In which type of communication do messages significantly influence the relationship between two people?

Interpersonal Communication

Following from the work of Herbert Mead, in 1934, which showed that communication is central to the capacity of people to grow in personality and relationships, scholars have been interested in the analysis of interpersonal communication. At the heart of the inquiry into the subject of interpersonal communication is the interest in the quality of relationships among people—loves, family, couples, peer groups, work mates, and so on. Heath and Bryant have identified four central themes among the broad range of topics that research into interpersonal communication addresses. They are (1) quality of relationships, (2) social conflict, (3) accuracy with which people understand one another, and (4) communication planning and competence. The study of interpersonal communication aims, among other concerns, to determine the variables that account for the differences in relationships. Heath and Bryant defined interpersonal communication as a “dyadic interaction in which people negotiate relationships by using communication styles and strategies that become personally meaningful as the persons involved attempt to reduce uncertainty (about themselves, their partners, and their relationships), to be self-efficacious, and to maximize rewards through interaction.” They further observed that when the action or words of one person has an effect on another person, interpersonal communication can be said to have taken place.

There are two major perspectives on the motive behind interpersonal communications and relationships: uncertainty reduction and rules-based approach. Uncertainty reduction involves attempts to develop an understanding of other people, and of ourselves, by seeking and sharing information that will enhance our intelligence. Such intelligence also includes an understanding of (or a best estimate of) the communication competence of the parties involved in a relationship. In this vein, it has been pointed out that psychology, rather than sociology or culture, is the main character of interpersonal communication. By this is meant that the knowledge that people have of each other derives mainly from experiencing each other's behavior. As such, in order to understand the nature of interpersonal communication, research must examine the impacts of what people say and do during interaction, and not focus solely on the content of conversations. When people understand interactions and the relationship variables that affect their quality, they may be better able to predict how to influence relationships and to make them more rewarding. The underlying assumption of this perspective on interpersonal relationship is that it is primarily motivated by a need to reduce uncertainty in any given interaction.

By contrast, there is a rules-based approach in which participants are motivated to follow a mutually agreed interactional convention in order to achieve desirable communication outcomes. However, even in this approach, participants often break the rules in order to gain rewards, thus suggesting that perhaps uncertainty reduction is a stronger motivation for people during interpersonal communication.

Rosengren has suggested that the study of interpersonal communication must involve at least two lines of inquiry—a study of its general characteristics and how it varies according to the other known variables that come into play. He identified seven key variables: age, gender, personality, education, occupation, social class, and nationality. These variables often overlap and work in combination to influence the types of roles that people play in social interactions.

Defining Interpersonal Relationships

Interpersonal communication constitutes the production, transmission, and interpretation of symbols by relational partners. This definition focuses on relational partners, or individuals who have unique, personal knowledge of the other and base their production, transmission, and interpretation decisions on this personal knowledge. Interpersonal communication allows partners to exchange resources to help them coordinate their actions to produce the relational rewards necessary for relational maintenance and growth.

According to Hinde, a relationship is a sequence of interchanges that is essentially dyadic, that occurs over an extended period of time, and that has specific cognitive and affective effects. The affective and cognitive relational parameters that partners create over time include goals, expectations, values, feelings, and understandings. Hinde contends that these cognitive and affective understandings are the key features affecting how individuals produce, transmit, and interpret symbols. For example, a number of studies find that negotiators who demonstrate a balanced power orientation, anticipate future interactions with one another, clarify their values on key points, and avoid prolonged periods of negative affect are more likely to reach integrative (i.e., win-win) agreements.

Researchers have identified several key cognitive/affective relational parameters that significantly predict outcome issues such as satisfaction, intimacy, and commitment. A review by Burgoon and Hale finds that the central relational parameters guiding the study of interpersonal relationships include the following: dominance–submission (i.e., control), intimacy (i.e., affection, attraction, interest, and inclusion), trust, depth, emotional arousal, composure, similarity, formality, and social-task orientation. Topics that partners explore that include these types of themes or include these types of issues as a subtext to the primary topic can be considered to be relationally focused.

