Interpersonal communication is the interaction of an individual with other individuals. Interpersonal communication is marked by inevitability, as well as by the regularity of its occurrence in various real groups. Interpersonal subjective relationships are a reflection of communication between members of the same group, which serve as a subject of study for social psychology.
The main goal of studying interpersonal interaction or interaction within a group is an in-depth study of various social factors, various interactions of individuals included in this group. If there is no contact between people, then the human community will not be able to carry out joint full-fledged activities, since proper mutual understanding will not be achieved between them. For example, in order for a teacher to teach students, he first needs to enter into communication.
Interpersonal relationships and communication
Communication is a multifaceted process of developing contacts between individuals, which are generated by the needs of joint activities. Let's consider communication in the system of interpersonal relationships, as well as the interactions of individuals. Let us determine the place of communication in the structure of interpersonal interaction, as well as the interaction of individuals.
In interpersonal interaction, three main tasks are considered: first, interpersonal perception; second, understanding a person; third, the formation of interpersonal relationships, as well as the provision of psychological influence. The concept of “man's perception by man” is insufficient for the final knowledge of people. Subsequently, the concept of “understanding a person” is added to it, which includes connecting to the process of human perception and other cognitive processes. The effectiveness of perception is directly related to a personality trait (socio-psychological observation), which will allow one to detect subtle, but very important for understanding, features in an individual’s behavior.
Features of interpersonal communication are noted in the perception of speech and depend on the state of health, age, gender, nationality, temperament, attitudes, communication experience, personal and professional characteristics. With age, a person’s emotional states differentiate; the individual begins to perceive the world around him through the prism of his personal national way of life.
Individuals with a high level of social intelligence are more effective and successful in determining various mental states, as well as interpersonal relationships, and the object of cognition is both the social and physical appearance of a person.
Initially, a person’s perception is fixed on his physical appearance, which includes functional, physiological, and paralinguistic characteristics. Physiological characteristics include sweating, breathing, and blood circulation. Functional features include posture, posture, gait, non-verbal communication features (facial expressions, body movements, gestures). Clearly, emotions are easy to differentiate, but unexpressed and mixed mental states are much more difficult to recognize. Social appearance includes the social design of appearance (a person’s clothing, shoes, accessories), paralinguistic, speech, proxemic and activity characteristics.
Proxemic features include the state between the communicaters, as well as their relative position. Extralinguistic features of speech include the originality of the voice, pitch, and timbre. When perceiving an individual, social characteristics in comparison with physical appearance are the most informative. The process of cognition of an individual consists of mechanisms that distort ideas about the perceived person. Mechanisms that distort the image of what is perceived limit the possibility of objective knowledge of people. Significant of them are the mechanisms of primacy or novelty, which boil down to the fact that the first impression of what is perceived influences the subsequent formation of the image of the cognizable object.
When perceiving an individual, as well as his understanding, the subject unconsciously selects various mechanisms of interpersonal cognition. The main mechanism is the correlation (interpretation) of personal experience of knowing people with the perception of a given individual.
Identification in interpersonal cognition appears as identification with another individual. The subject also uses the mechanism of causal attribution, when certain reasons and motives are attributed to the perceived object that explain its characteristics and actions. The mechanism of reflection of another individual in interpersonal cognition is marked by the subject’s awareness of how he is perceived by the object.
Interpersonal understanding and perception of an object is carried out under a fairly strict order of functioning of the mechanisms of interpersonal cognition, namely from simple to complex. In the process of interpersonal cognition, the subject takes into account all the information received by him, which indicates a change in the state of the partner during communication. The conditions of an individual’s perception include time, situations, and place of communication. Reducing the time at the moment of perception of an object reduces the ability of the perceiver to obtain sufficient information about it. With close and prolonged contact, evaluators show favoritism and condescension.
Interpersonal relationships are an integral part of interaction and are also considered in its context.
The psychology of interpersonal relationships is the relationships between individuals experienced and perceived to varying degrees. They are based on the various emotional states of interacting individuals, as well as their psychological characteristics. Sometimes interpersonal connections are called emotional, expressive. The development of interpersonal relationships is determined by age, gender, nationality and other factors. Women have a much smaller social circle than men. They need interpersonal communication for self-disclosure, to convey personal information about themselves to others. Women also complain more often of loneliness. For them, the most significant features are those noted in interpersonal relationships, and for men, business qualities are important.
Interpersonal relationships dynamically develop according to the following pattern: they are born, consolidated, and also reach a certain maturity, then they can gradually weaken. The dynamics of the development of interpersonal relationships consists of the following stages: acquaintance, companionship, friendly and friendly relations. The mechanism of development in interpersonal relationships is empathy, which is the response of one person to the experiences of another. Compared to rural areas, in urban conditions, interpersonal contacts are most numerous, quickly established and quickly interrupted.
Rivalry
Market and socio-economic relations cannot exist without competition and rivalry, since these relationships are their basis. Rivalry is a kind of competition, a struggle using all kinds of methods and means for material wealth, capital, resources or power, a high position in society. This type of relationship is formed under the condition of strong negative feelings and emotions (hate, hostility, envy, fear) caused by a competitor in a person (group of people), and an irresistible desire to be first at all costs, to work ahead.
Psychology of Interpersonal Communication
Communication is one of the central ones in psychological science and stands alongside such categories as “thinking,” “behavior,” “personality,” and “relationships.”
Interpersonal communication in psychology is a process of interaction aimed at mutual establishment, cognition, development of relationships, and also involves mutual influence on the states, behavior, views, regulation of the joint activities of all participants in the process. In social psychology over the past 25 years, the study of the problem of communication has become one of the central areas of study in psychological science.
