This document provides an overview of interpersonal communication. It defines interpersonal communication as a selective and ongoing process between two people who build understanding of each other. The document then discusses reasons for communication such as fulfilling needs per Maslow's hierarchy. It also covers models of communication, principles of interpersonal communication, theories such as social exchange theory, and stages of relationships.

1. Interpersonal
Communication
Prepared by:
Karla Maolen Visbal
MA in Speech Communication
University of the Philippines
Diliman

2. What is Interpersonal
Communication?
 InterpersonalCommunication came from
the Latin word “inter”, meaning between.
 Itpertains to relations between persons.
[dictionary.com]
 “The dyad [or communication between
two people] is the building block of human
social interaction.” [Zimmerman, Owen and
Seibert, 1986]

3. What is Interpersonal
Communication?
 “Interpersonal Communication is a
selective, systemic, unique and on-going
process of interaction between people,
who reflect and build personal knowledge
of one another and create shared
meanings.”[Wood, 2002]

4. Why do we communicate
to form relationships?

5. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 “There are many reasons why we seek
interaction, and we meet many human
needs by communicating.” [Maslow, 1968]
 “Communication is a primary means of
meeting our needs at each level in the
hierarchy.” [Wood, 2002]

6. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-
actualization Most
Abstract
Self-Esteem
Needs
Belonging Needs
Safety and Protection Needs
Most Basic
Physical Needs for Survival

7. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physical Needs for Survival
 Atthe most basic level, human needs air, food
and water in order to survive.
 We rely on communication to communicate
what we need (e.g. a baby crying for milk) or if
something is amiss (e.g. when we are in pain)

8. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Safety and Protection Needs
 We meet safety needs by communicating
what we need (e.g. fix a leaking roof, report
threats to police or authority, etc.)
 News announcements are also made if food
threats or natural calamities are taking place.

9. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Belonging Needs
 Thismay also refer to social needs. We want
other people’s acceptance and affirmation.
 We want to be included in groups.
 Our fear of rejection prevents us from disclosing
information about ourselves [Powell, 1969]

10. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-Esteem
Needs
 Value that we give ourselves and value other
people gives us.
 Derived from positive evaluation of other
people.

11. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Self-
Actualization
 The most abstract human need.
 “It is defined as the fully using and developing
our unique talents, capacities and potentials.”
[Maslow, 1970]

12. Adler and Towne, 1987
 We like people who are similar to us.
 We like people who are different from us.
 We like people who like us.
 We are attracted to people who can help
us.
 We like competent people.
 We like people who discloses themselves to
us.
 We feel strongly towards people we
encounter often.

13. A Communication
Continuum

14. Interpersonal vs. Impersonal
 Allcommunication happens between
people yet many interactions don’t involve
us personally [Wood, 2002]
 When we talk about interpersonal
communication, we are referring to the
quality of interaction between individuals
[Adler & Towne, 1987]

15. Interpersonal vs. Impersonal
 Inimpersonal interactions, we tend to
classify the other person by using labels.
[Adler & Towne, 1987]
 I-IT relationship
 We do not acknowledge the humanity of
other people, sometimes not even their
existence. [Buber, 1970].

16. Interpersonal vs. Impersonal
 The degree to which the communicators
rely socially constructed rules to interact
with other people determine the degree of
our relationship with other people. [Adler &
Towne, 1987]
 I-You relationships
 We don’t look at other people as objects, but
we don’t see them as unique individuals
either. [Buber, 1970].

17. Interpersonal vs. Impersonal
 The
amount of information the
communicators have about each other also
determines the level of their relationship with
one another. [Adler & Towne, 1987]
 I-Thou relationships
 The rarest kind of relationship…the highest form
of human dialogue because each person
affirms the other as cherished and unique.
[Buber, 1970]

18. Self-Disclosure in
Relationships

19. Self-Disclosure
 “Itis the process of deliberately revealing
information about oneself that is significant
and that would not normally be known by
others” [Adler & Towne, 1987]

20. Levels of Self-Disclosure
Cliché
Facts
Opinions
Feelings

21. Stages of Interpersonal
Relationships

22. Stages of Interpersonal
Relationships

23. Initiating
 To
show that you are interested in making
contact and to show that you are a person
worth talking to.

24. Experimenting
 Initially,
people tend to look for a common
ground.
 The hallmark of this stage is small talk. “Small
talk is like Listerine: we don’t like it but we
get a doze of it everyday” Mark Knapp

25. Intensifying
 The amount of personal information
disclosed increases.
 Forms of addresses become more informal.

26. Integrating
 As
the relationship strengthens, the parties
begin to take on an identity as a social unit.
[Adler & Towne, 1987]

