{"id":39,"date":"2019-01-16T00:10:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-communication\/chapter\/1-3-communication-principles\/"},"modified":"2019-01-16T00:10:31","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:10:31","slug":"1-3-communication-principles","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-communication\/chapter\/1-3-communication-principles\/","title":{"raw":"1.3 Communication Principles","rendered":"1.3 Communication Principles"},"content":{"raw":"\n
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n
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  1. Discuss how communication is integrated in various aspects of your life.<\/li>\n
  2. Explain how communication meets physical, instrumental, relational, and identity needs.<\/li>\n
  3. Explain how the notion of a \u201cprocess\u201d fits into communication.<\/li>\n
  4. Discuss the ways in which communication is guided by culture and context.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    Taking this course will change how you view communication. Most people admit that communication is important, but it\u2019s often in the back of our minds or viewed as something that \u201cjust happens.\u201d Putting communication at the front of your mind and becoming more aware of how you communicate can be informative and have many positive effects. When I first started studying communication as an undergraduate, I began seeing the concepts we learned in class in my everyday life. When I worked in groups, I was able to apply what I had learned about group communication to improve my performance and overall experience. I also noticed interpersonal concepts and theories as I communicated within various relationships. Whether I was analyzing mediated messages or considering the ethical implications of a decision before I made it, studying communication allowed me to see more of what was going on around me, which allowed me to more actively and competently participate in various communication contexts. In this section, as we learn the principles of communication, I encourage you to take note of aspects of communication that you haven\u2019t thought about before and begin to apply the principles of communication to various parts of your life.<\/p>\n

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    Communication Is Integrated into All Parts of Our Lives<\/h2>\n

    This book is meant to help people see the value of communication in the real world and in our real lives. When I say real<\/em>, I don\u2019t mean to imply that there is some part of our world or lives that is not real. Since communication is such a practical field of study, I use the word real<\/em> to emphasize that what you\u2019re reading in this book isn\u2019t just about theories and vocabulary or passing a test and giving a good speech. I also don\u2019t mean to imply that there is a divide between the classroom and the real world. The \u201creal world\u201d is whatever we are experiencing at any given moment. In order to explore how communication is integrated into all parts of our lives, I have divided up our lives into four spheres: academic, professional, personal, and civic. The boundaries and borders between these spheres are not solid, and there is much overlap. After all, much of what goes on in a classroom is present in a professional environment, and the classroom has long been seen as a place to prepare students to become active and responsible citizens in their civic lives. The philosophy behind this approach is called integrative learning<\/a><\/span>, which encourages students to reflect on how the content they are learning connects to other classes they have taken or are taking, their professional goals, and their civic responsibilities.<\/p>\n

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    Academic<\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s probably not difficult to get you, as students in a communication class, to see the relevance of communication to your academic lives. At least during this semester, studying communication is important to earn a good grade in the class, right? Beyond the relevance to your grade in this class, I challenge you to try to make explicit connections between this course and courses you have taken before and are currently taking. Then, when you leave this class, I want you to connect the content in future classes back to what you learned here. If you can begin to see these connections now, you can build on the foundational communication skills you learn in here to become a more competent communicator, which will undoubtedly also benefit you as a student.<\/p>\n

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    \n \"1.3.0N\"<\/a>\n

    Good communication skills can help you succeed in academic settings and set you up for success postgraduation.<\/p>\n

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    Benjamin Darfler - Graduation<\/a> - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Aside from wanting to earn a good grade in this class, you may also be genuinely interested in becoming a better communicator. If that\u2019s the case, you are in luck because research shows that even people who have poor communication skills can improve a wide range of verbal, nonverbal, and interpersonal communication skills by taking introductory communication courses (Zabava & Wolvin, 1993). Communication skills are also tied to academic success. Poor listening skills were shown to contribute significantly to failure in a person\u2019s first year of college. Also, students who take a communication course report more confidence in their communication abilities, and these students have higher grade point averages and are less likely to drop out of school. Much of what we do in a classroom\u2014whether it is the interpersonal interactions with our classmates and professor, individual or group presentations, or listening\u2014is discussed in this textbook and can be used to build or add to a foundation of good communication skills and knowledge that can carry through to other contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Professional<\/h2>\n

