INTERPERSONAL & INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
LES 1 INTRODUCTION
Geskipt
LES 2 HUMAN UNIVERSALS OF INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
How we study course topics
1. Universal features – requires evolutionary psychological approach
2. Cultural/individual differences – what makes us unique
3. Impact of mediated communication – focus interaction w/ digital culture
NON-VIOLENT COMMUNICATION
Focus on needs: communicate yours & listen to others’
NEEDS Can be grouped in
1. Well being (peace)
2. Connection (love)
3. Self-expression (joy)
Are universal: every human being has these needs, but not everyone has these needs met.
! Needs = not feelings (Feelings are bodily felt experiences and tell us about our needs being met or
not met, and about what we are observing, thinking and wanting)
There are different “need theories”: (PPT)
- self-determination theory
- Maslow”s hierarchy of needs
- ERG-theory
Need to exist: when i hold my breath, won’t be able to keep doing that: i’ll breath again.
- WANT – can make you happy, but don’t need them to survive
- NEED – food, love, shelter: need to survive
- HAVE DESIRES – ?
NEED & DESIRE WIL BE MIXED THIS PART
Needs are desires necessary for survival: paradigm to study needs we will use is that of ‘Human
universals/Evolutionary psychology)
HUMAN UNIVERSALS
Examples focusing on communication
(interpersonal communication: buy coffee – no, person doesn’t matter. Interpersonal = centered
around attachment!)
- Attachment (friends are also unique, can’t replace them)
Body adornment Cooperation & Conflict Dance Emotions & Facial communication thereof Food Preferences Gossip Hairstyles Insults Jokes
Kin groups Language Manipulate social relations Norms Overestimating objectivity of thought Private inner life Quietness (silence) Resistance
to abuse Self-control Tabooed foods Units of time Vocal contrasts Weapons
There is a “view that the mind is fundamentally a "blank slate" and that the study of culture can be conducted
with little or no attention to the human mind (or to the individual).”
- Brain is not just blank slate, certain elements are already there. Not all cultural.
BRAIN = physical organ <-> MIND: what brain produces thoughts feelings consciousness
behavior etc.
,TOOBY & COSMIDES: PRIMER
Compare to Swiss Army Knife
Brain = physical system that produces thoughts, feelings
Designed by natural selection
Composed of many functionally specialized circuits, formed over course of species’
evolutionary history – that largely operates outside of our awareness.
Designed by natural selection
- Selection = context (environment, ecology, living things, human beings etc.)
- BLIND process has no goals, only keeps what works in certain environment. Eliminates
bad, does not create ‘the optimal’ (Birds don’t choose it, blind process!)
- Selection is always step behind, what worked in the past.
Natural Selection
Survival
Relates to problems/success of survival
War, earthquake (natural selection)
Social Selection
Survival dependent on others
Relates to problems/success of group living
People are not always nice to eachother
Sexual Selection
Reproduction
Relates to problems/success of reproduction
CONTEXT
MATTER IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR
i. ANCESTRAL CONTEXT (our human history)
influences which mental mechanisms were
selected
ii. ONTOLOGICAL CONTEXT (growing up, your
personal history) fine-tuned these mental
mechanisms; some became more/less
sensitive and you may learn that new
contextual features can also trigger mental
mechanisms
iii. SITUATIONAL CONTEXT (at the moment,
now): the current context pushes our
buttons leading to effects that can include
what was once adaptive, and perhaps even still adaptive, but many more outcomes/effects
are possible
In the end what you DO NOW = influenced by present context, your personal historical context and
our shared human historical context.
Mental mecahnisms have a specific ADAPTIVE function (=Reason why mech. Was selected in the
past)
- Each solves unique adaptive function
, Adaptive problem (2 features)
1. Recurred over and over again over course of species’ evolutionary history
2. Problems whose solution affected the probability of survival/reproduction
Examples adaptive functions: selecting habitat, find food, avoid predators, form friendships
Function is not the SAME as effects (ppt)
Example ear: masks but function is different
See powerpoint
NATURE – NURTURE DEBATE
Born, teachers/parents teach you things, you’re changing. Makes us unique.
E.g. see ppt – mental mechanism not activated yet
E.g. see ppt – mental mechanism that operates in many ways (fall in love)
Explains individual differences
EXAM CASE
1.1 Define some (min 1 max 3) basic mental mechanisms (needs/desires) relevant to your case.
Explain what could have been the (adaptive) function and potential (side)-effects
1.2. Do all people involved share the same needs/desires?
Look at the mist of Human universal (look at example case prof)
Everyone has the same needs, but how they express is different!
CULTURAL/INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN INTERPERSONAL COMMUNCIATION
See powerpoint illustrations
CULTURAL GROUP DIFFERENCES
What is culture?
Information transmitted between individuals or groups, where info flows through and brings
about the reproduction of, and lasting change in, the behavioral trait. (G. Ramsey)
Consists of learned and shared behavior patterns
= Total way of life of a group
CULTURAL GROUPING
(Some examples of cues to group people)
- ETHNICITY: Ethnic groups have common heritage and cultural tradition, passed on through
generations. Often labeled as minority groups in the host country.
- SOCIAL CLASS
- REGION
- SEX
- DIGITAL LITERACY
Picture: stop putting me in a box: need of labeling.
DANGER of Grouping people: eases complexity, easier to study/understand BUT does not reflect
complexity of reality
, Sometimes consciously, but also unconsciously (subconsciously).
It’s like an iceberg: unconscious bias = prejudices we may have, of which we are unaware.
Examples unconscious: gender bias, ageism, horns effect, halo effect.
confirmation bias
Overconfidence bias
Illusory correlation
Beauty bias
Conformity bias
Contrast bias
Contrast effect
Affect heuristics
Similarity attraction
Affinity bias
Expectation anchor
Halo effect
Horn effect
Intuition
Our view world is biased! 1st step: being aware towards treating people equally
Culture is learned, our desire to categorize = natural (mental mechanism).
Then what about how we categorize people: learned or innate?
Knowing who in vs out-group is could influence survival. Deeply rooted desire to categorize
people into us vs them. Seems plausible we have mental mechanism for ‘categorization’
COALITIONS
Categorizing world in “us vs them”. Mental mechanism for coalition ship.
Is race a cultural construct?
Some observable cues have been around for as long as humans existed
Sex and age cues for example.
Racial differences are modern human constructs
“race” used before 1500s was used to identify groups of people with kinship or group
connection.
“race” used nos, modern-day use: is human invention.
Kurzban studies
Verbal only: all people pictures wear same color shirts
Shared appearances: wear shirt in color of their team
When everyone wears the same shirt participants in study
wrongfully box people based on race
By showing people w. different color shirt, this no longer
happen that much.
IN SUM CONCLUSIONS
- Stereotype because for long time we’ve used race as cue for coalitional membershape
