Intercultural communication is the communication between members of different cultures whether defined in terms of racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic differences (Tubbs). Culture is a way of life developed and shared by a group of people and passed down from generation to generation and is made up of many complex elements including religious and political systems, customs, and language as well as tools, clothing, buildings and works of art (Tubbs). According to our textbook (Tubbs), there are also co-cultures. Co-cultures are cultures within a culture. Our book (Tubbs) also explains that there are high context cultures (cultures more skilled in reading nonverbal behaviors, and they assume that other people will also be able to do so – speak less and listen more) and low context cultures (stress direct and explicit communication and emphasize verbal messages and the shared information they encode). With that being stated, Tubbs explains three approaches to studying culture. They include: the social science approach (assumes that behavior can be observed, measured and predicted), the interpretive approach (goal is understanding rather than predicting behavior), and finally, the critical approach (involves analysis of text or cultural products including those produced by the media).
Because there are so many different types and kinds of cultures it is impossible for each one not to communicate with the others. Therefore, there are several effects that intercultural communication has. First, there is the effects of the individual (travel is easier and affordable, the needs and desires of many groups to affirm and preserve their cultures is reflected in demands for more bilingual education, multicultural programs, curriculums and textbooks that better represent all cultural contributions to our literature and history). Second, there are social and political effects (international companies). And finally, there are also cultural effects (cultural homogenization – tendency for cultures in contact with one another to become increasingly similar to one another) (Tubbs).
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In high school, my class (well, in fact my whole school for that matter), was very diverse. We had people of all races. Lincoln High School is actually the most diverse high school in Sioux Falls. So, needless to say, I have always been very accepting of different cultures. We had diversity promoting programs just about every month. To be honest, they got old after awhile because I’m just so accepting of other people and their cultures and what not that it was difficult for me to understand how someone could not be so accepting. But it was needed because there were still fights at school – most of them were because of someone’s race or ethnicity. Our book (Tubbs) explains ethnocentrism which is the tendency to judge the values, customs, behaviors, or other aspects of another culture in terms of those that make our own culture group regards as desirable or ideal. Therefore, it is important that we build community with each other. The text (Tubbs) explains seven principles to increase community building and the acceptance of diversity. They are: to be committed (we must be committed to the principles of community in our lives, as well as to the individuals with whom we are trying to develop community), to be mindful (think about what we do and say), to be unconditionally accepting (accept others as they are, value diversity and not judge other based on their diversity), be concerned for both ourselves and others (avoid polarized communication and engage in dialogue whenever possible), be understanding (recognize how culture and ethnicity effect the way we think and behave – search for commonalities), be ethical (engage in behavior that is not a means to an end but behavior that is morally right), and finally, be peaceful (do not be violent to deceitful, breach valid promises or be secretive). All in all, the goal is to ultimately strive for harmony.
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In 2005, an episode of The Office called “Diversity Day” aired. In this episode, corporate sends in someone to teach about diversity because of some comments that Michael has made towards some people at the office. One thing that Mr. Brown, the man who comes in to talk about diversity, teaches is the acronym “HERO”, which stands for honesty, empathy, respect, and open-mindedness. I thought that that really went well with the seven principles that the book (Tubbs) mentioned about community building. In the office, we have Oscar, who is Mexican, Kelly, who is Indian and Stanley who is black. The rest of the employees of the office are white. So, for an office that small, I would say that they really do have a diverse group of people. I think that this aspect also makes the show much more hysterical.
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Monday, November 23, 2009
Mass Communication
Mass communication and new technologies are part of our everyday lives – especially computer-mediated communication. According to Tubbs and Moss, there are seven ways we use the computer for communication: Internet, email, teleconferencing, cell phones, telecommuting, video games, and blogs.
Also, there are three elements to mass communication: the audience, the experience, the source. The source is basically the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper is the person who, by selecting, changing, and/or rejecting messages, can influence the flow of information to a receiver or a group of receivers. However, the gatekeeper must keep in mind at all times the choices he/she has to make about what information is received. There are economic choices, legal restrictions, deadlines, ethics, competition, news value, news holes, and reaction choices that come into play (Tubbs).
One interesting thing that the textbook (Tubbs) also mentioned was framing. Framing is choosing a broad organizing theme for selecting, emphasizing, and linking the elements of a story. It functions in four ways: defining problems, diagnoses clauses, makes moral judgments and suggests remedies. I think that this also links with the agenda-setting theory that the press tells us what to think about by establishing a relative importance of certain issues.
______________________________
In today’s society, mass communication has become part of our daily lives. Each day I have to check my email to make sure I know what I am doing that day to make sure I know what I am doing that day and to make sure that no classes have been cancelled (please be cancelled, please be cancelled) as well as check my facebook to stay “in the know” about anything and everything social. I also carry my phone with me all the time and am constantly checking it for texts or answering phone calls from my friends. So, in all honesty, mass communication is inevitable.
More importantly about mass communication is the experience I had with the recent election of President Barack Obama, considering that I actually had to pay attention to each candidate’s beliefs, plans and ideas if they were elected president. This past year was the first time that I got to vote so it was important for me. However, the downside to that was the fact that the information given to me was through the media. Therefore, it was very influential on my decision. I watched the news, I read the newspaper, I read books I watched the debates, and all of those things influenced my own ideas and choice.
______________________________
A few weeks ago on The Office, the episode was about a certain post or article or something of that sort that was post on the internet for anyone to read. The post said that the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company would probably have to declare bankruptcy soon because sale deficiency and money issues. All branches of the paper company found out within a matter of minutes what was going on. At this point all employees are frantic and demand to know what is going on and if they will lose their jobs or not. Our textbook (Tubbs) tells us that 90 percent of the news we hear is through the mass media. In today’s society, I would say that the internet is the main source of the diffusion of information.
Another way that the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company uses the media is for advertising. Because the diffusion of information is quite rapid, it is easier for companies to advertise information about their company or product without much effort
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Also, there are three elements to mass communication: the audience, the experience, the source. The source is basically the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper is the person who, by selecting, changing, and/or rejecting messages, can influence the flow of information to a receiver or a group of receivers. However, the gatekeeper must keep in mind at all times the choices he/she has to make about what information is received. There are economic choices, legal restrictions, deadlines, ethics, competition, news value, news holes, and reaction choices that come into play (Tubbs).
One interesting thing that the textbook (Tubbs) also mentioned was framing. Framing is choosing a broad organizing theme for selecting, emphasizing, and linking the elements of a story. It functions in four ways: defining problems, diagnoses clauses, makes moral judgments and suggests remedies. I think that this also links with the agenda-setting theory that the press tells us what to think about by establishing a relative importance of certain issues.
______________________________
In today’s society, mass communication has become part of our daily lives. Each day I have to check my email to make sure I know what I am doing that day to make sure I know what I am doing that day and to make sure that no classes have been cancelled (please be cancelled, please be cancelled) as well as check my facebook to stay “in the know” about anything and everything social. I also carry my phone with me all the time and am constantly checking it for texts or answering phone calls from my friends. So, in all honesty, mass communication is inevitable.
More importantly about mass communication is the experience I had with the recent election of President Barack Obama, considering that I actually had to pay attention to each candidate’s beliefs, plans and ideas if they were elected president. This past year was the first time that I got to vote so it was important for me. However, the downside to that was the fact that the information given to me was through the media. Therefore, it was very influential on my decision. I watched the news, I read the newspaper, I read books I watched the debates, and all of those things influenced my own ideas and choice.
______________________________
A few weeks ago on The Office, the episode was about a certain post or article or something of that sort that was post on the internet for anyone to read. The post said that the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company would probably have to declare bankruptcy soon because sale deficiency and money issues. All branches of the paper company found out within a matter of minutes what was going on. At this point all employees are frantic and demand to know what is going on and if they will lose their jobs or not. Our textbook (Tubbs) tells us that 90 percent of the news we hear is through the mass media. In today’s society, I would say that the internet is the main source of the diffusion of information.