    The National Association of Colleges and Employers has found that employers most desire good communication skills in the college graduates they may hire (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2010). Desired communication skills vary from career to career, but again, this textbook provides a foundation onto which you can build communication skills specific to your major or field of study. Research has shown that introductory communication courses provide important skills necessary for functioning in entry-level jobs, including listening, writing, motivating\/persuading, interpersonal skills, informational interviewing, and small-group problem solving (DiSalvo, 1980). Interpersonal communication skills are also highly sought after by potential employers, consistently ranking in the top ten in national surveys (National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2010). Poor listening skills, lack of conciseness, and inability to give constructive feedback have been identified as potential communication challenges in professional contexts. Employers appreciate good listening skills and the ability to communicate concisely because efficiency and clarity are often directly tied to productivity and success in terms of profit or task\/project completion. Despite the well-documented need for communication skills in the professional world, many students still resist taking communication classes. Perhaps people think they already have good communication skills or can improve their skills on their own. While either of these may be true for some, studying communication can only help. In such a competitive job market, being able to document that you have received communication instruction and training from communication professionals (the faculty in your communication department) can give you the edge needed to stand out from other applicants or employees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Personal<\/h2>\n

    While many students know from personal experience and from the prevalence of communication counseling on television talk shows and in self-help books that communication forms, maintains, and ends our interpersonal relationships, they do not know the extent to which that occurs. I am certain that when we get to the interpersonal communication chapters in this textbook that you will be intrigued and maybe even excited by the relevance and practicality of the concepts and theories discussed there. My students often remark that they already know from experience much of what\u2019s discussed in the interpersonal unit of the course. While we do learn from experience, until we learn specific vocabulary and develop foundational knowledge of communication concepts and theories, we do not have the tools needed to make sense of these experiences. Just having a vocabulary to name the communication phenomena in our lives increases our ability to consciously alter our communication to achieve our goals, avoid miscommunication, and analyze and learn from our inevitable mistakes. Once we get further into the book, I am sure the personal implications of communication will become very clear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Civic<\/h2>\n

    The connection between communication and our civic lives is a little more abstract and difficult for students to understand. Many younger people don\u2019t yet have a conception of a \u201ccivic\u201d part of their lives because the academic, professional, and personal parts of their lives have so much more daily relevance. Civic engagement<\/a><\/span> refers to working to make a difference in our communities by improving the quality of life of community members; raising awareness about social, cultural, or political issues; or participating in a wide variety of political and nonpolitical processes (Ehrlich, 2000). The civic part of our lives is developed through engagement with the decision making that goes on in our society at the small-group, local, state, regional, national, or international level. Such involvement ranges from serving on a neighborhood advisory board to sending an e-mail to a US senator. Discussions and decisions that affect our communities happen around us all the time, but it takes time and effort to become a part of that process. Doing so, however, allows us to become a part of groups or causes that are meaningful to us, which enables us to work for the common good. This type of civic engagement is crucial to the functioning of a democratic society.<\/p>\n

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    \n \"1.3.1N\"<\/a>\n

    Voting is one way to stay civically engaged, but you can also participate in decision making in nonpolitical contexts.<\/p>\n

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    Stephen Venkman-Not here muchYour Vote Counts<\/a> - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Communication scholars have been aware of the connections between communication and a person\u2019s civic engagement or citizenship for thousands of years. Aristotle, who wrote the first and most influential comprehensive book on communication 2,400 years ago, taught that it is through our voice, our ability to communicate, that we engage with the world around us, participate in our society, and become a \u201cvirtuous citizen.\u201d It is a well-established and unfortunate fact that younger people, between the ages of eighteen and thirty, are some of the least politically active and engaged members of our democracy. Civic engagement includes but goes beyond political engagement, which includes things like choosing a political party or advocating for a presidential candidate. Although younger people have tended not to be as politically engaged as other age groups, the current generation of sixteen- to twenty-nine-year-olds, known as the millennial generation, is known to be very engaged in volunteerism and community service. In addition, some research has indicated that college students are eager for civic engagement but are not finding the resources they need on their campuses (Jaschik, 2012). The American Association of Colleges and Universities has launched several initiatives and compiled many resources for students and faculty regarding civic engagement. I encourage you to explore their website at the following link and try to identify some ways in which you can productively integrate what you are learning in this class into a civic context: http:\/\/www.aacu.org\/resources\/civicengagement<\/a>.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    Communication Meets Needs<\/h2>\n

