how to write an essay on interpersonal communication

Interpersonal Communication Essay

Need to write an interpersonal communication essay? This topic is truly inspiring! This paper example explains the importance of interpersonal skills in building effective relationships. Find here exciting ideas and make your own conclusion on interpersonal relationship issue!

Introduction

• Interpersonal Skills Importance
• Interpersonal Communication Principles
• Communication Barriers

Self-Concept in Interpersonal Communication

There are no secrets that today’s workplaces are not like yesterday’s. With increased physical size and cultural diversity, the given assertion cannot be doubted. Transmitting messages between two coworkers who speak different languages can be a challenge and requires interpersonal skills. In any organization, interpersonal communication forms a basic tool in the workplace. It assures proper coordination of activities and is based on the point of relating with others, which forms a major aspect of relationships, including both personal and business.

In this interpersonal communication essay, you will find a detailed analysis of the term. It is understood as the process of sending and receiving information between two or more people and the understanding of it through the use of symbols or language. Interpersonal relationships are defined as the manner in which one person communicates with another (Xie and Derakhshan, 2021).

People spend most of their time exchanging ideas with others, which shows the importance of interpersonal communication. This interpersonal skills essay will, therefore, define interpersonal communication and examine a number of factors that influence our interpersonal communication. The focus of the paper is based on interpersonal communication at the workplace principle.

There are several types of interpersonal communication, including public speaking, small-group, or dyadic forms of communication. Public speaking involves interacting with a mass of people, while small groups involve interacting with a group of people, not in large numbers. On the other hand, dyadic communication is a form of communication between two people, which may be through sending and receiving letters or a telephone conversation.

Importance of Interpersonal Skills

In order to be competitive in the workplace, a team needs to interact frequently and openly. Team members must communicate with each other irrespective of the distance between themselves since there is advancement in technology, and therefore, this does not matter. The working team must communicate in order to be successful, and if there is no good communication, their goals will never be met (Mellinas, Martin-Fuentes and Ferrer-Rosell, 2023).

The manager or the leader at the workplace should not only always communicate with the members of the team but also be able to check the progress of the work of each individual and the group as a whole. Frequent check-ups by the manager will ensure that the work is done at the proper time and deadlines are met. The leader or manager of the team should use direct communication in order to avoid misinformation at the workplace and also make sure that every member is notified if any changes have occurred.

Studies that have been carried out show that when there is good communication in an organization, there is an increase in productivity and better progress in individual work. This is true because good communication improves the relationship between the manager and the workers, which will boost their morale toward work.

Communication is a fundamental system in organizations around the world. For instance, organizations rely on all forms of communication, from nonverbal to verbal, during their daily running of business duties. An organization may also depend on information being properly encoded or decoded so that the staff can easily understand the message that is intended to be passed out.

It is worth noting that Enron executives used a tremendous amount of time and effort, as well as literally millions of dollars, to make their operations so sophisticated that they were unlikely to be found, let alone understood or punished (Petra and Spieler, 2020). This is a perfect example to demonstrate how important interpersonal communication is because it shows how the complex behavior of the executives led to poor communication with the outside world.

Communication is vital in all departments of an organization. For instance, the workmates may communicate amongst themselves during working hours. Occasionally, communication at the workplace will depend on the entire surroundings, and in case it is a noisy factory, the employees are compelled to use nonverbal modes of communication such as gestures, facial expressions, or the use of signals.

Employees are also expected to communicate with their bosses, and the communication can be either written or verbal. On the other hand, verbal communication may be vital in situations such as communication between the supervisor and employee in order to find out if the assigned work has been done properly, while written communication may become useful if the intended information to be passed out is in large amounts.

Interpersonal Communication: The Key Principles

There are four principles that try to explain the effective means of interpersonal communication. According to these ideas, interpersonal communication is irreversible, difficult, contextual, and unavoidable (Manawadu et al. 2022).

Like a chemical reaction, interpersonal communication does not offer a chance for reversal of what has been uttered. Whenever an individual utters certain words, the effect caused by these utterances will not be forgotten even when the speaker makes corrections.

Interpersonal communication is a complex affair because of the many dimensions required to ensure success. Since there are various ways to communicate, it becomes impossible to choose the proper way of communication.

Interpersonal communication strongly depends on the environment around which the conversation is taking place and the parties communicating. Some of the contexts that interpersonal communication relies on are psychological, situational, relational, environmental, and cultural contexts.

Last, interpersonal interaction is inescapable because people have to communicate, and thus, this fact can never be avoided. Communication does not entail only words but also the use of gestures, facial expressions, and posture. Therefore, this means that people are in constant communication with each other. The primary purpose of these principles is to ensure interpersonal communication becomes an effective means when dealing with a means of development or a given conflict.

However, there are misconceptions (conflicts) resulting from effective interpersonal communication. These misconceptions are brought about during the application of the aforesaid principles of interpersonal interaction. Normally, interpersonal communication is inescapable; therefore, it can result in confusion when they are interpreted in many ways.

To make matters worse, being irreversible means the misconceptions can never be modified in terms of an orderly deliverance of the topic. Misconceptions in effective interpersonal interaction can also be brought about by a lack of knowledge regarding the topic or context that is being discussed. Interpersonal communication can become complicated when there is diversity of languages and the individuals involved cannot understand each other.

Interpersonal Communication Barriers

Physical barriers are one of the main factors that inhibit communication. This may include closed doors of an office, screens that form a barrier, isolated areas for people with different statuses, a large working area for the employees that are isolated from other areas, or restricted areas where unwanted persons are not allowed. The most crucial component in providing coherence to the teams involved has been identified as proximity (Ruiller et al. 2019).

The second barrier to effective interpersonal communication is the perceptual barrier. This barrier involves the fact that people see the world at different levels depending on where they come from or how and where the individual person grew up. Therefore, the perceptual barrier is concerned with our thoughts, assumptions that a person makes, and also how a given individual perceives the information relayed to him/her.

The third barrier is the emotional barrier. Emotional barriers are all about mistrust, suspicion, and fear among the individuals at the workplace. Interpersonal interaction is hindered by emotional barriers because there is no open and free communication between the parties concerned at the workplace, leading to poor relationships.

The fourth barrier to effective interpersonal communication in the workplace is cultural barriers. This comes in when an individual joins a certain group at the workplace; he/she has to behave in the same particular way as the individuals that were already in that group.

Consequently, the individual will adopt the behavior pattern of the group in order to be rewarded through acts of inclusion, recognition, and approval. persons who conform better in a particular group will be afforded mutual interest, whereas persons who do not conform better in a given group will not be straightforward with other individuals, resulting in bad communication (Eisenberg, Post and DiTomaso, 2019).

