Introduction to human communication perception meaning and identity

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Introduction to Human Communication

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New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Introduction to Human Communication

PERCEPTION, MEANING, AND IDENTITY

Susan R. Beauchamp Bryant University

Stanley J. Baran Bryant University

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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

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Published by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 http://www.oup.com

Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beauchamp, Susan R., author. Introduction to human communication : perception, meaning, and identity / Susan R. Beauchamp, Bryant University; Stanley J. Baran, Bryant University. pages cm ISBN 978-0-19-026961-6 1. Communication. 2. Interpersonal communication. I. Baran, Stanley J., author. II. Title. P90.B3385 2017 153.6—dc23 2015028104

Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

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Mom, every chapter of this book is, in so many ways,

influenced by your unwavering dedication to family.

We love you beyond measure.

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Preface xix

PART 1 FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNICATION

1 The Communication Process: Perception, Meaning, and Identity 3

2 Communication Research and Inquiry 27

3 Verbal Communication 49

4 Nonverbal Communication 71

5 Listening 93

PART 2 COMMUNICATION CONTEXTS

6 Relational and Conflict Communication 115

7 Communicating in Small Groups 143

8 Organizational Communication 165

9 Intercultural Communication 187

10 Mass Communication 209

11 Media Literacy 235

12 Social Media and Communication Technologies 259

13 Persuasion and Social Influence 285

14 Health Communication 311

15 Public Speaking: An Overview 339

Glossary G-1 References R-1 Credits C-1 Index I-1

Brief Contents

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Preface xix

PART 1 FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNICATION

CHAPTER 1 The Communication Process: Perception, Meaning, and Identity 3

The Process of Creating Meaning 4 The Evolution of Communication Models 5 Transmissional, Constitutive, and Ritual Views of Communication 7

The Power of Culture 9

Communication and Perception 11

Signs and Symbols 14

Communication and Identity 17 Symbolic Interaction and the Looking Glass 18 Frame Analysis 19

What Does Communication Give You the Power to Do? 22

Review of Learning Objectives 24

Key Terms 25

Questions for Review 25

Questions for Discussion 25

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Communicating Well to Land the Job 10

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION 13

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION 17

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION 22

CHAPTER 2 Communication Research and Inquiry 27

Theory and Scientific Inquiry 28 Defining Theory 28 Scientific Inquiry 31

Contents

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Three Philosophical Questions that Shape Scientific Inquiry 33

Traditions of Communication Inquiry 35 Postpositivist Theory and Research 35 Interpretive Theory and Research 37 Critical Theory and Research 37

Tools of Observation: Research Methods 39 Experiments 40 Surveys 41 Textual Analysis 43 Mixing Methods and Traditions 43

Review of Learning Objectives 46

Key Terms 47

Questions for Review 47

Questions for Discussion 47

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: The Benefits of Critical Thinking 32

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Solving Not-So-Well-Posed Problems 35

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Communication Inquiry Needs to Be Bigger! 39

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Where Do You Draw the Line? 45

CHAPTER 3 Verbal Communication 49

The Structure of Language 50

Language and Thought 52 Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis 53 Metaphor 54 The Ladder of Abstraction 56

The Functions of Language 58

Language and Meaning Making 62 Situational, Social, and Cultural Meaning 62 Syntactic Ambiguity 64 Euphemisms 65

Language and Protecting Self-Identity: Politeness Theory 66

Review of Learning Objectives 68

Key Terms 69

Questions for Review 69

Questions for Discussion 69

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SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: War! What Is It Good For? 57

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Speaking Well to Do Well 59

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Lying 60

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Speaking Inclusively 67

CHAPTER 4 Nonverbal Communication 71

What Is Nonverbal Communication? 72 Similarities to Verbal Communication 73 Differences from Verbal Communication 74

Theory of Nonverbal Coding Systems 75

Types of Nonverbal Coding Systems 76 Proxemics 76 Haptics 78 Chronemics 81 Kinesics 82 Vocalics 84 Oculesics 84 Facial Expressions 85 Physical Appearance 86 Artifacts 86 Environmental Factors 88 Silence 89

The Role of Nonverbal Communication in Creating Meaning and Identity 89

Review of Learning Objectives 90

Key Terms 91

Questions for Review 91

Questions for Discussion 91

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Touching in the Workplace 79

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: On-the-Job Nonverbal Communication 81

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: How We Spend Our Time 83

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Freedom of Expression versus Professional Appearance 87

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CHAPTER 5 Listening 93

What is Listening? 94

Misconceptions About Listening 96

The Components of Effective Listening 100

Barriers to Effective Listening 101 Physical Noise 102 Psychological Noise 102 Physiological Noise 104 Semantic Noise 104 External Distractions 104 Counterproductive Listening Styles 105

