Think about your BEST and WORST relationships. What makes them the best and worst? Be prepared to share aloud with the class.

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Relationships—an association between at least two people. Interpersonal communication occurs in a variety of contexts and situations and may be characterized in different ways, such as being impersonal versus personal. Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory Uncertainty Management Theory Social Information Processing Theory Social Penetration Theory Social Exchange Theory Interpersonal Needs Theory Dialectical Theory: Push and Pull Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Uncertainty reduction theory suggests that when we meet others, our need to know about them tends to make us draw inferences from observable physical data. Berger’s three prior conditions Anticipation of future contact Incentive value or reward Deviance

This theory takes into account the different ways people respond both psychologically and communicatively to uncertainty. The theory has three main features: The interpretation and experience with uncertainty. The effect of emotion related to uncertainty. The ways communication and emotion are managed when uncertainty exists. Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Joe Walther states that social information processing theory suggests that electronically mediated relationships grow only to the extent that people gain information about each other and use it to form impressions.

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. A theory suggesting that disclosures in relationships become increasingly intimate as the relationship develops. BREADTH of information shared/topics DEPTH of information shared/deepness

Why do you form relationships with others? Social exchange theory is based on the assumption that people weigh the costs and benefits associated with entering a relationship and seek out relationships that benefit them, while avoiding those that don’t. Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Exchange Theory BenefitsCosts

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This is a theory that provides insight into our motivation to communicate. The theory consists of three needs: Affection The need to feel likeable or loveable. We need to belong and be loved. Inclusion Encompasses our need to feel significant and worthwhile. Control Our motivation for power or influence in our relationship.

12 Underpersonal Avoid emotional commitments with others Fear others will not like them as they are Overpersonal Can be possessive and jealous Go to extremes to get acceptance Personal Are at ease and poised with others Are happy without being liked by everyone

13 Undersocial Do not like to draw attention to themselves Find talking with others threatening Oversocial Dominate conversation Fear being ignored by others Social Are assertive about speaking up Feel comfortable in most situations

14 Abdicrats Submit to others, show little self-confidence Need reinforcement and encouragement Autocrats Show little respect for others Have strong need for control and power Democrats Feel comfortable as leaders or followers Accept other’s suggestions, are open minded

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Face-to-face relationships Small talk Connecting with others online Advantages and disadvantages 16

17 Nonthreatening, impersonal Get to know another person Maintain community Interpersonal buffer

18 Pros and cons? Limitations? Interactions via technology can never replace face-to- face or fulfill interpersonal needs.

Copyright © 2014, 2011, 2008 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Self-disclosure is voluntarily sharing information about ourselves that another person is not likely to know. Why do we voluntarily share information about ourselves with others? Self- presentation Relationship building Catharsis

Johari’s Window: Developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham (1970) Depicts the four levels of knowledge in relationships and how they interact during self-disclosure – Open area, Blind Area, Hidden Area, and Unknown Area 20

21 As self-disclosure increases in relationships, the open area becomes larger. The open area represents what is known about the self and others in a relationship.

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