Summary Chapter 1
What is communication?
•
Communication is one of the most persuasive, important, and complex aspects of human life.”
(Littlejohn, 2002)
• “The process by which people interactively create, sustain and manage meaning” (D&Z, p 21)
What is theory?
–
Theory is about what we know and how we know it
–
= a lens through which to see the world, which highlights some things (and ignores others!)
(D&Z, 3)
–
Forms the basis from which we can make prediction
–
Can be described in words and/or represented in a visual model
What is communication theory?
•
“a systematic summary of the nature of the communication process” (D&Z, p. 3)
Ranges of Communication Theory

Summary Chapter 2: Intrapersonal communication
Focuses on how people analyze others’ behaviors, attitudes, and messages to assign meaning to a given event
Er zijn 4 theorien die de intrapersonele aspecten van communicatie behandelen:
Theory Purpose
Message Design
Logics accounts for individual differences in both message construction and interpretation based on divergent beliefs about communication
Attribution Theory explains how and why individuals assign causation or motivation to their own and others’ behavior explains initial encounters with people (what drives you to initiate a relationship) Uncertainty
Reduction Theory
(URT)
Expectancy
Violations Theory
(EVT) predicts and explains people’s behavior when their expectations are violated
Message Design Logics: Because people think differently about communication, they will construct very different types of messages.
3 types of Message Design Logics:
Expressive message logic; a person using this pattern is concerned with primarily self-expression.
Communication is viewed as a means for delivering the sender’s thoughts and feelings. Values like openness, honesty and clarity are important.
Conventional design logic; a person using this pattern sees communication as a game that is played cooperatively. They are primarily concerned with appropriateness and with ‘doing the right thing’.
Rules-based.
Rhetorical message design logic; a person using this pattern sees communication as the means to create situations and negotiate multiple goals. They are primarily concerned with flexibility, sophistication and dept of communication skills. Those using this pattern pay close attention to other peoples’ communication in an effort to figure out others’ points of view. Adapting to the situation.
Message design logics are not personality traits, they can change and develop over an individual’s lifespan.
Attribution theory: “explains cognitive process one uses when trying to make causal explanations for behavior”
‘The assumptions individuals make regarding the causes of behavior as well as the judgments made about who is responsible for that behaviour.’
Two factors for behaviour:
1.
Dispositional/internal (e.g., personality, character, biological traits)
2.
Situational/external (e.g., caused by circumstances, environment)
Correspondent Inference Theory
Expansion of original attribution theory (Heider)
Focus on intentionality of dispositional/internal traits
-
Has six factors that aid in assessing an actor’s intentions
-
Choice (were there any alternatives?)
assumed social desirability (acting like is expected)
social role
-
prior expectations hedonic relevance (the degree to which you believe a actor’s behaviour directly affects you
personalism (is the behaviour intentional?)
Kelley’s Covariation Model
-
Also expands on attribution theory (Heider) and correspondent inference theory (Jones and Davis)
-
One assesses the causality of another person’s behavior by examining four factors
-
One’s combined judgment of the first three factors

-
Consensus (would other people react similarly in the same situation?)
-
-
Consistency (whether the person in question engages in similar behaviors over time)
Distinctiveness (whether the person acts differently in one situation than in others)
yields as assessment of fourth factor, the controllability
-
Depending on the precise combination of the first three, one assesses whether there is an interior
(actor could have controlled the behavior) or exterior (actor couldn’t have controlled the behavior) locus of control.
Uncertainty Reduction Theory: seeks to explain and predict when, why and how individuals use communication to minimize their doubts when interacting with others.
Individuals are motivated to reduce uncertainty under one of three specific conditions:
-
Anticipation of future interaction (when you are likely to see someone again)
-
Incentive value (when the individual in question has the potential to provide you with rewards or punishments)
Deviance ((when a person is odd, or unusual in some way that encounters your expectations)
2 types of uncertainty
Behavioural uncertainty (how to act?)
Cognitive uncertainty (how to think?)
3 types of URT:
passive strategy; looking in your surroundings for what is appropriate behaviour as well as which beliefs and attitudes others hold. (playing detective)
active stategy; seeking information from a third party.
interactive strategy; going straight to the source to ask for information
Expectancy Violations Theory: the assumption that humans have competing needs for personal space and affiliation (verwantschap). When you perceive that one of your needs has been compromised, EVT predicts that you will try to do something about it.
3 core concepts:
expectancy; refers to what an individual anticipates will happen in a given situation, based on three primary factors: context, relationship, communicator’s characteristics.
violation valence; the positive or negative evaluation you make about a behaviour that you did not anticipate.
communicator reward valence; an evaluation you make about the person who committed the violation. (Does this person have the ability to reward or punish you in the future?)
After assessing these factors you can predict whether a person will reciprocate (match the behaviour) or compensate (acting opposite) the behaviour in question.

