PRDV212: Interpersonal Communication

Chapter Objectives:

After reading this chapter you should be able to:

• Define interpersonal communication.
• Explain self-disclosure.
• Understand the role of communication climate on interpersonal communication.
• Be aware of the role of dialectical tensions in interpersonal communication.
• Understand the unique dynamics of friendship.
• Understand the unique dynamics of romantic relationships.
• Understand the unique dynamics of family.
• Understand the various ways of interpreting and responding to conflict in interpersonal communication.

Think​ ​about​ ​your​ ​relationships​ ​that​ ​you​ ​have​ ​maintained​ ​among​ ​your​ ​friends​ ​and​ ​family members​ ​over​ ​the​ ​years.​ ​You​ ​may​ ​have​ ​just​ ​transitioned​ ​from​ ​highschool​ ​to​ ​a​ ​community college​ ​or​ ​university.​ ​Perhaps​ ​you​ ​and​ ​your​ ​friends​ ​from​ ​high​ ​school​ ​went​ ​to​ ​different​ ​colleges and​ ​are​ ​now​ ​living​ ​far​ ​apart​ ​from​ ​each​ ​other.​ ​If​ ​you​ ​have​ ​recently​ ​been​ ​separated​ ​by​ ​distance from​ ​friends​ ​or​ ​family,​ ​you​ ​have​ ​noticed​ ​that​ ​it​ ​is​ ​more​ ​difficult​ ​to​ ​stay​ ​connected​ ​and​ ​share​ ​all​ ​of the​ ​little​ ​things​ ​that​ ​go​ ​on​ ​in​ ​your​ ​day.​ ​As​ ​you​ ​continue​ ​to​ ​grow​ ​and​ ​change​ ​in​ ​college,​ ​it​ ​is​ ​likely that​ ​you​ ​will​ ​create​ ​relationships​ ​along​ ​the​ ​way.​ ​Being​ ​away​ ​from​ ​your​ ​family,​ ​you​ ​will​ ​probably notice​ ​changes​ ​to​ ​your​ ​relationships​ ​with​ ​them.​ ​All​ ​of​ ​these​ ​dynamics,​ ​and​ ​many​ ​more,​ ​fall under​ ​the​ ​scope​ ​of​ ​interpersonal​ ​communication.

Before going any further, let us define interpersonal communication. "Inter" means between, among, mutually, or together. The second part of the word, "personal" refers to a specific individual or particular role that an individual may occupy. Thus, interpersonal communication is communication between individual people. We often engage in interpersonal communication in dyads, which means between two people. It may also occur in small groups such as you and your housemates trying to figure out a system for household chores.

Important to know, is that the definition of interpersonal communication is not simply a quantitative one. What this means is that you cannot define it by merely counting the number of people involved. Instead, Communication scholars view interpersonal communication qualitatively; meaning that it occurs when people communicate with each other as unique individuals. Thus, interpersonal communication is a process of exchange where there is desire and motivation on the part of those involved to get to know each other as individuals. We will use this definition of interpersonal communication to explore the three primary types of relationships in our lives - friendships, romantic, and family. Given that conflict is a natural part of interpersonal communication, we will also discuss multiple ways of understanding and managing conflict. But before we go into detail about specific interpersonal relationships, let's examine two important aspects of interpersonal communication: self-disclosure and climate.

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Source: Wikibooks, https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Survey_of_Communication_Study/Chapter_9_-_Interpersonal_Communication
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