solved Discussion Board Prompt Chapter 2: Â The Essential Nature of

Discussion Board Prompt Chapter 2:  The Essential Nature of Interpersonal Communication
READ Chapter 2 of the course text.
Locate the Web Page:  Four Principles of Great Interpersonal Communication in the chapter.
Briefly describe your understanding of each principle.
Provide an example that you have experienced or seen in movies, television or other sources that relate to family life, social life, professional life, and romantic life, that can be associated with each principle.
There are 4 principles of interpersonal communication.  Relate family life, social life, professional life and romantic life to each principle.
Use other references from the chapter to explain your understanding of the Four Principles of Interpersonal Communication.
Chapter 2: The Essential Nature of Interpersonal Communication
“Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny.” Mahatma Gandhi
Overview
This chapter explores the basic features of interpersonal communication
.The author defines interpersonal communication, and identifies the primary contexts for its use. An exploration of culture and gender is included. A discussion of the principles of the topic enhance reader understanding of interpersonal communication and its background and use.
Opportunities to analyze and explore the topic provide a guide for deeper understanding of the subject.
Objectives

To identify the contexts for interpersonal communication
To discuss principles of interpersonal communication
To explore the interpersonal communication process

Definition of Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication is a process of sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages to start, develop, sustain, and/or end relationships.
Contexts for Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication takes place in four primary areas of life:
Family life: A group of persons who form a household under one head, including parents and children
Family | Definition of Family at Dictionary.com

Young Hispanic family of four sitting on the sofa reading a book together. Image © Shutterstock, Inc.
Social Circle: It is a group of socially interconnected people. A social circle may be viewed from the perspective of an individual who is the locus of a particular group of socially interconnected people and from the perspective of the group as a cohesive unit.

Young adults using smartphones in a social media connection concept. Image © Shutterstock, Inc.
Professional Life: A career in industrial or commercial or professional activities.
Audio English/Professional Life

Portrait of a smiling group of diverse corporate colleagues standing in a row together at a table in a bright modern office. Image © Shutterstock, Inc.
Romantic Life: Showing, expressive of, or conducive to feelings of love.
Romantic – definition of romantic by The Free Dictionary