Communication in psychology is understood as the reality of human relationships, which involves various forms of joint activity of individuals. Communication is not only a subject of psychological research, and one of the methodological principles for revealing this relationship is the idea of the unity of activity and communication. But the nature of this connection is understood differently. Sometimes communication and activity are considered as two sides of a person’s social existence; in other cases, communication is perceived as an element of various activities, and activity is considered as a condition for communication. Communication is also interpreted as a special type of activity. In the process of communication, a mutual exchange of activities, ideas, feelings, ideas occurs, and a system of “subject-subject(s)” relations develops and manifests itself.
Problems of interpersonal communication are often noted in motivational as well as operational difficulties that correlate with two sides of communication - interactive and communicative. Problems manifest themselves in affective, cognitive, and behavioral domains. They are characterized by a lack of desire to understand the interlocutor, the characteristics of his personality, internal state, and interests. Problems of interpersonal communication can be noted in the following: taking advantage of the interlocutor using flattery, intimidation, deception, showing off, demonstrating care and kindness.
Most common types
Social social relations in society can only develop through complete reciprocity, but it is not necessarily mutually beneficial for both parties. For example, one person wants to “tie” another to himself through coercion and imposition of unnecessary joint activities, and the second pushes away the first, not needing him, provoking a quarrel. In sociology, four types of frequently occurring relationships are defined: conflict, competition and cooperation, complete or partial dependence.
Interpersonal communication among youth
Adolescence and young adulthood are a critical period in the process of interpersonal evolution. From the age of 14, the formation of interpersonal relationships begins, in which attitudes towards subjects of reality play a different role: to older people, to parents, to classmates, to teachers, to friends, to one’s own personality, to representatives of other religions and nationalities, to patients and drug addicts.
The psychological world of a teenager is often turned to inner life; the young man is often thoughtful and fantasizing. The same period is marked by intolerance, irritability, and a tendency to aggression. By the age of 16, the stage of self-knowledge and self-affirmation begins, which is noted in increased observation. Gradually, among young people, the degree of what is unacceptable, as well as what is not accepted, tends to increase. This comes from the fact that young people become very critical of reality.
Problems of interpersonal communication among young people manifest themselves in the form of conflicts among students, which destabilize the emotional background in the team, in the group. Often, conflicts and quarrels among young people occur due to inability or lack of compassion and unwillingness to respect others. Often protests occur due to a lack of education, as well as a violation of the culture of behavior. Often the protest is targeted, i.e. directed against the culprit of the conflict situation. As soon as the conflict is resolved, the young man calms down.
In order to avoid such situations, adults are advised to maintain a calm, polite tone in communication. You should refrain from making categorical judgments about a teenager, especially when it comes to issues of fashion and music.
Adults need to try to compromise, give in in an argument, avoiding the red rag syndrome. It is especially painful if the scandal is observed by the young man’s friends or peers, so adults should give in and not be sarcastic, because only good relationships contribute to the improvement of relationships.
Addiction
Social dependence represents the dominance of one of the parties in a relationship; its actions and instructions entail the actions of the other, weaker party. Mostly there are interdependent connections, such as: parents-children, teacher-student, state-neighboring countries. Social dependence is also observed in groups consisting of people occupying a low position and those with a higher status. For example, subordinates are completely dependent on their leaders, and in politics, the people are legally and constitutionally dependent on the ruling persons.
What relationships in managing society are most preferable?
For the normal functioning of management, the prerogative is considered to be social relations of people based on any impact on a person. In a democratic society, legal ties, respect for the individual and human freedoms, and instilling love for the homeland come first.
Power, submission, dominance, dependence, dominance, instilling fear - all these aspects can be seen in the official, competitive, political, economic and legal social relations in a society ruled by dictators. This model of social relations leads to increased tension in society, frequent conflicts and outbreaks of discontent among the middle and lower classes.
Basics
Communication is considered to be the basis of interpersonal relationships .
During the communicative act, we form an opinion about our partner, through communication we maintain contact with him and through him we resolve difficulties.
either competes or cooperates with another person . These two opposing types of interaction determine the nature of the interlocutors’ behavior and their goals.
At the same time, they should not be considered as an analogue of bad and good. Competition always has positive aspects that can be more useful in certain conditions than cooperation.
Concept
In short, interpersonal relationships are interactions carried out through verbal and/or non-verbal communication, the purpose of which is to establish psychological contact and certain relationships between the parties.
The word “relationship” puts emphasis on the emotional component, when both parties, communicating with each other, are concerned about preserving the existing relationship, and therefore realize the need for an emotional investment.
What is codependency in a relationship? Find out about this from our article.
Cooperation
Mutual assistance, partnerships - all this is cooperation. In relationships of this kind, the prerogative is to achieve a common goal. People who are united by cooperation take into account not only their own desires, but also the needs of their companions and partners. Participants usually have common interests and values that contribute to joint fruitful activities.
Empathy as a basis
The foundation of successful interpersonal relationships is empathy - empathy, the ability to understand the feelings of another person, to “hear” his heart and soul.
Empathy can manifest itself in different ways: from affirmative nods of the head to the words “I understand you so well”, “I think I have experienced something similar.”
It allows the other person to feel that you care .
Often empathy is needed to support a person in difficult times, to let him know that he is not alone.
It is also a lifeline in conflict , when we simply need to distract ourselves from our own motives and interests and remember that our opponent also feels something, perhaps even more negative and intense than we ourselves.