Another way that the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company uses the media is for advertising. Because the diffusion of information is quite rapid, it is easier for companies to advertise information about their company or product without much effort
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Small Group Communication
Small-group time! Yep, there is way more to small groups and the way different groups communicate than you ever thought! Its okay, I’ll just have to tell you all about it.
First, the textbook (Tubbs) give us five different types of groups. We have problem-solving groups (task oriented), casual and social groups (primary-group relationships), learning and educational groups (teach or learn something about given subject), “enlightenment groups” (members attempt to resolve problems but have no authoritative input with their decisions), and finally, work groups (specific goals to achieve). And within those groups there are group task roles – and there’s a lot!
The task roles include: initiating-contributing (proposing new ideas or a changed way of regarding a group goal), information seeking (asking for clarification, for authoritative information and facts relevant to the problem under discussion), information giving (offering facts or generalizations based on experience or authoritative sources), opinion seeking (seeking information related not so much to factual data as to the values underlying the suggestions being considered), opinion giving (stating beliefs or opinions relevant to a suggestion made), elaborating (expanding on suggestions with example or restatements, offering rationale for previously made suggestions, and trying to determine the results of a suggestion if it were adopted by the group), coordinating (indicating the relationships among various ideas and suggestions, attempting to combine ideas, and suggestions, or trying to coordinate the activities of group members), orienting (indicating the position of the group by summarizing progress made and deviations from agreed upon directions or goals or by raising questions about the direction the group is taking), evaluating (comparing the group’s accomplishments to some criterion or standard of group functioning), energizing (stimulating the group to action or a decision, attempting to increase the level or quality of activity), assisting on procedure (helping or facilitating group movement by doing thing for a group), and finally, recording (writing down suggestions, recording group decisions, or recording outcomes of decision). Then, with the task roles there are also individual roles. The individual roles include: aggressing, blocking, recognition-seeking, self-confessing, acting jokester, dominating, help-seeking, and special interest pleading, (Tubbs).
As we all know, groups don’t just happen and – that’s it. They have phases that they go through. Our textbook explains them (Tubbs). The first phase of group development is when the members break the ice and begin to establish a common ground for functioning. The second phase is the assertion of individuality. At this point, the group also begins to get confused over the goals of the group and minimal work is accomplished. In the third phase, the group starts functioning more smoothly as a unit. The final phase, phase four, is when the group reaches maximum productivity and then begins to diminish (Tubbs).
One component of the small group communication that it didn’t think about was the emotional part of it. The text explains five components of emotional intelligence – self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill. Problem solving is also key in group functions. In this case, John Dewey came up with a “standard agenda”. According to our text, the “standard agenda” is a problem solving sequence of questions broad enough to be applied to just about any problem. Just as we need strategies for problem solving, we also need ways to come up with ideas. Therefore we have the Nominal Group Technique (NGT). The NGT, according to the textbook, involves six steps. The first step is to silently write down ideas individually, then make a list of all of the ideas. After there is a list then there should be a discussion and clarification of points without critique. Fourth, have everyone individually rate the ideas, then have a clarification of the vote and then, finally, have a final ranking of ideas. To know if the NGT was effective, you will either have a high consensus or a low consensus. If your group was not effective there are six things that you can do to make your group more effective. You can: clarify the roles of the participants, put the right people in leadership positions, require planning, get feedback, invest in groups, and compensate the leaders appropriately.
______________________________
My senior year of high school I was Drum Major for the Lincoln High School Marching Band – and no, I did not drum. Drum Major means that I, along with three other students, conduct the band. So, we direct. Anyway, the four of us (small group) had to be with each other all the time because during marching band season, marching band is life. I know it sounds crazy but it’s really true. So an important part of our group was to maintain the peace between us while leading a larger group of students and peers. This is where small group communication takes place because we had to use all of the roles stated in the group-building and maintenance roles in our book. There are seven roles. They are: encouraging (praising, showing interest in, agreeing with, and accepting the contributions of others, conveying the feeling that one feels the contributions of others are important), harmonizing (mediating differences between and among the other members, relieving tensions through the use of humor), compromising (operating from within a conflict situation for the sake of group harmony), gate keeping and expediting (attempting to keep communications channels open by encouraging participation of some or by curbing the participation of others), setting standards or ideals (expressing standards for the group and/or evaluating the quality of group processes), observing 9keeping a record of various aspects of group processes and feeding this information, along with interpretations, into the group’s evaluation of its procedures) and finally, following (going along with the group, passively accepting the ideas of others, serving as an audience in group discussions) (Tubbs). Out of all of these roles I think that the one that we used the most was the compromising. I think this was what kept us from cutting each other’s throats by the end of the season.
______________________________
There’s a new episode of The Office on this Thursday – don’t forget to watch! The Office applies to this week’s topic because work groups are a part of small groups, as well as management. One thing that the textbook (Tubbs) mention is the self-directed work team (SDWT). Basically, the SDWT is a group of employees who have day-to-day responsibility for managing themselves and the work they do with a minimum of direct supervision. This is exactly the way The Office is set up. Michael hardly supervises his employees and never does a day-to-day check up on his employees. Therefore, each worker is responsible for getting the work done that needs to be done on their own. However, the majority of them choose to do other things. So, actually, I’m not sure they ever get anything done. But it’s a TV show so, who care right? Our textbook (Tubbs) also tells us three reasons why SDWT works so well. The first reason is that the person closest to the work knows best how to perform and improve their jobs. Second, most employees want to feel that they “own” their own jobs and are making meaningful contributions to the effectiveness of their organization. Finally, that team provides possibilities for empowerment and is not available to individual employees.
Brainstorming is also a big part of a group function. Jim, I know, spends much of his time brainstorming ways to annoy Dwight because Dwight is always brainstorming how to take over Jim’s spot as co-manager. Fun times.
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
First, the textbook (Tubbs) give us five different types of groups. We have problem-solving groups (task oriented), casual and social groups (primary-group relationships), learning and educational groups (teach or learn something about given subject), “enlightenment groups” (members attempt to resolve problems but have no authoritative input with their decisions), and finally, work groups (specific goals to achieve). And within those groups there are group task roles – and there’s a lot!
The task roles include: initiating-contributing (proposing new ideas or a changed way of regarding a group goal), information seeking (asking for clarification, for authoritative information and facts relevant to the problem under discussion), information giving (offering facts or generalizations based on experience or authoritative sources), opinion seeking (seeking information related not so much to factual data as to the values underlying the suggestions being considered), opinion giving (stating beliefs or opinions relevant to a suggestion made), elaborating (expanding on suggestions with example or restatements, offering rationale for previously made suggestions, and trying to determine the results of a suggestion if it were adopted by the group), coordinating (indicating the relationships among various ideas and suggestions, attempting to combine ideas, and suggestions, or trying to coordinate the activities of group members), orienting (indicating the position of the group by summarizing progress made and deviations from agreed upon directions or goals or by raising questions about the direction the group is taking), evaluating (comparing the group’s accomplishments to some criterion or standard of group functioning), energizing (stimulating the group to action or a decision, attempting to increase the level or quality of activity), assisting on procedure (helping or facilitating group movement by doing thing for a group), and finally, recording (writing down suggestions, recording group decisions, or recording outcomes of decision). Then, with the task roles there are also individual roles. The individual roles include: aggressing, blocking, recognition-seeking, self-confessing, acting jokester, dominating, help-seeking, and special interest pleading, (Tubbs).
As we all know, groups don’t just happen and – that’s it. They have phases that they go through. Our textbook explains them (Tubbs). The first phase of group development is when the members break the ice and begin to establish a common ground for functioning. The second phase is the assertion of individuality. At this point, the group also begins to get confused over the goals of the group and minimal work is accomplished. In the third phase, the group starts functioning more smoothly as a unit. The final phase, phase four, is when the group reaches maximum productivity and then begins to diminish (Tubbs).
