Looking Out/Looking In
Eleventh Edition
Chapter Nine:
Improving
Communication Climates
Ronald B. Adler, Russell F. Proctor II, and Neil Towne
Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Improving Communication Climates
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Communication Climate:
Confirming Communication
• Recognition
• Acknowledgement
• Endorsement
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Communication Climate:
Disconfirming Communication
• Verbal Abuse
• Complaining
• Impervious Responses
• Interrupting
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not
to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s
the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard
• Irrelevant Responses
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Communication Climate:
Disconfirming Communication
• Tangential Responses
• Impersonal Responses
• Ambiguous Responses
The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not
to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s
the essence of inhumanity.
George Bernard
• Incongruous Responses
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Communication Climate:
How Communication
Climates Develop
• Escalatory Conflict Spirals
• De-Escalatory Conflict Spirals
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
• Causes: Face-Threatening Acts
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
Types of Defensive Reactions
Attacking the Critic
• Verbal Aggression
• Sarcasm
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How Critical are You?
http://www.rateyourself.com/poll.cfm/Subject_ID/3/Poll_ID/4001
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
Types of Defensive Reactions
Distorting Critical Information
• Rationalization
• Compensation
• Regression
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Question:
Gregor confronts his roommate, Patrick, with a
complaint, “Pat, you haven’t taken out the trash or
done any dishes in weeks. It’s starting to bug me.”
Patrick knows he hasn’t done much around the house
but he doesn’t want Gregor to think poorly of him.
He makes up an explanation and responds, “Yeah,
sorry about that, but I think I’ve been coming down
with something.” Patrick’s response is an example of:
a.
rationalization
b.
compensation
c.
repression
d.
regression
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
Types of Defensive Reactions
Avoiding Dissonant Information
• Physical Avoidance
• Repression
• Apathy
• Displacement
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
Preventing Defensiveness in Others
• Evaluation Versus Description
• Control Versus Problem Orientation
• Strategy Versus Spontaneity
• Neutrality Versus Empathy
• Superiority Versus Equality
• Certainty Versus Provisionalism
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
Saving Face
The Clear Message Format
• Behavioral Description
• Interpretation
• Feeling
• Consequence
• Intention
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Question:
What is missing from this clear message? “The other
day when you left the office door open, I thought
you were being careless about our agreement. I’m
frustrated because my personal belongings could be
stolen from my desk.”
a. It does not describe behavior.
b. It does not describe your interpretation of the
behavior.
c. It does not describe your intention.
d. Nothing is missing from this clear message.
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Defensiveness: Causes & Remedies
Responding Nondefensively
to Criticism
• Seek More Information
• Agree with the Critic
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Responding Nondefensively to
Criticism - Seek More Information
• Ask for Specifics
• Guess About Specifics
• Paraphrase the Speaker’s Ideas
• Ask What the Critic Wants
• Ask About the Consequences of Your Behavior
• Ask What Else is Wrong
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Responding Nondefensively to
Criticism - Agree with the Critic
• Agree with the Facts
• Agree with the Critic’s
Perception
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Chapter 9 - Improving Communication Climates
Question:
Agreeing with the critic involves:
a. Agreeing with facts that are correct, even if
they portray your behavior in a negative light
b. Agreeing that the critic should try to see
things your way
c. Apologizing and verbally agreeing with the
critic’s evaluation of your behavior, even if
you don’t really believe it yourself
d. All of the above
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