We’ve been roommates for almost an entire semester now, and we have not run into a single problem! This is probably because we’re both currently taking interpersonal communication classes, and try our best to apply the lessons to our real life relationships. Although my class uses projects to challenge our knowledge, I know your class takes tests, so I’m going to help you review in this letter! In my opinion, the most important aspect of communication is the way we manage different types of relationships. In the following paragraphs, I’ll help you review topics such as why various relationship types matter, how we form them, and what distinguishes them from each other by using examples from television shows we watch together. Although all …show more content…
Because these types of relationships are often much more complex, the formation is more intense. According to a theory formed by Mark Knapp, there are five stages in the formation of romantic relationships. In the initiating stage, people meet and interact for the first time. While this may be with romantic intent, it doesn’t have to be. For example, in the television show Friends, Monica and Chandler meet for the first time when they begin living in the same apartment complex, and become acquaintances. The next step, experimenting, occurs when people have conversations to learn more about each other. When Chandler and Monica decided they had enough in common, they became friends. In the intensifying stage, there is increased commitment from both people in the relationship. Although it took several seasons for Monica and Chandler, they eventually decided that they wanted more commitment and exclusivity in their relationship. The integrating stage occurs when people begin to think of themselves as a pair, which happens for Chandler and Monica when they have a formal conversation about being in a romantic relationship. In the final stage, bonding, the partners make an announcement of their commitment to each other. Although it is a long process, Chandler and Monica eventually tell all of their friends about their relationship. In this …show more content…
Although they fill the need to belong like friendships, they often don’t fill social needs. Like professional relationships, they are built off of mutual experiences, but do not typically include formal responsibilities. While they are emotionally intimate like romantic relationships, they are not as voluntary. Unlike other relationship types, however, families often have aspects such as roles, stories, rituals, and secrets. In the television show Modern Family, the characters all have strong relationships with each other. While these have elements of other relationships, they also include factors that are exclusive to family. Although their interactions are not always voluntary, they share intimate relationships that often include secrets and stories about one another, family rituals, and strong relational roles. These factors influence how and when the communicate with each
Americans love their television, and television loves the American family. Since the 1970’s, the depiction of the American family on television has gone through many changes. In the 70s, the Brady Bunch showed an all-white nuclear family. Today, Modern Family, shows a family of blended races, ages, and sexualities. For thirty years, the sitcom family has reflected the changing society of its time and there is no exception of this for the families in The Brady Bunch and Modern Family. The lifestyle, social aspects, and economics situations of the Bradys and the Pritchett-Dunphys are similar in their attempts to portray the lives of families of their time, but differ drastically in the types of families they represent. The characters in Modern
Relationships are complicated, not every relationship will last, and this seems to be the most apparent with romantic relationships, as these types of relationships two partners will often come together and open up to each other and become very close. Every relationship needs effective communication, and this is evident in the film, The Breakup; starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. This film ties in with Interpersonal Communications very well as it portrays its message of poor communication very well. Models of Relational Dynamics, couples conflict styles, crazymakers, and conflict in relational systems are some of the topics that the film perfectly depicts.
Ocana, A., & Hindman, D. (2004). Unacquainted Roommates, Conflict Style, and Relational Outcomes. Conference Papers -- International Communication Association, 1(1), 1-26.
In the last fifty years television has evolved tremendously, especially sitcoms. For example, in 1969 The Brady Bunch aired a show that featured two broken families coming together to form a seemingly ‘perfect’ blended one. The television show emphasized the importance of appreciating your loved ones, as well as surmounting challenges that teenagers face in everyday life. In 2009, the perhaps ‘modern’ Brady Bunch aired on ABC, Modern Family. This show focuses on three families, and highlights non-traditional families, illustrating that there is no ‘perfect’ family. In the forty nine year gap between the two programs, social and cultural issues such as gay marriage, adoption, and multicultural marriages have made
Families are the corner stone of society, and have long depicted as the comedic center of television sitcoms. Over the years, there has been an evolution of not only what families are like in life, but also their representation in the media. There has been a steady evolution of how families are portrayed on television since sitcoms in the 50s. I Love Lucy was ground breaking with its interracial marriage, and on-screen pregnancy, it was considered almost scandalous at the time. Imagine the 1950s public’s reaction of they watched a television series from today like Modern Family, Motherhood, or Glee. The progression of families on television is seen through shows over the decades. Some good examples are I Love Lucy from the 1950s, The Brady Bunch from the 1970s, The Cosby Show from the 1980s, Gilmore Girls from the 2000s, and Modern Family from the 2010s. These shows were/are not only popular and successful franchise, but they do a good job at showing how families were constructed at the time of the shows. How families are broadcasted on television reflects the makeup of families at that time, or what society deems a family should look like. The relatability is what makes shows popular, people want to watch a show about a family like theirs. Sitcoms are easy to watch, funny, relatable shows that people enjoy to watch (Kohne, 2012).
