In interpersonal communication there are many theories that are similar yet different in many ways. The theories can be combined to describe people and how those people interact and communicate with each other. Many of these theories help explain how people in society form impressions of others, how they maintain these impressions, why people interact with certain people in society, and how people will use these impressions that they have formed later on in life. These theories also help people to better understand themselves, to better understand interpersonal communication, and to better understand people in general. There are two theories in interpersonal communication that, despite their differences, can go hand in hand. The first is interaction adaptation theory and the second is emotional contagion theory. These two theories’ similarities and differences and their relevance to my everyday life will be discussed in this paper. These two theories are very important in understanding how people interact with others and why people do the things they do sometimes.
Interaction adaptation theory defined by Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond (2005) is a “Theory suggesting that people interact with others by adapting to what others are doing” (p. 190). A way of looking at this theory is by thinking about a mirror. “Sometimes we relate by mirroring the posture or behavior of others” (p. 190). This theory believes that people will share the same kind of communication patterns when they are communicating together. People will interact in the same way as the other person. There has been a conclusion based on this theory that “nonverbal cues play a key role in how people adapt to others” (p. 190). If a person is communicating with their friend, who has their arms crossed, than this person might find that they are crossing their arms as well. These types of actions are all conclusions to this theory. People, based on their interactions with others, usually tend to develop similar communication patterns and find themselves mirroring the patterns of the other.
Emotional contagion theory is a little similar to interaction adaptation theory. According to Beebe, Beebe, and Redmond (2005), emotional contagion theory “suggests that people tend to ‘catch’ the emotions of others” (p. 213). This means that if a person is comm...
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...oes for most of the emotions that people feel. I never really noticed any of this before I started writing this paper. I shared this information with my best friend and she was amazed that the way people interact is generally the same within groups in society. She now has a better understanding of the communication patterns and behaviors of people and she is not even in the class.
These theories have helped me to have a clearer understanding of how people interact with others and how they can share emotions. Everybody uses these theories whether they are conscious of it or not. If people did not use these theories than they would not be taught in class. Knowing about these theories and how they work is very beneficial to having better communication and interaction with people who are complete strangers and with people who are friends or even colleagues. The way people interact with others is important to knowing how they will share emotions and behaviors not only now, but also in the future.
References
Beebe, S., Beebe, S., Redmond, M. (2005). Interpersonal Communication: Relating to
Others. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
The Behavior Theory has continued to build on “how humans’ actions and emotions developed, are sustained, and are extinguished through principles of learning (Walsh, 2013).”
For instance, when one feels disgust it is the response of something bad or dirty. People who are social express their emotions more often but those who like solitude mostly hide their emotions. So emotions are also linked to tendency of one’s behavior (Schacter, Daniel L. 2011).
I have learned a lot about the Social bonding theory and the self-control theory just by writing this paper and seeking information for it. When we first discussed these two theories in the class I really enjoyed them and when you enjoy something it is easier to learn. Now that I have written this paper I can think about how closely related these two theories are because they practically work together in some cases you can’t have one without the other. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to write on and expand my knowledge about these two great
The film, The Breakfast Club, is an impressive work of art, addressing almost every aspect of interpersonal communication. This is easily seen here, as I’ve gone through and shown how all these principles of interpersonal communication apply to real-life, using only two short interpersonal interactions from the movie. I’ve explained aspects of interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, verbal misunderstandings, communication styles, gender issues, and self-disclosures. With that said, I believe I have demonstrated my ability to apply principles of interpersonal communication with simulated real-life examples.
Emotional contagion is having one person's emotions and related behaviors directly trigger similar emotions and behaviors in another person or group of people. This can be done through a two-step process of emotional mimicry and synchronization of one's expressions and by vocalizations and posture feedback and movements. When people unconsciously mirror a partner’s expressions, they come to feel these reflections of emotions as well. Emotional mimicry is one of the most highly adaptive behaviors. One can have muscle movements that mirror the expressions they see, including looking at an angry face that activates the corrugator muscle which activates frowning. Then there is also a happy face that contracts the zygomatic major which helps with
How this theory contributes to my understanding of the human communication is that it makes me wonder what people are really hiding, mostly if they are trying to keep their faces all the time. Even when they experience strong emotions, it is during that tiny moment we get to really see who they are depending on how they act. How I will see communication differently because of this theory now is that I will pay more attention to how people act. To really look and see if what people are showing us is really what they want us to see, or if they are hiding something.
