Transcript Functions of Interpersonal Communication

Functions of Interpersonal
Communication
by
Jay Barrett
From the Textbook: Inter-Act, K. Verderber, R.
Verderber, and C. Berryman-Fink, Oxford
University Press, 2010
Interpersonal communication serves
at least FIVE FUNCTIONS that are
important to your SOCIAL and
PSYCHOLOGICAL health
 Social needs
 Goals
 Sense of self
 Acquire information
 Influence (by others and to others)
 Through interpersonal communication
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

we attempt to meet our social needs.
By nature, human beings are social
animals (gregarious);
Our interactions with other people are an
essential as food, water, and shelter.
Regardless of how inconsequential or
important a conversation may be, we
often carry away from any successful
communication a pleasant, satisfied
feeling that comes from having met the
social need to interact.
 Through interpersonal communication



we attempt to achieve our goals.
Though we may not be consciously
aware of the goals we attempt to meet
when communicating, we are always
trying to achieve some purpose.
The goal may be as simple as trying to
be friendly or as complex as trying to
influence our boss to give us a raise.
Communication moves us forward and
keeps us from getting “Stuck.”
 Through interpersonal communication


we attempt to develop a sense of self.
Communicating and developing
relationships with others is the only way
we are able to learn who we are as
human beings, what we are good at, and
how others react to us.
Without interpersonal communication we
become detached from ourselves and
become unable to interact socially.
 Through interpersonal communication


we attempt to we acquire information.
While we get some information upon
which we base our decisions through
direct observation, reading, and the
media,
We receive a great deal of that
information through conversation with
others.
 Through interpersonal communication

we influence and are influenced by
others.
In a typical day you engage in countless
exchanges in which your purpose is to
influence others or to respond to the
influence of others