Free Essay on Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships

Chapter 7: Nonverbal communication skills

Non-verbal cues are used in communication to express feelings, attitudes and emotions as well as reinforcing the verbal communication; for instance, I roll my eyes when I want to dismiss a conversation. It is the ever-present form of communication. One can fake verbal messages, but it is harder to fake nonverbal messages. For communication to make meaning, nonverbal messages must be tied to some verbal communication. Nonverbal cues like shaking one's head aid in the management of verbal communication and give the deeper meaning of verbal messages. Nonverbal messages are a key determinant of the direction a person-person relationship takes as they can be interpreted differently by different people; and these are techniques I used daily during communication.

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A person's body movement and posture convey valuable information. It serves to show whether or not they are comfortable with the other person(s) for example. Second is eye contact. When I want to project seriousness, I like to look people straight in the eyes. Facial expressions are a way of displaying emotions like happiness. Vocal cues like sighing and tone help people to manage conversations and figure out other people's sexuality, positions of power, personalities, credibility as well as emotions. Space speaks volumes. The amount of space between two or more people is determined by how close they are. It may be intimate, personal, social or public depending on how comfortable people are with each other. I like my space, and so I get uncomfortable when someone I am not close to gets too close, even though they do not touch me. The other codes of nonverbal communication are territory and touch which show how intimate any two people are. An appearance is also a form of nonverbal communication that communicates a person's style, lifestyle and their role models.

Chapter 8: Conflict Management Skill

Interpersonal conflict is a struggle expressed between at least two people who are interdependent and have different goals, limited resources or are facing obstacles in their quest to achieve their goals. An interpersonal struggle can either be on mild differences, a disagreement, dispute, campaign, litigation or a fight. Different things such as criticism, ignorance trigger conflicts, having a different view on something, and stress. Whether the conflict is constructive or destructive, it has to have a source, starting middle, finish, and the aftermath. The source is the conditions prior, start the awareness of frustration, middle the conflict in action, and finish the resolution and aftermath the follow-up.

The conflict can be managed by avoiding, accommodating, competing, compromising or collaborating. Avoidance occurs when one person in the conflict changes the subject of the conversation or physically withdraws from the conversation. I do not like conflicts of whatever kind so when confronted by one, I eat humble pie and take a walk. Accommodation is where people choose to sacrifice what they want and do what others want them to. I think if you have a conflict with something they are certain of being right about, you should let them think that so both your feelings do not get hurt. While competition emphasizes on being the best at a conflict at the loss of the other person, compromise tends to have both parties meet in the middle, so all their needs are given consideration. Collaboration, on the other hand, is when all parties in a conflict have a high level of concern for everyone involved and so they look at conflict as problems whose solutions need to be found rather than a competition of prowess. Like in my math study group, we almost always tend to have different approaches to solve problems, some wrong, others right but in the end, we agree in the end without straining the relationship.

Chapter 9: Understanding Interpersonal Relationships

Interpersonal relationship is perception between two individuals that there is an ongoing connection that is interdependent and whose results are the development of relational expectations and is different in the level of intimacy between any two people. Relationships are as a result of circumstance or choice. Relationships of circumstance are in existence because of circumstances of life while relationships of choice exist because people choose to initiate, follow through and perhaps end them. Jessica and I are friends because we are in the same study group, we do not talk much outside of the group, but we stop to talk a little when we run into each other in the hallway. That is a relationship of chance. Britney is my friend because we hang out, go to each other's slumber parties, braid each other's hair and so on. That is a relationship of choice. Concerning power, relationships can either be complementary, competitive, submissive or parallel.

Without attraction, there would be no interpersonal relationships. Attraction can result in more communication between individuals or can develop more as the individuals keep communicating. People can develop initial attraction as a result of their proximity to each other or their physical appearance. For both initial and long-term attraction, the reasons for their existence are competence, the ability of people to share intimate information, feeling the same way about each other, sharing similar interests and appreciating that they are different in some ways but that they also complement each other. I liked my boyfriend the first time I met him, but as I got to know him a little better, I fell deeper and deeper in love. Initially, I just thought he was cute, but as time went by, I learned there was more to him. He is caring, selfless, loves dogs and very open-minded. Plus he is such a supportive person.