Hinde emphasizes that these cognitive/affective parameters are altered through communication-exchange sequences. For example, negotiators use communication tactics to continually and tacitly bargain such issues as power, solidarity, formality, and affiliation. Following the key insight by Ruesch and Bateson in 1951 that all communications contain content and relational information, Donohue and his colleagues have demonstrated how negotiators continue to bargain relational parameters as they interact. A move to interrupt displays power. A move to change the topic rejects the other party’s ability to control the agenda. A change to more formal language may be an attempt to bolster the speaker’s status. The use of humor or puns communicates decreased social distance and increased affiliation. This complex relational negotiation often occurs underneath the substantive, content negotiations. But both the relational and the substantive aspects interact so that the relational parameters that evolve out of the discussion shape the interaction as well as the agreements that are formed.

Communication

Effective interpersonal communication can enhance efficiency, reduce mistakes, and improve productivity. The forensic pathologist as medical examiner is often best equipped to coordinate daily group briefings to update staff on recovery statistics (number of body bags, number of identifications), changes in procedure, and any logistical issues. Such regular updates help workers maintain focus on their mission, boost morale, and limit rumors and fears.

A more extensive meeting can be held at the beginning of the operation and provide details about expectations and procedures along with a thorough review of the established facts of the investigation, and the purpose of the mission. Having workers sign confidentiality statements at this time is helpful in reinforcing an ethical standard of conduct.

Concluding informational sessions provide closure and a sense of accomplishment to people who have worked hard, often separated from their families and isolated from their normal routine.

Intersectional daily briefings by team leaders will ensure that each section (pathology, anthropology, dental, fingerprints, radiology, DNA) is aware of the issues of the other specialties and are updated with current concerns or changes in procedure. Brief intrasectional meetings at the change of shift will enhance efficiency, and encourage cooperation. Both provide opportunities for input and change in the challenging and stressful environment of a disaster.

Families of the victims must also be updated on a regular basis and receive accurate and timely information from the appropriately knowledgeable source. Often this is the forensic pathologist, who is prepared to address the medical issues and can provide accurate numbers concerning decedents recovered and subsequently identified.

Community interest and media attention is heightened during an MFI. News briefings are essential but should be held after the family meetings and restricted to information that does not infringe on the rights of the victims or the work of the criminal justice system. It is wise to designate a Public Information Officer who will be the sole person authorized to communicate with the media.

International incidents, or those disasters that occur in one country but may involve the citizens of many nations, require special consideration. The legal jurisdiction will be the responsibility of the country where the incident occurred. However, many countries may have a strong interest in the investigative and forensic process. It is important to have representatives from those countries kept informed of the process. This may be done through the incident country's established agency to deal with foreign governments. It is also important to have interpreters available to facilitate communication, both for families, and foreign government representatives.

Three Special C’s

Because poor quality interpersonal communication can be a major source of stress and create significant problems for providers, older adults, and aging services–related organizations, Chapter 7 focuses on a special C—calmness. It includes detailed suggestions about how to develop a stress management plan of care—both for individual providers and employing organizations. This C is so important to the longterm health and success of the provider–older adult relationship (and the person-centered communication that takes place within it) that it is discussed separately from the seven C’s and has an entire chapter devoted to the topic.

Chapter 9 introduces the underappreciated but very important topic of neurocardiology and discusses the heart–brain partnership. How these two organs interact and the impact this interaction has on the communication process will be explored with emphasis on the concept of coherence—the next of the special C’s. Speculating on how energetic-based models of human connection might impact the provider–older adult relationship, Chapter 10 explores the physics of interpersonal communication and introduces the final C—connection.

Interactive conferences

The types of interpersonal communication discussed so far, person-to-person messaging, discussion lists and newsgroups, are not, generally, ‘live’ forms of communication, such as speaking to someone on the telephone. There are, however, forms of interactive communication on the Internet, notably:

videoconferencing, which is possible via the Internet using MBONE, or IP Multicast Backbone (IP or Internet Protocol is discussed in Chapter 7)

chat, which is a form of conferencing in which participants communicate using a keyboard instead of speech, and

MOOs (MUD Object-Oriented), which have role-playing elements (see below).

