Interpersonal Dynamics
Chapter 8
Some Questions
• What types of communication define what
an interpersonal relationship is?
• How does communication affect
satisfaction in relationships?
• How are patterns of communication
formed and changed and how do they
affect relationships?
Interaction Theory
• The Pragmatics of Human Communication
(1967) by Paul Watzlawick, Janet Beavin,
and Don Jackson.
– This book introduced Interaction Theory to the
field of communication.
Interaction Theory
• Older models of communication analyzed
specific aspects of a communicator, but
Interaction Theory stressed the
importance of how communication occurs
within a context.
Interaction Theory
• Interaction Theory derives its theoretical
roots from General Systems Theory,
developed by the Viennese biologist,
Ludwig von Bertalanffy.
– “Life forms are organized wholes that seek to
sustain themselves” (162).
– “Organisms function and continue to exist as
a result of organized, dynamic interaction
among parts” (162).
Interaction Theory
• Interaction theorists seized upon the
Systems Theory approach in order to
explain relational communication.
– “Most concisely defined, a communication
system is a group of interrelated and
interacting parts that function as a whole”
(163).
Interaction Theory
• Some axioms of Interaction Theory:
– All parts are interrelated.
• “If you change any part of a system, you change
the entire system” (163).
– Systems are organized wholes.
• “We cannot understand any part of a system in
isolation from the other interrelated parts” (163).
Interaction Theory
• Some axioms of Interaction Theory:
– The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
• Interaction among parts within a system create
other factors that come to define that system as
unique from the parts that compose it.
• “Systems include not only their original parts but
also interaction among those interrelated parts and
what is created as a result of the interaction” (165).
• Systems can be relatively Open or Closed.
Interaction Theory
• Some axioms of Interaction Theory:
– Systems try to achieve homeostasis.
• “Change is inevitable and continuous. Sometimes
it’s abrupt; at other times it’s gradual. Sometimes
change comes from outside a system; in other
cases it arises within the system. To maintain
function and to meet the system’s objective of
survival, members of the system, like the sponge,
must continuously adjust and change” (165).
Interaction Theory
• Dynamic Equilibrium: The process by
which systems change in order to maintain
their integrity.
Interaction Theory
• Levels of meaning within a relationship.
– Content Meaning: The actual signs (words,
gestures, etc.) used to communicate.
– Relationship Meaning: The subtext of the
content meaning that defines the relationship
between communicators.
– “Whatever content we express, we
simultaneously communicate how we see
ourselves, the other, and our relationship”
(167).
Interaction Theory
• Punctuation
– In terms of CMM theory, punctuation might be
thought of as the definition of when “episodes”
begin and end.
– “In writing, we use periods to define where
sentences begin and end. In much the same
way, we punctuate interaction by designating
when episodes start and stop” (168).
Interaction Theory
• Punctuation
– Demand/Withdraw or Pursuer-Distancer
patterns are the result of each communicator
within the relationship defining episodes
differently (e.g. pursuer says the other has
withdrawn first and distancer says the other
has pursued first).
– “Each person perceives the other’s actions as
the cause, and each sees his or her behaviors
as a response” (169).
Interaction Theory
• Relationships and Power
– Symmetrical Relationships: Reflect equal
power.
– Complementary Relationships: Reflect
different levels of power.
– Parallel Relationships: Overall power is
equal, but primary control is divided between
partners based on domain.
Dialectical Theory
• “Stated most simply, this theory asserts
that in any relationship there are inherent
tensions between contradictory impulses,
or dialectics” (173).
Dialectical Theory
• “The central idea of a dialectic is not the
contradictory impulses but rather the
tension between them. Thus dialectical
theorists would be less interested in
individual desires for independence and
dependence than in the friction generated
by the contradiction between the two
impulses” (173).
Dialectical Theory
• Dialectical Moments: “Temporary periods
of equilibrium between opposing dialectics
in the larger pattern of continuous change
that marks relationships” (174).
Dialectical Theory
• Contradiction and Process
– Contradiction: “Tensions between people
promote communication, which links them.
He believed that the communication prompted
by dialectical tensions allows partners to grow
individually and together. […] Each impulse
need the contradictory one” (174).
Dialectical Theory
• Contradiction and Process
– Process: “Viewing dialectics as in process
means that we understand they are ongoing,
always in motion, forever changing.
Dialectics are not static balances between
contradictory impulses. Instead, they are fluid
relationships that continuously evolve” (175).
Dialectical Theory
• Relational Dialectics (Internal Vs. External
Form)
– Integration/Separation: The conflict between
integration and autonomy (internal) and the
conflict between wanting a public vs. private
relationship (external).
Dialectical Theory
• Relational Dialectics (Internal Vs. External
Form)
– Stability/Change: The conflict between a
comfortable routine and the desire for new
experiences (internal) and the conflict
between a unique vs. conformist relationship
(external).
Dialectical Theory
• Relational Dialectics (Internal Vs. External
Form)
– Expression/Privacy: The conflict between
self-disclosure and maintaining privacy
(internal) and revealing vs. concealing the
relationship (external).
• Why do we want to self-disclose?
• Why do we want to maintain privacy?
• Is total openness or total privacy harmful to a
relationship?
Dialectical Theory
• Responses to Dialectics
– Selection: Privileging one desire and
suppressing the other.
– Separation: Meeting both desires based on
context.
– Neutralization: Meeting both desires, but not
completely.
– Reframing: Redefining the context of
opposing desires so they are no longer at
odds. Energizing a need through its opposite.