One component of the small group communication that it didn’t think about was the emotional part of it. The text explains five components of emotional intelligence – self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skill. Problem solving is also key in group functions. In this case, John Dewey came up with a “standard agenda”. According to our text, the “standard agenda” is a problem solving sequence of questions broad enough to be applied to just about any problem. Just as we need strategies for problem solving, we also need ways to come up with ideas. Therefore we have the Nominal Group Technique (NGT). The NGT, according to the textbook, involves six steps. The first step is to silently write down ideas individually, then make a list of all of the ideas. After there is a list then there should be a discussion and clarification of points without critique. Fourth, have everyone individually rate the ideas, then have a clarification of the vote and then, finally, have a final ranking of ideas. To know if the NGT was effective, you will either have a high consensus or a low consensus. If your group was not effective there are six things that you can do to make your group more effective. You can: clarify the roles of the participants, put the right people in leadership positions, require planning, get feedback, invest in groups, and compensate the leaders appropriately.
______________________________
My senior year of high school I was Drum Major for the Lincoln High School Marching Band – and no, I did not drum. Drum Major means that I, along with three other students, conduct the band. So, we direct. Anyway, the four of us (small group) had to be with each other all the time because during marching band season, marching band is life. I know it sounds crazy but it’s really true. So an important part of our group was to maintain the peace between us while leading a larger group of students and peers. This is where small group communication takes place because we had to use all of the roles stated in the group-building and maintenance roles in our book. There are seven roles. They are: encouraging (praising, showing interest in, agreeing with, and accepting the contributions of others, conveying the feeling that one feels the contributions of others are important), harmonizing (mediating differences between and among the other members, relieving tensions through the use of humor), compromising (operating from within a conflict situation for the sake of group harmony), gate keeping and expediting (attempting to keep communications channels open by encouraging participation of some or by curbing the participation of others), setting standards or ideals (expressing standards for the group and/or evaluating the quality of group processes), observing 9keeping a record of various aspects of group processes and feeding this information, along with interpretations, into the group’s evaluation of its procedures) and finally, following (going along with the group, passively accepting the ideas of others, serving as an audience in group discussions) (Tubbs). Out of all of these roles I think that the one that we used the most was the compromising. I think this was what kept us from cutting each other’s throats by the end of the season.
______________________________
There’s a new episode of The Office on this Thursday – don’t forget to watch! The Office applies to this week’s topic because work groups are a part of small groups, as well as management. One thing that the textbook (Tubbs) mention is the self-directed work team (SDWT). Basically, the SDWT is a group of employees who have day-to-day responsibility for managing themselves and the work they do with a minimum of direct supervision. This is exactly the way The Office is set up. Michael hardly supervises his employees and never does a day-to-day check up on his employees. Therefore, each worker is responsible for getting the work done that needs to be done on their own. However, the majority of them choose to do other things. So, actually, I’m not sure they ever get anything done. But it’s a TV show so, who care right? Our textbook (Tubbs) also tells us three reasons why SDWT works so well. The first reason is that the person closest to the work knows best how to perform and improve their jobs. Second, most employees want to feel that they “own” their own jobs and are making meaningful contributions to the effectiveness of their organization. Finally, that team provides possibilities for empowerment and is not available to individual employees.
Brainstorming is also a big part of a group function. Jim, I know, spends much of his time brainstorming ways to annoy Dwight because Dwight is always brainstorming how to take over Jim’s spot as co-manager. Fun times.
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Monday, November 2, 2009
Health Communication
The text that we read this week (Corcoran) first proposed the idea of theories in health communication. Corcoran first states that communication is a cyclic process involving a series of actions. Because of this, there are two important factors that greatly influence communication and they are: content and relationship. Content is that message or the words and the information transmitted. The relationship part of communication is the dynamics between those involved in the communication transaction – the communicators (Corcoran). Corcoran views communication as a multi-way process in that the content of the message contains verbal and nonverbal communication. Also, within the nonverbal communication, Corcoran states that there are four elements in which we communicate nonverbally – prosodic, paralinguistics, kinesics, and eye contact.
However, in the context of health and communication, Corcoran says that the addition of health to the definition of communication as a ‘resource’ that allows health messages to be used in the education and avoidance of ill health. In addition to that, Corcoran proposes five theoretical models to help us understand health communication. The first is the cognitive theory, which provides continuum accounts of behavior and proposes that a certain set of perceptions or beliefs will predict a behavior. The second is the Stage step theory, which assumes that the individual is not on a continuum. Rather, the stage step model postulates that the individual goes through a process of change via a series of stages. The third theory is the theory of reasoned action. The theory of reasoned action proposes that in individual’s beliefs influence attitudes and expectations as well as influence intentions and behaviors. The fourth theory is the theory of planned behavior. This theory states that the closest determinant of behavior is the intention to perform (or not) that behavior. The theory of planned behavior also postulates that intention is determined by three factors: (1) attitude to the behavior, (2) subjective norm, and (3) perceived behavioral control. And finally, the fifth theory is the Transtheoretical model. According to Corcoran this model suggests that people change their behavior at certain states in life, rather than making one big change.
At any rate, Corcoran also informs the reader about the communication-persuasion model and the information-persuasion model. The communication-persuasion model is mainly used in the media, especially in the field of advertising as a way to guide the public and influence a person’s choices about health. And the information-persuasion model, in contrast, has clear planning stages that can be followed in order to obtain an outcome (Corcoran). Finally, Corcoran uses the health belief model, which suggests that there are also barriers – just as any – to communication. Not only that, but the health belief model contends that these barriers may be more important that the benefits and provide a focus for targeting health in communication.
I decided that it would be easier to understand the three main models of health communication if I drew them out. I am a visual learner so it definitely helps me understand better.
______________________________
Isn’t it ironic that we would be talking about health communication while the ‘Swine Flu’ (H1N1) is spreading? In all honesty I find it hilarious. The topic fits perfectly! It is a clear example of the communication-persuasion and information-persuasion models. As for the communication-persuasion model, the ‘Swine Flu’ is all over the news and has been on the front page just about every other day in the last two weeks or so. Just as well, it has also been the hot topic for the evening news. Mainly I think that one other reason why the issues of the swine flu and other forms of illnesses such as cancer have been on the news recently is because of the heated debates about health care reform. At any rate, the information-persuasion model can be seen in what schools and businesses are doing to take care of the ‘Swine Flu’ problem and make sure as few of people get sick as possible before the vaccination becomes available. Take Creighton University of Omaha, Nebraska for example. Creighton has taken important steps to help prevent the spread of the “Swine Flu” at the University. For example, there are hand sanitizers at just about every corner and major hallway in each building and dorm. Also, Creighton has set up a place where sick students may be quarantined for a period of time until they are better because the administration does not want any one sick student to go and get every other student sick. It would just not be good for the school because then classes would have to be cancelled, putting students behind in their studies – which is why professors were told to come up with a contingency plan so that students would not get behind.
It is not just Creighton and the “Swine Flu” that has everyone worried. Other health related issues are being observed and dealt with as well – such as eating right and exercising. I know that back at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, SD the information-persuasion model has been highly effective because over the past few years or so they have taken out the soda in the vending machines and replaced it with healthier choices such as Gatorade, flavored water and juice in order to help students make healthier choices about what they drink.
______________________________
Like I said, one of the most important health issues that we are dealing with right now is the dieting the right way and exercising. There is even one episode of The Office called ‘Weight Loss’. In this episode, each branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company is asked to compete against one another to see which branch can lose the most weight in one month. At the beginning of each week the employees all stand on a scale to get their total weight and to see how much weight they have lost compared to their competitors.
When I watched this episode, one thing that I found interesting was how each person dealt with losing weight, fact that the company wanted people to lose weight and also how each individual went about losing weight. Some of them tried to lose weight in a healthy way and others a not so healthy way. For example, Stanley quit taking the elevator and now always takes the stairs. He also starts to eat healthier foods. Dwight and Andy decide not to eat and basically become anorexic. Others decide to try being bulimic and some even try a liquid only diet in order to lose weight.