Lovers in boat Image © Shutterstock, Inc.
The Nature of Interpersonal Relationships
Interpersonal relationships are personal relationships. Relationship experiences are a core part of the human experience. It is inherently human to want to belong and associate with other humans. Relationships, whether in your family, among friends, at work, or in a romantic connection, are an entity in their own right. When individuals come together in a relationship, they bring all of their characteristics with them. The entity, relationship, becomes a “thing” of its own. Each person is influenced as a result of engaging in the relationship.
Communication is the tool that is used to develop understanding of the individuals and circumstances of the relationship.
In order to effectively interact in a relationship, it is essential to have clear knowledge of one’s self. The age-old questions like “Who Am I?” “Why Am I Here?” What contribution can I make to the world?” are the type of questions individuals can explore, before entering into adult relationships.
Relationships are characterized by a wide range of variables. The type of variables affecting a relationship is often determined by the type of relationship. For example, the fluid elements that affect a family may be different from the dynamics of a social circle, professional circle, or romantic commitment. Fluctuating elements such as shared bloodline, language, experiences, interests, attractions, goals, geographic locations, culture, gender, religion, politics, and infinite array of other factors color the sparks of relationship interactions.
Nurturing Interpersonal Relationships
To nurture
a relationship means to care for and encourage the development of the relationship. A fundamental way to nurture an interpersonal relationship is to be aware of the content of the communication, as well as how one communicates.
Culture Influences Interpersonal Communication
One factor that influences the development of communication in relationships is culture. Culture refers to the way we live every day. It includes language, food, clothing, and every other aspect of one’s daily life. Specifically, culture can be defined as the beliefs, values, attitudes, and material artifacts of a particular group of people.
One’s culture plants seeds early in life of how to communicate in relationships. The way of communicating the people experience as children and young adults help define what is acceptable and not acceptable communication behavior. Unfortunately, often the examples human beings experiences are not rooted in effective communication behavior.
Knowledge Checkpoint 2.1
Watch the following video clip:
Ineffective communication behavior
What element of the communication process does the video clip focus on?
What element of the communication process does the video clip focus on?
Speaker 
Listener 
Channel 
Message 
Communication environment 
None of the above 
All of the above 
The changing world of technological advances has broadened the range of cultural experiences one can encounter at an early age. While this is a positive expansion, it is also often filled with inappropriate exposure to ineffective communication processes.
Individualistic Cultures
Another way of viewing culture is through the lens of individualistic cultures and collective cultures. Individualistic cultures include countries like the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. In individualistic cultures, a person is considered separate and unique. Visit the web page to examine more characteristics of individualistic cultures: Individualistic Cultures and Behavior.
Knowledge Checkpoint 2.2
Interdependence is a characteristic of individualistic cultures.
–TrueFalse
Collective Cultures
In collective cultures, the group is more important than the individual. The society functions on the concept of group orientation. Mexico, Asia, and Africa are examples of collective cultures.
Visit the following website to explore collective cultures.
Understanding Collectivist Cultures
Impact of Individualistic and Collective Culture on Relationships
In relationships the difference between a person from a collective and an individualistic culture breaks down to whether one considers the relationship or individual needs as a priority. Conflicts and misunderstandings in this area are often played out in holiday disagreements, vacation plans, financial priorities, and a myriad of other daily relational activities. For example, a person from an individualistic culture might prefer creating their own holiday rituals. This is fine, however, when the individualistic person is involved in a romantic relationship with a partner from a collective culture, the partner from the collective background might prefer spending the holiday in a traditional way with family, as opposed to creating a new way of celebrating. A person from an individualistic culture, when considering financial matters, might consider their own needs first, rather than relationship needs. These issues, when not addressed properly, might cause relationship misunderstandings.
Gender Influences Interpersonal Communication
Gender is closely related to the term sex. In today’s world this is often a complicated topic. There are many gender roles besides feminine and masculine. There are terms like gay, lesbian, transgender, and more that describe gender roles. Sometimes it is difficult to understand the difference between these two terms—gender and sex.
Sex indicates biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. Biological characteristics are related to the study of biology. Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Sex refers to biological distinctions. Male and Female are sex categories. (Biology – Wikipedia)
Sex includes physiological characteristics. Physiology is the scientific study of function in living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. (Physiology – Wikipedia)
Gender indicates the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for women and men. Feminine and masculine are gender categories. Although sex will not vary between different human societies, aspects of gender may be very different.
Visit the following web page.
Gender Differences: 6 Differences Between Men and Women
Read the article and explore differences in gender between men and women.
Knowledge Checkpoint 2.3
According to this website women and men are equal. During rest the brain activity of women and men are similar.
–TrueFalse
In their book, Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others, authors Steven Beebe, Susan Beebe, and Mark Redmond pointed out some of the differences between men and women in terms of how they communicate during relationship challenges. According to these authors, in a study of married couples, wives were more likely than husbands to start conversations about relationship problems. They stated in their comments that transgressions by a partner affect men and women differently. Females, they reported in romantic relationships, experienced more intense hurt over their partner’s transgressions than males. Men forgave women more readily than women forgave the men.
The authors concluded that women are more sensitive to the health of the relationship. This may be a factor that makes women more likely to initiate the termination of a relationship. The authors wrote that men who want out of a relationship may engage in behaviors that are designed to prompt women to end the relationship. This happens when men, for example, avoid discussing problems, forcing the woman into a break the relationship corner. Men are more likely than women to be unfaithful in a relationship. Women, however, experience greater fear and insecurity over the loss of their partner’s protection. Women were more likely than men to discuss the problems with their children. (Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others, Bebe, Bebe. Redmond p. 300).
Relationships, like human beings, are made of various shapes and forms. The sparks forming the relationship affects communication in the relationship. Communication will occur in a relationship whether the parties want it or not. Giving someone the silent treatment is just as loud as screaming at a person. Attention to communication process can help shift the energy in homes, offices, public and private places, when misunderstanding, disagreement, or questions arise.
MARK KNAPP’S STAGES OF RELATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Visit this web page. Study the stages of relationship development. Be prepared to identify the stages of development in the quiz at the end of the chapter.

Young male and female at home during an argument Image © Shutterstock, Inc.
Visit the following website 4 Principles of Great Interpersonal Communication Skills
Study the principles of interpersonal communication that are discussed.
Knowledge Checkpoint 2.4
Interpersonal communication can be escaped because of the mediated communication methods available.
–TrueFalse
Summary
This chapter defines interpersonal communication. The author identifies the contexts in which interpersonal communication takes place. A discussion of culture and gender helps the reader understand how these variables affect interpersonal communication. The reader is directed to online learning tools that further enhance understanding of the topic such as interpersonal communication principles and patterns of communication.
1)
The four basic principles of interpersonal communication describe the natural rules that arise from communicating with each other. Although teaching good communication skills is not highly valued in our school system or emphasized efficiently in the work field, interpersonal communication is the basis for every interaction in a person’s life. The four principles explain how communication is: inescapable, irreversible, complicated, and contextual.
Communication is inescapable because it is almost impossible to live sustainably in isolation without input from others. It is a part of human nature to live dependent on other humans to complete other tasks to improve the quality of life; therefore, it requires communication to make the transfer of goods more simple for both parties. In the 2000’s movie Castaway with Tom Hanks, he has many communication problems between his romantic and professional life before he becomes stranded on an island and escapes having to communicate with others, but is then forced to perform treacherous tasks by himself (like painfully removing his wisdom teeth and hunting for his food). Communication is irreversible because words cannot be taken back after they have been said, especially during a confrontation. No matter how much the speaker tries to rationalize their thought process and apologize for their nasty words, it can not be unsaid. During The Real Housewives of Orange County, the housewives aggressively communicate towards their social circle, rationalize their aggression towards the camera, and very rarely apologize for their rude remarks. Reality TV helps emphasize how our communication is being constantly watched and can’t be erased. Communication is complicated because there are important communication elements beyond the verbal message. The audience will interpret the message from body language, tone, and other non-verbal cues, which makes communicating about more than just what the speaker has to say. In high school, I took 4 years of American Sign Language (ASL), which taught me to be aware of my body language. This carried over into my communication skills with the world and helped me realize how to utilize my face and hands to help emphasize my emotions to convey my message more efficiently. Communication is contextual because there are many factors beyond the control of how we display a message. The audience’s culture and overall background greatly influence their interpretation. When I find myself in disputes with people I try to remind myself that they have formed a different perspective than my own and that it is out of my control to alter it.
Good communication within one’s family life, social circles, professional life, and romantic life involve all four of the basic principles of interpersonal communication because it implies that genuine communication will occur and people must come to a mutual understanding for the relationship to thrive. Even silence between two or more parties is a form of communication, which means that “Communication will occur in a relationship whether the parties want it or not” (chapter 2).