Social Psychology of Emotions can be defined as a form of mental states that has the potential to give rise to various behaviors in an individual. Research suggests that most of the emotions experienced by a person are inherently social, which implies that they cannot be encountered in the absence of other feelings (Baumeister & Finkel, 2010). Baumeister and Finkel, are of the opinion, that the social aspect of emotions is what forces people to interact more with others as they seek a means of illustrating what they may be feeling. Some of the notable emotions experienced by individuals include affection, jealousy, shame, and sympathy.
We, as humans, have the propensity to vary in how well we encode and decode messages that are both written and spoken. This is because people tend to range in a variety of highs and lows with regard to their verbal language abilities. This would a lot for differences in nonverbal communication as well. Nonverbal communication refers to the exchange of information between people and an explanation or establishment of the meaning of information by any means other than the use of spoken or written words. It includes message through a multitude of behaviors (expressive channels) such as facial expressions, bodily movements, vocal tone and pitch, and other channels that are comprised of a variety of cues related to the encoding and the decoding of messages. The communication and interpretation of nonverbal behavior draws on tacit, implicit knowledge that all human beings possess (Ambady and Rosenthal, 775).
...; With the use of applying this theory to an episode as a demonstration, an application, and then an explanation, it is easy to see how the Social Exchange theory is related to everyday situations. Not only can the theory be applied to amorous relationships, but to that of friendships. The utility of the theory is seen in just about every type of interaction and is key to better understanding why relationships, friendships, or any mutual interaction, for that matter, turn out being costly or rewarding.
Interpersonal communication is one of the significant skills while communicating with other individuals. It normally covers an extensive area and includes both verbal and non-verbal communication. Body language and facial expression may affect the accurateness of the message transmission directly. Interpersonal communication skills normally ensure that the message is sent and received correctly without any alteration thus improving the communication efficiency. Learning diverse aspects of interpersonal communication has greatly aided me in better understanding of what it consists. I am capable of applying the knowledge gained from this course to my personal experiences. This paper reflects on my personal experience in learning interpersonal communication.
Akers and Sellers (2013) has stated that social learning theory is an expanded theory of differential association processes and improves it with differential reinforcement and other principles of the behavior theory. They added classical conditioning (the sharpening of involuntary reflex behavior); discriminative stimuli (internal stimuli that lead to signals for behavior); schedules of reinforcement (rewards and punishment ratio following behavioral feedback); and other theories of behavior (Akers & Sellers, 2013).
Two men from very different backgrounds, combined their perspectives to create some of the most well-known theories in psychology. The frustration-aggression hypothesis, social learning, and the
The way the body moves and how others interpret it make up an extensive part of communication (Bolton 326). Facial expressions, gestures, and movements made with any part of the body greatly influence what someone is communicating with another person. Someone’s perception of another person’s s body language is affecting what is being communicated is also a key factor in non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication can make up 70% of the communicative interaction, while the verbal communication makes up the other 30% (History Channel). This means that humans communicate more with the...
Lawler, E. J., & Thye, S. R. (1999). Bringing emotions into social exchange theory. Annual
...tention to how people react to one another’s comments, guessing the relationship between the people and guessing how each feels about what is being said. This can inform individuals to better understand the use of body language when conversing with other people. It is also important to take into account individual differences. Different cultures use different non-verbal gestures. Frequently, when observing these gestures alone the observer can get the wrong impression, for instance, the listener can subconsciously cross their arms. This does not mean that they are bored or annoyed with the speaker; it can be a gesture that they are comfortable with. Viewing gestures as a whole will prevent these misunderstandings. Non-verbal gestures are not only physical, for example; the tone of voice addressing a child will be different from the way it is addressed to an adult.