In connection to our reading, I think that most weight loss plans fit the stages of change model of health communication. The stages in this model include six stages. They are: pre-contemplation, contemplation, readiness to change, action, maintaining the change, and relapse. So, it’s easy to see how people contemplate the idea of losing weight and then being ready to change their lifestyle in order to lose weight, maintaining in their new lifestyle, and then of course, there is always a point where an individual can relapse in their diet and go back to eating less healthy food and therefore gain the weight that they just lost back.
In the end, the Scranton branch doesn’t win, however they do come in second place.
______________________________
Also this week in my communication 111 class we watched the movie called "And The Band Played On". This movie deals specifically with health and its a wonderful example of how we communicate or miscommunicate our health and ways of being healthy and preventing unwanted illnesses. Throughout the video we see how doctors and people of health administration and departments as well as health magazines and pamphlets decide what to communicate.
The movie "And The Band Played On" is specifically about the beginning of the spread of epidemics and especially the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and blood related diseases such as AIDS. One of the men who gets sick is gay. Actually, they call the disease "Gay Cancer" because it has spread through the gay community and has a forty percent or more mortality rate that is increasing each day. The problem that occurs in this video is that the doctors are unable to find out what is the source of this illness.
Anyway, this relates to the article we read by Corcoran because the health belief model can be seen in action. The health belief model can be seen in this film through the fact that most people decide that because this illness is spreading only through the people who are gay - specifically men - that they will not be affected. even some gay men think that they can't be affected because they have had sex with plenty of other men and basically choose to ignore the problem. This then, brings us also to the theory of planned behavior. This theory is seen when the gay dance choreographer gives money to the doctors in order to attempt to secure his health because he is scared and wants them to find a cure or solution to this "Gay Cancer". Unfortunately, he eventually dies.
Corcoran, N. "Theories and models in communicating health messages" (Blueline)
However, in the context of health and communication, Corcoran says that the addition of health to the definition of communication as a ‘resource’ that allows health messages to be used in the education and avoidance of ill health. In addition to that, Corcoran proposes five theoretical models to help us understand health communication. The first is the cognitive theory, which provides continuum accounts of behavior and proposes that a certain set of perceptions or beliefs will predict a behavior. The second is the Stage step theory, which assumes that the individual is not on a continuum. Rather, the stage step model postulates that the individual goes through a process of change via a series of stages. The third theory is the theory of reasoned action. The theory of reasoned action proposes that in individual’s beliefs influence attitudes and expectations as well as influence intentions and behaviors. The fourth theory is the theory of planned behavior. This theory states that the closest determinant of behavior is the intention to perform (or not) that behavior. The theory of planned behavior also postulates that intention is determined by three factors: (1) attitude to the behavior, (2) subjective norm, and (3) perceived behavioral control. And finally, the fifth theory is the Transtheoretical model. According to Corcoran this model suggests that people change their behavior at certain states in life, rather than making one big change.
At any rate, Corcoran also informs the reader about the communication-persuasion model and the information-persuasion model. The communication-persuasion model is mainly used in the media, especially in the field of advertising as a way to guide the public and influence a person’s choices about health. And the information-persuasion model, in contrast, has clear planning stages that can be followed in order to obtain an outcome (Corcoran). Finally, Corcoran uses the health belief model, which suggests that there are also barriers – just as any – to communication. Not only that, but the health belief model contends that these barriers may be more important that the benefits and provide a focus for targeting health in communication.
I decided that it would be easier to understand the three main models of health communication if I drew them out. I am a visual learner so it definitely helps me understand better.
______________________________
Isn’t it ironic that we would be talking about health communication while the ‘Swine Flu’ (H1N1) is spreading? In all honesty I find it hilarious. The topic fits perfectly! It is a clear example of the communication-persuasion and information-persuasion models. As for the communication-persuasion model, the ‘Swine Flu’ is all over the news and has been on the front page just about every other day in the last two weeks or so. Just as well, it has also been the hot topic for the evening news. Mainly I think that one other reason why the issues of the swine flu and other forms of illnesses such as cancer have been on the news recently is because of the heated debates about health care reform. At any rate, the information-persuasion model can be seen in what schools and businesses are doing to take care of the ‘Swine Flu’ problem and make sure as few of people get sick as possible before the vaccination becomes available. Take Creighton University of Omaha, Nebraska for example. Creighton has taken important steps to help prevent the spread of the “Swine Flu” at the University. For example, there are hand sanitizers at just about every corner and major hallway in each building and dorm. Also, Creighton has set up a place where sick students may be quarantined for a period of time until they are better because the administration does not want any one sick student to go and get every other student sick. It would just not be good for the school because then classes would have to be cancelled, putting students behind in their studies – which is why professors were told to come up with a contingency plan so that students would not get behind.
It is not just Creighton and the “Swine Flu” that has everyone worried. Other health related issues are being observed and dealt with as well – such as eating right and exercising. I know that back at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, SD the information-persuasion model has been highly effective because over the past few years or so they have taken out the soda in the vending machines and replaced it with healthier choices such as Gatorade, flavored water and juice in order to help students make healthier choices about what they drink.
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Like I said, one of the most important health issues that we are dealing with right now is the dieting the right way and exercising. There is even one episode of The Office called ‘Weight Loss’. In this episode, each branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company is asked to compete against one another to see which branch can lose the most weight in one month. At the beginning of each week the employees all stand on a scale to get their total weight and to see how much weight they have lost compared to their competitors.
When I watched this episode, one thing that I found interesting was how each person dealt with losing weight, fact that the company wanted people to lose weight and also how each individual went about losing weight. Some of them tried to lose weight in a healthy way and others a not so healthy way. For example, Stanley quit taking the elevator and now always takes the stairs. He also starts to eat healthier foods. Dwight and Andy decide not to eat and basically become anorexic. Others decide to try being bulimic and some even try a liquid only diet in order to lose weight.
In connection to our reading, I think that most weight loss plans fit the stages of change model of health communication. The stages in this model include six stages. They are: pre-contemplation, contemplation, readiness to change, action, maintaining the change, and relapse. So, it’s easy to see how people contemplate the idea of losing weight and then being ready to change their lifestyle in order to lose weight, maintaining in their new lifestyle, and then of course, there is always a point where an individual can relapse in their diet and go back to eating less healthy food and therefore gain the weight that they just lost back.
In the end, the Scranton branch doesn’t win, however they do come in second place.
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Also this week in my communication 111 class we watched the movie called "And The Band Played On". This movie deals specifically with health and its a wonderful example of how we communicate or miscommunicate our health and ways of being healthy and preventing unwanted illnesses. Throughout the video we see how doctors and people of health administration and departments as well as health magazines and pamphlets decide what to communicate.
The movie "And The Band Played On" is specifically about the beginning of the spread of epidemics and especially the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and blood related diseases such as AIDS. One of the men who gets sick is gay. Actually, they call the disease "Gay Cancer" because it has spread through the gay community and has a forty percent or more mortality rate that is increasing each day. The problem that occurs in this video is that the doctors are unable to find out what is the source of this illness.
Anyway, this relates to the article we read by Corcoran because the health belief model can be seen in action. The health belief model can be seen in this film through the fact that most people decide that because this illness is spreading only through the people who are gay - specifically men - that they will not be affected. even some gay men think that they can't be affected because they have had sex with plenty of other men and basically choose to ignore the problem. This then, brings us also to the theory of planned behavior. This theory is seen when the gay dance choreographer gives money to the doctors in order to attempt to secure his health because he is scared and wants them to find a cure or solution to this "Gay Cancer". Unfortunately, he eventually dies.
