Chapter 1
Channel
The medium through which a message passes from sender to receiver.
Co-Culture
A culture that exists within the larger culture of a country or society, such as subgroups defined by
age, race/ethnicity, occupation, sexual orientation, physical disability, religion, avocation, and so
on.
Cognitive
complexity
The ability to construct a variety of frameworks for viewing an issue.
Communication A continuous, transactional process involving participants who occupy different but overlapping
environments and create relationships through the exchange of messages, many of which are
affected by external, physiological, and psychological noise.
Communication The ability to accomplish one’s personal goals in a manner that maintains a relationship on terms
competence
that are acceptable to all parties.
Computermediated
Communication between individuals that is conducted via computer channels such as e-mail, chat,
communication and instant messaging.
(CMC)
Decoding
The process in which a receiver attaches meaning to a message. Synonymous with interpreting.
Dyad
Two individuals communicating. The interaction may or may not be interpersonal in nature.
Encoding
The process of putting thoughts into symbols, most commonly words.
Environment
The field of experiences that leads a person to make sense of another’s behavior. Environments
consist of physical characteristics, personal experiences, relational history, and cultural
background.
Impersonal
Behavior that treats others as objects rather than individuals. See also Interpersonal
communication communication.
Instrumental
goals
Goals aimed at getting others to behave in desired ways.
Interpersonal
In a quantitative sense, communication (usually face-to-face) between two individuals. (See
communication also Dyad.) In a qualitative sense, communication in which the parties consider one another as
unique individuals rather than objects. It is characterized by minimal use of stereotyped labels;
unique, idiosyncratic rules; and a high degree of information exchange.
Linear
A characterization of communication as a one-way event in which a message flows from sender to
communication
receiver.
model
Message
Information sent from a sender to a receiver.
Noise
External, physiological, and psychological distractions that interfere with the accurate transmission
and reception of a message.
Receiver
One who notices and attends to a message.
Self-monitoring The process of attending to one’s behavior and using these observations to shape the way one
behaves.
Sender
The creator of a message.
Transactional
A characterization of communication as the simultaneous sending and receiving of messages in an
communication
ongoing, irreversible process.
model
Chapter 2
Cognitive
conservatism
The tendency to seek and attend to information that conforms to an existing self-concept.
Face
The socially approved identity that a communicator tries to present. See also Impression
management.
Identity
See Presenting self.
Identity
management
The communication strategies people use to influence how others view them.
Impression
management
See Identity management.
Perceived self
The person we believe ourselves to be in moments of candor. It may be identical with or different
from the presenting and ideal self.
Personality
A relatively consistent set of traits exhibited by a person across a variety of situations.
Presenting self The image a person presents to others. It may be identical with or different from the perceived and
ideal self.
Reference
groups
Groups against which we compare ourselves, thereby influencing our self-concept and self-esteem.
Reflected
appraisal
The theory that a person’s self-concept matches the way the person believes others regard him or
her.
Self-concept
The relatively stable set of perceptions each individual holds of himself or herself.
Self-esteem
The part of the self-concept that involves an individual’s evaluations of his or her self-worth.
Self-fulfilling
prophecy
A prediction or expectation of an event that makes the outcome more likely to occur than would
otherwise have been the case.
Significant
others
People whose opinion is important enough to affect one’s self-concept strongly.
Social
comparison
Evaluation of oneself in terms of or by comparison to others.
Chapter 3
Androgynous
Possessing both masculine and feminine traits.
Attribution
The process of attaching meaning to behavior.
Empathy
The ability to project oneself into another person’s point of view, so as to experience the other’s
thoughts and feelings.
Ethnocentrism The attitude that one’s own culture is superior to others.
Gender role
Socially approved ways that men and women are expected to behave.
Halo effect
The power of a first impression to influence subsequent perceptions.
Interpretation
The process of attaching meaning to sense data; synonymous with Decoding.
Narrative
A perception of the world shared by a collection of people. Narratives can be described in terms of
a dramatic theme.