Types of Listening 106

Becoming an Effective Listener 109

Review of Learning Objectives 112

Key Terms 113

Questions for Review 113

Questions for Discussion 113

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: The 80/20 Rule 96

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Being an Active Listener 102

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: The Ethics of Listening 107

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Questioning Our Cultural Speakers 108

PART 2 COMMUNICATION CONTEXTS

CHAPTER 6 Relational and Conflict Communication 115

The Value of Relationships 116

The Role of Interpersonal Communication 118

Developing and Maintaining Relationships 120 Uncertainty Reduction Theory 121 Social Penetration Theory 122 Social Exchange Theory 126 Relational Dialectics Theory 127

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Interpersonal Communication and Conflict 129 Types of Conflict 131 Stages of Interpersonal Conflict 132 Conflict Management Styles 133

Resolving Conflict: What to Do and What Not to Do 135 What to Do 135 What Not to Do 137

Review of Learning Objectives 139

Key Terms 140

Questions for Review 141

Questions for Discussion 141

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Mastering the Soft Skills 117

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: It Takes Two to Tango, but Someone Has to Lead 119

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Beauty Is Only Screen Deep 123

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Sugar-Coated Hostility 138

CHAPTER 7 Communicating in Small Groups 143

Types of Groups 144

Dynamics of Group Structure 145 Informal and Formal Communication in Groups 148 Structuration Theory 148 The Five Stages of Group Development 149 Group Cohesion and Breakdown 152 Systems Theory 153

Leadership and Power 154 Styles of Leadership 155 Forms of Power 156

Improving Your Group Communication Skills 159

Review of Learning Objectives 161

Key Terms 163

Questions for Review 163

Questions for Discussion 163

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Forming a Group 146

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: You Make the Rules 150

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Our Responsibility to the Group 155

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: 12 Cs for Successful Teamwork 160

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CHAPTER 8 Organizational Communication 165

Defining Organizational Communication 166

Types and Movement of Organizational Messages 167 Upward Messages 168 Downward Messages 170 Horizontal Messages 170

The Organization as a System 173

Positive and Negative Organizational Communication Traits 175

Organizational Climate and Culture 177 Strong Organizational Cultures 181 Dealing with Diversity in an Organizational Culture 182

Review of Learning Objectives 184

Key Terms 185

Questions for Review 185

Questions for Discussion 185

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Could You Blow the Whistle? 169

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Status Update: I’ve Just Been Fired 172

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Dealing with On-the-Job Conflict 178

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Doing Well by Doing Good 180

CHAPTER 9 Intercultural Communication 187

What Is Intercultural Communication? 188

Obstacles to Intercultural Communication 189

The “Naturalness” of Prejudice: Two Theories of Culture and Identity 192 Social Identity Theory 192 Identity Negotiation Theory 193

Accelerators of Intercultural Communication 194

How Cultural Values Shape Communication 197

Attitudes Toward Diversity and the Problem with Tolerance 202

Review of Learning Objectives 206

Key Terms 207

Questions for Review 207

Questions for Discussion 207

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SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Stereotyping versus Generalizing 190

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Cultural Participation 196

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: What Would You Say? 197

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Improving On-the-Job Intercultural Communication 199

CHAPTER 10 Mass Communication 209

What Is Mass Communication? 210 Why Study Mass Communication? 211 Interpersonal Communication versus Mass Communication 212

Culture, Communication, and Mass Media 215

Characteristics of Media Consumers 219

Characteristics of Media Industries 221

Theories of Mass Communication 226

Review of Learning Objectives 231

Key Terms 232

Questions for Review 232

Questions for Discussion 232

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: The Third-Person Effect 217

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: The Role of the Photojournalist 222

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Finding a Career in the Media 226

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Media Conduct 229

CHAPTER 11 Media Literacy 235

What Is Media Literacy? 236 Media Literacy Scholarship 238 Some Core Concepts of Media Literacy 242

Media Literacy Questions 244

What Does It Mean to Be Media Literate? 246 Characteristics of Media-Literate People 246 The Skill of Being Media Literate 251

Media Literacy and Meaning Making 253 Media Literacy and Identity 253 Media Literacy and Democracy 255

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Review of Learning Objectives 255

Key Terms 256

Questions for Review 256

Questions for Discussion 257

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Careers in Media Literacy 237

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Advertising to Children 240

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Being a Proactive Media Consumer 252

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Countering the Kinderculture 254

