that we and others are aware of
 Johari Window divided into four areas:
– open self (known to you and others)
– hidden self (known to you but not to others)
– blind self (known to others but not to you)
– unknown self (not known to you or others)
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Self-Disclosure in Relationships
 Self-disclosure can deepen relationships
– Deep relationships require risky self-disclosures which
leave you vulnerable
– Disclosing psychologically painful information requires that
we trust the listener
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Figure 7.4 Some Self-Disclosure Risks
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Adjustment Strategies
for Increasing Self-Disclosure
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1. Proceed gradually
2. Recognize that people have different levels of
intimacy needs
3. Begin with facts
4. When comfortable, include thoughts, feelings and
needs
5. Try here-and-now communication
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Conflict and Assertiveness
 People deal with conflict in one of four ways:
– aggressive (often angry, being insensitive to others’
feelings)
– manipulative (make others feel sorry or guilty)
– passive (submissive, nonassertive; don’t express
themselves)
– assertive (act in own best interest by standing up for
legitimate rights and expressing views)
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Adjustment Strategies
for Becoming More Assertive
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1. Evaluate your rights
2. Designate a time for discussing what you want
3. State problem in terms of how it might affect you
4. Describe the problem objectively
5. Express your feelings about the situation
6. Ask for what you want
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Gender and Verbal Communication
 Women - less assertive in communication
 Men - more aggressive in communication
 Women - more rapport talk (conversation aimed at

establishing connections and negotiating relationships)
Men - more report talk (talk designed to provide
information)
 Women - rely on self-disclosure more than men
 Men - interrupt conversations more than women
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Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
 Judging may take the form of:
– criticizing
– name-calling and labeling
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Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
 Proposing solutions may take the form of:
– advice
– questioning
– order
– threat
– moralizing
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Barriers to Effective Verbal Communication
 Avoiding the others’ concerns may take the form of:
– diverting
– one-upping
– logical argument
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Adjustment Strategies
for Effective Verbal Expression
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1. Make your message direct
2. Deliver your message immediately
3. Make your message clear
4. Deliver a straight message
5. Make your message supportive
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Review - Learning Goal 2
– What are some important aspects of speaking skills?
– What are some important aspects of listening skills?
– What role does self-disclosure play in interpersonal
communication?
– What are four ways of dealing with conflict in
communication?
– Do men and women communicate differently?
– What are some barriers to effective verbal communication?
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NONVERBAL INTERPERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
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Dimensions of Nonverbal Communication
Body Communication
Spatial Communication
Silence and Paralanguage
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Dimensions of Nonverbal Communication
Nonverbal communication = messages that are
transmitted from one person to another by other than
linguistic means
 Nonverbal communication includes:
– body communication (gestures, facial expression, touch)
– spatial communication
– paralanguage (voice)
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Characteristics of Nonverbal
Communication
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 Nonverbal leakage - communication of true emotions
through nonverbal channels even when person tries to
conceal the truth verbally
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Detecting Deception
 Liars tend to:
– Blink more and have dilated pupils
– Show more self-manipulating gestures
– Give shorter, negative, generalized responses
– Speak in distancing way
– Speak in higher pitch
– Take more time to plan what to say
 People are not very good at detecting deception
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Adjustment Strategies for Improving
Intercultural Communication
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1. Learn about predominant communication
tendencies of people from other cultures
2. Recognize individual variation in communication
styles within a culture
3. Practice intercultural communication
4. Don’t assume yours is the right way to
communicate
5. Listen carefully
6. Respect others’ choices
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Gender and Nonverbal Communication
 Women tend to be better at reading people’s emotional
cues
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Body Communication
 Gestures - a motion of the limbs or body made to
convey a message to someone else
 Gestures are not universal
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Body Communication
 Facial expressions can communicate important
messages
 Some facial expressions appear to be universal, but
they can also vary among cultures
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Eye Communication
 In the United States, eye contact serves four
functions:
– monitor feedback
– signal a turn in the conversation
– signal the nature of a relationship
– compensate for physical distance
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Touch Communication
 Touch plays important role in nonverbal
communication
 Touch expresses:
– Sexuality
– Consolation
– Dominance
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Spatial Communication
Proxemics = study of communicative function of space
 Hall (1969) identified four zones in which we interact:
– intimate distance
– personal distance
– social distance
– public distance
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Silence and Paralanguage
 By being silent, a good listener can:
– attend to the other person through body posture
– observe the other by watching speaker’s eyes, posture,
gestures
– think about what other person is communicating
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Paralanguage
Paralanguage = the nonlinguistic aspects of verbal
communication
 Paralanguage includes aspects such as:
– rapidity of speech
– volume of speech
– pitch of speech
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Review - Learning Goal 3
– What are some important dimensions of nonverbal
communication?
– What role does body communication play in nonverbal
communication?
– How does spatial communication work?
– Why are silence and paralanguage important in
communication?
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End of Chapter 7
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