It is vital that individual differences are ironed out through open discussion by identifying and accommodating them in a mutually exclusive interpersonal communication. Personal communication is the foundation of resolving individual differences, which go a long way to produce harmony, respect and love into the relationship. The exchange of information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages appreciate make marriage last till eternity.
In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.
Most people’s lives in the 21 century are in some way affected by media and it is affecting the way individuals preform daily tasks. Television shows are a great example of this; they show the development of characters over a period and display how greater social forces shape what they have become. C. Wright mills uses a term the sociological imagination, it is the theory that people’s lives are shaped essentially by greater social forces and society’s expectations rather than biology and genetics. The show Modern Family is a good example of the sociological imagination because it has a diverse cast and the characters have many personalities, wants, and desires. Modern Family is a television show that has stories of separate individual families who are related. Claire and Mitch are siblings and Jay is their father. The families are Claire, Phil, Alex, Hailey and Luke. Mitch, Cam and Lilly and Jay, Gloria and Mani.
Each relationship is important, and is more vulnerable than others due to their uniqueness, availability, and loyalty. Whether it is a personal or social relationship, they all begin going through the coming together stages of relational development. This communication allows us to test our potential and current relationships by initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding. Adam and Emma incorporate all of these stages from the beginning of the movie when they bond by talking about his parents getting divorced at camp one night, then Adam randomly asks her if he can finger her.
Almost everyone is born into a family. In “Of Mice and Men”, the characters George Milton and Lennie Small have a relationship that could be described as a family relationship. In “The Gilded Six-Bits”, Joe Banks and Missie May are a husband and wife. These people interact with others but there is a different type of interaction between the people who they consider to be family. When people interact with family members, they are usually more free with their actions and words than they are with strangers or mere acquaintances. Sometimes these carefree words and actions lead to disruptions within their relationships. Regardless of the trials and tribulations, everyone desires to have someone that they can care for and call their family.
Ideas and views of families have changed drastically throughout time. Along with these changing views, so have the ideas of why they exist. These changes have been driven, socially, politically and culturally that vary based on different ages, races, genders and societies that a person identifies with. To observe how some of these ideas and attitudes have changed over time, I looked critically into television shows to see which messages are being constructed as a reflection of our societal values. The images and values of family that were constructed through these television shows explain traditional roles while exposing the challenges of an nontraditional family.
There are all different types of communication that people will use through out their life. The most important type of communication is interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication differs from other forms of communication in that there are few participants involved, the participants are in close proximity to each other, there are many sensory channels used, and feedback is immediate. Interpersonal communication is the information received from listening to what someone else is saying. Interpersonal communication always uses intonation, diction and enunciation to give meaning to information. Intonation, diction and enunciation sometimes give more meaning to what is being said than the actual words themselves. In the following paragraphs, I will explain to the reader the importance of interpersonal communication in business.
The modern family is a very complex organism. It has become evident that not everyone considers family to be the same thing. As illustrated, there are at least seven different variations of families, and only five of them are recognized as such. Not surprisingly, 99% of people consider a married couple with children as an ideal family (Penn). Some focus solely on their nuclear family, some readily claim their extended family, and some even claim others who are like them, but not necessarily biologically related. Many people gravitate towards the idea of a self-based and centered family, fueled by an independent streak. Others have learned that strangers can be more accepting of them than those who are supposed to be kin to them. However, this is not to say that even others still do not reach out to members of their extended family for support in daily living. In short, the modern family is an ever-changing device. Society is much better off having these sorts of various views of family. It is comforting to know that one will always have someone to turn to in times of need, but it is also nice to know that one can be independent of others and have the determination to stand
When I began to comprehend the faults within our relationship, I knew it was time to act. Focusing on the Struggle Spectrum by the National Communication Association, I noticed that we were repeatedly climbing the struggle ladder and falling off the edge only to repeat it again. My younger, less educated version of myself would never have seen the problems but now, after years of college and my Interpersonal Communications class, I could see what needed to be done. I b...
The success of any relationship relies on the ability to communicate well. Communication is important in all relationships as it allows us to share our interests, concerns, and support of each other. It helps us to organize our lives and make decisions; and it allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on the way we talk and listen, how we respond as well as our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate because it takes more than words to create a safe, exciting and secure relationship. All too often the signals we send are not those we intend to send, and when this happens, both the connection and trust are lost in our relationships.