CHAPTER 12 Social Media and Communication Technologies 259

The Promise and Peril of New Communication Technologies 260

A Connected World 263

The Dark Side of New Communication Technologies 266 Addiction 267 Depression 269 Distraction 269

How Computer-Mediated Communication Affects Identity and Relationships 271

Social Network Sites and Identity Construction and Maintenance 271 The Internet and Interpersonal Communication 275 Social Isolation 279 Shy and Popular Users 280 Facebook Envy and Our Sense of Well-Being 281 Self-Disclosure and Relational Development 281

Review of Learning Objectives 282

Key Terms 283

Questions for Review 283

Questions for Discussion 283

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Social Media, Social Connection, and Social Power 262

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Who Owns the Social Networking You? 265

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: E-mail versus Social Networking Sites 266

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Internet Addiction Self-Diagnosis 268

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CHAPTER 13 Persuasion and Social Influence 285

What Is Persuasion? 286

Values, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors 289 Balance Theory 291 Dissonance Theory 292

The Selective Processes 293

What Factors Infuence Persuasion? 294 Source Characteristics 295 Message Characteristics 299 Receiver Characteristics 300

The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion 302

Processes of Attitude Change 305

Review of Learning Objectives 308

Key Terms 309

Questions for Review 309

Questions for Discussion 309

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Four Dos and Four Don’ts of Workplace Persuasion 288

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Would the Razor Switch Hands Today? 295

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: The Federal Trade Commission and Advertiser Credibility 297

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: The TARES Test 307

CHAPTER 14 Health Communication 311

Communication and a Long and Healthy Life 312

Health Communication in Provider-Client Settings 315

Health Communication Contexts 323 Friends and Family 323 Support Groups 325 Hospital Culture 325 Entertainment Mass Media 327

Health Communication and the Internet 330

Health Communication Campaigns 332

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Review of Learning Objectives 335

Key Terms 336

Questions for Review 336

Questions for Discussion 337

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Speak Up 321

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising 329

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: The Health Belief Model 334

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: Getting Health Messages to Employees 335

CHAPTER 15 Public Speaking: An Overview 339

The Importance of Public Speaking 340

Types of Speeches 344

A Crash Course in Public Speaking 346

Identifying the Steps of Speech Preparation 352

Overcoming Public Speaking Anxiety 355

Review of Learning Objectives 359

Key Terms 360

Questions for Review 360

Questions for Discussion 361

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE: On-the-Job Public Speaking 342

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Political Satire in Contemporary Culture 343

PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNICATION: Public Speaking Self-Assessment 352

ETHICAL COMMUNICATION: Plagiarism and Public Speaking 354

Glossary G-1 References R-1 Credits C-1 Index I-1

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One of the great advantages of teaching Introduction to Communication is that it allows instructors and their students to talk about everything because every aspect of life—personal, social, political, cultural, relational, familial— involves communication. But the nature of the course also presents some challenges:

1. What gets covered and what gets left out? In other words, how does the class cover all the important material in one semester?

2. Given everything the course is designed to cover, how does the material connect with students’ everyday lives? Where is the balance between the theoretical and what’s relevant to students?

3. What’s the best way to ensure that the course’s learning objectives are met?

We have carefully designed this text in answer to these questions, drawing on scores of surveys and reviews, along with our collective 60 years of university teaching experience. Introduction to Communication: Perception, Meaning, and Identity offers a comprehensive, readable, and balanced survey of the disci- pline. Using vivid and contemporary examples, we cover the basics of commu- nication theory and research and provide tools to help students become more competent, confident, and ethical communicators. We show students the relevance of communication in their daily lives so that they can apply their newfound knowledge of the communication process in a variety of contexts.

The Philosophy of This Text Communication is about mutual, transactional meaning making, working with others to craft common understanding. It is also about how we perceive our world and how we create our identity; we know ourselves and our world through interaction with others. Helping students gain more effective control over perception, meaning making, and identity is the story of this book.

How do we begin to understand this complex world and our place in it? Through communication. The value of this course is in showing students how to think criti- cally about themselves and the worlds they inhabit, negotiate, create, and recre- ate—face-to-face and in front of screens—through communication. We do this, in

Preface

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part, by emphasizing the interdisciplinary and overlapping nature of communica- tion studies, encouraging students to make more connections, to expand the breadth and depth of their knowledge, and to apply that knowledge in their lives.

Pedagogical Features The pedagogical features we developed for this text reflect our philosophy and emphasize applications, asking students to challenge assumptions about themselves and their world.

• Ethical Communication boxes present ethical dilemmas that commu- nicators face, on topics such as lying (Chapter 3), whistleblowing (Chap- ter 8), and advertising to children (Chapter 11). These features prompt students to examine complex situations and weigh their own choices.