The fifth barrier to effective interpersonal communication is the language barrier. Language that one needs to become more familiar with may present problems to oneself when attempting to express himself or herself. In today’s world, there are many languages that are used by people; therefore, it presents a problem in choosing the official language to be used in the workplace.

The sixth barrier to effective interpersonal communication is gender barriers. There are major differences in the speech pattern of a man compared to that of a woman. For example, it is estimated that a lady says around 22,000 to 25,000 words per day, whereas a male speaks between 7,000 to 10,000 words per day (Eisenberg, Post and DiTomaso, 2019). It has been found that females talk sooner than boys and use twice as much language as boys at the age of three years (Eisenberg, Post and DiTomaso, 2019).

The seventh barrier to effective communication is interpersonal barriers. This is a result of poor relationships among individuals at the workplace; hence, the parties that are on bad terms might resolve to abstain from meeting and talking to each other. There are six ways that an individual can use to distance himself from others, and they include pastimes, withdrawal, rituals, playing games (seek and hide), closeness, and working.

Last but not least, noise is a barrier to effective interpersonal communication. Noise usually interferes with a person’s concentration; therefore, it hinders proper understanding of the message relayed. For instance, people working in a noisy factory cannot use verbal communication and are compelled to use nonverbal modes of communication such as signals, gestures, and facial expressions.

However, there are other barriers that are recognized but are not as major as the ones discussed above, and they include intentional orientation, indiscrimination, allness, and polarization.

For almost a decade now, the concept has been experiencing increased attention and popularity within practice and research. In the studies, it is becoming clear that perception of the self plays an integral role in life. While there are several perceptions, none holds such importance as self-perception, and hence, much has to be done to ensure that every individual perceives the self in the highest esteem. It is this perception that we get an understanding of who we are and the role that we play as an element within the universe. Self-concept, therefore, is important in interpersonal relationships.

Self-concept is different from self-esteem and self-report. Self-esteem is described as a person’s sense of value and pleasure in oneself, whereas self-report is defined as what a person is ready and able to divulge (Eisenberg, Post and DiTomaso, 2019).

Self-concept is described as a person’s view of himself, and it impacts interpersonal communication at work through a variety of factors, including cultural teaching, social comparison, and a person’s own judgments and comparisons (Javornik et al. 2021).

Self-concept is mainly developed by the way an individual communicates with another. Through socialization at the workplace, an individual gets to know much about his personal attributes.

Self-concept involves scrutinizing one’s ability in terms of personality, one’s career, relevant interpersonal skills, physicality, and life ability. For example, a statement like “I am slow” is an assessment of oneself that leads to self-concept, and in contrast, a statement like “I am sleepy” will not be a self-concept since feeling sleepy is normal and is only a temporary state. An individual’s self-concept changes with time after identifying the possible crisis and then reassessing oneself.

It is worth noting that self-concept is based on the past, present, and future selves. Future selves sum up every self that one can become and what an individual thinks he can make himself given time. The possible futures are a general sum up of reflections defined by fears, what one believes are his threats, what ambitions and expectations he has, and the standards set for the individual.

Self-concept can be well cultivated in an individual during childhood period so that when an individual grows up, he becomes used to himself, and this removes fear and threat when socializing with others.

Interpersonal Relationship Conclusion

In conclusion, interpersonal communication is fundamental in building good relationships at the workplace, which in turn contributes to an increase in productivity. This will lead to better salaries for the workers. Hence, improved living standards and the welfare of the workers will be catered to in an appropriate manner.

Therefore, the principles of interpersonal communication are inevitable. As a result, proper methods should be designed in order to overcome the misconceptions that may result from interpersonal interactions. In addition, the parties involved in interpersonal communication should design ways to overcome the barriers that hinder effective interpersonal communication. If this is managed appropriately, then conflicts will be done away with, making the world a better place to live.

Interpersonal communication will also be enhanced through maintaining and developing self-concept; therefore, it becomes more important to encourage positive virtues that will instill self-concept in an individual. Consequently, vices should be avoided in order to encourage the building of self-concept.

Reference List

Eisenberg, J., Post, C. and DiTomaso, N. (2019) ‘ Team dispersion and performance: The Role of Team Communication and Transformational Leadership ’, Small Group Research, 50 (3), pp. 348–380.

Javornik, A. et al. (2021) ‘ Augmented self – the effects of virtual face augmentation on consumers’ self-concept ’, Journal of Business Research , 130, pp. 170–187.

Manawadu, U.A. et al. (2022) ‘ Theatrical robotic actor developed using the Interpersonal Communication Principles ’, 2022 2nd International Conference on Image Processing and Robotics (ICIPRob) .

Mellinas, J.P., Martin-Fuentes, E. and Ferrer-Rosell, B. (2023) ‘ Why some call the “worst” what most consider the “best”?: An analysis of tourist complaints at The wonders of the world ’, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights .

Petra, S. and Spieler, A.C. (2020) ‘ Accounting scandals: Enron, WorldCom, and Global Crossing ’, Corporate Fraud Exposed , pp. 343–360.

Ruiller, C. et al. (2019) ‘ “You have got a friend” ’, Team Performance Management: An International Journal , 25(1/2), pp. 2–29.

Xie, F. and Derakhshan, A. (2021) ‘ A conceptual review of positive teacher interpersonal communication behaviors in the instructional context ’, Frontiers in Psychology , 12.

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Essay on Interpersonal Communication Skills

Introduction

Communication has become an integral part of life and must-have skills. We need interpersonal skills not only to interact with each other in the context of the workplace, families, relationships, and nations, but also to transmit information and knowledge. According to Koprowska, (2020), interpersonal communication is defined as exchanging information, knowledge, feelings, and thoughts exchanged between two or more people. Individual use various of communication methods; words, body language, tonal variation, facial expressions, and gestures. Using effective interpersonal communication by an individual helps in personal growth, promotes a close relationship, promotes wellness, reduces stress, and improves the quality of life (Koprowska,2020). This essay focusses on showing the importance of effective interpersonal communication skills and emerging skills learned over the trimester incorporating feedback received from peers.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Repeating back in my words what the client said helped to bring the client awareness to his/her cognitions, emotions, and behaviors awareness. It encouraged the client to go deeper into the conversations and demonstrate empathy. According to Koprowska, (2020), paraphrasing and summarizing are more to repeating the words and interpreting the client’s emotions and behavior.

Reflection of content and feeling

Reflection of content involved reflecting back the content of what the client has said by picking the most important content information, but not repeating what the client has said, while the reflection of feeling is reflecting on the perceived emotional affect of the client such as tears or change in the tone (Destler, 2017). Combined reflection of content and feeling to bring feelings, cognitions, and behaviors awareness. Using appropriate words to reflect the client’s content and feelings was crucial to the success of the counseling sessions, for instance, ‘You are sad because of bullying at the work and the decision to leave your family and friends, if you accept the new job offer.’