‘Chat’ is currently the most popular form of synchronous communication on the Internet. In this context, the word synchronous denotes the fact that the people communicating with each other are doing so simultaneously. This contrasts with asynchronous forms of communication such as email, which involves leaving a message for someone. The ‘chatroom’ is a piece of imagery commonly associated with online chat, giving the idea that people come together via the Internet to have a ‘live’ conference. Once people join a chat group they can select a topic or ‘channel’ and communicate with others in the group by entering words into their computers by use of the computer keyboard. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a common piece of computer chat software, available on the Internet free of charge. Chat has widespread application, both as a recreational service and as an educational one. It also has some application in the library and information environment, because the ‘live’ aspect allows for immediate feedback, unlike email in its various forms.

MOOs resemble Chat on a superficial level. They are so called because they are based on MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon): a form of multi-user ‘virtual environment’ game in which participants play out roles such as elves, wizards and other strange characters. MOO stands for MUD Object-Oriented environment and is a form of Internet conferencing based loosely on the role-playing model provided by MUDs. Clearly MUDs do not offer the kind of role-playing activities which would engage serious-minded librarians, but MOOs offer more than internet chat in that they allow users to create virtual objects as they interact within the MOO environment. They have a couple of applications that are of interest to librarians: first, their use for online tutorials aimed at remote users (for example, in distance learning to explore information retrieval tools such as online databases) and, second, their use in interactive online reference services.

Probably the best-known MOO in the library environment is the Internet Public Library MOO. The Internet Public Library is an attempt to bring to the Internet long-standing librarianship skills such as finding good information resources, organising them and making it easier for users to find them.

Poor Communication and Stress

Problems arising from interpersonal communication can be stressful. Chronically elevated levels of stress can negatively impact the older adult, the provider, and, if applicable, even his or her employer. For the older adult, excessive stress can result in an increased interpersonal conflict, reduced satisfaction with provider services, poorer therapeutic outcomes, and increased health risks.

For the provider, chronic overexposure to stress may lead to interpersonal conflicts, reduced morale, increased absenteeism, increased health risks, and professional burnout. For the employer, the negative impact of stressful communications can lead to problems with staff relations, reduced quality of services, increases in client dissatisfaction, problems with staff retention, and increased expenses related to employee turnover.

List of Main Points for Preview and Review

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Recent research indicates interpersonal communication may be a multidimensional phenomenon.

This chapter and the next offer speculations on how energetic-based models of human connection and interaction might influence the communication process and impact the provider–older adult relationship.

Research suggests communication can occur between and among two or more persons via information-rich fields of electromagnetic energy.

Studies focused on distant intentionality provide evidence that human intention can operate between individuals even when they are apart from each other.

Neurocardiology is the specialty that deals with the brain–heart connection.

New findings have revealed a heart–brain “partnership” that permits the heart and brain to communicate with and influence each other.

Heart–brain interaction plays an important role in the interpersonal communication process.

The heart includes a complex network of 40,000 neurons and various neurotransmitters and proteins similar to those found in the brain. This network empowers the heart to encode and process information, learn, remember, and make functional decisions independently of the cranial brain. The heart’s sophisticated nervous system qualifies it as a “little brain.”

Heart rhythms can influence the brain’s ability to process information, make decisions, and solve problems.

The electromagnetic field of the heart can be detected several feet from the body, extends in all directions, and serves as a carrier wave of information that can affect other individuals within its range.

Heart signals generated by one individual can affect the brain waves of another. Evidence suggests that the heart’s electromagnetic field may be a source of information exchange between individuals. This exchange of information is referred to as cardioelectromagnetic communication.

When two people are within conversational range, the electromagnetic signals generated by each individual’s heart can influence the other person’s brain rhythms.

Coherence is a term that refers to the degree of efficiency, harmony, order, and stability within a living system. The measure of coherence can indicate the degree of optimal functioning or efficiency within a system.