• Personally Responsible Communication boxes remind students that they are what they communicate, asking them to consider their responsi- bility in personal communication situations. Topics include speaking in- clusively (Chapter 3), practicing active listening (Chapter 5), and self-diagnosing Internet addiction (Chapter 12).

• Socially Responsible Communication boxes ask students to consider how much responsibility they have to the larger culture, encouraging more thoughtful communication. Topics include stereotyping (Chapter 9), media conduct (Chapter 10), and the Speak Up program for patient safety (Chapter 14).

• Communication in the Workplace boxes present direct, hands-on advice for career success. Topics include dealing with on-the-job conflict (Chapter 6), tips for successful teamwork (Chapter 7), and the dos and don’ts of workplace persuasion (Chapter 13).

• Thumbnail Theory features appear in the margins to summarize the core theories presented in the text. Our aim is to make theory accessible and highlight why it matters in real life.

Intercultural communication

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Persuasion and social influence

Intersections of Communication Subfields

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In addition, several other features help students get the most from the book:

• Learning Objectives at the beginning of each chapter

• A Review of Learning Objectives at the end of each chapter, highlighting key points

• A Running Glossary and a list of Key Terms

• Questions for Review

• Questions for Discussion.

Organization In designing a survey text that is comprehensive yet concise, we had to make some difficult decisions about what to include. We worked to offer the broad- est, most contemporary overview of the discipline available, one tied to stu- dents’ everyday realities and their career aspirations, regardless of major.

The text is organized into 15 chapters (to fit the typical semester) and di- vided into two parts, Foundations of Communication and Communication Con- texts, offering balanced coverage of the entire field of communication. Part I includes a chapter on communication research and inquiry (Chapter 2) and covers verbal communication (Chapter 3), nonverbal communication (Chapter 4), and listening (Chapter 5). Part II builds on this foundation to examine communication in a wide variety of contexts. These chapters include rela- tional and conflict communication (Chapter 6), communicating in small groups (Chapter 7), organizational communication (Chapter 8), and intercul- tural communication (Chapter 9), as well as mass communication (Chapter 10), media literacy (Chapter 11), social media and communication technolo- gies (Chapter 12), persuasion and social influence (Chapter 13), and health communication (Chapter 14). An optional crash-course on public speaking (Chapter 15) gives students the basic skills and confidence to communicate publicly.

Ancillary Package A comprehensive set of ancillary materials for instructors and students ac- companies Introduction to Human Communication.

Online Learning • Dashboard delivers high-quality content, tools, and assessments to

track student progress in an intuitive, Web-based learning environment.

• Dashboard gives instructors the ability to manage digital content from Introduction to Human Communication and its supplements in order to create assignments, administer tests, and track student prog- ress. Assessments are designed to accompany this text and are

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automatically graded so that instructors can check students’ progress as they complete their assignments. The color-coded gradebook illus- trates at a glance where students are succeeding and where they can improve.

• With Dashboard, students have access to a variety of interactive study tools designed to enhance their learning experience, including videos and exercises, critical thinking activities and questions, and multiple-choice pre- and post-tests to accompany each chapter.

• Dashboard is engineered to be simple, informative, and mobile. All Dashboard content is engineered to work on mobile devices, including iOS platforms.

• Course cartridges for a variety of Learning Management Systems, in- cluding Blackboard Learn, Canvas, Moodle, D2L, and Angel, allow in- structors to create their own course websites, integrating student and instructor resources available on the Ancillary Resource Center and Companion Website. Contact your Oxford University Press representa- tive for access or for more information about these supplements or cus- tomized options.

For Instructors • Ancillary Resource Center (ARC) at www.oup-arc.com. This conve-

nient, instructor-focused website provides access to all of the up-to-date teaching resources for this text—at any time—while guaranteeing the security of grade-significant resources. In addition, it allows OUP to keep instructors informed when new content becomes available. The following items are available on the ARC:

• The Instructor’s Manual includes syllabus preparation tools, a sample syllabus, chapter-based assignment ideas, and suggestions for audiovisual materials.

• The comprehensive Computerized Test Bank offers over 900 exam questions in multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay formats, with each item classified according to Bloom’s taxonomy and tagged to page and section references in the text.

• PowerPoint-based lecture slides highlight key concepts, terms, and examples, and incorporate images from each chapter. With stream- lined text, a focus on visual support, and lecture tips in the notes sec- tion, these presentations are ready to use and fully editable to make preparing for class faster and easier than ever.

