Chapter 7 CHAPTER OUTLINE Interpersonal communication includes areas of conflict resolution, persuasion, information processing,relationship communication, and other areas. Our focus here is mostly on relationships. How Can I Look Good to Them? Identity management theories explain how we manage our impressions, or how we look to others Face management theory: about how we manage our impressions The fundamental assumption: face is central to coordinated interaction Face is our public self-image—the image that evolves in conversation Facework is supporting and maintaining our own and the other’s face Preventative facework: to avoid face loss Corrective facework: to restore or repair face loss Face concerns: We are concerned with both our own and other’s face, to different degrees, in interaction Politeness theory: About how we use interactions to reduce face imposition Face needs: Positive: need to be valued, included, seen as competent Negative: need to free of imposition, constraint, intrusion Face threatening acts: Anything that challenges our own face or that of the other (e.g., embarrassment, insult, directive (request/command), conflict Politeness strategies help reduce imposition of face (+ or -) Positive politeness: attempts to assure listener is appreciated Negative politeness: attempts to minimize imposition Bald on-record strategies: direct requests (without buffering) On-record: clear intention, but with buffering, politeness Off-record: hints, indirects; unclear whether face is challenged Face management may be influenced by social distance, power, seriousness of face threat How Can I Have Better Relationships? Knapp’s staircase of relationships Relationships growmodel through five stages: initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding Rerlationships dissolve through five stages: differentiating, circumscribing, stagnating, avoiding, and terminating Uncertainty reduction theory states that relationships grow when partners feel they can predict and explain the other’s behavior Uncertainty is the ability to explain or predict someone’s behavior We reduce uncertainty through three possible strategies: Passive: simply avoiding, without interfering Active: manipulate environment, talk with a third person Interactive: Speak with the person directly (e.g., questions, self-disclosure, reciprocity)
The reduction of uncertainty is related to seven variables, with relationships between the variables stated throughaxioms, including several variables Verbal communication Nonverbal warmth Information seeking Intimacy of communication Reciprocity Perceived similarities Liking Social penetration theory suggests relationships grow through self disclosure Self-disclosure (SD) occurs based on a cost-reward analysis (e.g., vulnerability versus intimacy) SD leads to “penetration” of the psychological self of the other SD occurs on two dimensions Depth: level of intimacy on a given topic Breadth: number of topics about which one discloses Relationships grow through four stages Orientation phase: sharing of superficial information Exploratory affective exchange: exploring personalities Full affective exchange: freewheeling give and take Stable exchange: relationships are intimate and predictable Depenetration (lessening of depth & breadth) sometimes occurs Relational dialectics theory contends that relationships (friends, romantic partners, family relationships) are unpredictable, characterized by ongoing (not totally resolvable) tensions Tensions exist both between two people in a relationship (internal front) and between the relationship and others in the social context (external) Three main tensions are: Integration/separation (Internal: connection/automomy; External: inclusion/seclusion) Expression/privacy (I: openness/closedness; E: revelation/concealment) Stability/Change (I: predicatibility/novelty; E: conventionality/uniqueness) Partners use one of several strategies (some more effective than others) to negotiate the tensions Communication boundary management theory states that we maintain boundary structures to negotiate disclosure with others Boundary structures are means of maintaining boundaries, such as maintaining permeable or impermeable boundaries or co-owning information Boundary rule formationrefers to the creation of rules that dictate information flow between people People coordinate their boundary rules by determining patterns or rituals of sharing and privacy based on the relationship and the situation People sometimes experienceturbulence, such as boundary invasion
KEY TERMS Interpersonal communication Identity management Face management Face Facework Politeness theory Positive face need Negative face need Face-threatening acts (FTAs) [Politeness strategies] Bald on-record On record Off record Positive politeness Negative politeness Staircase model of interaction stages Initiating stage Experimenting stage Intensifying stage Integrating stage Bonding stage Differentiating stage Circumscribing stage Stagnating stage Avoiding stage Terminating stage Uncertainty reduction theory Uncertainty [strategies to reduce uncertainty] Passive strategy Active strategy Interactive strategy Axioms Social penetration theory Depth [of self-disclosure] Breadth self-disclosure [Stages [of of relational development] Orientation phase Exploratory affective exchange Full affective exchange Stable exchange Depenetration Relational dialectics theory Dialectics [Dialectical fronts] Internal dialectical front (I) External dialectical front (E) Integration/separation dialectics I: Connection/autonomy E: Inclusion/seclusion
Expression/privacy dialectics I: Openness/closedness E: Revelation/concealment Stability/change dialectics I: Predictability/novelty E: Conventionality/uniqueness [Responses to dialectical tensions:] Selection Alternation Segmentation Neutralization Reframing Comm. Boundary Management Theory Boundary structures Boundary rule formation Boundary rules Coordination of boundary rules