Active listening skills

Counselors used active listening skills to help the client recognize that the counselor is listening attentively, interested in what the client is talking about, understanding and encouraging the client to continue talking (Geldard, & Foo,2019). Active listening skills include: nonverbal responses such as nodding, maintaining eye contact; using encouragers to continue talking such as ‘yes’, ‘really’, ‘ I understand’ which shows the attitude and approval, or disapproval; matching the language to the appropriate age group such as the use of vocabulary that the client will understand.

Use of questions

Designed the suitable questions at an appropriate time to meet different clients’ need. When working with the adults, one should be careful not to overuse questions to avoid turning the counselling into interrogation but a conversation (Destler,2017). Similarly, to young people to maintain interests in the session. There are two types of questions: an open question seeks a descriptive answer while a closed question demands a yes or no answer. Both types of questions encourage a conversation and make the client to self-disclosure. Moreover, the type of questions asked by the counselor makes him/her approachable and builds trust.

Importance of Effective Interpersonal communication skills

Personal development

Human beings are complex social beings. We develop social skills through continuously interacting with others. Social skills are primarily affected by predisposing factors; thoughts, feelings, and perceptions are learned and shaped by our social groups (Geldard, & Foo,2019). In my role play and course materials provided helped me to develop practical communication skills; listening skills: how to encourage others to talk about themselves without interpreting, experiences and reflection of feelings: early experience affects an individual’s perceptions, and perceptions do not change easily (Biglu, et all.,2017). One can only help another by using effective interpersonal skills to ensure the intended information, the other person understands thoughts. Likewise, interaction requires one to understand the other person’s point of view, as well as your own’s view to give advice by making other person feels that their opinions, thoughts and ideas matter.

The development of effective interpersonal skills has helped me express myself in the most convincingly way; strengthening the bond among my friends; to speak clearly to make people understand what I intend to communicate; improve body language (Biglu, et all.,2017). Apparently, shaping my personality has boosted my self-esteem and self-confidence and in realizing my purpose of helping people in daily challenges.

Problem solving

Different problems require different problem-solving skills. For instance, solving a problem requires understanding the problem and effective verbal, listening, and persuasion skills. Excellent interpersonal communications ensure smooth discussion among the team, weighing the cons and pros of different alternatives and choose the best alternative (Khademian, & Tehrani, 2017).

According to American Psychological Association, 40% of clients do not trust their counselors in the counseling industry. They do not share all the information for fear of confidentiality breaches. Effective communication help to build the trust, relationship in the workplace by assuring, and explaining the obligation of confidentiality in the law.

Personal relationships

Building healthy relationships in the personal and workplace requires effective interpersonal communication skills, coordination to work as a team. Creating and maintaining personal relationships requires respecting other person’s point of view; thoughts, knowledge, ideas, paying attention to their feelings by observing how they communicate, this builds trust among the friends (Khademian, & Tehrani, 2017).

Effective management and leadership

An effective leader should possess skills to foster an interpersonal relationship, trust and communicate clearly. Poor communication irritates and confuses workers while performing their duties, waste time while revisiting issues already shared (Hardjati, & Febrianita,2019). Managers are in charge, should ensure cooperation at executing tasks and responsible for his/her team. Therefore, the need to build trust and transparency by effectively communicating to the employees and creating a culture of positivity.

Recognizing good work

Good interpersonal communication skills are essential for personal coaching in the workplace. Helping each other perform their duties successfully, identifying the good work and encouraging each other to perform their level best as well as working on weaknesses (Biglu, et all.,2017). Asking questions instead of giving direct orders at the workplace requires effective interpersonal communication skills.

Must-Have Interpersonal Communication skills

Employees are recognizing the importance of micro-soft skills and nonverbal communication skills. The following are soft skills and nonverbal communication skills I have gained or polished include; communication courtesy, flexibility, integrity, interpersonal skills, attitude, professionalism, responsibility, teamwork, and work ethic (Biglu, et all.,2017).

Importance of observing non-verbal clues

Nonverbal clues; facial expressions, gestures, body movement and postures, eye contact, tone variation are powerful interpersonal communication tools. Observing the nonverbal clues helped me know when to start a conversation by establishing a rapport; someone needed a break, was confused hence need more explanation, want to contribute, and know whether trust exists in the discussion (Anggeraini, & Farozin,2019).

Ineffective interpersonal communication

Ineffective interpersonal create barriers and prevent the sharing and understanding of message communicated. In cases where people are restricted to sharing by cultural taboos of non-talking issues, mainly caused by lack of trust, frustration, and problems neglected (Khademian, & Tehrani, 2017). To show respect for their culture and talk openly about how they have restricted people from talking, and encourage cooperation.

Poor conflict management and problem-solving skills result in finger-pointing, blaming each other for not achieving the set objectives, and misdirected anger to other team members. According to Koprowska, (2020), can solve this by learning how to bring people’s mistakes indirectly, not pointing fingers. The manager can talk about his/her mistakes before criticizing the other person, and learning to disagree with the other person’s perceptions, and remaining calm.

It is satisfactory to say that effective interpersonal communication skills are essential towards achieving goals in an organization and personal development. Employees exhibit poor performance at the workplace as a result of ineffective interpersonal communication from the manager. The directives from the leaders ensure the proper performance of duties at the workplace. Effective interpersonal communication skills enhance personal and professional growth, builds trust and positivity, recognizes good work and effective management. This enhances the reliability and accuracy of information thus yielding an efficient working environment.

Destler, D. (2017). The Superskills Model: A Supervisory Microskill Competency Training Model.  Professional Counselor ,  7 (3), 272-284.

Geldard, K., Geldard, D., & Foo, R. Y. (2019).  Counselling adolescents: The proactive approach for young people . Sage.

Hardjati, S., & Febrianita, R. (2019). The power of interpersonal communication skill in enhancing service provision.  Journal of Social Science Research ,  14 , 3192-3199.

Khademian, Z., & Tehrani Neshat, B. (2017). The relationship between interpersonal communication skills and nursing students’ attitudes toward teamwork.  Sadra Medical Journal ,  5 (2), 99-110.

Biglu, M. H., Nateq, F., Ghojazadeh, M., & Asgharzadeh, A. (2017). Communication skills of physicians and patients’ satisfaction.  Materia socio-medica ,  29 (3), 192.

Anggeraini, D., & Farozin, M. (2019). Interpersonal communication skills and self confidence of secondary school students: findings and interventions.  KnE Social Sciences , 140-145.