27. Bonding
 Atthis stage, parties make symbolic public
gestures to show the world of the
relationship.

28. Differentiating
 After both parties have established their
commonality, they now seek to re-establish
their individual identities.
 Thekey to successful differentiation is the
need to maintain commitment to a
relationship while creating the space for
members to be individuals as well. [Adler &
Towne, 1987]

29. Circumscribing
 The
communication concentrates more on
superficial and public topics with less
breadth or depth
 Communicationdecreases in amount and
becomes more restricted to certain "safe"
topics

30. Stagnating
 Communication about the relationship
ceases
 Participants may sit in each other's
presence for long periods without
communicating
 There is a great amount of tension in the
relationship and it is evident the relationship
is in jeopardy. [Thomlison, 2000]

31. Avoiding
 Parties in the relationship begin to put
distance between each other, sometimes
in guises of excuses or more direct “I don’t
want to be with/see you today”. [Adler &
Towne, 1987]
 Includes avoidance of physical contact as
well as ignoring the other nonverbally and
verbally when they are in the same physical
space [Thomlison, 2000]

32. Terminating
 Thisfinal stage may include dialogues of
where the relationship has gone and the
desire to disassociate [Adler & Towne, 1987]
 Open access ceases and it is clear the
relationship, in its current form, no longer
exists [Thomlison, 2000]

33. Four Principles of
Interpersonal
Communication

34. Interpersonal Communication
is in-escapable
 We constantly communicate with others.
 Gestures,posture, facial expressions,
clothing, etc. play a role in substituting
spoken language in its absence
 People are judged by behaviour, not by
intent.

35. Interpersonal Communication
is irreversible
 Messages cannot be taken back once
uttered or shown.
 Actionsand spoken messages make an
impression that cannot be erased.

36. Interpersonal Communication
is complicated
 No form of communication is simple.
 Thenumber of variables involved can make
the simplest requests complex

37. Interpersonal Communication
is complicated
 There
are 6 people involved when we
communicate:
 Who you think you are
 Who you think the other person is
 Who you think the other person thinks you are
 Who the other person thinks he/she is
 Who the other person thinks you are
 Who the other person thinks you think he is

38. Interpersonal Communication
is contextual
 Communication does not happen in
isolation; it occurs in different contexts at
the same time.
 Psychological Context
 Relational Context
 Situational Context
 Environmental Context
 Cultural Context

39. Models of Interpersonal
Communication

40. Linear Models
 Laswell’s Communication Model
 Who?
 Says what?
 To whom?
 In what channel?
 With what effect?

41. Linear Models

42. Interactive Models
Adopted from
Schramm’s
Model, 1955

43. Transactional Model

44. Theories on Interpersonal
Communication

45. Confucianism
A study and theory of relationship within
hierarchies.
 When each person within a society plays his
or her part well in the social order, social
harmony will be achieved.

46. Social Exchange Theory
 “Relationships
grow, develop and deteriorate
and dissolve as a consequence of an unfolding
social-exchange process…” [Huston & Burgess,
1979]
 Alsoknown as the “Theory of Interdependence”
[Thibaut and Kelley,1959]

47. Social Penetration Theory
 Itis customary for the individuals within the
relationship to undergo the process of self-
disclosure [Ledbetter, 2012]
 Example: A facebook user’s profile
 The user’s level of self-disclosure is directly
related to the level of interdependence
with other people.

48. Questions?

49. Thank you!

50. References
 Looking Out/Looking In, by Ronal Adler and
Neil Towne, Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1987,
p. 16-19, p. 278-2-97
 Interpersonal Communication: An Everyday
Encounter, by Julia Wood, Wadsworth
Group, 2002, p. 12-18, p. 28-33
 Speech Communication: A Contemporary
Introduction, by Gordon Zimmerman,
James Owen & David Seibert, West
Publishing Company, 1986, p. 205-207

51. References
 An interpersonal primer with implications for
public relations by T. Dean Thomlison 2000
 Social Intercourse: From Greeting to Goodbye,
by Mark L. Knapp, Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
1978, p. 33
 Social Behavior as Exchange, by George
Homans, 1958, p. 4
 "Attitudes Toward Online Social Connection
And Self-Disclosure As Predictors Of Facebook
Communication And Relational Closeness.“ by
Andrew M. Ledbetter, 2012

52. References:
 "Confucius". iep.utm.edu. Internet
Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved July
25, 2012.
 http://www.pstcc.edu/facstaff/dking/interp
r.htm. Retrieved July 27, 2012