CommunicationEssential to Human Behavior

What IS communication?Definition

Communication is the process by which individuals use symbols and behaviors to exchange information O’Hair and Wiemann

(2009)

OutcomesCreate shared meaningCreate understandingDevelop relationships

Why do we communicate?To express affiliationTo achieve goalsTo influence other

How we communicate…Communication is symbolicCommunication requires a shared code

Encoding and decoding

Communication is linked to cultureCommunication need not be intentional

Interpersonal vs IntrapersonalCommunication occurs through various channelsCommunication is a transactional process

Models of CommunicationThe Linear Model

Models of CommunicationThe Interaction Model

Models of CommunicationThe Competent Communication Model

PerceptionA cognitive process

through which we interpret our experiences and come to our own unique understandings

To gather, organize, and evaluate the information we receive we use schemas

Schemas: organizing perceptions

Schemas are…Mental structures that

put together related bits of information

Help you understand how things work and how they should proceed

Evolve and change over time

Types of schemas…

PrototypeStereotypeScript

Challenges to perceptionSelective perceptionUndue influenceAttributions

Changing perceptionsUnderstand ourselvesUnderstand how we manage our own circles or

influence and identities; this changes over timeWords crystalize perceptionsCheck with othersDistinguish between facts and inferenceMonitor the self-serving bias

Communication and cultureCulture is defined as a

person’s beliefs and attitudes about their world. Their spirituality, their sense of status and hierarchy, their use of time and physical space, and their relationships to one another. Samovar & Porter, 2003)

Culture relates to: Values Beliefs Organizations Gender Physical ability or

disability Location…all shape our

communicative behaviors.

Individualism-Collectivism Dimension

IndividualisticPersonal goals and

achievements are more important than collective

CollectiveCollective goals take

priority over individual goals

Effective and appropriate intercultural communicationListen effectivelyThink before speaking or actingBe empathicDo the right thing

End