Corcoran, N. "Theories and models in communicating health messages" (Blueline)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Organizational Communication
Organizational communication, according to Tubbs and Moss, is human communication that occurs within the context of organizations. Within these organizations, which can be a work setting, or an organized club or group, there are different culture and leadership styles. One of these different cultures is the Tough-Guy-Macho culture where there are a lot of high-risk situations involved such as a police man. The next type of culture is the Work-Hard-Play-Hard culture, which focuses on sales and meeting customers’ needs. Then there is also the Bet-Your-Company organizational culture where the people of the organization endure high-risks but receive slow feedback. And finally there is the process culture, where the people within this type of organization endure low-risk and receive slow feedback. The text also informs us that even though an organization relates itself with one type of culture that the culture of many organizations is changing as well as the type of employees in those organizations (Tubbs). Therefore, organizations come up with certain criteria for the people that they employ certain attributes that they consider valuable in order to make that organization more productive. According to our textbook (Tubbs), the top four attributes for potential employees are: (1) communication and interpersonal skills, (2) ability to work well in teams, (3) analytical and problem-solving skills, (4) leadership potential. These are some positive things about organizational communication.
There are also many things that make organizational communication more difficult. Those are called barriers. The book talks about several barriers of organizational communication and those are gossip and rumors, chaos within an organization and the nuances within the organization. These are also types of informal communication. Another barrier of communication could be cliques and groups within the organization. Even though the informal communication comes off as a barrier to the overall function of the organization, they are also the most used and quickest way that information gets around to people.
In my opinion I think that a family – especially one that is as big as mine, could be considered an organization. In my family I have four sisters and two brothers plus my parents and a dog. To keep things under control, my mom usually, no, not usually, ALWAYS assumes the role of manager/supervisor. She makes sure that we don’t fight and attempts to diffuse volatile situations. I think that to make a larger family work, all four of the highly valued attributes need to be had by all.
Being the head-honcho of the family gives my mom a great power. Our book talks about five different types of power within an organization. Two of these types of power are personal and three of the powers are supervisory powers (these would be the type of power that my mom had over our family). The first of the powers is legitimate power where the authority of a person is defined by the virtue of his or her position. My mom had legitimate power because of her age and status as the leader in the family. The next power is the reward power, which is the ability to use rewards to influence other people. I like that power but my mom enjoyed the coercive power the best. Coercive power is the ability to influence individuals by withholding rewards. For example, if we had chores to do, or homework to do, she wouldn’t let us hang out with our friends until our homework was done, or she wouldn’t let us eat dessert after dinner until we had all taken a shower and gotten ready for bed.
One of the most important things a supervisor or manager can do is develop a form of trust with his or her employees. According to the textbook (Tubbs), trust is the level of comfort with the other person; the individuals confidence in another person’s intentions and motives, and the security of that person’s word. Another important thing that our book talks about concerning trust is that it must first be initiated by the supervisor or manage.
There are two components of trust, cognitive (rational) and affective trust (emotional), (Tubbs). Equally important are the five qualities that the book gives that help the supervisors establish trusting relationships. One is the behavioral consistency or reliability of the supervisor. This is important if a person is able to count on his or her supervisor. Michael Scott is a great example at failing to communicate some sort of trust with his employees. Steve Carell’s character also jokes about many things and does not always even tell his employees the truth, such as when corporate informs them (downward communication) that there may be some cut-backs and downsizing. Through some sort of gossip, the employees find out about it and he denies any form of downsizing, therefore making it difficult to trust him. The second quality is behavioral integrity or walking the talk. An example of this would be keeping a promise – another thing that Michael fails at. The third quality is the sharing and delegation of control which conveys to the employee a level of respect and trust in his or her ability. Actually, this is one thing that Michael doesn’t fail at because he gives Dwight Schrute the position of “assistant to the regional manager” which allows Michael to give Dwight some control when Michael asks Dwight to choose a health care plan. The fourth quality is communication itself and that is the ability to communicate accurate information, explain decisions, and openness. And finally, the fifth quality is the demonstration of concern because employees prefer supervisors who show consideration and sensitivity to their needs and interests (Tubbs).
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Nonverbal Communication
In our book this week (Tubbs), we read about nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication is constant. We are constantly see other people’s actions and therefore must constantly be responding. These nonlinguistic messages do three things. They replace, reinforce, and contradict verbal messages (Tubbs). One interesting fact that the book tells us is that 65% of our messages are conveyed through nonverbal cues. Cues are hints. Therefore, what we say is qualified and modified by how we say it – our tone of voice, facial expressions, and eye contact – nonverbal cues. I found this part particularly interesting because these cues can cause what we call kinetic slips – contradictory verbal and nonverbal messages. So, our eyes or tone of voice my contradict something that we have just said.
Speaking of facial expressions, did you know that facial expressions are the single most important nonverbal communication? We use information about the face in five different ways. It is used to identify a person’s social category, to identify personality traits, to identify a person’s direction of attention, and to understand the sincerity of verbal behavior as well as to understand a person’s thoughts and mind. The second most important form of nonverbal communication is eye contact. Oculesics is the study of the role of the eye behaviors such as eye contact, eye movements, and pupil dilation in communication. Tubbs explains an interesting fact that 30-60% of our time is eye contact with others. There are four functions of eye contact. They are: regulating the flow of communication, monitoring feedback, expressing emotions, and communicating the nature of the interpersonal relationship. But I think the main thing with the nonverbal communication is that whether we realize it or not, we are ALWAYS seeing, and ALWAYS responding.
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Hand gestures rank second in importance to facial cues according to our text. I thought that this was extremely interesting because the majority of the time, most of us don’t even realize what we are doing with our hands while we talk.
When I think of hand gestures, I first think of my mom. Whenever she is talking, she is always moving her hands this way and that. Sometimes she doesn’t even realize what she’s doing and I know this because she accidentally hit someone while making large gestures with her arms while she was talking. It was hilarious.
The second thing that comes to mind when I think about nonverbal communication and hand gestures is sign language. I mean, think about it. How would people that are deaf or unable to speak, be able to effectively communicate without these hand gestures, or signs. My sister, Mollie, who is an ASL (American Sign Language) major at Augustana College in my home town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. So, when she talks – even to me, she signs. Because of that, I have come to understand sign language quite well. I don’t know how to make the signs but I can sure understand what they mean. So, that just goes to show what an impact hand gestures have on the lives of many people.
Another interesting thing that the book (Tubbs) talked about was the effect of vocal cues in the messages we send. Paralinguistics refers to something beyond or in addition to language itself. Tubbs explains that there are two components to paralinguistics. One is our voice quality, which includes the tone of our voice, the pitch of our voice, and the range of our voice. The second is vocalizations which are noises without linguistic structure such as groaning or crying. This was always something that bothered my mother when I was younger. She would always get mad at us for using the wrong tone of voice when my siblings and I would talk to her. The slightest change in our tone during a conversation would just completely throw her – especially when we would say something sarcastic. But, according to Tubbs and moss, the misunderstanding of sarcasm is a common problem in interpreting vocal cues.
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Ha ha! It’s causal day in The Office! So, guess what? You can wear whatever you would wear on a normal day if you weren’t going to work. – Just make sure you aren’t distracting anyone! Sounds like fun right? Well, yeah, it was…until some people realized some new things about the people they work with every day by what they wore to casual day in the office. Our text tells us that what we wear often communicates our compliance with traditional values, that how formally we dress can be another sensitive indication as well as the color of clothing that we wear.
Angela, becomes frustrated when one of her colleagues comes to work not wearing closed-toed shoes. All of the office members become angry at the style of clothing that Meredith wears to work on Casual day because they consider it to be too revealing. Just as well, the clothing that you wear can be used to communicate your self-esteem and how much confidence you have. Kelly is a clear example of this. She comes to work in this very modern and “hip” looking outfit and reveals to the camera man that she thinks she looks like Jennifer Lopez. You can also tell by her vocal cues and work performance that she has more confidence.