• Now Playing, Instructor’s Edition, includes an introduction on how to incorporate film and television clips in class, as well as even more film examples, viewing guides and assignments, a complete set of sample responses to the discussion questions in the student edi- tion, a full list of references, and an index by subject for ease of use. Now Playing also has an accompanying companion website at

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www.oup.com/us/nowplaying, which features descriptions of films from previous editions and selected film clips.

• Two optional chapters for download: Public Speaking: Research, Writing, and Delivery; and Persuasive, Informative, and Other Types of Speaking.

• A downloadable guide to Interviewing.

For Students

• Now Playing (print), available free in a package with a new copy of the book, looks at contemporary films and television shows through the lens of commu- nication principles. Updated yearly, it illustrates how communication concepts play out in a variety of situations, using mass media that are interactive, fa- miliar, and easily accessible to students.

• The Companion Website at www.oup.com/us/beauchamp offers a wealth of study and review resources, including learning objectives, summaries, chap- ter quizzes, flashcards, activities, and links to a variety of media-related websites.

Acknowledgments We were fortunate to have had the assistance of many people in the writing of this book. Most important, we have drawn on the research and thinking of a century’s worth of communication thinkers and researchers, not to mention their colleagues in the other social sciences and humanities. Their research and writing have in- spired and guided the field’s contemporary thinking. It’s an exciting time to study communication, and the work that has come before has made this book—and the discipline itself—possible.

We relied, too, on the sharp eye and teaching experience of our reviewers, who improved and enriched our work. In particular, we thank the following reviewers commissioned by Oxford University Press:

Jerry L. Allen University of New Haven

Carla Harrell Old Dominion University

Andrew F. Herrmann East Tennessee State University

Karen Isaacs University of New Haven

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Dan Kozlowski Saint Louis University

Jennifer A. Marshall California State University, Northridge

Kelly Odenweller West Virginia University

William Price Georgia Perimeter College

Greg Rickert Bluegrass Community & Technical College

Jill Schiefelbein Arizona State University

Bruce Wickelgren Suffolk University

Thanks also to the team at Oxford University Press. Their professional- ism, encouragement, and advice sustained us. This is an organization that trusts its authors. For that we are especially grateful.

Our colleagues, students, friends, and extended family deserve our appre- ciation as well. Not only did they let us bore them with our tales of writing woe, but a few appear in photos in these pages. Finally, we are grateful to one colleague in particular. Dr. Wendy Samter was our Chair and is now our Dean. Several years ago, she gave us the task of evaluating all the Introduction to Communication texts available for adoption. We took that job to heart, and although not completely dissatisfied with the available options, we did dis- cover that these books lacked sufficient attention to (1) the discipline as a social science and (2) newer mediated forms of communication. As such, Wendy initiated the journey that produced this book and encouraged and sup- ported us at every step along the way.

We must also thank our immediate families. Our children, Jordan and Matt, were the inspiration for many of our examples. Jordan is a recent grad- uate who majored in Communication and is now in the midst of a burgeoning career, and Matt is still in school and preparing to make his mark. They are great kids; we are exceedingly proud of them.

We thank you for taking the time to read our thoughts on the course and how we believe it should be taught. And we commend you for committing yourself to this important and exciting discipline.

SRB & SJB

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Introduction to Human Communication

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Chapter Outline

The Process of Creating Meaning 4

The Power of Culture 10

Communication and Perception 11

Signs and Symbols 14

Communication and Identity 17

What Does Communication Give You the Power to Do? 22

The Communication Process

1

This is the job you want, no question. It’s one anyone would want—

working at a hospital in a great up-and-coming community, having

significant responsibilities, getting paid a real salary.

You’ve done your research. You know that employers consider

good communication skills the most important factor not only

in job performance, but in career advancement (Sternberg, 2013).

Another piece of research you discovered showed that communica-

tion competencies were the most-often mentioned keys to success

in management (Whetton and Cameron, 2005).

So you now know how to build your case. You go over your notes

one last time. This is what the interviewers will hear from you:

“I will have to interact with all kinds of staff and clients, and I bring

solid verbal and nonverbal communication skills to the job. On

teams where there are inevitable tensions, my conflict and group

communication studies will be an asset. I know, too, that I will be

working with people from many different backgrounds, and my in-

tercultural communication coursework has prepared me well. Just

as important, I have classroom experience in health communica-

tion, especially in using the media to promote healthy behaviors.

In fact, in this position I can combine my media literacy with my

interpersonal communication and persuasion skills.”

You’re ready. With this background, how could you fail?

Perception, Meaning, and Identity

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Communicating—mutually creating meaning—is part of what makes us human.

