The document discusses negative aspects of interpersonal communication and relationships. It identifies three main negative aspects: making incorrect inferences about others, an inability to talk about feelings and emotions, and conflicts that arise when wants and expectations are not met. The essay provides examples for each, such as judging someone incorrectly based on appearance, growing apart from a friend due to unexpressed anger, and damaging trust with a family member by not meeting an agreed curfew. Overall, the document argues that only considering the positive aspects of relationships is a mistake, and that understanding the potential negatives is also important for maintaining healthy communication and relationships.

1. Individual Essay
Effective Public Communication (FCOM 0102)
Assignment 1
Sharon Chow Ci Yung (0313387)
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2. Title: Negative Aspects of Interpersonal Communication and Interpersonal
Relationships
From time to time, we enjoy the joy and happiness brought by the positive aspects
that interpersonal communication and personal relationships brought us. Interpersonal
communication is a transactional process of exchanging messages and negotiating
meaning to convey information and establish and maintain relationships (Wilson, G.L.,
Hantz, A.M., and Hanna, M.S., 1995). It may be a mistake if we only consider the
positive aspects of interpersonal communication and personal relationship because as
much as they bring us great joys, they are also the source of greatest sorrows of our
lives. In fact, interpersonal communication and personal relationships do have negative
aspects that we should consider such as making incorrect inferences, inability to talk
about feelings and emotions, and when wants and expectations aren’t met.
One obvious negative aspects of interpersonal communication is making incorrect
inferences. Inferences are your guesses about the meaning of your observations
(Wilson, G.L., Hantz, A.M., and Hanna, M.S., 1995). However, the inferences that we
make are usually inaccurate as we are guessing others’ behaviour through our
perspectives. For instance, one of my friends told me before we became close with
each other, judging from my appearance, I looked like a rebellious person. However
after she didn’t want to jump to conclusion so fast so she decided to know me better
first. We bonded with each other after staying in the same dormitory during a class trip.
Since then, she realised I wasn’t rebellious at all. It turned out that I am actually
someone who follows and sticks to the rules all the time. If that friend of mine did not
take the chances of checking out her inference about me first, the chances for both of
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3. us to become close would be small as not checking an inference out lead to arising of
problems in both interpersonal communication and personal relationships.
In addition, inability to talk about feelings and emotions is another negative aspect of
interpersonal communication and personal relationships. All of us experience different
kinds of feelings and emotions daily but being able to express them in words effectively
would be another story. Feelings deal with the physical condition of individuals while
emotions are described by the language you use to talk about the emotional states
feeling suggest (Wilson, G.L., Hantz, A.M., and Hanna, M.S., 1995). For example, I was
angry at one of my group project members because she was always late for group
discussions without any valid reasons. That group member of mine was also my friend. I
didn’t talk to her about my feelings and emotions towards her. After we are done with
the group project, both of us started to grow apart and as time passes, both of us got
from close friends to complete strangers. Initially, I assumed she would apologise to me
even though I didn’t tell her the true reason I was angry at her and she on the other
hand thought I was distancing myself from her because I got new friends. I have never
expressed clearly nor talked about the true reason why I was mad at her at the first
place. Due to my inability to talk about my feelings and emotions, I damaged a precious
personal relationship between me and a long-time friend of mine.
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4. Furthermore, when wants and expectations aren’t met is also a negative aspect of
interpersonal communication and personal relationship. Wants and expectations are
part of both interpersonal communication and personal relationships. Wants are our
wishes, needs, and desires for relationships. Expectations are anticipations of some
occurrence (Wilson, G.L., Hantz, A.M., and Hanna, M.S., 1995). We tend to anticipate
what sort of respond people would give us in both interpersonal communication as well
as personal relationship and we expect others would meet up our wants. As an
illustration, once my mother granted me her permission to go out with my friends at
night as long as I return home before 11 p.m. At 11.30 p.m., my mother was waiting
anxiously at the living room and I was still nowhere to be found. She called me multiple
times and I didn’t pick up my phone. In that situation, any mother would be in panic
mode. At 11.45 p.m., I finally returned home. At that moment, my mother felt both
relieved and angry. She was relived as her only daughter returned home safely.
However, at the same time, she was angry at me because I betrayed her trust. My
mother’s wants and expectations on me definitely didn’t meet. When wants and
expectations didn’t meet, it could result in conflict between two or more parties as a
result of insufficient interpersonal communication and cost damages in personal
relationship.
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5. To conclude, only considering the positive aspects of interpersonal communication
and personal relationships is hands down, a mistake. Making incorrect inferences,
inability to talk about feelings and emotions, and when wants and expectations aren’t
met are three valid examples of negative aspects of interpersonal communication.
Though interpersonal communication and personal relationships have more than a hand
full of positive aspects, we shouldn’t get blindfolded by the positive sides, we shall
consider about the negative sides too or else we might ended up damaging our
precious personal relationship with our loved ones.
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6. References:
Pearson, J.C., Nelson, P.E., Titsworth S., Harter L. (2013) Human Communication, (5th
edition) New York: McGraw Hill
Wilson, G.L., Hantz, A.M., and Hanna, M.S. (1995) Interpersonal Growth Through
Communication, (4th edition) Iowa: William. C. Brown Publishers
Wood, J.T. (2002) Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters, (3 rd edition)
Australia: Wadsworth
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7. References:
Pearson, J.C., Nelson, P.E., Titsworth S., Harter L. (2013) Human Communication, (5th
edition) New York: McGraw Hill
Wilson, G.L., Hantz, A.M., and Hanna, M.S. (1995) Interpersonal Growth Through
Communication, (4th edition) Iowa: William. C. Brown Publishers
Wood, J.T. (2002) Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters, (3 rd edition)
Australia: Wadsworth
FNBE SEM 2 JULY 2013 – FCOM0102