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Speaking of facial expressions, did you know that facial expressions are the single most important nonverbal communication? We use information about the face in five different ways. It is used to identify a person’s social category, to identify personality traits, to identify a person’s direction of attention, and to understand the sincerity of verbal behavior as well as to understand a person’s thoughts and mind. The second most important form of nonverbal communication is eye contact. Oculesics is the study of the role of the eye behaviors such as eye contact, eye movements, and pupil dilation in communication. Tubbs explains an interesting fact that 30-60% of our time is eye contact with others. There are four functions of eye contact. They are: regulating the flow of communication, monitoring feedback, expressing emotions, and communicating the nature of the interpersonal relationship. But I think the main thing with the nonverbal communication is that whether we realize it or not, we are ALWAYS seeing, and ALWAYS responding.
___________________________________________
Hand gestures rank second in importance to facial cues according to our text. I thought that this was extremely interesting because the majority of the time, most of us don’t even realize what we are doing with our hands while we talk.
When I think of hand gestures, I first think of my mom. Whenever she is talking, she is always moving her hands this way and that. Sometimes she doesn’t even realize what she’s doing and I know this because she accidentally hit someone while making large gestures with her arms while she was talking. It was hilarious.
The second thing that comes to mind when I think about nonverbal communication and hand gestures is sign language. I mean, think about it. How would people that are deaf or unable to speak, be able to effectively communicate without these hand gestures, or signs. My sister, Mollie, who is an ASL (American Sign Language) major at Augustana College in my home town of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. So, when she talks – even to me, she signs. Because of that, I have come to understand sign language quite well. I don’t know how to make the signs but I can sure understand what they mean. So, that just goes to show what an impact hand gestures have on the lives of many people.
Another interesting thing that the book (Tubbs) talked about was the effect of vocal cues in the messages we send. Paralinguistics refers to something beyond or in addition to language itself. Tubbs explains that there are two components to paralinguistics. One is our voice quality, which includes the tone of our voice, the pitch of our voice, and the range of our voice. The second is vocalizations which are noises without linguistic structure such as groaning or crying. This was always something that bothered my mother when I was younger. She would always get mad at us for using the wrong tone of voice when my siblings and I would talk to her. The slightest change in our tone during a conversation would just completely throw her – especially when we would say something sarcastic. But, according to Tubbs and moss, the misunderstanding of sarcasm is a common problem in interpreting vocal cues.
___________________________________________
Ha ha! It’s causal day in The Office! So, guess what? You can wear whatever you would wear on a normal day if you weren’t going to work. – Just make sure you aren’t distracting anyone! Sounds like fun right? Well, yeah, it was…until some people realized some new things about the people they work with every day by what they wore to casual day in the office. Our text tells us that what we wear often communicates our compliance with traditional values, that how formally we dress can be another sensitive indication as well as the color of clothing that we wear.
Angela, becomes frustrated when one of her colleagues comes to work not wearing closed-toed shoes. All of the office members become angry at the style of clothing that Meredith wears to work on Casual day because they consider it to be too revealing. Just as well, the clothing that you wear can be used to communicate your self-esteem and how much confidence you have. Kelly is a clear example of this. She comes to work in this very modern and “hip” looking outfit and reveals to the camera man that she thinks she looks like Jennifer Lopez. You can also tell by her vocal cues and work performance that she has more confidence.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Gender Identity
I never actually thought about the difference between sex and gender. To me they were always the same thing – until now.
The article (Stewart) clearly pointed out the difference. Sex is the biological term used to differentiate between a male and a female. Gender is the socially constructed idea shaped through our interactions with others in society that helps us determine whether we are masculine or feminine.
In today’s society I think that gender stereotyping has become less and less of an issue. I mean, back in the day of my grandparents women were given “women’s” jobs or expected to be a homemaker. Men were expected to work and make the money. Now, it is more socially acceptable for women to be in the workplace and they have a wider variety of occupations to choose from. However, it is still difficult for a woman to receive a promotion, or hired for a high ranked position as well as paid the same as a male worker.
For me, this sort of stereotyping has not yet been an issue. But I am a living example of gender stereotyping. Before I was born my parents knew that I was going to be a girl. They prepared a room for me of all things they considered feminine. My grandparents bought me a doll to play with. My parents decided on a name for me that identified me as a girl. Soon as I grew older I began to play with Barbies and I learned to braid hair and I wore clothes that identified my gender as feminine.
I remember one time when I was young and my younger brothers were really into baseball. They got on a team and started playing and they played really well. I mean, they were absolutely brilliant! My brothers were the best players on their teams. They also began to gain more and more of the attention of my parents – which I wanted. So, one day I went up to my mom and asked her if I could play baseball. I figured that since my brothers were good at it, I could become just as good. My mom told me no, baseball was for boys and that I probably wouldn’t be as good as they were – because they were boys. She told me I could play softball because it was a girl sport.
As you know, my favorite television show is The Office. I find the topic of gender identity and gender stereotyping to easily applicable to this popular television show. One of my favorite characters on this show is Pam Beesley. Take her for example. She is the secretary of the office. She is also a woman. Pam has a stereotypical desk job for a woman. Seriously, how many men do you know that are secretaries? It is also part of the comedy of the show that the producers and writers would put a woman in this position. Pam, then, falls victim to many of the office jokes concerning women – which also refer to gender.
However, there is one exception to the rule in this show. We have Jan. Jan is Michael’s boss. She is a manager at corporate. She is also Michael’s girlfriend at one point in time. I personally think that he just likes her because she is in a position of power and he could potentially use her to get farther in his career at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
Source: Stewart, et.al. Communication and Gender. p. 13-36.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication: the way we communicate with others, be it our friends, family, significant other, or some random children that come up to us on the streets asking for a hug. In our text, Tubbs talks about norms – rules, whether implicit, or explicit, about behavior; rules from which we develop certain expectations about how people will act (p. 273). These norms give us certain roles in life such as a friend or sister, as well as our own person. This provides us with a conflict which the book calls “dialectic”. The dialectical approach is the pull between the need to feel separate from the other person, and the need to feel connected (p. 277).
This conflict, however, also determines how much information we are allowed to disclose – depending also on what role we are assuming. For example, if we take a look at the Johari Window, it shows how a person relates to other human beings and the amount of information disclosed to each (p. 283).
Tubbs also explains (p. 233) that the basis of human attraction, which involves the entire web of human relationships. Proximity, referring to our geographic closeness to one another, affects who you have a relationship with, and whether that relationship will continue. The text also points out that there are many different situations in which our relationships and communication with each other will affect attraction (p. 235). One of the most important things that we hope to get out of interpersonal relationships is confirmation, or some type of feeling that makes us feel better or wanted. Most of us would want others to know that we exist, rather than feel we don’t exist at all. So, in order to make ourselves feel wanted and to make others feel wanted is to develop a quality relationship by putting in the time to care for the other person. According to our text (p. 243-244) the quality of time and the desire to spend it most often defines how long the relationship will last. If you spend more time with someone, the breadth and depth of that relationship continues to grow, therefore making relationship maintenance key.
I went to an elementary school that only had one class per grade. By the time I reached fifth grade, we had all become great friends. Of course, there was always the occasional new kid but they always seemed to just jump right into the group – no problem. The reason why we all became good friends is because we were with each other every day. So we had to get along – for six whole years!
My best friend in elementary school was Jennifer. She and I always had play dates and sometimes even had sleepovers. I thought that we would be friends forever. The problem came, however, when we had to go to middle school. She went to Memorial, and I went to Patrick. We tried to keep in contact but our friendship soon dwindled down to nothing and has now come to the random facebook message once a year asking me how I’m doing or to say “Happy Birthday”.
The explanation of why we never stayed in touch is simple. Proximity. It is clearly explained in chapter eight of our text book (Tubbs) that our proximity, our geographic closeness, affects whether our relationships will continue. Jennifer and I still lived in the same town but when you are an 11, 12, or 13 year-old kid who does not own a cell phone and can’t drive, living in the same town does not necessarily mean we will stay friends. Our schools were on the opposite sides of town. We no longer spent nearly seven hours a day together five days a week. She made new friends and I made new friends. Therefore, our communication with each other was basically broken off.
