Interpersonal Communication Essay

There are many ways that my culture influences my self-concept. First let’s take a look at the many kinds of cultures there are. Culture is defined as the relatively specialized lifestyle of a group of people that is passed on from one generation to the next through communication, not through genes. Culture is transmitted from one generation to another through enculturation, the process by which you learn the culture into which you’re born (your native culture). Parents, peer groups, schools, religious institutions, and government agencies are the main teachers of culture. Through enculturation you develop an ethnic identity, a commitment to the beliefs and philosophy of your culture that, not surprisingly, can act as a protective shield against discrimination. A different process of learning culture is acculturation, the process by which you learn the rules and norms of a culture different from your native culture. In acculturation your original or native culture is modified through direct contact with or exposure to a new and different culture. Cultures, of course, differ in a wide variety of ways; and for purposes of communication, the difference that probably comes to mind first is that of languages. Certainly, cultures do differ in language spoken and understood. Masculine cultures emphasize success and socialize their people to be assertive, ambitious and competitive. Members of masculine cultures are thus more likely to confront conflicts directly and to competitively fight out any differences; they are more likely to emphasize win or lose strategies. Feminine cultures emphasize the quality of life and socialize their people to be modest and to emphasize close interpersonal relationships. Members of feminine cultures are thus more likely to emphasize compromise and negotiation in resolving conflicts; they are more likely to seek win – win solutions. Members of cultures with high ambiguity tolerance do not feel threatened by unknown situations; uncertainty is normal part of life and people accept it as it comes. Members of cultures with low ambiguity tolerance do much to avoid uncertainty and have a great deal of anxiety by not knowing what will happen next; they see uncertainty as threatening and as something that must be counteracted. In an individualist culture members are responsible for themselves and perhaps their immediate family. In a collectivist culture members are responsible for the entire group. In a high context culture much of the information in communication is in the context or in the person. In a low context culture most of the information is explicitly stated in the verbal message. In my every day life I use more of the intercultural communication. Intercultural communication is communication between persons who have different cultural beliefs, values, or ways of behaving. Being that I am African-American and my fiancà ©e is Caucasian my culture changes my self-concept. Being a male you assume that that’s the dominant one in a relationship or what not. I believe that being a male you should set the example for the household. It’s not my way or the highway is the wrong approach. It’s more of a compromise or we agree to disagree. I think that shows masculine. I can say race plays a lot but I would be lying. That would go back to a stereotype. A stereotype is a fixed impression of a group of people. From the outside looking in age would be a stereotype as well. I’ve recently turned twenty-five so that plays into another stereotype. Half way to fifty; what are you doing with your life. Or the stereotype of a black guy with a white woman. You hear it all but its all about your self-concept. I’m comfortable in my own skin. There were more important things of listening that I didn’t realize. One purpose of listening is to learn, something you do regularly as you listen to lectures in college. One of the communication skills most important to healthy relationships is the ability to listen to friends, romantic partners, family members, colleagues, and just about anyone with whom you come into contact with. You also listen to influence other people’s attitudes, beliefs, values, opinions and behaviors. Listening to play music or the rustle of leaves often serves a play purpose. Listening to help is something we experience growing up when our parents listen or, sometimes, don’t listen to our concerns and help us solve our problems. I used the five-stage model of listening as a reference guide. The barrier I noticed I have is receiving the information. By receiving the information wrong I didn’t understand what the other person was trying to get at. On the occasions when I used all five stages of listening correctly; my strong points were evaluating and responding. Which comes back to having good intercultural communication. I noticed how other people listened as well. I think if people would follow the five step process to listening they would have no problem. There would be less confusion as well. Week 5 Journal I have witnessed stages of conflict in one of my relationships by being the one directly involved in the conflict and by being the mediator and actually sitting back and observing. I experienced verbal aggressiveness on a first hand ba sis. It tears a person down from the inside out. I’ve experienced physical aggressiveness. Un like verbal aggressiveness this tears your down from the outside in. I show non verbal power just by the way I carry myself and display my athourity. Im not really sure how I would increase my personal power†¦its more a over time thing than changing it overnight. Nonverbal communication is communication without words. You communicate nonverbally when you gesture, smile or frown, widen your eyes, move your chair closer to someone, wear jewelry, touch someone, or raise your vocal volume, or even when you say nothing. The crucial aspect of nonverbal communication is that the message you send is in some way received by one or more other people. If you gesture while alone in your room and no one is there to see you, then, most theorists would argue, communication has not taken place. The same, of course, is true of verbal messages: If you recite a speech and no one hears it, then communication has not taken place. Body gestures are an especially useful classification in kinesics, or the study of communication through body movement, identifies five types: emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors. Illustrators make your communications more vivid and help to maintain your listener’s attention. They also help to clarify and intensify your verbal messages. In saying, â€Å"Let’s go up,† for example, you probably move your head and perhaps your finger in an upward direction. In describing a circle or a square, you more than likely make circular or square movements with your hands. Research points to another advantage of illustrators: that they increase your ability to remember. People who illustrated their verbal messages with gestures remembered some 20 percent more than those who didn’t gesture. Affect displays are the movements of the face that convey emotional meaning are the expressions that show anger and fear, happiness and surprise, eagerness and fatigue. Regulators monitor, maintain, or control the speaking of another individual. When you listen to another, you’re not passive; you nod your head, purse your lips, adjust your eye focus, and make various paralinguistic sounds such as â€Å"mm-mm†or â€Å"tsk.†Regulators are culture-bound: Each culture develops its own rules for the regulation of conversation. Adaptors satisfy some need and usually occur without conscious awareness; they’re unintentional movements that usually go unnoticed. Nonverbal researchers identify three types of adaptors based on their focus, direction, or target: self-adaptors, alter-adaptors, and object-adaptors. Self- adaptors usually satisfy a physical need, generally serving to make you more comfortable; examples include scratching your head to relieve an itch, moistening your lips because they feel dry, or pushing your hair out of your eyes.