Chapter 10: Managing Relationship Challenges

Violations of expectations that is either socially based or relationship-specific. These can be approached with discussion, forgiveness, or revenge. I think everyone should do what is expected of them without having to be reminded. I think grief is a personal feeling and is different for everyone. The former requires the use of confirming listening skills, offering support and giving comfort. In delivering bad news, individuals are faced with the challenge of whether or not to be direct, to comfort or to give space. Keeping long distance relationships is a challenge as it depends on a lot of factors like the amount of distance in between and the costs incurred during visits. Relationships that are against societal norms are another challenge. There may be cultural beliefs, biases or prejudices that do not accommodate these relationships which make it difficult for the relationships to be open.

The level of seriousness and impact of deception differ in relationships. It is easy for me to forgive someone who keeps stuff for me but an outright lying offends me. Also, communication that results in people's feelings getting hurt which are dependent on what is said, how it is said and who it is said to. The third is jealousy which manifests itself in how an individual thinks, how they feel and how they behave. Jealousy presents some form of unspoken competition and damages relationships. Four is attention that is not wanted. It can manifest itself as an obsession or stalking. An individual who experiences either of the two feels a violation of their personal space and privacy and feels threatened by the other party. Last is violence in relationships which can occur in any relationship that is ongoing. My former boyfriend and I were happy until he started name-calling.

Chapter 11: Interpersonal Relationships: Friendship and Romance

Romantic relationships are relationships that start as friendships then grow into something more intimate. Also, there is more commitment, more love, more physical intimacy, and expectation to be exclusive. It may be cross-sex like my boyfriend Jade and I or same-sex like my friends Reuben and Clint. Features of romantic relationships are love, sex, expression of physical affection like kissing, commitment and sex. Some friendships grow to become romantic relationships, and intimate sharing of information or sex sometimes triggers this. Romantic relationships can be intense in the beginning as the parties may not know how to interpret nonverbal communication, date expectations and so forth. For example, when Jade and I first started going steady and went on our first date, I had no idea what to talk about with him and that made a date very awkward.

Ways of primarily initiating relationships are observing people and acting on approachability cues like a smile from the other person, identifying conversation starters like something you both have in common like a drink and acting on it. Also, following initiation norms and asking questions. The initiation or growth of a relationship requires communication and cultivation of attraction, openness and more talk about oneself, researching on what the other person likes and paying attention and giving effective responses. I am a sociable person myself. When I want to initiate a conversation with someone, I walk up to them, smile tell them my name then ask for theirs. I show genuine concern, pay genuine compliments and make them feel important. I have made a lot of friends by just making them feel comfortable around me.

Chapter 12: Interpersonal Relationships: Family and Workplace

Types of families include nuclear, extended, blended, single-parent and voluntary kin. In family interaction, two models are known. First is the circumflex model that is based on communication, cohesion, and adaptability. Second is the family communication patterns model that is based on dialogue and conformity. To improve communication in families, members should take time to make conversation, listen to each other, ask for clarity, give appropriate responses, support each other and manage conflict and stress in the least evil ways. Relationships in families are between committed partners, parents and children and between siblings (Knapp, Anita, and John 34).

Friendships in the place of work encompass exchange of information, organizational as well as social support and assimilation of newcomers. They lead to an improvement in performance, job retention, a positive change of the organization along with organizational enhancement. Romance at the workplace involves flirting and other romantic acts. It may lead to more or less productivity depending on how it is handled. Types of communication in the workplace are upward where an employee communicates with their boss, downward where communication is to people lower in rank, horizontal where communication is between colleagues and outward when an employee is talking to a customer. Workplace communication is challenged by bullying, sexual harassment, backstabbing and a hostile work environment (Knapp, Anita, and John 34).

Work Cited

Knapp, Mark L., Anita L. Vangelisti, and John P. Caughlin. Interpersonal communication and human relationships. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.