Communication setting and time are all significant factors that play into having a relationship with someone. Thus Jennifer and I’s relationship had reached its final stage where we both parted ways. It was alright though, our relationship disengagement could probably be considered intrapsychic (p. 252) because we both knew that we needed to move on with our lives and go our separate ways.
One of my favorite TV shows of all time is NBC’s The Office. I absolutely love the characters on this show and I think it’s because they are all completely different, and each person has a different relationship with everyone. They each communicate in different ways. For example, Dwight Schrute, a salesman, has a dominant personality. He tends to want more power and is demanding of his colleagues. He also calls himself “Assistant to the Regional Manager” – mostly because he wants to be manager but can’t because that’s Michael’s job. Michael denies Dwight the job of assistant manager because one: Dwight would just go around telling everyone what to do and star firing people and two: because there is no assistant manager at Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
According to the text, Dwight has many of the qualities and behaviors associated with high dominance such as coordinating, leading, initiating, and directing (p. 299). Michael Scott also reflects the same behaviors. So, the relationship between Michael and Dwight is symmetrically structured. Symmetrical structures are based on similarities – when both partners are dominant or both are submissive (p. 299). In this case, both are dominant.
The Triangular Theory of Love, developed by Robert Sternberg of Yale University, declares that love has three different components (p. 295): intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy, he says, involves closeness, bondedness, and connection while passion is a state of physical and psychological arousal (p. 295). Sternberg goes on to say that commitment involves both the decision to love someone as well as the long-term resolve to maintain the relationship. Roy and Pam from The Office represent a clear example of this theory. However, it is not a perfect triangle. The perfect triangle involves an equal amount of each component. But for Pam and Roy, there seems to be a lack of passion from on both sides and a lack of commitment on Roy’s part. It is clear that they have an intimate relationship because they are engaged. Because of that, there is some passion but probably not as much passion that Pam and Jim have for each other.
Jim is Pam’s office buddy. They do as friends do and support each other. Anyway, back to Pam and Roy. So, they have, for the most part, intimacy and passion. But for Roy, commitment may be an issue. Pam and Roy are engaged and Pam is completely devoted and committed to Roy. However, during lunch break on the day the “hot girl” comes in, Roy says that if he wasn’t dating Pam, he would totally go for the “hot girl”. Pam is deeply offended that he would say that. But they stay together out of habit – and because they are engaged even though Pam knows she should dump Roy for Jim.
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
This conflict, however, also determines how much information we are allowed to disclose – depending also on what role we are assuming. For example, if we take a look at the Johari Window, it shows how a person relates to other human beings and the amount of information disclosed to each (p. 283).
I went to an elementary school that only had one class per grade. By the time I reached fifth grade, we had all become great friends. Of course, there was always the occasional new kid but they always seemed to just jump right into the group – no problem. The reason why we all became good friends is because we were with each other every day. So we had to get along – for six whole years!
My best friend in elementary school was Jennifer. She and I always had play dates and sometimes even had sleepovers. I thought that we would be friends forever. The problem came, however, when we had to go to middle school. She went to Memorial, and I went to Patrick. We tried to keep in contact but our friendship soon dwindled down to nothing and has now come to the random facebook message once a year asking me how I’m doing or to say “Happy Birthday”.
The explanation of why we never stayed in touch is simple. Proximity. It is clearly explained in chapter eight of our text book (Tubbs) that our proximity, our geographic closeness, affects whether our relationships will continue. Jennifer and I still lived in the same town but when you are an 11, 12, or 13 year-old kid who does not own a cell phone and can’t drive, living in the same town does not necessarily mean we will stay friends. Our schools were on the opposite sides of town. We no longer spent nearly seven hours a day together five days a week. She made new friends and I made new friends. Therefore, our communication with each other was basically broken off.
Communication setting and time are all significant factors that play into having a relationship with someone. Thus Jennifer and I’s relationship had reached its final stage where we both parted ways. It was alright though, our relationship disengagement could probably be considered intrapsychic (p. 252) because we both knew that we needed to move on with our lives and go our separate ways.
One of my favorite TV shows of all time is NBC’s The Office. I absolutely love the characters on this show and I think it’s because they are all completely different, and each person has a different relationship with everyone. They each communicate in different ways. For example, Dwight Schrute, a salesman, has a dominant personality. He tends to want more power and is demanding of his colleagues. He also calls himself “Assistant to the Regional Manager” – mostly because he wants to be manager but can’t because that’s Michael’s job. Michael denies Dwight the job of assistant manager because one: Dwight would just go around telling everyone what to do and star firing people and two: because there is no assistant manager at Scranton Branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
According to the text, Dwight has many of the qualities and behaviors associated with high dominance such as coordinating, leading, initiating, and directing (p. 299). Michael Scott also reflects the same behaviors. So, the relationship between Michael and Dwight is symmetrically structured. Symmetrical structures are based on similarities – when both partners are dominant or both are submissive (p. 299). In this case, both are dominant.
The Triangular Theory of Love, developed by Robert Sternberg of Yale University, declares that love has three different components (p. 295): intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy, he says, involves closeness, bondedness, and connection while passion is a state of physical and psychological arousal (p. 295). Sternberg goes on to say that commitment involves both the decision to love someone as well as the long-term resolve to maintain the relationship. Roy and Pam from The Office represent a clear example of this theory. However, it is not a perfect triangle. The perfect triangle involves an equal amount of each component. But for Pam and Roy, there seems to be a lack of passion from on both sides and a lack of commitment on Roy’s part. It is clear that they have an intimate relationship because they are engaged. Because of that, there is some passion but probably not as much passion that Pam and Jim have for each other.
Jim is Pam’s office buddy. They do as friends do and support each other. Anyway, back to Pam and Roy. So, they have, for the most part, intimacy and passion. But for Roy, commitment may be an issue. Pam and Roy are engaged and Pam is completely devoted and committed to Roy. However, during lunch break on the day the “hot girl” comes in, Roy says that if he wasn’t dating Pam, he would totally go for the “hot girl”. Pam is deeply offended that he would say that. But they stay together out of habit – and because they are engaged even though Pam knows she should dump Roy for Jim.
Tubbs, S. L., & Moss, S. (2006). Human communication: Principles and contexts (11th Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The History of Communication
Once upon a time there was the Athenian Government which struggled with violence for many many years. Finally the Athenians decided to come up with a solution to their problem which commanded that two changes take place. They created an adversary system, which was a system of justice in which a person was guilty until proven innocent, and a democracy. The democracy created a more stable system of government for the Athenians. Because of these changes, the people started to use their words as swords therefore making persuasion an imperative skill. Debate was now more popular than fencing-the nerds were now cooler than the jocks. That status-quo had been turned upside down.
The Athenians had now created a new problem and the biggest nerds on the planet saw their opportunity to invade. They were called Sophists. Sophists were the first teachers of communication who studied rhetoric, communication, persuasion, and taught people to speak their minds publicly. The first “king” of the sophist was a dude by the name of Corax. Corax agreed that argumentation and persuasion opened up a level of uncertainty in life. Then, Corax’s right hand man, Protagoras saw even deeper into his friends’ ideas and believed that the side who makes the stronger argument wins.
Soon after Corax died, a man named Gorgias came along and commanded the new group of Sophists. Gorgias was the Kennedy of the Sophists. He was young, hip, and dressed well. Gorgias was also very sociable, and showed the people that public speaking could be exciting and inspire change. He also added the need to adapt to his/her audience when speaking in public-such as the public forum (a place where individuals came to discuss issues). Gorgias’ friend Hippas also said that speakers need to be broadly knowledgeable about something and stay updated on the topic. After the time of Gorgias and Hippas, you Isocrates, the Great Sophist, brought all of the ideas of the Sophists together into the 4th century.