Koprowska, J. (2020).  Communication and interpersonal skills in social work . Sage.

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The Phenomenon of Interpersonal Communication

The phenomenon of interpersonal communication is a process of exchanging information, knowledge, experience, emotions, and beliefs between people. In other words, interpersonal communication happens when two people talk or use non-verbal means to exchange data. According to Lane (2016), interpersonal communication is influenced by the perception of the world, self-concept, and emotions. In such communication, ethical choices are very important since communicators choose words and communicative behavior or style according to the situation or the other side (DeVito, 2019). People continuously make choices of communicative devices, principles, words, types of non-verbal communication to achieve communicative goals.

An example of an interpersonal situation that occurred around an ethical issue might be the one observed on social media. A Muslim girl wearing a hijab was asked by a school principal to take it off because the accessories were not allowed in the school. This situation is ethical because the contradiction between the girl’s personal religious beliefs and school rules makes people react differently. It is important to address religious issues ethically in all kinds of communication, including interpersonal and group communication (Aryani, 2018). In this situation, the principal honestly stated that it was not his personal belief, but it was dictated by the school’s rules. The girl, in response, honestly stated that she wore a hijab not as an accessory but as a cultural and religious element that has significant meaning for her. Both communicators used the ethical principles of honest communication so that they could maintain relationships. However, the communication was ineffective, which is why the girl was forced not to wear a hijab to school.

When analyzing this situation, one might state that the communicators did not effectively address the ethical issue. From the point of view of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the principal is motivated by the safety needs, and the girl is motivated by the self-actualization needs. In other words, the principal wants to pursue his instrumental needs, and the student wants to pursue her identity needs (“Communication principles,” n. d.; Frey & Loker, 2020). Therefore, since their needs differ, it is important for them to use communication as a tool to reach an agreement. One of the principles that might have been applied is the principle of a dual perspective. The principal might have looked at the issue from the point of view of the student whose religion as a manifestation of personal beliefs was important for her identity and did not violate the rules about accessories.

Aryani, N. L. (2018). Implementation of communication ethics in building social harmony. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2 (1), 147-156.

Communication principles. (n. d.). 2020, Web.

DeVito, J. A. (2019). T he interpersonal communication book (15th ed.). Pearson.

Frey, L. R., & Loker, E. (2020). Confronting students’ personal and interpersonal communication anxieties and needs through constitutive, experiential communication pedagogy. Journal of Communication Pedagogy, 3 (1), 20-26.

Lane, S. D. (2016). Interpersonal communication: Competence and contexts. Routledge.

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Communication Studies

What this handout is about.

This handout describes some steps for planning and writing papers in communication studies courses.

Courses in communication studies combine material from the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences in order to explain how and why people interact in the ways that they do. Within communication studies, there are four different approaches to understanding these interactions. Your course probably falls into one of these four areas of emphasis:

• Interpersonal and organizational communication: Interpersonal communication concerns one-on-one conversations as well as small group behaviors. Organizational communication focuses on large group dynamics.
• Rhetoric: Rhetoric examines persuasion and argumentation in political settings and within social movements.
• Performance studies: Performance studies analyze the relationships among literature, theater, and everyday life.
• Media/film studies: Media and film studies explore the cultural influences and practical techniques of television and film, as well as new technologies.

Understanding your assignment

The content and purpose of your assignments will vary according to what kind of course you are in, so pay close attention to the course description, syllabus, and assignment sheet when you begin to write. If you’d like to learn more about deciphering writing assignments or developing your academic writing, see our Writing Center handouts on these topics. For now, let’s see how a general topic, same-sex friendships, might be treated in each of the different areas. These illustrations are only examples, but you can use them as springboards to help you identify how your course might approach discussing a broad topic.

Interpersonal communication

An interpersonal communication perspective could focus on the verbal and nonverbal differences and similarities between how women communicate with other women and how men communicate with other men. This topic would allow you to explore the ways in which gender affects our behaviors in close relationships.

Organizational communication

Organizational communication would take a less personal approach, perhaps by addressing same-sex friendships in the form of workplace mentoring programs that pair employees of the same sex. This would require you to discuss and analyze group dynamics and effectiveness in the work environment.

A rhetorical analysis could involve comparing and contrasting references to friendship in the speeches of two well-known figures. For instance, you could compare Aristotle’s comments about Plato to Plato’s comments about Aristotle in order to discover more about the relationship between these two men and how each defined their friendship and/or same-sex friendship in general.

Performance studies

A performance approach might involve describing how a literary work uses dramatic conventions to portray same-sex friendships, as well as critiquing how believable those portrayals are. An analysis of the play Waiting for Godot could unpack the lifelong friendship between the two main characters by identifying what binds the men together, how these ties are effectively or ineffectively conveyed to the audience, and what the play teaches us about same-sex friendships in our own lives.

Media and film studies

Finally, a media and film studies analysis might explain the evolution of a same-sex friendship by examining a cinematic text. For example, you could trace the development of the main friendship in the movie Thelma and Louise to discover how certain events or gender stereotypes affect the relationship between the two female characters.

General writing tips

Writing papers in communication studies often requires you to do three tasks common to academic writing: analyze material, read and critique others’ analyses of material, and develop your own argument around that material. You will need to build an original argument (sometimes called a “theory” or “plausible explanation”) about how a communication phenomenon can be better understood. The word phenomenon can refer to a particular communication event, text, act, or conversation. To develop an argument for this kind of paper, you need to follow several steps and include several kinds of information in your paper. (For more information about developing an argument, see our handout on arguments ). First, you must demonstrate your knowledge of the phenomenon and what others have said about it. This usually involves synthesizing previous research or ideas. Second, you must develop your own original perspective, reading, or “take” on the phenomenon and give evidence to support your way of thinking about it. Your “take” on the topic will constitute your “argument,” “theory,” or “explanation.” You will need to write a thesis statement that encapsulates your argument and guides you and the reader to the main point of your paper. Third, you should critically analyze the arguments of others in order to show how your argument contributes to our general understanding of the phenomenon. In other words, you should identify the shortcomings of previous research or ideas and explain how your paper corrects some or all of those deficits. Assume that your audience for your paper includes your classmates as well as your instructor, unless otherwise indicated in the assignment.

Choosing a topic to write about

Your topic might be as specific as the effects of a single word in conversation (such as how the use of the word “well” creates tentativeness in dialogue) or as broad as how the notion of individuality affects our relationships in public and private spheres of human activity. In deciding the scope of your topic, look again at the purpose of the course and the aim of the assignment. Check with your instructor to gauge the appropriateness of your topic before you go too far in the writing process.

