Why study interpersonal comm?

Why study interpersonal comm?

1. Intellectual benefits- it is something we do every day. We talk to coworkers, use intant messaging, apply for jobs, give directions and break off relationships

2. Effective interpersonal communication can…

   • -reduce medical mistakes -help prevent workplace violence -improve doctor/patient relations

3. Practical benefits - our personal, profess and social effectiveness are dependent on our interpers. Knowledge and skills.

   • 89 percent of recruiters put interpersonal skills and comm at the top of their lists

4. Relationships- a survey of 1001 people over 18 showed that 53 percent felt that a lack of effective comm was the major cause of marriage failure

5. Understanding the theory and research in interpersonal comm

   • Good communicators are Made
     • Quality of comm > quantity
       • You cannot always be open, empathetic and supportive as you can be, all situations are different, can't always be open
         • When comm w people from other cultures, its bes to acknowledge the diff and treat the other person with their cultural norms and ideals in mind
           • Fear of meeting new people is not something to all together eliminate, it is not a deterrent in interpersonal comm
             • Every relationship will have conflict

6. The nature of interpersonal comm

   • can be defined as the verbal and nonverbal comm between two interdependent people
   • Although mainly dyadic, interpers comm can also be extended to small intimate groups such as family.
   • Indv in interpersonal comm are interdependent, meaning that they have an impact on one another.
   • Exits on a continuum- from relatively impersonal to highly personal. A bank teller and a customer talking would be on the most impersonal side where as a mother and daughter talking would be on the more personal side.
   • Role v personal info- people respond to each other according to the roles they play.
     • societal vs personal rules- the server and the customer conform
   • Predictive and explanatory data0 interpersonal relationships offer some degree or predictability. This increases as you get to know a person
   • Silence counts as nonverbal comm. The silent treatment is an example of comm.
   • Exists in varied forms- both face to face and online. Online comm is important personally, socially, and professionally

7. Elements of Interpersonal Comm

   • Source- receiver- each indv performs source functions ( forms and sends messages) and also performs receiver functs ( perceives and comprehends messages)
   • Encoding-decoding- encoding refers to the act of producing messages and decoding refers to the act of understanding messages. Both are necessary for comm to take place.
   • Messages- signals that serve as stimuli for a receiver. They can be verbal and nonverbal, intentional and unintentional.
   • Metamessages- msgs about other msga. Two types are feedback and feedforward.
   • Feedback messages- messages sent back to the speaker concerning reactions to what is comm. It is important to discern feedbacl and adjust to it.
   • Feedforward messages- info you provide before sending your primary messages. It reveals something about the message to come.
   • Channel- the medium through which messages pass. Often we use more than one channel at a time

8. Noise

   • Physical: physical barriers w in the speaker or listener Physiological: cognitive or emotional interference

9. SEMANTIC- problems w the speaker and listener assigning diff meanings to symbols. Using jargon or overly complex terms.

   • Context- a dimension that influences the form and content of messages.

10. Interpersonal competence- ability to comm effectively

11. Ethics: the moral dimensions of comm

12. Interpersonal Comm is ambiguous- every message or symbol can be interpreted in more than one way

    • Interpersaonal comm is purposeful- to learn, to relate, to play and to help