The next years would cause turmoil for many people because Isocrates discovered the hidden secret of the Sophists, in that if you can teach someone to communicate effectively, you can also teach them to communicate unethically. But, thankfully, Superman (Aristotle) came in to save the day! He created formal logic, using syllogisms which allowed people to make certain claims as long as they were grounded in universal principles. Aristotle served as a mediator for Rhetoric. He saw both sides and declared that it was an individuals’ ethics that would decide if Rhetoric was a good thing or bad thing. For Aristotle, rhetoric was the art of discovery and that all was available by means of persuasion in any given situation.
By this time Aristotle was the “King” of communication. He developed his ideas in threes. His first idea was that communication has a purpose, second, that there are three types of oratory (forensic, deliberative, and epideictic) Forensic oratory looks at the past for justice, deliberative oratory allows one to speak to influence future action, and finally, epideictic oratory was used for ceremonial and celebratory speaking. Also, that persuasion is accomplished through three different kinds of appeals: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). Arisotle also created five skills needed to communicate effectively: invention, disposition, style, memory, and deliberate.
After Aristotle, comes along John Locke. His definition of communication was that it is a great instrument that ties society together. He said that we use communication to make sense of our live and need to study it in order to know how to best use it.
Knowledge is our greatest possession and throughout history we can see a tug of war going on with our knowledge. All knowledge is stolen. We have stolen it from each other, have taken it back, and have stolen it again and again to obtain what we know today.
As I was reading through the history of communication in our text I thought about how interesting it was that these people even came up with such ideas such as communicating through public speaking and especially by persuasion. For me, it has always been common knowledge that I could use words to say things and get others to do what I want – or get something that I want.
When I was younger I first learned how to persuade my little brothers and my little sister to talk to my mom and get her to let us go to swimming or go to the park. But as I got older, I used the art of persuasion on them and got them to let me play with their toys or give me money so that I could buy some candy at the local gas station a few blocks away. Ethos, pathos, and logos became my three best friends.
One of the most interesting aspects of the history of communication was the fact that we used information as a weapon and stole knowledge from each other all those years ago. In a way, it was kind of a good thing because it allowed for the spread of knowledge. In today’s society, a person can acquire knowledge just about anywhere. The internet opened up great resources as an information super highway. A person is able to access any document they want. Back during the fourth and fifth centuries, libraries were just being created and books still had to be translated. Some information still had yet to be written down because of oral tradition.
In my opinion though, the best part about reading about the development of communication was reading about the Christian crusaders that captured the library at Alexandria. That seems like a really nerdy thing to do. Who would feel victorious capturing a library? Seriously?
But it definitely reminded me of the movie National Treasure. In this movie, Nicholas Cage plays a guy named Ben Gates. Gates’ family had a history with history. For years his family has been part of a group trying to find a certain treasure – lost in the pages of history. So, along the way there are clues that he must find in order to lead him to where the treasure is. Eventually, it leads him and his friends to thousands of lost and sacred artifacts – including the scrolls from the library of Alexandria.
Dues, M.,& Brown, M. (2001). Boxing Plato's Shadow: An Introduction to the study of human communication (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
The Athenians had now created a new problem and the biggest nerds on the planet saw their opportunity to invade. They were called Sophists. Sophists were the first teachers of communication who studied rhetoric, communication, persuasion, and taught people to speak their minds publicly. The first “king” of the sophist was a dude by the name of Corax. Corax agreed that argumentation and persuasion opened up a level of uncertainty in life. Then, Corax’s right hand man, Protagoras saw even deeper into his friends’ ideas and believed that the side who makes the stronger argument wins.
Soon after Corax died, a man named Gorgias came along and commanded the new group of Sophists. Gorgias was the Kennedy of the Sophists. He was young, hip, and dressed well. Gorgias was also very sociable, and showed the people that public speaking could be exciting and inspire change. He also added the need to adapt to his/her audience when speaking in public-such as the public forum (a place where individuals came to discuss issues). Gorgias’ friend Hippas also said that speakers need to be broadly knowledgeable about something and stay updated on the topic. After the time of Gorgias and Hippas, you Isocrates, the Great Sophist, brought all of the ideas of the Sophists together into the 4th century.
The next years would cause turmoil for many people because Isocrates discovered the hidden secret of the Sophists, in that if you can teach someone to communicate effectively, you can also teach them to communicate unethically. But, thankfully, Superman (Aristotle) came in to save the day! He created formal logic, using syllogisms which allowed people to make certain claims as long as they were grounded in universal principles. Aristotle served as a mediator for Rhetoric. He saw both sides and declared that it was an individuals’ ethics that would decide if Rhetoric was a good thing or bad thing. For Aristotle, rhetoric was the art of discovery and that all was available by means of persuasion in any given situation.
By this time Aristotle was the “King” of communication. He developed his ideas in threes. His first idea was that communication has a purpose, second, that there are three types of oratory (forensic, deliberative, and epideictic) Forensic oratory looks at the past for justice, deliberative oratory allows one to speak to influence future action, and finally, epideictic oratory was used for ceremonial and celebratory speaking. Also, that persuasion is accomplished through three different kinds of appeals: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic). Arisotle also created five skills needed to communicate effectively: invention, disposition, style, memory, and deliberate.
After Aristotle, comes along John Locke. His definition of communication was that it is a great instrument that ties society together. He said that we use communication to make sense of our live and need to study it in order to know how to best use it.
Knowledge is our greatest possession and throughout history we can see a tug of war going on with our knowledge. All knowledge is stolen. We have stolen it from each other, have taken it back, and have stolen it again and again to obtain what we know today.
As I was reading through the history of communication in our text I thought about how interesting it was that these people even came up with such ideas such as communicating through public speaking and especially by persuasion. For me, it has always been common knowledge that I could use words to say things and get others to do what I want – or get something that I want.
When I was younger I first learned how to persuade my little brothers and my little sister to talk to my mom and get her to let us go to swimming or go to the park. But as I got older, I used the art of persuasion on them and got them to let me play with their toys or give me money so that I could buy some candy at the local gas station a few blocks away. Ethos, pathos, and logos became my three best friends.
One of the most interesting aspects of the history of communication was the fact that we used information as a weapon and stole knowledge from each other all those years ago. In a way, it was kind of a good thing because it allowed for the spread of knowledge. In today’s society, a person can acquire knowledge just about anywhere. The internet opened up great resources as an information super highway. A person is able to access any document they want. Back during the fourth and fifth centuries, libraries were just being created and books still had to be translated. Some information still had yet to be written down because of oral tradition.
In my opinion though, the best part about reading about the development of communication was reading about the Christian crusaders that captured the library at Alexandria. That seems like a really nerdy thing to do. Who would feel victorious capturing a library? Seriously?
But it definitely reminded me of the movie National Treasure. In this movie, Nicholas Cage plays a guy named Ben Gates. Gates’ family had a history with history. For years his family has been part of a group trying to find a certain treasure – lost in the pages of history. So, along the way there are clues that he must find in order to lead him to where the treasure is. Eventually, it leads him and his friends to thousands of lost and sacred artifacts – including the scrolls from the library of Alexandria.
Dues, M.,& Brown, M. (2001). Boxing Plato's Shadow: An Introduction to the study of human communication (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Communication Model
The picture you see above illustrates what comes to my mind when I think of the word “communication”. It is my model of communication – where you will find a variety of different ways in which we communicate with eachother.
My model of communication demonstrates how I communicate and the people around me communicate daily through different channels. For example, you will see the young boy on the computer, texting, and listening to music. Most young adults have a profile on a social network such as Facebook, and use that to communicate with their friends – the same goes for texting and the use of cell phones. Not only does this show nonverbal ways of communicating (through email, facebook, texts, etc.), it also shows the verbal communication between people. In my model it is the mother talking to the father. Also, even though it is only an illustration of communication, you can still see the unintentional nonverbal communication by the expressions on their faces. Even if the thought bubble was not above the father’s head you could still interpret that the father is annoyed with what the mother has to say and through his facial expression he would rather be doing something more constructive with his time. You see that there could have even been a miscommunication between the two. In this picture you can also see the communication of the media into the home through the television, radio, magazines and newspaper found thrown in the trash.
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