Negotiation
A process in which two or more parties discuss specific proposals in order to find a mutually
acceptable agreement.
Perception
checking
A three-part method for verifying the accuracy of interpretations, including a description of the
sense data, two possible interpretations, and a request for confirmation of the interpretations.
Pillow method
A method for understanding an issue from several perspectives rather than with an egocentric “I’m
right and you’re wrong” attitude.
Punctuation
The process of determining the causal order of events.
Selection
The first stage in the perception process in which some data are chosen to attend to and others to
ignore.
Self-serving
bias
The tendency to interpret and explain information in a way that casts the perceiver in the most
favorable manner.
Stereotyping
Categorizing individuals according to a set of characteristics assumed to belong to all members of a
group.
Sympathy
Compassion for another’s situation. See also Empathy.
Chapter 4
Debilitative
emotions
Emotions that prevent a person from functioning effectively.
Emotional
contagion
The process by which emotions are transferred from one person to another.
Facilitative
emotions
Emotions that contribute to effective functioning.
Fallacy of
approval
The irrational belief that it is vital to win the approval of virtually every person a communicator
deals with.
Fallacy of
catastrophic
expectations
The irrational belief that the worst possible outcome will probably occur.
Fallacy of
causation
The irrational belief that emotions are caused by others and not by the person who has them.
Fallacy of
helplessness
The irrational belief that satisfaction in life is determined by forces beyond one’s control.
Fallacy of
Irrational beliefs in which (1) conclusions (usually negative) are based on limited evidence, or
overgeneralization (2) communicators exaggerate their shortcomings.
Fallacy of
perfection
The irrational belief that a worthwhile communicator should be able to handle every situation
with complete confidence and skill.
Fallacy of shoulds The irrational belief that people should behave in the most desirable way.
Rumination
Dwelling persistently on negative thoughts that, in turn intensify negative feelings.
Self-talk
The nonvocal process of thinking. On some level, self-talk occurs as a person interprets
another’s behavior.
Chapter 5
Abstract
language
Language that lacks a description of observable elements. See also Behavioral language.
Abstraction
ladder
A range of more to less abstract terms describing an event or object.
Behavioral
language
Language that describes observable behavior. See also Abstract language.
“But”
statements
Statements in which the word but cancels out the expression that preceded it.
Convergence
The process of adapting one’s speech style to match that of others with whom the communicator
wants to identify. See also Divergence.
Divergence
Speaking mannerisms that emphasize a communicator’s differences from others. See
also Convergence.
Emotive
language
Language that conveys the sender’s attitude rather than simply offers an objective description.
Equivocal
language
Ambiguous language that has two or more equally plausible meanings.
High-context
cultures
Cultures that avoid direct use of language, relying on the context of a message to convey meaning.
“I” language
A statement that describes the speaker’s reaction to another person’s behavior without making
judgments about its worth. See also “You” language.
“It” statements Statements that replace the personal pronoun “I” with the less immediate word “it,” often reducing
the speaker’s acceptance of responsibility for the statement.
Low-context
cultures
Cultures that use language primarily to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas as clearly and
logically as possible.
Mannerisms
Affected or exaggerated style or manner.
Powerless
speech
mechanisms
Ways of speaking that may reduce perceptions of a communicator’s power.
Pragmatic
rules
Linguistic rules that help communicators understand how messages may be used and interpreted in
a given context.
Relative words Words that gain their meaning by comparison.
Sapir–Whorf
hypothesis
Theory of linguistic determinism in which language shapes a culture’s perceived reality.
Semantic rules Rules that govern the meaning of language, as opposed to its structure. See also Syntactic rules.
Static
evaluation
The tendency to view people or relationships as unchanging.
Syntactic rules Rules that govern the ways symbols can be arranged, as opposed to the meanings of those
symbols. See also Semantic rules.
“We” language Statement that implies that the issue is the concern and responsibility of both the speaker and
receiver of a message. See also “I” language, “You” language.
“You”
language
A statement that expresses or implies a judgment of the other person. See also “I” language.