Summary Chapter 3: Interpersonal communications
Theory Purpose
Systems Perspective interactional view of relationship maintenance by focus on repeated, interdependent dealings
Politeness Theory clarifies individuals’ strategies to maintain their “face” or sense of desired public image
Social Exchange
Theory evaluates relationships on basis of rewards and costs; explains whether relationship will continue as well as whether partners will feel satisfied
Dialectic Perspective describes contradictions individuals inevitably face within their personal relationships and explains how management of contradictions can predict relationship’s success or failure
Systems Perspective; a focus on the interdependence that develops whenever people interact with each other.
A system is a group of individuals who interrelate to be a whole. (family, workgroup, sports team). A smaller part of the system is a subsystem. A suprasystem is the larger system within which the system operates.
Assumptions of systems perspective:
Believe in nonsummativity (the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts) Positive synergy and negative synergy can occur.
Interdependence; all system members are dependent on all other system members.
Homeostasis; the natural balance within groups.
Equifinality; there are multiple ways to achieve the same goal.
5 axioms for interpersonal communication:
the impossibility of not communicating; Interactional partners’ interpretations of your behaviour will affect your relationship, regardless of whether you intended that interpretation.
Content and relationship levels; how you say what you say will affect your partners’ interpretations and will also give others clues about the relationships between the interactants.
The problem of punctuation; what you view as the cause and effect is not necessarily how an interactional partner will view it. To resolve the problem, forget about assigning blame.
Digital and analogic communication; Digital communication can express detailed meaning if the interactants share the same set of symbols; analogic communication can express powerfull feelings directly.
Complementary and symmetrical communication; Within systems, patterns of interaction develop such that people behave differently or behave similarly. These pattern particularly illustrate power in the relationship.
Politeness theory; presents an explanation and specific predictions about what individuals do when others behave in ways that contradict their assumptions, particularly assumptions and preferences for personal space.
Face  desired self-image that you wish to present to others.
Positive face: a person’s need to be liked, appreciated and admired by select persons.
Negative face: a person’s desire to act freely, without constraints (beperkingen) or imposition
(oplegging) from others.
Politeness theory assumes that you have choices and make communicative decisions to achieve your relational and task-oriented goals within the context of maintaining face.
Some behaviours are fundamentally face threatening, these face-threatening acts include common behaviours such as apologies, compliments, criticism, requests and threats.
Facework; specific messages that minimize face-threatening acts.
Preventive facework; communications that a person can use to help oneself or another avert
(afwenden) FTAs. (avoiding certain topics, changing the subject, pretending not to notice)
Corrective facework; consists of messages that an individual can use to restore one’s own face or to help another restore face after an FTA has occurred. (avoidance, humor, apologies)