Coherence is measured using HRV. HRV measures beat-to-beat changes within the heart rate.

When an individual experiences positive emotions such as appreciation, caring, or compassion, this is reflected in a coherent heart rhythm. When a person experiences negative emotions such as anger or anxiety, this is reflected as an incoherent heart rhythm.

A provider’s emotions are reflected in his or her heart rhythms. These rhythms affect the efficiency of the provider’s brain and possibly the brain efficiency of the older adult as well.

A provider can consciously increase his or her own state of heart coherence as a form of psychological preparation prior to an upcoming interaction with a patient, client, or customer. This may result in improved cortical functioning, increased personal awareness, and a greater capacity for creative problem-solving—both in the provider and in the older adult. This greater awareness encourages a more engaging and positive interaction with the older adult.

When providers choose to dwell on positive memories and experience the associated positive emotions, they evoke beneficial effects, not only for themselves, but also for those around them.

When providers allow themselves to dwell on negative memories and experience the associated negative emotions, they evoke undesirable effects, not only for themselves, but also for those around them.

Providers can use techniques derived from these studies to help establish, deepen, and maintain rapport, and to help psychologically prepare for potentially challenging interactions. These techniques could prove especially beneficial when interacting with an older adult who feels anxious, angry, or afraid.

Provider Self-Test and/or Suggestions for Instructors

Understand key concepts: Define and discuss coherence, distance intentionality, electrocardiomagnetism, heart rate variability, and neurocardiology.

Describe: The heart–brain partnership. Explain how these two organs interact and the impact their interaction has on each other and on the process of interpersonal communication.

Explain: What qualifies the heart as a “little brain.”

Discuss: How coherence is defined and measured and the influence of coherence on the brain.

Compare and contrast: The effect of positive emotions versus negative emotions on the generation of coherent heart rhythms.

Describe: How a provider’s emotions are reflected in his or her heart rhythms. Talk about how these rhythms can affect the efficiency of the provider’s brain and how—during an interaction with another individual—they could influence the brain efficiency of another.

Speculate: Upon the potential ramifications of distance intentionality on the relationship between the provider and the older adult and on the process of establishing and maintaining professional rapport.

Explain: How the electromagnetic signals generated by the heart could influence the brain of another person.

Debate and discuss: The argument that a provider may have an ethical responsibility to evoke coherent heart rhythms prior to interaction with patients or clients.

7.01.8.2.2 Clinical implications

Hearing deficits interfere greatly with interpersonal communication, leading to strained relationships and greater caution by the elderly in an attempt to avoid making inappropriate responses to uncertain auditory signals. They also reduce the older person's ability to hear noises such as a siren or a door knock (Gatehouse, 1990). These changes are almost impossible to avoid noticing (Slawinski, Hartel, & Kline, 1993), and it is perhaps for this reason that hearing loss forms a threshold for a large percentage of individuals over the age of 70 years and particularly those in their 80s (Whitbourne, 1996b). There is evidence linking hearing loss to impaired physical functioning (Bess, Lichenstein, Logan, & Burger, 1989) and psychological difficulties including loneliness (Christian, Dluky, & O'Neill, 1989) and depression (Kalayam, Alexopoulos, Merrell, & Young, 1991).

Those who interact with hearing-impaired elders can benefit from learning ways to communicate that lessen the impact of age-related changes (Slawinski et al., 1993). Modulating one's tone of voice, particularly for women, so that it is not too high, and avoiding distractions or interference, can be important aids to communicating clearly with older adults. The clinician can also use observations of the elderly client's reaction to communication difficulties in therapy as the basis for clinical recommendations. For example, identity accommodation can be encouraged in a client who denies the existence of an obvious hearing deficit; a client who has no apparent hearing deficit but appears preoccupied with this particular threshold will need to develop a more balanced approach to this area of functioning.

