Transcript File

HUMAN COMMUNICATION
IN SOCIETY
BY JESS K. ALBERTS, THOMAS K.
NAKAYAMA AND JUDITH N. MARTIN
Prepared by Darrell G. Mullins
Salisbury University
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CHAPTER 3:
COMMUNICATION AND IDENTITIES
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Overview of Themes
 The importance of identity
 What is identity?
 The individual and identity
 The individual, identity, And society
 Ethics And identity
 Skills For communicating about identities
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The Importance of Identity
“Although we each possess identity characteristics,
such as social class or nationality, society defines the
meanings of those characteristics. Also, we cannot
separate our identities—as individuals or as members of
society—from our communication experiences.”
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Identity as a
Communication Concept
 All individuals bring their self-identities to
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each communication encounter.
Communication shapes identity.
Identity impacts intercultural
communication.
We are a culture of specific identity groups.
Identity is influenced at the societal level.
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What is Identity?
“…a person may be born male, but as he grows from an infant
to a boy to a teenager to a young man to a middle-aged man
and then to an old man, the meanings of his male identity
change.”
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Understanding Identity
 The Social Categories We Identity Ourselves
With
 Teachers
 Students
 The Social Categories Others Associate With
Us
 Tough Teachers
 Smart Students
 Primary Identities
 Secondary Identities
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The Characteristics
of Identity
 Exists at Individual and Social Levels
 Fixed and Dynamic
 Created Through Interaction
 Understood in Relation to Social, Historical,
and Cultural Environments
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The Individual and Identity
“What you define as beautiful, ethical, and even edible is
based on what you have heard and experienced during
your interactions with others.”
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How Communication Develops
Individual Identity
 Reflected Appraisal
 Particular Others
 Generalized Other
 Social Comparison
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
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The Self-Concept
 Your understanding of how you are different
from and similar to others
 Self Esteem
 Factors That Influence Potentially Inaccurate
Self Esteem
 The Honesty of Others
 Distortions of Self
 Modesty
 Self Respect
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Performance of
Individual Identity
 How we express to the world who we think
we are
 Clothing/Accessories
 Communication Style/Identity Enactment
 Role Expectations
 The Mutability of Identity
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The Individual, Identity, and
Society
“…you cannot understand yourself or others
without understanding how society constructs or
defines gender, sexuality, race, religion, social
class and nationality.”
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Social Identity Categories
 Racial Identity
 National Identity
 Ethnic Identity
 Gender Identity
 Sexual Identity
 Age Identity
 Social Class Identity
 Religious Identity
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Ethics and Identity
“…because identities derive their meanings from
society, every identity comes with values attached
to it.”
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Relevant Ethical Issues
 Communicating With Those Whose Identities
Are More or Less Valued
 Language That Denigrates Those Based on
Their Identities
 Reducing Others to a Single Identity Category
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Skills for Communicating
About Identities
“How you communicate to someone and about someone can
influence how they perform their identity or how it develops.”
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Guidelines for Communicating
About Identities
 Be aware of how you might create a self-
fulfilling prophecy based on how you react
to someone’s identity.
 Be tolerant of the fact that there are many
ways to create an identity.
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