5 suprastrategies when communicating in a manner that could threaten face:
Avoidance; choosing not to communicate in a way that causes FTAs
going off record; the speaker subtly hints or indirectly mentions the FTA.
negative politeness; when the speaker makes an effort to recognize the other’s negative face needs
positive politeness; when the speaker emphasizes the receiver’s need for positive face.
bald on record; when the speaker makes no attempt to protect the other’s face.
Factors influencing Politeness Theory:
Whether the person has more or less prestige than you
Whether the person has power over you
Whether there is a risk of hurting the other person
Social Exchange Theory; is intended to explain why and when people continue or end relationships
Three Assumptions:
1.
Personal relationships are a function of assessing benefits and costs
2.
People want to maximize benefits and lessen costs (minimax principle)
3.
Humans are selfish
Three Core Components
1.
Social relationships bring rewards and costs.
Rewards – Costs = Outcome
2. Comparison level (CL) = what a person expects to receive in a given relationship
3. Comparison level of alternatives (CLalt) = alternatives to current relationship
Criticisms:
•
Circumstances in which people use to assess costs/benefits are not clear (Do I assess the costs/benefits after my co-worker has done me a favor or after my co-worker insulted me in a work meeting?)
• Emotions play a very little role
•
Individualist approach (e.g., limited cross-culturally)
•
Assumes that all relationships share a common quality (that my relationship with my co-worker is analogous to my relationship with my partner)
Dialectical Perspective;
Four primary assumptions:
Praxis; relationship trajectories are neither linear nor repetitive;
Change; the only guarantee in a relationship is that it will change
Contradiction; in every relationship both partners have essentials, yet opposing needs.
Totality; interdependence between relationship partners
Internal dialectics:
autonomy – connection (connection versus independence)
openness – closedness (opening up versus privacy)
predictability – novelty (stability versus opportunities for spontaneity)
It is necessary both difficult to satisfy both poles at the same time.
External dialectics:
Inclusion – Seclusion (alone time versus time with friends, family, ect)
Revelation – Concealment (private information versus desiring to tell others)
Conventionality – Uniqueness (traditional versus unique)
4 strategies to handle the internal and external tensions:
- selection; choosing one pole at the expense of the other
- Cyclic alteration; fulfill one pole now and shift to fulfill the other pole later
- Segmentation; certain issues coincide with one pole or need and other issues are appropriate for the opposite pole.
- integration; includes several variations.

Summary Chapter 4; Theories of culture
Theory Purpose
Hofstede’s Dimensions of
Culture
Communication
Accommodation Theory useful for assessing cultural differences across social contexts explains and predicts speech convergence through perception of cultural and social identities
Face Negotiation Theory addresses how cultural difference with face concern influence conflict management
Gender gender as culture
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions; he gathered statistical data to determine the values on which cultures vary.
5 dimentions that can be used to differentiate and rate various cultures:
individualism – collectivism (high context- versus low context-communication style)
uncertainty avoidance; cultures that seek to avoid ambiguity are know as high uncertainty avoidance cultures (rules, precision, punctuality). Cultures that are more inclined to take risks, innovate and thinking outside the box are low uncertainty avoidance cultures.
power distance; Those cultures with a high power distance accept power as a scarce resource and power differences as natural and inevitable. Cultures that have a low power distance value the minimization of power differences.
masculinity – femininity; Masculine cultures: those cultures that use the reality of biological sex in the creation of distinct roles for men (assertive, ambitious, competitive) and women (supportive, nurturing and deferent). Feminine Cultures: those cultures that gave fewer rigid roles for behaviour based on biological sex.
longterm and short term orientation; The diverence between keeping your eyes toward achieving of distant goals and immediate gratification.
Communication Accommodation Theory: provides an informative platform from which to understand cultural differences and similarities with regard to speech and language.
Social identity groups:
In groups: social affiliations to which an individual feels that he or she belongs
Out groups: those social affiliations to which a person feels he or she does not belong
Ways to assimilate with or to deviate form others:
Convergence; altering your speech and behaviour so that it matches that of your conversational partner.
Divergence; seeking to make your speech or behaviour different from that of your conversational partner.
Face Negotation Theory; Designed to explain “cultural differences associated with conflict management”
Background
-
Builds on Hofstede’s dimensions and politeness theory
Cultural orientation (individualism – collectivism) and self- and others face concerns predicts conflict responses.
Five conflict styles:
-
-
Avoiding; little concern for self and others
-
Accommodating; conceding to the partners’ request
Competing; pushing your viewpoints on others
Compromising; moderate concern for self and others
-
Collaborating; high regard for self and others.
-
self-face concern; considering your positive and negative face needs
- others-face concern; considering your partners positive and negative face needs
-
Mutual face concern: recognition of both self- and others-face concerns.