7.02.7.2.2 Clinical Implications

Hearing deficits greatly interfere with interpersonal communication, leading to strained relationships and greater caution by the older adult in an attempt to avoid making inappropriate responses to uncertain auditory signals. They also reduce the older person's ability to hear noises such as a siren or a door knock. These changes are almost impossible to avoid noticing, and it is perhaps for this reason that hearing loss can form a threshold for a large percentage of individuals over the age of 70 and particularly those in their 80s. Because of the stigma traditionally associated with hearing loss, older individuals may avoid wearing hearing aids, thereby exhibiting identity assimilation. However, older individuals may reach the point where denial of the need for some type of amplification is no longer feasible. Fortunately, as these devices become smaller and easier to use, more older individuals may accept these devices particularly as they experience the benefits of having their hearing restored.

Even without a hearing aid, however, it is possible for older adults, and those who interact with them, to facilitate conversation by following various communication strategies. These would be of value to the clinician to put into practice, and also to share with patients and their families. The first technique is to look directly at the person while speaking and make sure that there is enough light so that the older adult can clearly see the speaker's face. Background noises should be minimized as these can interfere with the audio stream the individual is trying to follow. At restaurants and social occasions, older adults should find a place to talk that is as far away as possible from crowded or noisy areas. Speakers should also look directly at the older adult and not chew gum or food while talking. Speaking more slowly (but not too slowly) and providing background context can also be helpful (Janse, 2009). Strategies to avoid include speaking too loudly, which can distort the speech signal and to speak in a patronizing or condescending manner. It is also inappropriate to refer to the person in the third person or leave the person out of the conversation altogether.

Mood effects on skepticism and the detection of deception

Many messages, such as most interpersonal communications, are by their very nature ambiguous and not open to objective validation. Much of our knowledge about the world is based on such second-hand information we receive from others. Only some claims (such as “urban myths”) can potentially be evaluated against objective evidence, although such testing is usually not practicable. One of the most important cognitive tasks people face in everyday life is to decide whether to trust and accept, or distrust and reject social information. Rejecting valid information (excessive skepticism) is just as dangerous as accepting invalid information (gullibility).

What determines whether the information we come across in everyday life is judged true or false? There is some recent evidence that by recruiting assimilative or accommodative processing, mood states may significantly influence skepticism and gullibility (Forgas and East, 2008a,b). For example, one study asked happy or sad participants to judge the probable truth of a number of urban legends and rumors. Positive mood promoted greater gullibility for novel and unfamiliar claims, whereas negative mood promoted skepticism, which is consistent with the more externally focused, attentive, and detail-oriented accommodative thinking style. In another experiment, participants’ recognition memory was tested 2 weeks after initial exposure to true and false statements taken from a trivia game. Only sad participants were able to correctly distinguish between the true and false claims they had seen previously. In contrast, happy participants tended to rate all previously seen and thus familiar statements as true (in essence, a fluency effect).

This pattern suggests that happy mood produced reliance on the “what is familiar is true” heuristic, whereas negative mood conferred a clear cognitive advantage improving judges’ ability to accurately remember the truth or untruth of the statements. Unlike many “urban myths,” interpersonal communications are often intrinsically ambiguous and have no objective truth value (Heider, 1958). Accepting or rejecting such messages is particularly problematic, yet critically important for effective social interaction. It turns out that mood effects on processing style may also influence people’s tendency to accept or reject interpersonal communications as genuine. People in a negative mood were significantly less likely and those in a positive mood were more likely to accept various facial expressions communicating feelings as authentic (Forgas and East, 2008a). Taking this line of reasoning one step further, does mood, through its effect on processing styles, influence people’s ability to detect deception? In one study, happy or sad participants watched videotaped interrogations of suspects accused of theft who were either guilty or not guilty of this offence (Forgas and East, 2008b). Surprisingly, those in a more happy mood were more gullible, as they accepted more denials as true. In contrast, sad mood resulted in more guilty judgments, and actually improved the participants’ ability to correctly identify targets as deceptive (guilty) or honest, consistent with a more accommodative processing style (Fig. 3.5). These experiments offer convergent evidence that negative mood increases skepticism, and may significantly improve people’s ability to accurately detect deception.