TRENDS IN MASS COMMUNICATION II:Communication Maxims, Emotions

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Theories of Communication MCM 511

LESSON 43

TRENDS IN MASS COMMUNICATION II

Four Principles of Interpersonal Communication

These principles underlie the workings in real life of interpersonal communication. They are basic to

communication. We can't ignore them

Interpersonal communication is inescapable

We can't not communicate. The very attempt not to communicate communicates something. Through

not only words, but through tone of voice and through gesture, posture, facial expression, etc., we

constantly communicate to those around us.

Through these channels, we constantly receive communication from others.

Even when you sleep, you communicate. Remember a basic principle of communication in general:

people are not mind readers. Another way to put this is: people judge you by your behavior, not your

intent.

Interpersonal communication is irreversible

You can't really take back something once it has been said. The effect must inevitably remain.

Despite the instructions from a judge to a jury to "disregard that last statement the witness made," the

lawyer knows that it can't help but make an impression on the jury. A Russian proverb says, "Once a

word goes out of your mouth, you can never swallow it again."

Interpersonal communication is complicated

No form of communication is simple. Because of the number of variables involved, even simple

requests are extremely complex...

Theorists note that whenever we communicate there are really at least six "people" involved:

1) Who you think you are

2) Who you think the other person is

3) Who you think the other person thinks you are

4) Who the other person thinks /she is

5) Who the other person thinks you are

6) Who the other person thinks you think s/he is

We don't actually swap ideas; we swap symbols that stand for ideas. This also complicates

communication.

Words (symbols) do not have inherent meaning; we simply use them in certain ways, and no two people

use the same word exactly alike.

Communication Maxims

Osmo Wiio gives us some communication maxims similar to Murphy's Law (Osmo Wiio, Wiio's Laws--

and Some Others (Espoo, Finland: Welin-Goos, 1978) :

If communication can fail, it will.

If a message can be understood in different ways, it will be understood in just that way which does the

most harm.

There is always somebody who knows better than you what you meant by your message.

Communication takes place in a context that mixes interpersonal communication interactions with social

clustering.

The more communication there is, the more difficult it is for communication to succeed.

These tongue-in-cheek maxims are not real principles; they simply humorously remind us of the

difficulty of accurate communication.

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Interpersonal communication is contextual

In other words, communication does not happen in isolation. There is:

Psychological context, which is who you are and what you bring to the interaction.

Your needs, desires, values, personality, etc., all form the psychological context. ("You" here refers to

both participants in the interaction.)

Relational context, which concerns your reactions to the other person--the "mix."

Situational context deals with the psycho-social "where" you are communicating.

An interaction that takes place in a classroom will be very different from one that takes place in a bar.

Environmental context deals with the physical "where" you are communicating. Furniture, location,

noise level, temperature, season, time of day, all are examples of factors in the environmental context.

Cultural context includes all the learned behaviors and rules that affect the interaction.

If you come from a culture (foreign or within your own country) where it is considered rude to make

long, direct eye contact, you will out of politeness avoid eye contact.

If the other person comes from a culture where long, direct eye contact signals trustworthiness, then we

have in the cultural context a basis for misunderstanding.

Barriers against Effective Interpersonal Communication

1. Emotions- Sometimes when people communicate an idea or matter across, the receiver can feel how

the sender perceives the subject matter. Often messages are interpreted differently for different people in

a clear manner.

Extreme emotions are most likely to hinder effective communication because the idea or message

maybe misinterpreted.

It's always best to avoid responding or reacting to the subject matter when you're upset or angry because

most of the time, you'll not be able to think.

2. Filtering-This is where the sender manipulates the information that he communicates to the receiver.

The purpose of this is because sometimes people would shape and reform the message so that it appears

and sounds favorable to the receiver.

Filtering information may mislead the receiver into thinking into something favorable and the let down

may be upsetting if it's found out that information has been filtered.

3. Overloaded with Information-Too much information about the same subject matter may be

confusing. For example, you have 50 e-mails on the same subject matter; each e-mail contains a little

part of the subject matter.

It would be better to have one e-mail from the sender which includes all the information in clear and

simple form with only the information you want that you asked for.

Normally, the human brain can only take in so much information to process, overloading it with

information will exceed our human processing capacity and the receiver would often misunderstand or

not understand at all what the sender is telling them.

4. Defensiveness-Humans tend to refuse for a mutual understanding when they feel that they are being

threatened or are put in a position which they are at a disadvantage.

Defensiveness normally consists of attacking what the sender tells you, putting out sarcastic remarks,

questioning their motives or being overly judgmental about the subject matter.

5. Cultural Difference-Sometimes our culture may be a huge hindrance for effective interpersonal

communication.

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When two people with different cultures communicate, they often do not understand each other's

cultures and may misunderstand the true meaning of what each other are trying to convey through such

a sense.

6. Jargon- Not everyone understands each other's jargon words. Jargon should be avoided when talking

to someone who isn't familiar with you personally or within your organization.

Overcoming the Barriers of Effective Interpersonal Communication

1. Simplify Language- By structuring your language to clear simplistic sentences, the receiver would

be able to easily understand what the sender is saying. For example, jargon can be used within your

organization as it will only use one word rather than a whole sentence to explain what you are trying to

communicate across.

2. Constrain Emotions- Hold back emotions whilst discussing a certain sensitive issue. By speaking

through a neutral manner, it allows mutual understanding to occur and for both sender and receiver to

communicate in a rational manner.

3. Listen actively- Often, when the sender says something, the receiver normally hears but does not

listen.

Place yourself in the sender's position and try to understand exactly what they are trying to convey to

you. The receiver is trying to understand fully what the sender is trying to say, so putting the receiver in

the sender's point of view makes understanding much easier.

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