    You hopefully now see that communication is far more than the transmission of information. The exchange of messages and information is important for many reasons, but it is not enough to meet the various needs we have as human beings. While the content of our communication may help us achieve certain physical and instrumental needs, it also feeds into our identities and relationships in ways that far exceed the content of what we say.<\/p>\n

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    Physical Needs<\/h2>\n

    Physical needs<\/a><\/span> include needs that keep our bodies and minds functioning. Communication, which we most often associate with our brain, mouth, eyes, and ears, actually has many more connections to and effects on our physical body and well-being. At the most basic level, communication can alert others that our physical needs are not being met. Even babies cry when they are hungry or sick to alert their caregiver of these physical needs. Asking a friend if you can stay at their house because you got evicted or kicked out of your own place will help you meet your physical need for shelter. There are also strong ties between the social function of communication and our physical and psychological health. Human beings are social creatures, which makes communication important for our survival. In fact, prolonged isolation has been shown to severely damage a human (Williams & Zadro, 2001). Aside from surviving, communication skills can also help us thrive. People with good interpersonal communication skills are better able to adapt to stress and have less depression and anxiety (Hargie, 2011). Communication can also be therapeutic, which can lessen or prevent physical problems. A research study found that spouses of suicide or accidental death victims who did not communicate about the death with their friends were more likely to have health problems such as weight change and headaches than those who did talk with friends (Greene, Derlega, & Mathews, 2006). Satisfying physical needs is essential for our physical functioning and survival. But, in order to socially function and thrive, we must also meet instrumental, relational, and identity needs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Instrumental Needs<\/h2>\n

    Instrumental needs<\/a><\/span> include needs that help us get things done in our day-to-day lives and achieve short- and long-term goals. We all have short- and long-term goals that we work on every day. Fulfilling these goals is an ongoing communicative task, which means we spend much of our time communicating for instrumental needs. Some common instrumental needs include influencing others, getting information we need, or getting support (Burleson, Metts, & Kirch, 2000). In short, communication that meets our instrumental needs helps us \u201cget things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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    \n \"1.3.2N\"<\/a>\n

    Communicating for instrumental needs helps us get things done. Think about how much instrumental communication is required to build a house.<\/p>\n

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    Sandia Labs - Habitat for Humanity Build-A-Thon<\/a> - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p><\/div>\n

    To meet instrumental needs, we often use communication strategically. Politicians, parents, bosses, and friends use communication to influence others in order to accomplish goals and meet needs. There is a research area within communication that examines compliance-gaining communication<\/a><\/span>, or communication aimed at getting people to do something or act in a particular way (Gass & Seiter, 1999). Compliance gaining and communicating for instrumental needs is different from coercion, which forces or manipulates people into doing what you want. In Section 1.3 \"Communication Principles\"<\/a>, we will discuss communication ethics and learn that open communication, free from constraint and pressure, is an important part of an ethical society. Compliance-gaining communication is different from persuasion, which we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 11 \"Informative and Persuasive Speaking\"<\/a>. While research on persuasion typically focuses on public speaking and how a speaker persuades a group, compliance-gaining research focuses on our daily interpersonal interactions. Researchers have identified many tactics that people typically use in compliance-gaining communication (Gass & Seiter, 1999). As you read through the following list, I am sure many of these tactics will be familiar to you.<\/p>\n

    Common Tactics Used for Compliance Gaining<\/strong>\n