Communication

 Communication is a continuous, transactional process involving participants who occupy different but overlapping environments and create relationships through the exchange of messages, many of which are affected by external, physiological and psychological noise (Adler et aI., 2001, p. 13).  What are the purposes of communication?  Physical  Identity Needs  Social Needs  Practical Goals

Examples  Physical -  Identity Needs -  Social Needs -  Practical Goals -

Different means of communication?  Verbal (communication) – refers to the ways in which people communication, intentionally with words.  Nonverbal (communication) –refers to the ways in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without words, such as:

 What are some communication misconceptions?

What are the characteristics of effective communicators?

What are the characteristics of ineffective communicators?

 Judgement : is how we perceive people, how we form impressions about them and how we think about social things.  Give an example:  Misjudgments are the basis of prejudice and discrimination.  Impressions : an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence.  There are (2) concepts that are involved in forming impressions - filtering and inference With respect to filtering, people tend to ignore much of what they see. With inference, people tend to go beyond the evidence in front of them and complete the picture that they filtered or did not see.

Judging & Forming Opinions

Discrimination  the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. Racism  The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. Judging & Forming Opinions

Prejudice  preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Sexism  prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.

Ageism  prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a person's age. Abelism  discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.

Stereotype  a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Privilege  a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group of people.

Ethnocentrism  belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group. Eurocentrism  belief in the pre-eminence of Europe and the Europeans. Belief that all European customs, beliefs, values, and traditions are dominant.

Comparison  Minority  the smaller number or part, esp. a number that is less than half the whole number.  Majority  the greater number.

How do we act and interact in social situations? Friday, December 12 th – 20’s Exam (Motivation, Emotions, Communication, Cultural Interactions, Interpersonal Relationships, Self-Concept/Esteem) Friday, December 12 th – 30’s Exam (Middle Childhood & Adolescence)

How do we act and interact in social situations?  There are several societal influences on our thoughts, feelings and behaviour:  Social norms: Rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws and implicit cultural standards.  Example:

 Imitation: Probably the most powerful social influence on our behaviour and attitudes is the behaviour of other people. Example:  Social facilitation: Increased activity resulting from the presence of another person. Example:  Social loafing: Decreased activity resulting from the presence of another person. Example:

Reciprocity: The tendency to pay back favours others have done for us. Reciprocity does not require that the ‘favour" be initially requested or even wanted. Example: Commitment: Once people commit themselves by making a decision and acting on it, they are reluctant to renounce their commitment. Commitment increases people's compliance even when the reason for the original commitment is removed.  Example:

 Attractive people: One of the reasons people tend to comply with the requests of attractive people is that they want to be liked by attractive people; in their minds, being liked by attractive people makes them more desirable, too. People tend to emphasize their associations with attractive and important people.  Example:

 Authority (also, sexy authority): People tend to comply with the requests of people in authority and to be swayed by their persuasive arguments, and such obedience is generally approved by society.  Example:

Interpersonal Relationships Ppt.

(4) Components of Self-Concept 1) Self-Concept is defined as the sum of feelings, beliefs and impressions that individuals have of themselves-the self perceiving themselves. 2) Self Esteem refers to the extent to which we like accept or approve of ourselves or how much we value ourselves. Self esteem always involves a degree of evaluation and we may have either a positive or a negative view of ourselves.

Influences on Self-Concept  Internal  External

3) Ideal Self (what you'd like to be)  If there is a mismatch between how you see yourself (e.g. your self image) and what you’d like to be (e.g. your ideal self ) then this is likely to affect how much you value yourself.  A person’s ideal self may not be consistent with what actually happens in life and experiences of the person. Hence, a difference may exist between a person’s ideal self and actual experience. This is called incongruence.

4) Self-Efficacy  One’s expectations of success in a given situation. Each day, we make many decisions based on our perceptions of the extent to which our actions will produce reinforcement. Our actions are based on our evaluations of our competency. Moreover, self-efficacy not only determines whether we will engage in a particular behaviour, it also determines the extent to which we will maintain that behavior in the face of adversity.

HIGH SELF ESTEEM i.e. we have a positive view of ourselves. This tends to lead to  Confidence in our own abilities  Self acceptance  Not worrying about what others think  Optimism LOW SELF ESTEEM i.e. we have a negative view of ourselves. This tends to lead to  Lack of confidence  Want to be/look like someone else  Always worrying what others might think  Pessimism

(4) major factors that influence self esteem  1) THE REACTION OF OTHERS. If people admire us, flatter us, seek out our company, listen attentively and agree with us we tend to develop a positive self-image. If they avoid us, neglect us, tell us things about ourselves that we don’t want to hear we develop a negative self-image.  2) COMPARISON WITH OTHERS. If the people we compare ourselves with (our reference group) appear to be more successful, happier, richer, better looking than ourselves we tend to develop a negative self image BUT if they are less successful than us our image will be positive.

 3) SOCIAL ROLES. Some social roles carry prestige e.g. doctor, airline pilot, TV. presenter, premiership footballer and this promotes self-esteem. Other roles carry stigma. E.g. prisoner, mental hospital patient, refuse collector or unemployed person.  4) IDENTIFICATION. Roles aren’t just “out there.” They also become part of our personality i.e. we identity with the positions we occupy, the roles we play and the groups we belong to.

How can we improve our self esteem?

Social Influence, Obedience & Conformity