Transcript Definition of Interpersonal Communication

Definition of Interpersonal
Communication
by
Jay Barrett
From the Textbook: Inter-Act, K. Verderber, R.
Verderber, and C. Berryman-Fink, Oxford
University Press, 2010
Definition

The process through which people create
and manage their relationships, exercising
mutual responsibility in creating meaning.
FIRST
 Interpersonal
Communication is a process.
 A process is a systematic series of
behaviors that occur over time and lead to
a purpose.
 For example: catching up on family news
in a phone conversation with your
mother/father, or an impromptu meeting
with a co-worker to discuss and solve a
customer problem.
SECOND
 In
Interpersonal Communication the
people involved exercise MUTUAL
RESPONSIBILITY in creating meaning.
Example:
 Tonika says to her roommate while
standing in the kitchen door, “How about if
we keep it a little cleaner around here?”
 While
Tonika may be referring to the entire
apartment, her roommate may think she is
referring just to the kitchen.
 So the interpersonal communication that
has taken place between the roommates
does not depend on what one of them
says or does, but rather on the meaning
that has been created between the two of
them.
 In this case, the meaning has not been
mutually understood.
THIRD
 Through
interpersonal
communication, we create and
manage our relationships.
 WITHOUT COMMUNICATION
RELATIONSHIPS CANNOT EXIST!!
 Communication begins when one
person first communicates with
another.
 Over
time, continued interactions define
the nature of the relationship and what it
will become.
 Is the relationship more personal or
impersonal, closer or more distant,
romantic or platonic, healthy or unhealthy,
dependent or independent?
 The answer to these questions depends on
how the people in the relationship talk to
and behave toward each other.