Try to choose a topic in which you have some interest or investment. Your writing for communications will not only be about the topic, but also about yourself—why you care about the topic, how it affects you, etc. It is common in the field of communication studies not only to consider why the topic intrigues you, but also to write about the experiences and/or cognitive processes you went through before choosing your topic. Including this kind of introspection helps readers understand your position and how that position affects both your selection of the topic and your analysis within the paper. You can make your argument more persuasive by knowing what is at stake, including both objective research and personal knowledge in what you write.

Using evidence to support your ideas

Your argument should be supported with evidence, which may include, but is not limited to, related studies or articles, films or television programs, interview materials, statistics, and critical analysis of your own making. Relevant studies or articles can be found in such journals as Journal of Communication , Quarterly Journal of Speech , Communication Education , and Communication Monographs . Databases, such as Infotrac and ERIC, may also be helpful for finding articles and books on your topic (connecting to these databases via NC Live requires a UNC IP address or UNC PID). As always, be careful when using Internet materials—check your sources to make sure they are reputable.

Refrain from using evidence, especially quotations, without explicitly and concretely explaining what the evidence shows in your own words. Jumping from quote to quote does not demonstrate your knowledge of the material or help the reader recognize the development of your thesis statement. A good paper will link the evidence to the overall argument by explaining how the two correspond to one another and how that relationship extends our understanding of the communication phenomenon. In other words, each example and quote should be explained, and each paragraph should relate to the topic.

As mentioned above, your evidence and analysis should not only support the thesis statement but should also develop it in ways that complement your paper’s argument. Do not just repeat the thesis statement after each section of your paper; instead, try to tell what that section adds to the argument and what is special about that section when the thesis statement is taken into consideration. You may also include a discussion of the paper’s limitations. Describing what cannot be known or discussed at this time—perhaps because of the limited scope of your project, lack of new research, etc.—keeps you honest and realistic about what you have accomplished and shows your awareness of the topic’s complexity.

Communication studies idiosyncrasies

• Using the first person (I/me) is welcomed in nearly all areas of communication studies. It is probably best to ask your professor to be sure, but do not be surprised if you are required to talk about yourself within the paper as a researcher, writer, and/or subject. Some assignments may require you to write from a personal perspective and expect you to use “I” to express your ideas.
• Always include a Works Cited (MLA) or References list (APA) unless you are told not to. Not giving appropriate credit to those whom you quote or whose ideas inform your argument is plagiarism. More and more communication studies courses are requiring bibliographies and in-text citations with each writing assignment. Ask your professor which citation format (MLA/APA) to use and see the corresponding handbook for citation rules.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Interpersonal Communication - Free Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

An essay on interpersonal communication can examine the dynamics of human interaction and relationship development. It can discuss effective communication skills, the impact of nonverbal communication, cultural differences in communication, and the role of communication in conflict resolution and building meaningful connections. A vast selection of complimentary essay illustrations pertaining to Interpersonal Communication you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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IPT is based around the interpersonal triad which was initially designed to treat Major Depressive Disorder. An interpersonal problem is defined as “[an] interpersonal stressor that impedes social support, which, in the context of vulnerability factors (diathesis), precipitate and maintain symptoms” (Motl, 2018). These stressors in the realm of IPT can include grief and loss, interpersonal disputes, and role transitions. The Diathesis-Stress Model, as seen in Figures 1 and 2, explains that the process is triggered by an acute stressor, […]

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6.3 Emotions and Interpersonal Communication

Learning objectives.

• Define emotions.
• Explain the evolutionary and cultural connections to emotions.
• Discuss how we can more effectively manage our own and respond to others’ emotions.

Have you ever been at a movie and let out a bellowing laugh and snort only to realize no one else is laughing? Have you ever gotten uncomfortable when someone cries in class or in a public place? Emotions are clearly personal, as they often project what we’re feeling on the inside to those around us whether we want it to show or not. Emotions are also interpersonal in that another person’s show of emotion usually triggers a reaction from us—perhaps support if the person is a close friend or awkwardness if the person is a stranger. Emotions are central to any interpersonal relationship, and it’s important to know what causes and influences emotions so we can better understand our own emotions and better respond to others when they display emotions.

Emotions are physiological, behavioral, and/or communicative reactions to stimuli that are cognitively processed and experienced as emotional (Planlap, Fitness, & Fehr, 2006). This definition includes several important dimensions of emotions. First, emotions are often internally experienced through physiological changes such as increased heart rate, a tense stomach, or a cold chill. These physiological reactions may not be noticeable by others and are therefore intrapersonal unless we exhibit some change in behavior that clues others into our internal state or we verbally or nonverbally communicate our internal state. Sometimes our behavior is voluntary—we ignore someone, which may indicate we are angry with them—or involuntary—we fidget or avoid eye contact while talking because we are nervous. When we communicate our emotions, we call attention to ourselves and provide information to others that may inform how they should react. For example, when someone we care about displays behaviors associated with sadness, we are likely to know that we need to provide support (Planlap, Fitness, & Fehr, 2006). We learn, through socialization, how to read and display emotions, although some people are undoubtedly better at reading emotions than others. However, as with most aspects of communication, we can all learn to become more competent with increased knowledge and effort.

Primary emotions are innate emotions that are experienced for short periods of time and appear rapidly, usually as a reaction to an outside stimulus, and are experienced similarly across cultures. The primary emotions are joy, distress, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. Members of a remote tribe in New Guinea, who had never been exposed to Westerners, were able to identify these basic emotions when shown photographs of US Americans making corresponding facial expressions (Evans, 2001).

Secondary emotions are not as innate as primary emotions, and they do not have a corresponding facial expression that makes them universally recognizable. Secondary emotions are processed by a different part of the brain that requires higher order thinking; therefore, they are not reflexive. Secondary emotions are love, guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, envy, and jealousy (Evans, 2001). These emotions develop over time, take longer to fade away, and are interpersonal because they are most often experienced in relation to real or imagined others. You can be fearful of a the dark but feel guilty about an unkind comment made to your mother or embarrassed at the thought of doing poorly on a presentation in front of an audience. Since these emotions require more processing, they are more easily influenced by thoughts and can be managed, which means we can become more competent communicators by becoming more aware of how we experience and express secondary emotions. Although there is more cultural variation in the meaning and expression of secondary emotions, they are still universal in that they are experienced by all cultures. It’s hard to imagine what our lives would be like without emotions, and in fact many scientists believe we wouldn’t be here without them.

Perspectives on Emotion

How did you learn to express your emotions? Like many aspects of communication and interaction, you likely never received any formal instruction on expressing emotions. Instead, we learn through observation, trial and error, and through occasional explicit guidance (e.g., “boys don’t cry” or “smile when you meet someone”). To better understand how and why we express our emotions, we’ll discuss the evolutionary function of emotions and how they are affected by social and cultural norms.

