THEORIES OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

An Introductory Summary

Symbolic Interactionism

Humans act toward people or things on basis of meanings they assign to those people or things;

Meaning is formed through social interaction & language;

Self combines impulsive “I” and reflexive “me;” The “looking glass” Self learns to see itself as

others (“generalized other”) see it, by “taking on the role of the other,” interacting with others on the basis of that perception, perhaps provoking responses that fit expectations (“self-fulfilling prophecy”).

Coordinated Management of Meaning

Main focus: people who disagree can live together in relative harmony

Quality of life is directly related to quality of communication

Persons-in-conversation co-construct their own social realities and are simultaneously shaped by the worlds they create

Change communication = change quality of life: this is the “proof” offered by CMM

Expectancy Violations Theory

Has to do with sense of personal space (both literal and metaphoric) and preferred distance from others;

Asks what happens when other people violate our expectations about personal space

Postulates that the consequences can be perceived positively or negatively

Interpersonal Deception Theory

Deception-detection is an interactive (co-constructed) activity, not individual

Inter-actants constantly adjust their behavior to each other

Detection of deception may focus on characteristics of the message, or the behavior of the deceiver

Deceiver is protected, partially, by partner’s truth-bias

Constructivism

We make sense of the world through personal constructs, i.e. contrasting features we use to define the character of another person.

Some people use more complex constructs than others

Such cognitive complexity is a necessary but not sufficient condition for person-centered communication

Social Penetration Theory

Closeness develops if people proceed in gradual and orderly fashion from superficial to more intimate levels of exchange

Personality is conceived as a multi-layered onion with public self on the outer layer and private self at the core

Closeness is achieved through reciprocal self-disclosure, that is both broad and deep.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

New relationships involve uncertainty; communication reduces uncertainty

Motivation to reduce uncertainty increases under specified circumstances, and involves identifiable strategies

Relational Dialectics

Intimate relationships are organized around the dynamic interplay of opposing tendencies.

Especially, tensions exist between needs for intimacy and needs for independence

Closeness, certainty, openness need to be balanced against autonomy, novelty and privacy

Interactional View

Family members are components of a family system;

Systemic factors are more important than personality traits and motives in understanding family communication;

Focus of the theory is on individual behavior affects the functioning of the system