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The skills and strengths mentioned in this anecdote represent different chap- ters in this book. Of course the vignette is fictional, but the research it men- tions is real. Communication is indispensable not only to professional success but to success as a person. Good communication skills can make you a better friend, parent, colleague, and citizen. Competent communication and media literacy can make interacting with people more satisfying, consuming media more fun, and experiencing life more meaningful.

The Process of Creating Meaning We communicate to create, recreate, and understand our realities. Communi- cation allows us to control our environments. It is how we know ourselves and how we let others know us. Communication, the process of mutual creation of meaning, is breathtakingly simple and often maddeningly complex. As cog- nitive scientist Benjamin Bergen explains,

communication The process of mutual creation of meaning.

1.1 Illustrate how models of communication evolved from linear to transactional.

1.2 Demonstrate how communication is an ongoing and dynamic process of creating meaning.

1.3 Contrast the transmissional, constitutive, and ritual views of communication.

1.4 explain the power of culture as the backdrop for creating meaning.

1.5 Describe the relationships between perception, communication, and identity.

1.6 explain when and how communication grants power.

Learning Objectives

Constantly, tirelessly, automatically, we make meaning. What’s perhaps most remarkable about it is that we hardly notice we’re doing anything at all. There are deep, rapid, complex operations afoot under the surface of the skull, and yet all we experience is seamless understand- ing. Meaning is not only constant; it’s also critical. With language, we can com- municate what we think and who we are. Without language, we would be isolated. We would have no fiction, no history, and no science. To understand how meaning works, then, is to understand part of what it is to be human. And not just human, but uniquely human. (2012)

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T h e P r O C e S S O f C r e aT I n G M e a n I n G

The Evolution of Communication Models In the first half of the last century, the field of communication studies was newly established. Scholars saw communication as a process that followed a linear model; that is, messages travel in a more or less straight line from a source, through a medium, to a receiver. The most famous expression of this idea is political scientist Harold Lasswell’s (1948):

Who? Says What? Through which channel? To whom? With what effect?

The source has a goal in mind, creates a message, and selects a means (or medium) to deliver it; the receiver receives it and does or does not do what the source wants. Think of public relations and health professionals using online public service announcements to convince teens to avoid binge drink- ing. If the message does not have the desired effect, the source should modify the message or change the medium. In its simplest form, the linear model of communication looks like this:

linear model a representa- tion of communication as a linear process, with messages traveling from a source, through a medium, to a receiver.

source In a linear communication model, the originator of a message.

medium In a linear commu- nication model, the carrier of a message.

receiver In a linear communi- cation model, the recipient of a message.

But maybe the message did not have the desired effect because of noise somewhere along the line. Noise is anything that interferes with the process of communication, and it exists in a variety of forms:

• Physical noise—something outside the communication effort itself; your roommate plays a loud video game while you’re trying to talk on the phone.

• Semantic noise—a problem in the construction of the message; your pro- fessor uses completely unfamiliar technical jargon.

• Psychological noise—predispositions, biases, or prejudices that shape how you construct and interpret messages; consider what different politicians mean when they talk about “freedom” and what voters of different politi- cal leanings take away when they hear that word.

• Physiological noise—sometimes you are simply not operating at full com- munication capacity because you are tired or hungry or sick.

How do sources know if their communication efforts are successful? They look for feedback, a response to their message. Now the linear model is a little less linear and it looks like this:

noise anything that interferes with the process of communication.

feedback response to a message.

FIGURE 1.2 The Linear Model of Communication, Including Feedback

Source Message

Feedback

Receiver

FIGURE 1.1 Simplified Linear Model of Communication

Source Message Receiver

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Encoder

Encoder

Interpreter Interpreter

Decoder

Decoder

Message

Message

FIGURE 1.3 Osgood and Schramm’s Model of Communication

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This, however, is still a source-dominated model of communication; that is, it still views the success of the communication effort as primarily within the source’s control. But isn’t feedback a message? Hasn’t the receiver now become the source, sending a message back to the original source, who is now the receiver?

The limits of the source-dominated view of communication become obvi- ous as soon as we understand communication as a reciprocal, ongoing process, with all parties engaged in creating shared meaning. Communication researcher Wilbur Schramm (1954) used this idea, originally offered by psychologist Charles E. Osgood, to create a more accurate model of communication, one having no source, no receiver, and no feedback. Stressing communication as in- teraction, it represents the participants in the communication process as inter- preters, working together to create meaning by encoding and decoding messages. Encoding is transforming a message into an understandable sign and symbol system—for example, speaking in English or shooting a video using familiar visual storytelling conventions. Decoding is interpreting those signs and symbols—for example, listening to the speaker or watching the video and drawing meaning from them. Figure 1.3 shows this model of communication.