Evolution and Emotions

Human beings grouping together and creating interpersonal bonds was a key element in the continuation and success of our species, and the ability to express emotions played a role in this success (Planlap, Fitness, & Fehr, 2006). For example, unlike other species, most of us are able to control our anger, and we have the capacity for empathy. Emotional regulation can help manage conflict, and empathy allows us to share the emotional state of someone else, which increases an interpersonal bond. These capacities were important as early human society grew increasingly complex and people needed to deal with living with more people.

A dependable and nurturing caregiver helps establish a secure attachment style that will influence emotions and views of relationships in later life.

Justhiggy – Mom and baby – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Attachment theory ties into the evolutionary perspective, because researchers claim that it is in our nature, as newborns, to create social bonds with our primary caretaker (Planlap, Fitness, & Fehr, 2006). This drive for attachment became innate through the process of evolution as early humans who were more successful at attachment were more likely to survive and reproduce—repeating the cycle. Attachment theory proposes that people develop one of the following three attachment styles as a result of interactions with early caretakers: secure, avoidant, or anxious attachment (Feeney, Noller, & Roverts, 2000). It is worth noting that much of the research on attachment theory has been based on some societal norms that are shifting. For example, although women for much of human history have played the primary caregiver role, men are increasingly taking on more caregiver responsibilities. Additionally, although the following examples presume that a newborn’s primary caregivers are his or her parents, extended family, foster parents, or others may also play that role.

Individuals with a secure attachment style report that their relationship with their parents is warm and that their parents also have a positive and caring relationship with each other. People with this attachment style are generally comfortable with intimacy, feel like they can depend on others when needed, and have few self-doubts. As a result, they are generally more effective at managing their emotions, and they are less likely to experience intense negative emotions in response to a negative stimulus like breaking up with a romantic partner.

People with the avoidant attachment style report discomfort with closeness and a reluctance to depend on others. They quickly develop feelings of love for others, but those feelings lose intensity just as fast. As a result, people with this attachment style do not view love as long lasting or enduring and have a general fear of intimacy because of this. This attachment style might develop due to a lack of bonding with a primary caregiver.

People with the anxious attachment style report a desire for closeness but anxieties about being abandoned. They regularly experience self-doubts and may blame their lack of love on others’ unwillingness to commit rather than their own anxiety about being left. They are emotionally volatile and more likely to experience intense negative emotions such as anxiety and anger. This attachment style might develop because primary caregivers were not dependable or were inconsistent—alternating between caring or nurturing and neglecting or harming.

This process of attachment leads us to experience some of our first intense emotions, such as love, trust, joy, anxiety, or anger, and we learn to associate those emotions with closely bonded relationships (Planlap, Fitness, & Fehr, 2006). For example, the child who develops a secure attachment style and associates feelings of love and trust with forming interpersonal bonds will likely experience similar emotions as an adult entering into a romantic partnership. Conversely, a child who develops an anxious attachment style and associates feelings of anxiety and mistrust with forming interpersonal bonds will likely experience similar emotions in romantic relationships later in life. In short, whether we form loving and secure bonds or unpredictable and insecure bonds influences our emotional tendencies throughout our lives, which inevitably affects our relationships. Of course, later in life, we have more control over and conscious thoughts about this process. Although it seems obvious that developing a secure attachment style is the ideal scenario, it is also inevitable that not every child will have the same opportunity to do so. But while we do not have control over the style we develop as babies, we can exercise more control over our emotions and relationships as adults if we take the time to develop self-awareness and communication competence—both things this book will help you do if you put what you learn into practice.

Culture and Emotions

While our shared evolutionary past dictates some universal similarities in emotions, triggers for emotions and norms for displaying emotions vary widely. Certain emotional scripts that we follow are socially, culturally, and historically situated. Take the example of “falling in love.” Westerners may be tempted to critique the practice of arranged marriages in other cultures and question a relationship that isn’t based on falling in love. However, arranged marriages have been a part of Western history, and the emotional narrative of falling in love has only recently become a part of our culture. Even though we know that compatible values and shared social networks are more likely to predict the success of a long-term romantic relationship than “passion,” Western norms privilege the emotional role of falling in love in our courtship narratives and practices (Crozier, 2006). While this example shows how emotions tie into larger social and cultural narratives, rules and norms for displaying emotions affect our day-to-day interactions.

Display rules are sociocultural norms that influence emotional expression. Display rules influence who can express emotions, which emotions can be expressed, and how intense the expressions can be. In individualistic cultures, where personal experience and self-determination are values built into cultural practices and communication, expressing emotions is viewed as a personal right. In fact, the outward expression of our inner states may be exaggerated, since getting attention from those around you is accepted and even expected in individualistic cultures like the United States (Safdar et al., 2009). In collectivistic cultures, emotions are viewed as more interactional and less individual, which ties them into social context rather than into an individual right to free expression. An expression of emotion reflects on the family and cultural group rather than only on the individual. Therefore, emotional displays are more controlled, because maintaining group harmony and relationships is a primary cultural value, which is very different from the more individualistic notion of having the right to get something off your chest.

There are also cultural norms regarding which types of emotions can be expressed. In individualistic cultures, especially in the United States, there is a cultural expectation that people will exhibit positive emotions. Recent research has documented the culture of cheerfulness in the United States (Kotchemidova, 2010). People seek out happy situations and communicate positive emotions even when they do not necessarily feel positive emotions. Being positive implicitly communicates that you have achieved your personal goals, have a comfortable life, and have a healthy inner self (Mesquita & Albert, 2007). In a culture of cheerfulness, failure to express positive emotions could lead others to view you as a failure or to recommend psychological help or therapy. The cultural predisposition to express positive emotions is not universal. The people who live on the Pacific islands of Ifaluk do not encourage the expression of happiness, because they believe it will lead people to neglect their duties (Mesquita & Albert, 2007). Similarly, collectivistic cultures may view expressions of positive emotion negatively because someone is bringing undue attention to himself or herself, which could upset group harmony and potentially elicit jealous reactions from others.

Emotional expressions of grief also vary among cultures and are often tied to religious or social expectations (Lobar, Youngblut, & Brooten, 2006). Thai and Filipino funeral services often include wailing, a more intense and loud form of crying, which shows respect for the deceased. The intensity of the wailing varies based on the importance of the individual who died and the closeness of the relationship between the mourner and the deceased. Therefore, close relatives like spouses, children, or parents would be expected to wail louder than distant relatives or friends. In Filipino culture, wailers may even be hired by the family to symbolize the importance of the person who died. In some Latino cultures, influenced by the concept of machismo or manliness, men are not expected or allowed to cry. Even in the United States, there are gendered expectations regarding grieving behaviors that lead some men to withhold emotional displays such as crying even at funerals. On the other hand, as you can see in Video Clip 6.1, the 2011 death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il brought out public mourners who some suspected were told and/or paid to wail in front of television cameras.

