Three Key Functions of Communication

Expressing Affiliation, Managing Relationships, Influencing Others

Expressing Affiliation

Expressing feelings of liking, affection, or connection to others

Managing Relationships

Establishing, maintaining, or terminating interpersonal ties and social connections

Influencing Others

Exerting control over others and our environment to achieve specific outcomes

6 Characteristics of Communication

Symbolic, Shared Code, Linked to Culture, Intentionality, Requires a Channel, Transactional

Symbolic Communication

Relies on arbitrary symbols (words, gestures) that refer to objects, ideas, or people

Shared Code

Requires a common language/system so encoders and decoders understand each other.

Linked to Culture

Deeply embedded in shared beliefs, values, and practices of a social group.

Intentionality

Can be intentional (planned message) or unintentional (involuntary cues)

Requires a Channel

Transmitted via specific mediums (face-to-face, digital, text, visual).

Transactional

Involves dynamic, interdependent interaction where sending and receiving occur continuously.

Linear Model

Sender → Message → Receiver: One-way directional flow; message passes through noise. No direct feedback

Interaction Model

Two-way process incorporating feedback loops and field of experience.

Competent Model

Simultaneous encoding/decoding shaped by Cultural, Situational, and Relational contexts.

Rhetorical Roots: Ethos, Pathos, & Logos

Originating in ancient Greece (Aristotle's Rhetoric)

Ethos

Appeal to speaker credibility, character, and authority

Pathos

Appeal to emotion, empathy, and audience feeling

Logos

Appeal to logic, structured reasoning, and evidence

Research Spotlight: Dr. Robin Nabi (2003) — Emotion & Framing Focus

Role of discrete emotions in media effects, message processing, and persuasion

Research Spotlight: Dr. Robin Nabi (2003) — Emotion & Framing Methodology

Experimentally primed participants with discrete emotions regarding drunk driving on a 1–7 scale (Anger: irate, pissed off, mad; Fear: frightened, anxious, alarmed).

Research Spotlight: Dr. Robin Nabi (2003) — Emotion & Framing Key Findings

Discrete emotions act as cognitive frames. Participants primed with anger were almost twice as likely to focus on retributive policy/punishment, whereas the fear group focused on protection, information seeking, and prevention strategies.

Phonological Rules

overn how sounds combine to form words (pronunciation rules)

Syntactic Rules

Govern the structure and order of words in a sentence (grammar and word placement)

Semantics

Examines the relationships among symbols, objects, people, and concepts (meanings of words)

Pragmatics

The ability to use sumbol systems appropriately according to social and situational cone

Controlling

Exerting influence, directing behavior, or managing interactions (can be positive or negative)

Informing

Using language to question, describe, reinforce, state facts, or withhold information

Communication Acquisition

The process of learning individual words as well as rules for effective usage.

Feeling

Expressing emotional states to others and influencing the emotional responses of receivers.

Imagining/Ritualizing

Expressing complex creative concepts (imagining) or executing culturally required conversational routines (weddings, greetings, ceremonies).

High Abstraction

Evasion

Intentionally avoiding specific details

Equivocation

Using ambiguous words with multiple meanings

Euphemism

substituting mild/polite terms for harsh ones

Biased Language

Words that perpetuate subtle stereotypes or demean specific social identity groups

Microaggressions

Brief, everyday indignities, subtle insults, or dismissive behaviors (verbal or nonverbal) that communicate hostile or negative messages to target groups

Research Spotlight: Dr. Joe Walther et al. (2025) — Social Responses to Online Hate Focus

How social feedback (approval vs. disapproval) affects subsequent toxicity in online hate speech.

Research Spotlight: Dr. Joe Walther et al. (2025) — Social Responses to Online Hate Methodology

Analyzed online posts and subsequent user behavior following affirmation (likes, positive replies) versus negation (dislikes, counter-arguments).