3 Additions to the five conflict styles:
- Emotionally expressive; emphasizes a person’s desire to react to his or her feelings.
- Passive-aggressive; attempting to making your partner feel guilty.
- Third-party help; asking a person outside the relationship to help manage the conflict.
Gender and Communication:
Sex: genetically determined
Gender: the psychological and social manifestations of what one believes to be male or female. (a way of behaving)
3 theories:
Standpoint Theory; the differences in men and women’s lives stem from imbalances in social, economic and symbolic power. This shapes the way they view the world and the way the communicate
Gender Styles; women use communication to establish connections with others, whereas men use communication to establish or maintain power over others.
Muted Group; because men have more power in society, language and meaning is biased toward a male perspective on life. Women must adapt and use male language or go unheard.

Theory Defined (D&Z)
Social Judgment Theory Focuses on people’s assessment (anchors, latitudes of acceptance/ rejection/ non-commitment) of persuasive messages
Elaboration Likelihood
Model
Targets of persuasive messages use mental processes of motivation and ability to process to accept or reject persuasive messages.
Cognitive Dissonance
Theory
Narrative Paradigm
Views persuasion as a post-reactive response to inconsistencies in beliefs and actions
Persuasion is more of an emotional process based on storytelling (coherent, logical narratives) and less on rational processes.
Social Judgement Theory: suggests that knowing a person’s attitudes on subjects can provide you with clues about how to approach a persuasive effort.
Each persons attitude can be placed in 3 categories:
Latitude of acceptance: all ideas that a person finds acceptable
Latitude of rejection: all ideas that a person finds unacceptable
Latitude of noncommitment: all ideas that a person has no opinion about
Ego involved: The involvement of individual attitude towards a topic. Highly ego involved means that a person thinks the topic is important.
Contrast effect: occurs when a message is perceived as further away from that person’s anchor than it really is.
Assimilation effect: occurs when a message is received that falls within the individual’s latitude of acceptance.
Boomerang effect is when the message actually causes a person to change his of her mind in the direction opposite that desired.
Elaboration Likelihood Model: The targets of persuasive messages use mental processes of motivation and reasoning to accept or reject persuasive messages.
Centrally routed messages: include a wealth of information, rational arguments and evidence to support a particular conclusion.
Succesfactors:
- the target must be highly motivated to process all the information
- The target must be able to process the message cognitively
Peripherally routed messages: rely on a receiver’s emotional involvement and persuade through more superficial means.
7 common cues:
- authorithy ‘ruim je kamer op, omdat ik het zeg’
- commitment ‘dedication to a product, person or group’
- contrast ‘giant favour  actually a little favour’
- liking ‘Britney en Coca Cola’
- reciprocity ‘als u dit koopt, krijgt u een freebie’
- scarcity ‘op=op’
- social proof ‘everybody has it’
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: explains that persuasion is not simply the result of injecting new or refined beliefs into others. Instead it predicts that influence is often an intrapersonal event, occurring when incongruence between our attitudes and behaviour creates a tension that is resolved by altering either our beliefs or our behaviours, thereby effecting a change. (beliefs and behaviours)

3 relationships between beliefs and behaviours:
- Irrelevance: beliefs and behaviours that have nothing to do with each other
- Consonance: when two pieces of stimuli or pieces of information are in balance to achieve congruence.
- Dissonance: when two pieces of stimuli or pieces of information contradict each other.
Magnitude of dissonance measured by 3 variables:
perceived importance: How important is the topic?
dissonance ratio: the amount of discomfort one feels.
rationalize: one’s ability to justify.
Narrative Paradigm: stresses the effectiveness of influence through narration – that is, persuasion through storytelling.
Persuasion as influence through storytelling; emphasis on emotional process through storytelling
People need a way to judge the believability of stories, using:
–
narrative rationality; a logical method of reasoning why a person can determine how believable another’s narrative is.
– good reasons
– narrative coherence; When the narrative being used appears to flow smoothly, makes sense and is believable.
–
narrative fidelity; When the narrative appears truthful and congruent with our own experiences.
Narrative Paradigm versus the Rational Paradigm