Video Clip 6.1

North Koreans Mourn Kim Jong-Il’s Death

(click to see video)

Expressing Emotions

Emotion sharing involves communicating the circumstances, thoughts, and feelings surrounding an emotional event. Emotion sharing usually starts immediately following an emotional episode. The intensity of the emotional event corresponds with the frequency and length of the sharing, with high-intensity events being told more often and over a longer period of time. Research shows that people communicate with others after almost any emotional event, positive or negative, and that emotion sharing offers intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits, as individuals feel inner satisfaction and relief after sharing, and social bonds are strengthened through the interaction (Rime, 2007).

Our social bonds are enhanced through emotion sharing because the support we receive from our relational partners increases our sense of closeness and interdependence. We should also be aware that our expressions of emotion are infectious due to emotional contagion , or the spreading of emotion from one person to another (Hargie, 2011). Think about a time when someone around you got the giggles and you couldn’t help but laugh along with them, even if you didn’t know what was funny. While those experiences can be uplifting, the other side of emotional contagion can be unpleasant. One of my favorite skits from Saturday Night Live , called “Debbie Downer,” clearly illustrates the positive and negative aspects of emotional contagion. In the skit, a group of friends and family have taken a trip to an amusement park. One of the people in the group, Debbie, interjects depressing comments into the happy dialogue of the rest of the group. Within the first two minutes of the skit, Debbie mentions mad cow disease after someone orders steak and eggs for breakfast, a Las Vegas entertainer being mauled by his tiger after someone gets excited about seeing Tigger, and a train explosion in North Korea after someone mentions going to the Epcot center. We’ve probably all worked with someone or had that family member who can’t seem to say anything positive, and Debbie’s friends react, as we would, by getting increasingly frustrated with her. The skit also illustrates the sometimes uncontrollable aspects of emotional contagion. As you know, the show is broadcast live and the characters occasionally “break character” after getting caught up in the comedy. After the comment about North Korea, Rachel Dratch, who plays Debbie, and Jimmy Fallon, another actor in the scene, briefly break character and laugh a little bit. Their character slip leads other actors to break character and over the next few minutes the laughter spreads (which was not scripted and not supposed to happen) until all the actors in the skit are laughing, some of them uncontrollably, and the audience is also roaring with laughter. This multilayered example captures the positive, negative, and interpersonal aspects of emotional contagion.

In order to verbally express our emotions, it is important that we develop an emotional vocabulary. The more specific we can be when we are verbally communicating our emotions, the less ambiguous they will be for the person decoding our message. As we expand our emotional vocabulary, we are able to convey the intensity of the emotion we’re feeling whether it is mild, moderate, or intense. For example, happy is mild, delighted is moderate, and ecstatic is intense, and ignored is mild, rejected is moderate, and abandoned is intense (Hargie, 2011). Aside from conveying the intensity of your emotions, you can also verbally frame your emotions in a way that allows you to have more control over them.

We can communicate ownership of our emotions through the use of “I” language. This may allow us to feel more in control, but it may also facilitate emotion sharing by not making our conversational partner feel at fault or defensive. For example, instead of saying “You’re making me crazy!” you could say, “I’m starting to feel really anxious because we can’t make a decision.” However, there may be times when face-to-face communication isn’t possible or desired, which can complicate how we express emotions.

In a time when so much of our communication is electronically mediated, it is likely that we will communicate emotions through the written word in an e-mail, text, or instant message. We may also still resort to pen and paper when sending someone a thank-you note, a birthday card, or a sympathy card. Communicating emotions through the written (or typed) word can have advantages such as time to compose your thoughts and convey the details of what you’re feeling. There are also disadvantages, in that important context and nonverbal communication can’t be included. Things like facial expressions and tone of voice offer much insight into emotions that may not be expressed verbally. There is also a lack of immediate feedback. Sometimes people respond immediately to a text or e-mail, but think about how frustrating it is when you text someone and they don’t get back to you right away. If you’re in need of emotional support or want validation of an emotional message you just sent, waiting for a response could end up negatively affecting your emotional state and your relationship.

“Getting Critical”

Politicians, Apologies, and Emotions

Politicians publicly apologizing for wrongdoings have been features in the news for years. In June of 2011, Representative Anthony Weiner, a member of the US Congress, apologized to his family, constituents, and friends for posting an explicit photo on Twitter that was intended to go to a woman with whom he had been chatting and then lying about it. He resigned from Congress a little over a week later. Emotions like guilt and shame are often the driving forces behind an apology, and research shows that apologies that communicate these emotions are viewed as more sincere (Hareli & Eisikovits, 2006). However, admitting and expressing guilt doesn’t automatically lead to forgiveness, as such admissions may expose character flaws of an individual. Rep. Weiner communicated these emotions during his speech, which you can view in Video Clip 6.2. He said he was “deeply sorry,” expressed “regret” for the pain he caused, and said, “I am deeply ashamed of my terrible judgment and actions” (CNN, 2001).

• After viewing Rep. Weiner’s apology, do you feel like he was sincere? Why or why not?
• Do you think politicians have a higher ethical responsibility to apologize for wrongdoing than others? Why or why not?

Video Clip 6.2

Rep. Anthony Weiner Apologizes for Twitter Scandal, Racy Photo

Managing and Responding to Emotions

The notion of emotional intelligence emerged in the early 1990s and has received much attention in academic scholarship, business and education, and the popular press. Emotional intelligence “involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action” (Salovey, Woolery, & Mayer, 2001). As was noted earlier, improving our emotional vocabulary and considering how and when to verbally express our emotions can help us better distinguish between and monitor our emotions. However, as the definition of emotional intelligence states, we must then use the results of that cognitive process to guide our thoughts and actions.

Just as we are likely to engage in emotion sharing following an emotional event, we are likely to be on the receiving end of that sharing. Another part of emotional intelligence is being able to appraise others’ expressions of emotions and communicatively adapt. A key aspect in this process is empathy, which is the ability to comprehend the emotions of others and to elicit those feelings in ourselves. Being empathetic has important social and physical implications. By expressing empathy, we will be more likely to attract and maintain supportive social networks, which has positive physiological effects like lower stress and less anxiety and psychological effects such as overall life satisfaction and optimism (Guerrero & Andersen, 2000).