Hi, Sergio,
I enjoyed reading your discussion and how related what happened the movie with the realty life. We can say that the sender is the first element of communication; because it is the point at which communication begins, as well as being the source of the message. The sender may follow direct or indirect means to initiate the communication process with others, and he may communicate with one person, or with several people, depending on the situation. “Fluctuating elements such as shared bloodline, language, experiences, interests, attractions, goals, geographic locations, culture, gender, religion, politics, and infinite array of other factors color the sparks of relationship interactions” (Chapter 2, The Nature of Interpersonal Relationships). Also, on the other hand, the future may be a single person or a group of people, whose job lies in the first place to receive the idea that the sender is trying to communicate, understand and comprehend. It is necessary for the receiver to have the senses of effective reception and to be able to listen well, in addition to the ability to understand the subject of the message, analyze it, and respond to it if required. “Each person is influenced as a result of engaging in the relationship” (Saba, Chapter 2)

2)
Hey Everyone,
In chapter 2, there is a link which talks to the four principles for great interpersonal communications. These four principles were something new to me. The first principle is inescapable, which means we do this without little to no realization. An example of these would be gestures, facial expressions, and even posture. Next is irreversible, and these are the words we cannot take back. An example of the irreversible principle would be like saying something offensive. Even if we apologize for what we said, it still cannot be undone. Then we have complicated, which is a whole lot of verbal and no verbal communications. Lastly, we have contextual. Contextual is the who, what, where, and why a piece of the puzzle. When we have who, what, where, and why it determines how the other party receives the message we are sending. The four principles are what make up our interpersonal communication.
First up in my family life, I have seen and demonstrated the inescapable principle. My Mom does this thing where she raises one side of her upper lip. The lip rise usually means that something someone is saying or describing is gross. She does not realize she does it. My Dad and Sisters are unable to do the lip rising, but I’m able to. I tend to do this when something gross.
Next in social life, I have said irreversible things. Most of the time, I finish saying them I know they were not right. Luckily the times I have said these things, my friends have forgiven me for them, but it does not change that I said it. One thing that comes to mind is when my friend and I were cracking jokes at each other. I was in high school, and his Mom had just passed away. He said something about my Mom, which I cannot remember what he said. I then started to reply with your Mom. I immediately felt a pit in my stomach and apologized. He said sorry too since he initiated the joke, but I cannot take back the fact I was about to crack a joke about his Mom that just passed away.
Then I have demonstrated the complicate principle in my professional life. Since a factor of the principle is us using a word or symbol that means something to us but not might mean the same thing to the other person. For example, I would use the * character and the word I missed spelled in a previous instant message to a co-worker. My co-worker finally asked why I would do that because she was confused. I explained the reasoning, and it made a little more sense to her. Before that, though, she was slightly lost in what it meant.
Lastly, I have exhibited contextual in my romantic relationship. I have gotten better at saying who I’m talking about or why we cannot make it. Often I would exclude this and leave my girlfriend guessing what I meant. Recently I was helping one of my uncles, and I told her we were going to BBQ. I told her to come by my uncles to hangout and eat. I’m glad she caught it and asked because I forgot to tell her what uncle’s house. I now make sure I specify a little more in-depth on these types of things.
I’m looking forward to reading your replies. Take care!
-Don
(569)

Hello, Donald,
Communication: It is the transfer or exchange of information from one place, person, or group to another by speaking, writing, or using other means to convey ideas and feelings. Each communication includes at least one sender, message and recipient, which may make this seem simple, but communication is a complex topic in reality. It is more than just conveying information because it requires an element of success in conveying or conveying the message, whether it is information, ideas, or emotions. “Relationships, whether in your family, among friends, at work, or in a romantic connection, are an entity in their own right” (Saba, Chapter 2). In addition to the presence of a group of factors that may affect the quality of conveying this message, which may be emotions, cultural status, and the means used for communication. “The way of communicating the people experience as children and young adults help define what is acceptable and not acceptable communication behavior” (Chapter 2, Culture Influences Interpersonal Communication).