Theory Defined (D&Z)
Likert (style) Proposes one style is superior to others
Transformational leadership
(style)
Focuses on leaders that inspire others through communication
Contingency model (situation) Different organizational needs can be met by differing leadership styles
Leadership-member exchange
(situation)
How same leader can have dissimilar relationships with different followers
Likert’s Four Systems: 4 distinct leadership systems.
Leadership systems within an organization
1.
Exploitative authoritative “tells”
2.
Benevolent authoritative “sells”
3.
Consultative system “consults”
4.
Participative “joins”
Leaderships styles are not descriptions of a leader’s personality, they are systems of leadership
Usage
• Widely influential in research and practical organizational management
Criticisms
•
Innovative at the time he proposed it (early 1960s), but does not apply to modern work life
•
Same manager might use different kinds of leadership styles
Transformational Leadership: contrasts two leadership styles.
Transactional: seeks to achieve solid, consistent, performance from subordinates (incentives, promotion, raise, etc.)
Transformational; is founded on particular attitudes and behaviours that support organizational change, it has 4 facets:
1.
Idealized influence
2.
Inspirational motivation
3.
Intellectual stimulation
4.
Individualized consideration
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is linked to Transformational Leadership. In contemporary organisations being
‘book smart’ is not nearly as important as EQ.
Components of EQ at work:
Self-awareness
Self-regulation
Motivation
Empathy
Social skill
Contingency Model: Fiedler developed a model that included situational parameters when explaining leadership effectiveness.
Fiedler recognizes 2 distinct approaches of leadership:
Task leader
Relationship leader
Fiedler developed a scale of situational control that consists of 3 elements:
Leader member relations
Task structure
1.
clarity of the group’s goals
2.
Path multiplicity; or the number of potential courses of action available to the group
3.
Effect verifiability; or the extent to which effects of decisions are clear.
4.
Specifity of decisions to be made

Position power
Leader-member exchange; argues that leaders treat each of their subordinates differently; they really are managerial ‘pets’.
•
Focuses on how leader treat subordinates rather than on leadership traits or states
•
Acknowledges that power difference between superiors and subordinates and that subordinate relationships vary
•
Liking and performance determine the type of relationship that will develop between a given manager and employer.
What determines the type of relationship that will develop between any given manager and employee?
Liking
Performance

Summary Chapter 7; Theories of group communication
What is a group?
• = system of three or more individuals who are focused on achieving a common purpose and who influence and are influences by each other (Rothwell 1998 as cited in D&Z 152)
• Groups are different than aggregate or organizations
Theory Purpose
Interaction process analysis
(IPA)
Symbolic convergence theory
Functional group decision making
Provides means to create descriptive typography of the types of messages sent in groups and how they are perceived
Explains development of group consciousness, including shared emotions, motives and means
Centers on tasks that communication achieves in the decision-making process
Groupthink How to recognize faulty decision-making
Interaction process analysis; a classic theory developed to explain patterns of group discussion, particularly in terms of leadership.
Developed as a way of analyzing group communication
Groups seek to accomplish two goals
1.
Task (productivity)
2.
Maintenance (cohesion/samenhang)
Categories of Communication
• Socio-emotional behavior
• Task behaviors
System for Multiple Level Observation of Groups (SYMLOG) = theory of group dynamics and way to measure and change group behavior
– Forward vs. Backward (authority)
– Positive vs. Negative (friendliness)
– Upward vs. Downward (dominance/submissive)
Asks people to rate themselves and each other on these three dimensions by answering a series of questions such as their commitment to organizational goals, level of trust in colleagues etc.
Symbolic Convergence Theory: founded on the idea that group members cooperatively create and sustain a shared consciousness, including shared meaning, through interaction. Focus on:
The creation of group identity
The ways that group identity influence norms for behaviour
Symbolic Convergence Process
– “Fantasy Theme” may start with a “Dramatizing Message”
• fantasy = creative understanding of events that fulfils a psychological or rhetorical need
– Turns into a “Fantasy Chain” if theme develops through group interaction and enters group consciousness
– If fantasy chains transforms group from collection of individuals to identifiable group with group consciousness = symbolic convergence achieved
– Rhetorical Vision= unified way of seeing the world that provides implicit norms for group behavior

