Selective Exposure Selective exposure refers to the tendency for people to expose themselves to those things that support their belief systems and avoid stimuli that challenge or contradict them (Orbe, Mark P., Carol J. Bruess. Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication. Los Angeles: Roxbury, 2005. Print.) In other words, people tend to avoid those topics with which they disagree or do not understand and sidestep endeavors in which they are not as skilled. This is a recurring negative trait I have noticed in myself since I left high school. As a matter of fact, this class, Interpersonal Communication, is the first class I decided to take that was outside of my comfort zone. Until this current term I have been taking classes I knew …show more content…
Bruess. Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication. Los Angeles: Roxbury, 2005. Print.), is something at which I have always excelled. However, I have not been able to categorize these actions until I having taken this course. Over the course of my relationship with Trish, my fiancée, we have developed many idiosyncratic terms to describe situations, call attention to a situation, or to just have fun. I always knew it was fun but the textbook also notes that idiosyncratic communication “builds the strength and character of a culture.” Upon reading this, I have tried to include some of these “inside jokes” in other relationships I am starting or relationships I would like to grow. In my experience, it has been helpful to create or refine our interpersonal culture with new and interesting …show more content…
Bruess. Contemporary Issues in Interpersonal Communication. Los Angeles: Roxbury, 2005. Print.) Though these norms were taught, they were always just inferred. Learning the rules of Proxemics has been eye opening. It is nice to have the general guidelines of intimate, personal, social and public distance. When there are specific rules put in place it is much easier to convey how someone is violating them. For instance, a friend of mine, Mike, recently stopped by my house. It should be noted that Mike has been a notorious “close talker” in our friend group for years. Now that I know the specific distances, was able to talk to Mike about his close talking and that it was making some people uncomfortable. And, because we were alone, the minimalized embarrassment of the situation allowed him to be receptive to the notion that he was violating implicit social rules. I showed him the textbook and we talked about the different distances. Ultimately he thanked me for my candor and has been making strides in appropriate distances while in dyads and
Throughout the semester, we have been introduced to many topics related to interpersonal communication. I have come to believe that these concepts have allowed me to better understand interactions that occur in our daily lives. My knowledge of these concepts was challenged when asked to relate these notions to a movie. During the time that I was watching the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I realized myself grasping onto what was going on and being able to relate certain scenes and situations to topics I had previously learned about. Interactions in My Big Fat Greek Wedding display concepts of conflict and politeness theory, which can be pointed out in a few specific scenes.
It is vital that individual differences are ironed out through open discussion by identifying and accommodating them in a mutually exclusive interpersonal communication. Personal communication is the foundation of resolving individual differences, which go a long way to produce harmony, respect and love into the relationship. The exchange of information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages appreciate make marriage last till eternity.
This concept focuses on the theory of a bubble called “personal space,” and how we tend to consider our close surroundings to be our own personal area. The size of “personal space” varies from culture to culture, but was divided into four categories within the North American culture. These categories are intimate distance, which is skin contact to 18 inches and is reserved for those whom we trust and with whom we are emotionally close, and personal distance, which is 18 to 4 feet for a range of personal communication varying from couples on the closer end to friends towards arm’s length. Then there is social distance ranging from 4 to 12 feet, which can increase the person aspect of a conversation, such as between a student and their professor, and finally public distance, which is 12 feet at least and establishes a distance in which two-way communication is less frequent (Adler et. al, 2015, pg. 193-194). People tend to react negatively to a stranger entering their personal space, and use strategies in an attempt to create a “wall” between them and the other individual. One of the examples in this section reminded me of a time when a person that I found attractive made her way into my personal space in social setting, which instantly caused me to read into her behavior. Even though no words were exchanged, simply be entering my close proximity she was sending me a message, and I read into the situation. This is where the ambiguity of nonverbal communication can come in to play. However, by her entering my personal space, between 18 inches and 4 feet, it sent me a signal that could have been interpreted to mean that she wanted me to see that she was nearby and initiate a conversation. However, if she had been a stranger who I was not interested in conversing with and I found myself stuck in
Beebe, Steven A., Susan J. Beebe, and Mark V. Redmond. "Understanding Self and Others." Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others. Boston: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson, 2009. 43. Print.
example: when you talk to someone that is hard of hearing and you ask them to do
The first assignment examined communication, ethics and perception. Entering into this class, I can say that I definitely took communication for granted. I focused too often on analyzing what is said when communicating rather than fully listening. The ability to put forth ideas and information in ways that are verbal and nonverbal is amazing. When thinking about ethics in communication, the first thing that comes to mind is patient/doctor or attorney/client privilege. Next, are companies that make claims that are worded in such a way that if their products do not work exactly as advertised, their half-truths may not be considered illegal but they are definitely unethical.
