Table of Contents
I. Building Foundations
1. Understanding Interpersonal Communication
Daily Contacts: The Saga of Susan and Juan
Meet the Interpersonal Communicator
Essentials of Interpersonal Communication
Why We Communicate Interpersonally: Motivation
Making Interpersonal Contact: Characteristics, Principles, and Axioms of Communication
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Diversity and Communication Style
Gender Contacts: Gender and Communication Style
Media and Technology Contacts: Interpersonal Interaction and the Technological Embrace
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap up
Critical Thinking Contacts: That's Life
2. The Impact of Self-Concept
Daily Contacts: Aisha's Term Paper Problem
The Self-Concept: Your Answer to Who You Are
Self-Esteem: Feelings of Self-Worth Affect You
How Others Shape Our Self-Concept
The Self in Relation to Others: Confirming, Rejecting, and Disconfirming Responses
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Influence of Positive and Negative Pygmalions
Changing Your Self-Concept: Revising Impressions and Conceptions
Diversity and Culture Contacts: How Important Is the I?
Gender Contacts: Gender and Self-Concept
Media and Technology Contacts: Seeing the Self Through Media and the Technological Looking Glass
Gaining Communication Competence: Ways to Strengthen Your Self-Concept
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Thinking Positively
3. Perception
Daily Contacts: Dax on Trial
Perception in Action: The Process at Work
The Role of Schemata, Sets, Selectivities, and Stereotypes
Exploring Other Barriers to Accurate Perception
Culture and Perception: Interpreting Through Different I's
Diversity and Culture Contacts: The Media and Perception
Gender Contacts: Gender and Perception
Technology Contacts: Technology and Virtual Reality
Gaining Communication Competence: Enhancing Your Perceptual Abilities
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Can You See It My Way?
II. Sharing Messages
4. Listening
Daily Contacts: Flora's Nonlistening
Differences between Listening and Hearing
The Stages of Listening
Types of Listening
Active and Inactive Listening
The Differences between Effective and Ineffective Listeners
The Ethics of Listening: A Look at Nonlistening Behaviors
A System for Hurdling Listening Roadblocks
The Feedback Factor
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Diversity's Influence on Listening
Gender Contacts: Gender's Influence on Listening
Media and Technology Contacts: Media and Technological Influences on Listening
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Who's Listening
5. Language
Daily Contacts: Words that Wound
Getting Into and Behind the Words We Use: The Meaning of Meaning
Language: A Definition
The Triangle of Meaning: Gaining Perspective
Semantic Barriers: Unlocking Person-to-Person Understanding
Mastering Meaning
Language and Relationships: Communication Style, Words, and Feelings
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Culture Speak
Gender Contacts: Gender Speak
Media and Technology Contacts: Distorted Reflections
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Can We Talk?
6. Nonverbal Communication
Daily Contacts: Sam's Surprise
Nonverbal Communication: A Definition
Understanding Nonverbal Communication: Functions and Characteristics
Types of Nonverbal Messages: Kinesics, Paralanguage, Proxemics, and Beyond
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Cultural Patterns in Nonverbal Behavior
Gender Contacts: Masculine and Feminine Styles in Nonverbal Behavior
Media and Technology Contacts: Nonverbal Messages Communicated by the Media and by Computer-Mediated Means
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Beyond Words
7. Conversations
Daily Contacts: Talk, Talk, Talk
The Importance of Conversational Contact
What Is Conversation?
Conversational Management
Repairing Conversational Damage
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Differences and Conversation
Gender Contacts: Differences and Conversation
Media and Technology Contacts: Media and Technology Talk
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Look Who's Talking
III. Discovering Interpersonal Dynamics
8. Emotions
Daily Contacts: Time Troubles
What Are Emotions?
Relationships and Emotions
The Value of Explaining Feelings
Diversity and Culture Contacts: The Expression of Emotions
Gender Contacts: The Expression of Emotions
Media and Technology Contacts: Channeling Feelings
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Triggers
9. Trust
Daily Contacts: Trust Troubles
What Is Trust?
Forgiveness: Rebuilding a Relationship After Trust Is Betrayed
Cost-Benefit Theory: The Price We Are Willing to Pay for a Relationship
Defining the Relational Situation
Gender, Risk, and Trust: Today's Dilemma
Relationship Ethics: Deception and Relationships
Culture Contacts: Influences on Trust
Gender Contacts: Influences on Lying and Trust
Media and Technology Contacts: Lessons about Trust
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Are You Honest or 'Fairly' Honest?
10. Power and Influence
Daily Contacts: Power Moment
Interpersonal Control: Exploring the Balance of Power in Relationships
Preparing to Exercise Power: Exploring How Attitudes, Beliefs, and Values Influence Persuasibility
Gaining Compliance in Interpersonal Relationships: The Promotion of Attitudinal and Behavioral Change
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Diversity, Values, and Relational Power
Gender Contacts: Gender and the Balance of Power
Media and Technology Contacts: Power Shifts
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Just Like Me
11. Conflict
Daily Contacts: Jim and Jack Joust
The Meaning of Conflict
Sources of Contact
Conflict Resolution Strategies
Your Expressive Style: Nonassertive, Aggressive, or Assertive
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Culture and Conflict Resolution
Gender Contacts: Gender and Conflict Resolution
Media and Technology Contacts: Conflict Resolution Models or Madness
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Flowers
IV. Making Contact
12. Relationship Dynamics
Daily Contacts: The Job Promotion
Types of Relationships
Why We Enter into Relationships: Relational Roles and Functions
Relationship Characteristics
Relationship Evolutions
The Relationship Spectrum: Communicating with Acquaintances, Friends, Lovers, and Others
Relationship Attractors: Who Is Attracted to Whom?
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Connections
Gender Contacts: Roles and Rules
Media and Technology Contacts: Exploring Social Worlds
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Nothing Personal
13. Intimacy and Distance
Daily Contacts: The Plane Trip
Self-Disclosure and Intimacy
Social Penetration Theory: Depth, Breadth, Intimacy, and Distance
The Johari Window and Self-Disclosure
Relationship Maintenance
Relationship Dysfunctions: Toxic Communication
Relationships and Death: The Grief Process
Relational Dialectics
Relationship Repair: Renegotiation or Dissolution
Diversity and Culture Contacts: Getting Closer Through Interpersonal Connections
Gender Contacts: Intimacy and Distance
Media and Technology Contacts: The Psychological Shortening of Long-Distance Relationships
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Pivotal Points
14. Relationships in Our Lives: Exploring Family-, Work-, and Health-Related Concerns
Daily Contacts: The Reunion
The Nature of Familial Communication
The Family as Communication System
Communication Functions and Dysfunctions: A Look at Family Communication Rules
Communication Patterns
Diversity and the Family
Gender and the Family
Media and Technology Contacts: It's Magic
The Importance of Interpersonal Communication at Work
The Dyad and the Organization
Networks and Interaction: Influencing Relationship Satisfaction
Working in Teams
Culture and the Workplace
Gender and the Workplace
Media and Technology Contacts: Reflecting and Refracting Images
Interpersonal Communication and Health
A Closer Look at the Characteristics of Therapeutic Relationships
The Practitioner-Client Dyad: Experiencing the Relationship
Communicate about AIDS with Each Other
Diversity and Culture Contacts: The Role of Culture
Gender Contacts: Health Care
Media and Technology Contacts: The Media's Messages and the Influence of New Technology
Gaining Communication Competence
Daily Contacts: Wrap Up
Critical Thinking Contacts: Over Breakfast