Functional Group Decision Making; a more specific focus on decision making . ‘Why do some groups make good decisions while others make bad ones?’
Function  refers to what communication does
4 requisite functions to achieve good decisions:
Problem analysis: Focus on the nature, extent, and likely causes of the problem. Be careful to differentiate between problems and symptoms of problems.
Goal setting: Identify what an ideal solution would ‘look like’. What are the necessary elements, and what would be ideal but not necessary?
Identify alternatives: Generate a large number of possible solutions: Quantity matters more than quality at this point.
Evaluate and select: Evaluate each alternative using established goals
3 types of communication exists in small groups:
- Promotive communcation: communication geared toward one of the requisite functions.
- Disruptive communication: diverts, retards or frustrates the ability of the group to achieve the requisite functions.
- Counteractive communication: messages that return a disrupted group back to the requisite functions.
Groupthink; dysfunctional way of deliberating that group members use when their desire for unanimity overrides their motivation to assess all available plans of action
Three necessary but not sufficient antecedent conditions
1.
Cohesion (degree of connection between group members, sense of solidarity)
2.
Structural flaws (problems with the way the group is organized)
group insulation; group is somehow isolated from the larger world
biased leadership; if the leader has already made his mind up or has a personal stake in the decision
lack of procedural norms; not having a process for how to make a decision
homogeneity; too much similarity, less likely to challenge each other’s ideas.
3.
Situational characteristics
Stress
time pressure
recent failures
moral dilemmas
8 Symptoms (in 3 groups) of Groupthink
1.
Overestimation of the Group
Illusion of invulnerability; when group members have an inflated view of the group’s abbilities
Belief in morality; because the group is good, the decision the group makes has to be good
2.
Closed-Mindedness
Stereotypes; the process of demonizing other groups and their leaders
Collective rationalizations; group member that justify their decisions by talking themselves into it
3.
Pressures Toward Uniformity
Self-censorship; when group members tend to keep their mouths shut when experiencing doubts
Illusion of unanimity; when group members think that consensus has been reached, even if it hasn’t
Self-appointed mindguards; when group members are careful not to present any contrary information, even if they know it exists.
Direct pressure on dissenters; placing pressure on somebody who does question the decision.

Summary Chapter 8 – Theories of organizational Communication
Organization = Group of people who coordinate activities to achieve individual and collective goals
Three functions of communication within organizations
1.
Relationships
2.
Organizing
3.
Change
Most communication theories see organizational culture as emerging from interaction and not easily manipulated by management
Theory Purpose
Organizational identification When organizational members identify with values of an organization, they can be and control controlled through self-discipline and peer pressure
Organizational culture 3 levels of culture (artifacts, values, basic assumption) and basic assumptions are heart of organizational culture
Structuration theory Organizational members produce and reproduce structures through their communication; communication simultaneously creates and constrains org life
Theory of organizing Organizations must process equivocal information to succeed
Organizational identification and control; centers on the way that an individual’s connenction to the organization influences behaviour and decision making in team-based structured. 3 main concepts tie the theory together:
Control
Simple control; direct, authoritarian control
Technological control; the use of technology to manage what can and can’t be done in the workplace (lopende band, limitation on computer technology)
-
-
-
Bureaucratic control; A hierarchical system of rules (employee handbooks)
Unobstrusive control; based on shared values within the organization (Identification)
Concertive control; based on interpersonal relationships and teamwork (coworker pressure)
Identification; the sense of oneness or belongingness to an organisation
Discipline; achieved through a sense of responsibility to the work group members
Organizational Culture; focused on the elements that compromise an organizational culture and how organizational culture assist individuals in making sense of their experiences.
Culture: refers to a pattern of shared assumptions that have been invented, discovered or developed by e given group and are taught to new members as the corrective way to think, perceive and behave.
Three levels of culture:
Level 1 – Artifacts: refer to the observable evidence of culture. They may take the forms of physical entities, such as architecture, dress and documents, but they also consist of patterns of behaviours, like rituals, acronyms, forms of address and approaches to decision making.
Level 2 – values: preferences about how situations should be handled. They represent shared beliefs about how things ought to happen. Organizational leaders are frequently the source of values.
Level 3 – basic assumptions; refers to the viewpoints organizational members hold about the world, including perceptions, thoughts, feelings and beliefs. These basic assumptions are subconscious because they have been reinforced over and over again as the organization faces challenges. Basic assumptions are at the hart of the organization culture, because such presumptions are made uniformly, throughout the organization.