Schramm made another important point: all that encoding and decoding takes place against the backdrop of communicators’ fields of experience. That means that

• Communicators create and interpret messages in terms of what they already know and have experienced. “Communication involves the total personal- ity,” wrote communication theorist Dean Barnlund. Encoding and decod- ing can never be separated because “meanings [are] generated by the whole organism” (1962, p. 199). For example, when you live at home, you and your parents no doubt have somewhat different ideas of what “cleaning your room” means.

• There can be no communication unless interpreters share a common set of ex- periences. Vielleicht sprichst Du Deutsch? Unless you speak German, that message has no meaning. If German is not part of your experience, you and a German speaker cannot communicate very well. Messages are sent; meaning is made.

source-dominated model a representation of communi- cation efforts as primarily within a source’s control.

encoding Transforming a message into an understand- able sign and symbol system.

decoding Interpreting signs and symbols.

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• No two communicators share exactly the same set of experiences, so there is always some negotiation of meaning. You and your friend both have experienced “dog,” but that small, fluffy, squeaking thing he brings with him everywhere he goes is not what you mean by “dog.”

Communication, then, is the process of mutual creation of meaning. It is social—it involves people in interaction; it is a process—its parts operate interdependently and continuously; and it is dynamic—it is always changing. This last characteristic defines modern notions of communication as transactional—communication changes the communicators. Each new message, decoded into meaning by an interpreter, changes that interpreter. He or she is no longer the same person, simply by virtue of having added new meanings to his or her set of experiences. In fact, the transactional view assumes that com- munication has not occurred unless change occurs in the participants (Pearce, Figgins, and Golen, 1984). In a sense, then, communicators enter into a deal, a transaction: the more they work at their negotiation of meaning to better align their fields of experience, the better they can make meaning (in other words, the better they can communicate). Figure 1.4 illustrates the transactional model.

Transmissional, Constitutive, and Ritual Views of Communication The linear model of communication falls under the transmissional view, which sees communication as the process of sending and receiving— transmitting or transferring—information from one person to another. By con- trast, the transactional model falls under the constitutive view, which sees communication as creating (constituting) something that did not exist before.

In this second view, communication does not simply represent some ob- jective world that preceded it; it produces and then reproduces a new reality— shared meaning—and as a result, new experiences for the communicators, who are now themselves changed (Craig, 1999). For example, say a classmate invites you to her home for Thanksgiving break. She may say, “I know you live

transactional model a repre- sentation of the elements of communication as interde- pendent and the process of communication as ongoing and dynamic.

constitutive view The per- spective that communication creates something that did not previously exist.

transmissional view The perspective that communica- tion is the process of sending and receiving information from one communicator to another.

You and a friend might have different ideas about the meaning of “dog.”

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FIGURE 1.4 The Transactional Model

Culture

Im me

dia te c

onte xt

Fie ld of experienceFie

ld of experience

Noise

NoiseNoise

Noise

Encodes

Encodes

Verbal message

Verbal message

Nonverbal message

Nonverbal message

Decodes

Communicator A Communicator B

Decodes

Noise Cha

nne l

Cha nne

l

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pretty far away, so how would you like to come home with me for the holiday?” The transmitted message is clear: “Do you want to come to my house for Thanksgiving, yes or no?” But what new “thing” has been constituted (pro- duced) by those few words? In you, a new reality—a new understanding of what kind of person she is and the knowledge that, possibly, she wants to be your friend. When you say “Yes,” she realizes that you welcome her friendship. Together, you have constituted a new understanding of the nature of your relationship. More important, you have made a new friend.

To emphasize the extraordinary impact of this mutual creation of mean- ing, sociologist and communication scholar James Carey offered a third view of how communication works. For Carey (1989), the ritual view links com- munication to

“sharing,” “participation,” “association,” “fellowship,” and “the possession of a common faith.” It has the same root as the words “commonness,” “communion,” “community” . . . A ritual view of communication is directed not toward the extension of messages in space but toward the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting informa- tion but the representation of shared beliefs. (pp. 18–19)

In other words, communication constitutes culture. Revisit the example of the Thanksgiving invitation. We’ve seen that the

simple message transmitted from your classmate to you was, “Want to come to my house, yes or no?” But the invitation was special because it was for Thanksgiving. The holiday is imbued with all kinds of rituals that bind fami- lies in meaning: who gets invited, where people sit, who is relegated to the kids’ table, what is on the menu, who falls asleep on the sofa. Thanksgiving is also part of a larger ritual that binds together the millions of people who cele- brate it, from the 30-pound turkey to the big parades and even bigger football

ritual view The perspective that communication is di- rected not toward the exten- sion of messages in space but toward the maintenance of society in time and the repre- sentation of shared beliefs.