I will begin by selecting a scene from the movie and using it to explain what interpersonal communication is. The interpersonal transaction I chose to isolate was the scene where we see Bender and Claire going through each other’s wallet and purse. Claire inquires about the pictures of girls in Bender’s wallet and Bender asks about the number of items in Claire’s purse. This scene shows that interpersonal communication is a dynamic process. In previous transactions between the two characters, they are hostile towards each other and self-disclose minimally. In this conversation, Claire calmly asks Bender personal questions, although Bender is still watchful of what he self-discloses. Interpersonal communication is inescapable. While Claire is asking these questions, no matter how Bender responds, he is still sending Claire a message about himself, which is a form of communication. Interpersonal communication is unrepeatable, in that Claire probably wouldn’t ask the same kind of questions after realizing Bender’s disbelief in monogamy. The conversation couldn’t be reenacted exactly the same. Interpersonal communication is also irreversible. After this interpersonal transaction, it would be impossible for Bender to argue that he believes in monogamy or for Claire to argue that she doesn’t. Even if they were to say they didn’t mean what they said, the transaction would still have some sort of effect on both of them. Interpersonal communication is complicated because Claire must take everything she knows about Bender in consideration before she forms her questions. When she asks Bender why he doesn’t believe in monogamy and Bender doesn’t respond, Claire doesn’t take into consideration the fact that Bender likes to disclose very little about himself. This scene also shows that interpersonal communication is contextual. If Bender and Claire weren’t in detention together, they wouldn’t even b...
When examining the way social support functions for bully victims, context is prevalent. Matusnaga (2011) examines what kinds of social support behaviors help bully victims. Since being a victim of bullying is such a specific situation and context, social support needs to be granted carefully for it to be helpful to the victims. Due to the specific parameters that the interpersonal interaction is being examined, contextual theme encompasses this literature.
In discussing the different views of social organization, Radcliffe-Brown is mentioned as an anthropologist who focused on how groups formed and what rules held them together. Monaghan and Just define Radcliffe-Brown as a functionalist. They quote his definition of a joking relationship as “one where one party ‘is permitted, and sometimes required to tease or make fun of the other, who in turn is required to take no offense’” (Monaghan and Just 57). An avoidance relationship, on the other hand “are characterized by extreme mutual respect and a limitation of direct personal contact” (Monaghan and Just 57). The authors then go on to describe Radcliffe-Brown’s analysis of these relationships and showcase his conclusions that they are “standardized social relationships” used to regulate two potentially awkward or conflict-prone situations such as with a sister-in-law, generally normalized through joking, or a mother-in-law, typically normalized through avoidance (Monaghan and Just 57-59). These customary relationships give people a way to navigate tricky social waters.
Higher social status or power and commonalities between the individuals may explain why they are willing to do so. In attempt to demonstrate associative behavior, these individuals will partake in accommodation. According to the Communication Accommodation Theory, the interactants converge either upward or downward, unimodal or multimodal, or symmetrical or asymmetrical in order to adapt to the conversational setting (Zhang & Imamura, 2017). For instances, adults would speak slowly and use simple vocabulary when talking with children. In A Class Divided, the teacher would converge downward for her third-grade students to understand the
“We have a deep desire to be known and to know others” (Donahue, 2015). According to Alder and Proctor (2016) from “Looking out Looking In” described self-disclosure as the process of deliberately revealing information about oneself and would not be normally known by others (p58). The main concept is if you don’t disclose enough to a person it can affect them and others as well. Main points I will be talking about are concepts and how it applied to relationships. Self -disclosure is connected to interpersonal communication by depending how much you disclose to someone it can create a stronger bond or break it.
In this paper I will analyze my own behavior, behaviors of others, and interactions I have noticed pertaining to social penetration theory. Social penetration theory provided me with insight on my daily communication practices. It brings light to the reasons as to why we feel comfortable, and uncomfortable in our ongoing experiences.
Interpersonal communication is very important in everyday life. It helps us build a relationship with another, also it helps us to satisfy our physical needs, identity needs, social needs and practical goals. Communication lets people exchange their feeling and information through verbal and non-verbal communication through social media or face to face communication. Communication can be effective and ineffective depend on the individual communication skills. The ways we communicate with another can be influenced by family, friends, significant other also within the culture and region where we stay. Each person has a different set of rule to communicate with another, so this is how miscommunication happen. There are some expectation and way
Nonverbal communication surrounds us all the time. “Nonverbal communication is all aspects of communication other than words” (Wood, 2016, p. 135). It is not communication with words, but we use nonverbal communication when we talk. We use nonverbal communication without even realizing it in every facet of our lives. This type of communication can be challenging depending on someone’s culture. Something that means one thing in America, can mean something totally different in another country. It is important to know this so that you don’t offend someone from another culture (Wood, 2016, p. 149).
Communication is one of the most important factors in our lives. It dictates the relationships formed with the individuals in personal and professional lives. Effective communication provides a foundation for trust and respect to grow. It also helps better understand a person and the context of the conversation. Individuals often believe that their communication skills are much better than what they actually are. Communication appears effortless; however, much of what two people discuss gets misunderstood, thus leading to conflicts and distress. To communicate effectively, one must understand the emotion behind the information being said. Knowing how to communicate effectively can improve relationships one has at home, work and in social affairs. Understanding communication skills such as; listening, non-verbal communication and managing stress can help better the relationships one has with others.