Structuration Theory; At the core of this theory is the notion of structure.
– Structuration = Communication is how structures are developed, maintained and changed
– Structure = set of rules and resources organizations use to achieve goals
– Two main assumptions of theory
1.
Agency = people make choices about their behavior (people are active or “agents” and they have intention (they want to do do something)
2.
Organizations are produced and constantly reproduced through structures in interaction
Duality of structure: The notion that organizational members’ action (agency) both creates and forces interaction
– Structures (i.e., organizations) have many functions
1.
Mechanism for coordination and control
2.
Help members determine their identity in the organization
3.
Help monitor members’ performance
4.
Help organizations situate themselves in broader environment
5.
Symbolic
Organizational climate (what it feels like to be in a particular organization):
kernel climate: Climate that is shared throughout an organization
Surface climate: climates are differentially interpreted and experienced within the same organization
Organizing Theory; communication is what constitutes an organization; concerned with information environment
Equivocality= ambiguity of information available to organization (equivocality is not uncertainty)
Two ways to reduce equivocality
1.
rules/recipes
2.
double interacts = communication behavior = act, response + adjustment
Three-stage process of socio-cultural evolution
1.
Enactment = org members take note of equivocal information in information environment
2.
Selection = org members choose how to respond
3.
Retention = organizational memory

Summary Chapter 9; Theories of Mediated communication
Mediated communication vs. Mass communication
– Mediated = any communication in which some thing (e.g. phone, computer, etc.) exists between source and receiver
– Mass = mediated communication between source and a large audience that is often unknown by the source
– All mass communication is mediated, but the reverse is not true
Theory Purpose
Agenda-setting theory Media does not tell us what to think but tell us what to think about
Cultivation theory Social perceptions of heavy TV viewers skewed to reality presented on TV
Social learning theory TV viewers model behavior on television through social learning process (attention, retention, reproduction, motivation)
Uses and gratification theory
Audience members use media forms that will provide them with individual gratification they seek
Agenda Setting theory; Media determine about which subjects people speak/think. Media put certain topics on the agenda and others not.
Two key assumptions
• News media have an agenda
• Most people would like help in understanding and evaluating politics
“Framing the News”; Public opinions shaped by selection, emphasis, elaboration, exclusion
Gatekeepers: the handful of news editors who set the agenda
Certain topics are more likely to influence audience thought and certain individuals are more likely to be influenced by these issues.
Need for orientation: depends both on a topic’s relevance as well as on a person’s uncertainty.
Cultivation Theory; TV violence influences attitudes rather than behaviour.
Focuses on television
Assumptions
• TV is central to life and culture in USA
• TV influences audiences’ perception of reality, thereby shaping how people interact with others
• TV’s effects are limited
Viewers’ attitudes are cultivated in two ways:
• mainstreaming = viewers develop a common view of social reality based on frequent exposures
• resonance = congruency between viewers’ violent experience and what they see on TV
Cultivation theory does NOT argue that people think whatever television tells them or “cultivates” in them.
Rather it highlights two ways that viewers attitudes are cultivated: mainstreaming and resonance.
Social Learning Theory; People learn and use aggression as a result of viewing violent media.
Claim: most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling.
Four stages of social learning theory:
Attention
Retention; learning through observational modeling
Reproduction;
Motivation;
Social Learning Theory posits that media effects are not merely a “see it- do it” phenomenon. Instead the theory acknowledges that other factors must be at work (i.e., motivation, motor ability) to pursue certain behavior

Uses and gratification theory; focuses on why people use media
3 primary assumptions:
media use is active and goal driven based on individuals needs
UGT maintains that a person must identify his or her needs and make a media choice
media outlets compete with other available means of satisfying personal needs
Reasons why individuals use the media
entertainment
Information
Personal identity
Personal Relationships and social interaction