EXAM Q&A
Interpersonal/Intercultural Communication, BA Communication Sciences
INTRO CLASS
Q 1.1. WHAT IS INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION?
You could say that Interpersonal communication has two different approaches. On the one
hand you have the quantitative approach. This approach says that interpersonal
communication, is communication between 2 people. This is a more dyadic approach.
Martin Buber makes a difference between I-thou relationship, where the other is not seen
as a mean to an end, and the I-It relationship, where the other is seen as a mean to an end.
Another perspective is the one from Emmanuel Levinas. He says that the face-to-face
encounter is an ethical event. The face of the other represents a call to responsibility and
demands a response.
In this course we focus more on the 2nd approach which is the Qualitative approach. This
approach focusses on communication between 2 or more people. We can explain this
approach in 5 steps.
1st: Uniqueness: Impersonal communication often has certain social rules and social roles.
Examples of social rules are to smile, to be polite, let others talk etc. Examples of social roles
are sales vs. costumer, boss vs. employer. The social roles define your communication. In
interpersonal communication there are unique rules and roles. This is for example how you
talk to friends, family, or other loved ones. In interpersonal communication you can be that
person you are when no one is watching.
2nd: Irreplaceability: Interpersonal relations are relations between people who cannot be
replaced. The more irreplaceable one becomes to you, the closer your relationship with that
person is. Interpersonal communication defines closeness.
3rd: intrinsic rewards: While in impersonal communication there are extrinsic rewards and
non-receiver related goals, Interpersonal communication focusses on intrinsic awards. The
goal is to influence the receiver. This can be either good or bad.
4th: Disclosure: Interpersonal relationships are relationships where we feel safe to disclose
information about ourselves. We talk a lot about ourselves, but only in interpersonal
relations we go into greater depths of self-disclosure.
5th: Interdependence: As human beings we depend on each other. We cannot survive alone.
Our need to belong is strong. We have a shared background or a shared future. You can have
,both and be interdependent in both past and future. We can also become interpersonal by
not having a shared history. And even a relationship where there is no shared future may
still count as an interpersonal relation because of your shared history.
LECTURE ON DIFFERENT PARADIGMS
Q 2.1. EXPLAIN THE FIVE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF “EVOLUTIONARY
PSYCHOLOGY” ACCORDING TO COSMIDES & TOOBY.
The five principles are: 1. The brain is a physical system, 2. Our neural circuits were
designed by natural selection, 3. Consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg, 4.
Different neural circuits are specialized for solving different adaptive problems and
5. Our modern skull houses a stone aged mind.
- The brain is a physical system: The brain is a physical system that produces
thoughts, feelings, consciousness and behavior. It functions as a computer. Its
circuits are designed to generate behavior that is appropriate to your environmental
circumstances.
- Our neural circuits were designed by natural selection: natural selection is a
fundamental mechanism of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin. It is the process
by which organisms with traits better suited to their environment tend to survive
and reproduce more successfully than those with less advantageous traits. Over
time, this leads to the accumulation of beneficial traits in a population. The mind is
also designed by natural selection… Selection is the context. Selection is a blind
process (has no goals, only keeps what works in a certain environment, but does not
invent/create “the optimal”). Selection is always a step behind = keeps what worked
in the past.
- Consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg: most of what goes on in your mind is
hidden from you. As a result, your conscious experience can mislead you into
thinking that our circuitry is more simple than it really is. Most problems that you
experience as easy to solve are very difficult to solve, they require very complicated
neural circuitry.
- Different neural circuits are specialized for solving different adaptive
problems: Mental mechanisms came to existence (i.e. were selected because of
their adaptive function) (i.e. what resulted from that mental mechanism helped our
ancestors survive). Each mental mechanism solves a unique “adaptive problem”, it’s
not one mechanism for all. An adaptive problem has two features:
o Recurred over and over again over the course of a species’ evolutionary
history
o Problems whose solution affected the probability of survival/reproduction
Function effect: mental mechanisms are designed to solve problems, they have a
FUCNTION; BUT; a mental mechanism can also lead to different EFFECTS. Bv.
Function of rain is to allow water that has evaporated from sea to get back onto the
land. Function is not to make people wet it’s an effect.
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, - Our modern skull houses a stone aged mind: suggests that although humans live
in a contemporary world with advanced technology and complex societies, our
brains and cognitive functions are largely shaped by evolutionary pressures from
the Stone Age.
Q 2.2. WHY DO RACISM, AGEISM AND SEXISM EXIST AND PERSIST? CAN THESE
BIASES BE ERASED? WHY (NOT)?
Evolutionary and Cultural Roots
- Innate Mental Mechanisms: Humans have evolved to categorize people into groups,
which has been an adaptive trait throughout history. This mechanism helps in
distinguishing between "us" and "them," essential for survival and social
organization in ancestral environments
- Cultural Constructs: Although race, gender, and age are modern constructs, they
have become deeply ingrained in societal structures. For example, racial differences
are not biologically innate but have been culturally constructed and maintained
through social practices and historical contexts
Persistence of Biases:
- Automatic Categorization: The human brain quickly and often unconsciously
categorizes people based on visible traits like race, age, and gender. This rapid,
automatic categorization makes these biases deeply embedded and difficult to
suppress
- Historical Context: Biases such as racism, ageism, and sexism persist because they
have been used historically as cues for social and coalitional groupings. These biases
have been reinforced over generations, making them resilient to change.
Can These Biases Be Erased?
- Race can be erased: Research indicates that racial biases can be diminished under
certain conditions.
- Shared physical appearance is not necessary for coalitional encoding: Other factors
can serve as equally strong cues.
- Arbitrary cues linked to coalitional membership can be as strong as race
in the coalitional encoding process: Factors like clothing or behaviors linked to
group membership can be as significant as race in the process of categorization.
- The strength of race encoding will diminish when Race is NOT a valid cue of
coalition: The importance of race in categorization will diminish when race is not a
valid indicator of group membership.
- There are alternative cues: when other, more relevant cues for group membership
are present, the reliance on racial categorization decreases.
- Sex will be encoded far more strongly than race: Sex is encoded more strongly than
race due to its more obvious and consistent differences across individuals.
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