Interpersonal Communication Exam 2

Seek to understand what others actually think and feel

Helps us grow our awareness of cultural differences and similarities to be more respectful, and eliminate discrimination and stereotypes that cause people to prejudice others

Learned system of knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, values, and norms shared in a group

Distinct culture within larger culture

Learning culture you were born into

Learning culture that you weren’t born into

Rules or guidelines that reflect expectations of how group members should act and interact

Cultures that rely on nonverbals and assumptions (high) vs using explicit, direct verbal codes (low)

Personal goals are valued more than the group’s goals

Group goals are valued more than personal goals

Centralized structure (large distance) vs decentralized and equal distribution (small distance)

cultural attitudes towards time

Emphasis on the future; values perseverance

Emphasis on present and past; values tradition

Time is highly valued

Time is fluid and relationship-based

Tolerance for uncertainty (low) vs avoid uncertainty (high)

Value fluidity and emotional expression

Value assertiveness, power, and control; traditional gender norms

Absolute rules, beliefs, or notions of morality

Belief that behavior can only be judged in a cultural context

Increased contact with people of different backgrounds increases their positive regard and decreases stereotyping

Biologically based differences that determine whether one is male or female

Socially learned and reinforced characteristics that include one’s biological sex and psychological characteristics

Part of a person’s identity as it relates to who they are attracted to

How a person identifies according to their gender

Group of people with a common cultural history, nationality, or geographical location, as well as genetically transmitted physical attributes

Social classification based on nationality, religion, language, and ancestral heritage, shared by a group of people who also share a common geographical origin

Various generations tend to view life differently because of the cultural and historical events they have experienced in their lives

Perception of a person’s perceived status influence, authority, and power, based on economic, educational, and family history

Communication between or among people who have different cultural traditions

Feelings of stress and anxiety a person experiences when encountering a culture different from his or her own

Belief that your cultural traditions and assumptions are superior to those of others

To place a person or group of persons into an inflexible, all-encompassing category

Focusing on superficial factors such as appearance, clothing, or other categories can lead to false impressions because of a self-focused perspective instead of an other-oriented one

Communication effectiveness is diminished when we assume we’re all different from one another in every aspect

Common group established when people from separate cultures create a third, “new” more comprehensive and inclusive culture

Consciously thinking about another’s thoughts and feelings

Responding emotionally to another’s feelings

Theory that all people adapt their behaviors to others to some extent

Physiological process of decoding sounds

Process of selecting, attending to, creating meaning from, remembering, and responding to verbal and nonverbal messages

Process of choosing one sound while sorting through various sounds competing for your attention

Process of focusing on a particular sound or messages

Process of assigning meaning to sounds

Process of recalling information

Process of confirming your understanding of a message

Those who prefer to focus on the emotions and feelings communicated verbally and nonverbally by others

Those who withhold judgment, listen to all sides of an issue, and wait until they hear the facts before reaching a conclusion

Those who prefer to listen for the facts and evidence to support key ideas and an underlying logic; they also listen for errors, inconsistencies, and discrepancies

Those who look at the overall structure of the message just to see what action needs to be taken; they also like efficient, clear, and brief messages

You can better adapt to how you listen to others, determine if you have multiple preferred listening styles, adapt style to achieve your listening goal, better understand cultural and gender influences, and adapt what you say to others

Being self-absorbed, unchecked emotions, criticizing speaker, speech rate differs from thought rate, information overload, and external noise

Person who is overly critical and judgmental when listening to others

Fear of misunderstanding, misinterpreting, or being unable to adjust to the spoken messages of others

People who are only focused on their own agenda

Listening for what we want to hear

Stop (remain in the present), look at the person, listen without interrupting, determine listening goal, transform barriers into goals, summarize major ideas, actively listen

Tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories

Assess information quality, appropriateness, value, importance, and separate facts from inferences

Something can/could have happened

Something likely happened

Something definitely happened (with facts)

Empathize and socially decenter

Acknowledgment of someone else’s feelings

Encompasses verbal and nonverbal assistance, comfort, or advice we give to others or seek and receive during difficult times

Give advice or information

Tangible aid (help with physical tasks)

Help with reframing a situation

Build their self-esteem

Express care and concern

Connect person to someone or something else that can help

Support we actually receive

Support we think we can get if we need it

Communication that helps resolve or de-escalate a situation

Skills that effectively and appropriately confirm others and their feelings

Statement that causes another person to value himself or herself more

Statement that causes another person to value himself or herself less

Responding directly to something another person says to you to acknowledge that the person is worth responding to

Confirm someone’s evaluation of something to affirm their sense of taste and judgment

Expressing reassurance and understanding to confirm a person’s right to their feelings

Words that represent something else, such as a thought, concept or object

The thing that a symbol represents

The meaning for a word is sometimes shared between you and another person

No shared meaning; meanings sometimes get completely misunderstood

Restrictive or literal definition of a word

Personal and subjective association with a word

If you can see, touch, smell, taste, or hear a word’s referent

Referents that you cannot use the five senses with

Continuum from concrete words to abstract words

Meaning of symbols or words can change from culture to culture, and the meaning of words are shaped by our experiences

Theory that people make sense of the world based on their interpretation of words or symbols used by others

Words give you a tool to create how you perceive both yourself and the world by naming and labeling experiences

Words transmit our dreams and emotions to others when we verbalize what we feel; words symbolize meaning, but precise meaning originate in the minds of both people, changing as they experience new things

An expression that describes something people prefer not to directly talk about in less explicit language

Thoughts, which are influenced by words, affect how you behave

The words you use to describe your view of the world reflect and shape your future perspectives, shaping your culture

Language shapes our thoughts and culture, and our culture and thoughts affect the language we use to describe our world

What you say and how you say it have a strong impact on how you relate to others

Be aware of missed meaning, changes in meaning, polarizing either-or extremes, and be clear, specific, and unbiased