Research Spotlight: Dr. Joe Walther et al. (2025) — Social Responses to Online Hate Key Findings

Social approval signals (likes and affirmation replies) reduced the likelihood of a user's next post being toxic. Conversely, disapproval signals like dislikes increased posters' toxicity, whereas negation replies had no significant effect.

Nonverbal Communication

The transfer and exchange of messages in any and all modalities that do not involve spoken words

Inevitable, Constant and Omnipresent

"One cannot not communicate" in physical or social presence.

Universal, Cultural, & Omnipresent

Some signals are universal (smiles), others cultural or unique to an individual.

NVC Primary

Evolutionary, ontogenetic (infants use NVC first), and interactional priority over verbal cues

Simultaneous

Sending and receiving nonverbal messages occurs continuously and concurrently

Multimodal & Channel-Specialized

Operates across multiple senses simultaneously (visual, auditory, tactile)

Encoding & Decoding Dependent

Relies heavily on senders' encoding ability and receivers' decoding skill

Ambiguous

Nonverbal cues carry multiple potential interpretations depending on context

Kinesics

Body movement, posture, gestures, facial expressions. Categories: Emblem, Illustrator, Regulator, Affect Display, Adaptor.

Oculesics

Eye behavior: eye contact, gaze aversion, staring, pupil dilation.

Vocalics

Paralanguage: pitch, tone, rate, volume, vocalizations, pauses, silence

Proxemics

Use of spatial distance and physical territory.

Haptics

Use and perception of touch (Heslin's touch continuum: functional to intimate)

Chronemics

Perception and structure of time (Monochronic vs. Polychronic)

Physical Appearance

Static/slow cues: physique, clothing, adornments, grooming, "Halo Effect"

Hall's Zones of Personal Space

Intimate Zone: 0 to 18 inches (reserved for close romantic/family ties). Personal Zone: 18 inches to 4 feet (friends and informal acquaintances). Social Zone: 4 to 12 feet (professional, business, and transactional interactions). Public Zone: 12 feet and beyond (public speakers, lectures, crowds).

American Sign Language

ASL is a complete, formal verbal/linguistic system using hand shapes, facial expressions, and body postures with its own distinct grammar and syntax. Though expressed visually/gesturally, it is structurally distinct from unstructured nonverbal gestures

Symbolic Interactionism

Meaning is created through social interaction; we form self-concepts via communicative exchanges. Includes Charles Cooley's Looking-Glass Self ("I am what I think you think I am")

Behaviorism --> Cognitivism Shift

Early behaviorism focused purely on stimulus-response (Classical Conditioning). The cognitive revolution recognized that individual interpretations (schemas) mediate responses

Social Comparison Theory

We evaluate our abilities and worth by comparing ourselves to reference groups

Attribution Theory & Schemas

Fundamental Attribution Error causes us to overemphasize internal traits for others' mistakes while attributing our own to situational factors.

Research Spotlight: Dr. Dan Lane et al. (2019) — Political Self-Concept Findings

Expressing political views on social media increases motivation for political self-presentation, strengthening an individual's dynamic "working political self-concept."

Culture

Shared beliefs, values, behaviors, and norms of a group

High vs. Low Context

High-context cultures rely heavily on subtle nonverbal cues/context; low-context cultures rely on explicit, direct verbal messages.

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Prioritizing personal autonomy vs. group harmony.

Power Distance & Time Orientation

Tolerance for hierarchy vs. equality; Monochronic (linear time) vs. Polychronic (fluid time)

Ethnocentrism & Discrimination

Viewing one's culture as superior; negative actions targeting outgroups

Communication Accommodation Theory

Adapting speech styles (convergence vs. divergence) and avoiding overaccommodation (patronizing condescension)

Research Spotlight: Dr. Muniba Saleem — Media Representation & Intergroup Relations Findings:

Negative media depictions of marginalized co-cultures heighten stereotyping and discrimination among dominant groups while impacting minority group social identity.