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It wouldn’t take a visitor long to identify your family’s Thanksgiving rituals, such as your uncle Carl falling asleep on the sofa. These specific rituals are part of the broader holiday tradition.

games. One set of rituals helps define a family’s culture; another set helps define American culture. Both are representations of shared beliefs. You will quickly learn how to act at your new friend’s Thanksgiving celebration in ac- cordance with her family’s traditions, which are within the context of the na- tional tradition.

The Power of Culture No two people ever share precisely the same culture. Your culture is defined not only by your country but also by your gender, for example, and your spe- cific set of geographic and ethnic experiences. Think of the words you use. Depending on where you live, you may enjoy an occasional sub sandwich or maybe a grinder or possibly a hoagie, perhaps a po’ boy, hero, torpedo, or zeppelin. And again, depending on where you call home, you may sell your excess stuff at a garage sale (Midwestern United States and the West Coast), a yard sale (most of the East Coast and the Mountain States), or a tag sale (Western Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut). You may or may not be a part of campus Greek life. If you are a baseball fan, you may be part of Red Sox Nation; if you are a football fan, you may well be a Cheese Head (a Green Bay Packers fan), dwell in the Dog Pound (a Cleveland Browns fans), or hang out with the Hogs (Wash- ington Redskins fans). Or you may be troubled by the fact that a sports fran- chise in our nation’s capital uses a racial slur as its nickname (Enten, 2014).

When we communicate with others, we find what is common to our experiences—language is an obvious example—and then we mutually negoti- ate new meanings, creating even more shared experiences. This is the true power of culture. Culture is the background, the set of experiences and expec- tations that we each carry around with us wherever we go. Culture allows us to interact with people who are different from us, while in the process we become more alike. With every successful communication effort, big or small, culture is in transaction, in constant change. Anthropologist Edward T. Hall called culture “the medium evolved by humans to survive. Nothing is free from

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cultural influences. It is the keystone in civilization’s arch and is the medium through which all of life’s events must flow. We are culture” (1976, p. 14). As you might imagine, then, something as big and important as culture will have many different definitions. This text employs a definition that speaks specifi- cally to the role of communication in culture’s influence on meaning making:

Culture is the world made meaningful; it is socially constructed and maintained through communication. It limits as well as liberates us; it differentiates as well as unites us. It defines our realities and thereby shapes the ways we think, feel, and act. (Baran, 2014, p. 14)

Our discussion so far should make it clear that culture is learned, negoti- ated, transacted, constructed, and maintained through communication. But how does culture limit and liberate, differentiate and unite? Cultural

culture The world made meaningful, socially con- structed and maintained through communication.

Communicating Well to Land the Job

employers consider good communication skills to be the most important factor in job performance and career advancement. But what communication skills are important in getting that job or internship? research by the consulting firm right Management (2008) identified five factors that make the difference:

1. Conciseness of Answers—Don’t give long, mean- dering answers. They tell an interviewer that you are nervous, or didn’t understand the question, or worse, that you are trying to substitute quantity for quality.

2. Structure of Answers —a well-conceived, concise answer to a question shows that your thinking is or- ganized, that you know your subject matter, and that you can communicate it. Try to anticipate questions before the interview and consider possible avenues of response.

3. Logical Flow of Information—logical responses show that you reason critically, connect ideas, and can be a skilled persuader.

4. Eye Contact—eye contact creates rapport, engage- ment, and trust. It tells your interviewer that you are interested in your interaction.

5. Clarity of Speech—Don’t mumble. Speaking clearly tells your interviewer that you are giving your words conscious thought.

employment writer Kate Wilson (2012) offered her take on the top five communication “skills [that] are es- pecially helpful for recent grads who may not know ex- actly what to expect”:

1. Think of the interview as a conversation, not an interrogation—You’re less likely to be nervous in a con- versation than you would be in an interrogation, and the interviewer will have a better time talking with you.

2. Ask questions when you are giving answers—Just as in conversation with friends, interact by both an- swering and asking questions.

3. Connect with the interviewer on a personal level—If you discover a personal connection, a fa- vorite sports team, a hobby, the same college, or travel to an interesting place, for example, elaborate. Making that connection could help you stand out.

4. Use the interviewer’s name—Doing this signals that you are paying attention and that you care enough to be personal.

5. Directly answer questions, but don’t be afraid to digress—expand on your answers as needed to show imagination and critical thought.

The guide at www.oup-arc.com offers a much more detailed look at communicating successfully in interviews.

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

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http://www.oup-arc.com
These women may be part of their campus’s Greek culture, but they also are part of the larger american culture.

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