When people share emotions, they may expect a variety of results such as support, validation, or advice. If someone is venting, they may just want your attention. When people share positive emotions, they may want recognition or shared celebration. Remember too that you are likely to coexperience some of the emotion with the person sharing it and that the intensity of their share may dictate your verbal and nonverbal reaction (Rime, 2007). Research has shown that responses to low-intensity episodes are mostly verbal. For example, if someone describes a situation where they were frustrated with their car shopping experience, you may validate their emotion by saying, “Car shopping can be really annoying. What happened?” Conversely, more intense episodes involve nonverbal reactions such as touching, body contact (scooting close together), or embracing. These reactions may or may not accompany verbal communication. You may have been in a situation where someone shared an intense emotion, such as learning of the death of a close family member, and the only thing you could think to do was hug them. Although being on the receiving end of emotional sharing can be challenging, your efforts will likely result in positive gains in your interpersonal communication competence and increased relational bonds.

Key Takeaways

• Emotions result from outside stimuli or physiological changes that influence our behaviors and communication.
• Emotions developed in modern humans to help us manage complex social life including interpersonal relations.
• The expression of emotions is influenced by sociocultural norms and display rules.
• Emotion sharing includes verbal expression, which is made more effective with an enhanced emotional vocabulary, and nonverbal expression, which may or may not be voluntary.
• Emotional intelligence helps us manage our own emotions and effectively respond to the emotions of others.
• In what situations would you be more likely to communicate emotions through electronic means rather than in person? Why?
• Can you think of a display rule for emotions that is not mentioned in the chapter? What is it and why do you think this norm developed?
• When you are trying to determine someone’s emotional state, what nonverbal communication do you look for and why?
• Think of someone in your life who you believe has a high degree of emotional intelligence. What have they done that brought you to this conclusion?

CNN, Transcripts , accessed June 16, 2001 http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1106/07/ltm.01.html .

Crozier, W. R., Blushing and the Social Emotions: The Self Unmasked (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

Evans, D., Emotion: The Science of Sentiment (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 5–6.

Feeney, J. A., Patricia Noller, and Nigel Roberts, “Attachment and Close Relationships,” in Close Relationships: A Sourcebook , eds. Clyde Hendrick and Susan S. Hendrick (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000), 188.

Guerrero, L. K. and Peter A. Andersen, “Emotion in Close Relationships,” in Close Relationships: A Sourcebook , eds. Clyde Hendrick and Susan S. Hendrick (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000), 171–83.

Hargie, O., Skilled Interpersonal Interaction: Research, Theory, and Practice (London: Routledge, 2011), 69.

Kotchemidova, C., “Emotion Culture and Cognitive Constructions of Reality,” Communication Quarterly 58, no. 2 (2010): 207–34.

Lobar, S. L., JoAnne M. Youngblut, and Dorothy Brooten, “Cross-Cultural Beliefs, Ceremonies, and Rituals Surrounding Death of a Loved One,” Pediatric Nursing 32, no. 1 (2006): 44–50.

Mesquita, B. and Dustin Albert, “The Cultural Regulation of Emotions,” in Handbook of Emotion Regulation , ed. James J. Gross (New York: Guilford Press, 2007), 486.

Planlap, S., Julie Fitness, and Beverly Fehr, “Emotion in Theories of Close Relationships,” in The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships , eds. Anita L. Vangelisti and Daniel Perlman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 369–84.

Rime, B., “Interpersonal Emotion Regulation,” in Handbook of Emotion Regulation , ed. James J. Gross (New York: Guilford Press, 2007), 466–68.

Safdar, S., Wolfgang Friedlmeier, David Matsumoto, Seung Hee Yoo, Catherine T. Kwantes, and Hisako Kakai, “Variations of Emotional Display Rules within and across Cultures: A Comparison between Canada, USA, and Japan,” Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science 41, no. 1 (2009): 1–10.

Salovey, P., Alison Woolery, and John D. Mayer, “Emotional Intelligence: Conceptualization and Measurement,” in Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Interpersonal Processes , eds. Garth J. O. Fletcher and Margaret S. Clark (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001), 279–307.

Communication in the Real World Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Maria is a Mexican citizen; who five years ago moved to America where she has been living and working as a nanny to a well-off family in Maine. She is a competent helper and is ever trying to make her employee pleased and keep the children happy and healthy at...

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Communication Models A communication model is defined as a conceptual structure that explains the human processes of communication. Historically, 1948 marked the year when the first major communication model was established by Claud Elwood Shannon. Linear and Transactional Models Linear and transactional are the major models for communication whereby linear is perceived to...

In the modern world, intercultural interactions continue to increase In the modern world, intercultural interactions continue to increase as more people move from their cultural backgrounds into new communities for various reasons. Adjusting to new cultures, societies and communities comes with its own challenges and the most prominent of them being...

While interpersonal communication can help foster positive relationships, among other advantages, there is a dark side to it that can be harmful and unethical. This is called deception, and unfortunately, this dark side of interpersonal communication is prevalent, more than anyone can expect. According to the book “Interpersonal Communication: Relating...

A human being is known to be a social animal. Therefore, it needs to communicate with another person through some modes. Interpersonal communication skills are the set of process that allows a person to communicate with another person on a face-to-face basis to relay information, emotions, meanings, or feelings through...

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Welcome to this new journey of marriage union and congratulations. You are dear friends to me, and I thought it appropriate to share some of the information I have learnt based on effective interpersonal communication. I have experienced positive changes in my marriage as a result of the education. Principles and...

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Interpersonal Communication Interpersonal communication is a practice where two people share information, messages and transfer meanings through spoken and unspoken messages. In interpersonal communication, the language used is not important than how the message sender uses the non-verbal cues to pass the message. This can be established through facial expression, tonal...

Interpersonal Communication: Sending and Receiving Information Interpersonal communication refers to the sending and receiving of information between two or more people. As long as you are communicating with another person therefore, you are involved in interpersonal communication. It is basically the process by which people exchange information, feelings and meaning through...

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Effective Communication Effective communication is characterized by the ability of a person to effectively articulate his or her ideas (Honeycutt 88). The most important part of communication is how you view yourself as well as other people (Liu 114). There is both interpersonal and intrapersonal communication as will be seen in...

Communication is a vital part of everyday life which enables individuals to voice their opinions and ideas.  There are various forms of communication, in this paper emphasis will be made on interpersonal communication issues in business organisations. Interpersonal communication encompasses the exchange of ideas using various methods such as gestures,...

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Interpersonal communication plays an integral role not only in boosting relationships at the workplace but also in enhancing one’s relationships with family members and friends. According to Sethi " Seth (2009), interpersonal communication refers to the process through which individuals swap feelings and information through the use of verbal and...

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