| Communication Process | Conceptualization of communication that suggests that communication is continuous, unfolds over time, and cannot arbitrarily be isolated.
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| Transactional | View of communication that assumes that communication is a process that includes constant mutual influence of communication participants and the importance of context.
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| Sign | Something that refers to something other than itself, and that is constituted through the relationship between "signifier" and "signified."
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| Symbol | Something with an arbitrary relationship to its referent.
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| Intrapersonal Communication | Communication that occurs within one individual.
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| Intentionality | Debate within the communication discipline that focuses on the strategic nature of communication and on the intention held by sources and inferred by receivers.
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| Source Perspective | A source must have a "receiver-based intention" either conscious or unconscious for communication to occur
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| Receiver Perspective | Any behavior that is received, either through active attention or incidentally, counts as communication
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| Message Perspective | Within a given speech community, certain behaviors function as messages.
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| Symptomatic Behavior | Uncontrolled behavior that is a symptom of something else, and that is not intended to influence a receiver. Can be contrasted with verbal and analogic behavior.
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| Verbal Behavior | Behavior with direct linguistic link to referent. Can be contrasted with symptomatic and analogic behavior.
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| Analogic Behavior | Intentional actions that imitate symptomatic behavior. Can be contrasted with symptomatic and verbal behavior.
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| Transmission Model of Communication | Model of communication that conceptualizes communication as a process in which messages are encoded, transmitted and decoded.
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| Constitutive Model of Communication | Model of communication that conceptualizes communication as a process through which shared meaning is produced and reproduced.
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| Abstraction | Ideas that help make sense of empirical phenomena that are at a "higher" level than the observed phenomena.
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| Deductive Approach | Reasoning from abstractions to observations.
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| Inductive Approach | Reasoning from observations to abstractions.
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| Empirical Problem | A motivation for theorizing in which something about the world seems odd and in need of explanation.
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| Conceptual Problem | An internal conceptual problem provides a motivation for theorizing in which a particular theory exhibits inconsistencies that need to be clarified. An external conceptual problem provides a motivation for theorizing in which a particular theory conflicts with an explanation provided by another theory.
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| Practical Problem | A motivation for theorizing that involves the practice or application of theory.
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| Practical Theory | Highlights the role of communication theory in addressing the ongoing practical problems faced by individuals and the community. Theorists become engaged with individuals and groups and theorize with those community members in creating new understandings of communication processes and opening up possibilities for action.
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| Metatheory | Theorizing about theory. Metatheoretical assumptions consider issues of ontology, epistemology and axiology.
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| Ontology | A branch in philosophy concerned with questions about the nature of being and the nature of the social world.
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| Realist Stance | An ontological position that assumes that there is an objective reality, independent from human beings' cognition.
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| Nominalist Stance | An ontological position that assumes there is no reality apart from the names and labels developed and applied by human beings.
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| Social Constructionist Position | An ontological position that assumes that social reality is (re)created through the intersubjective interactions of human beings.
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| Objectivist Position | An epistemological position that assumes (1) it is possible to understand and explain (social) reality and that explanations accumulate through the work of a community of scholars, (2) regularities and causal relationships in the social world can best be discovered if there is a separation between the investigator and the subject of investigation, and (3) this separation between knower and known can be guaranteed through the use of the scientific method.
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| Subjectivist Position | An epistemological position that assumes (1) the explanation of the (social) world is relativistic and depends upon the investigator's perspective, (2) inquiry needs to occur through the use of methods in which understandings of motives and contexts are favored over causal and law-like explanations, and (3) local understandings that emerge through situated research should be preferred over understanding gained through the scientific method.
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| Epistemology | A branch in philosophy concerned with questions about the nature of knowledge and how knowledge is created and develops.
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| Axiology | A branch in philosophy concerned with questions of the role of values in the conduct of research.
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| Post-Positivism | A metatheoretical position defined by (1) a modified realist or social constructionist ontology, (2) a modified objectivist epistemology, and (3) an axiology that emphasizes an attempt to separate knower and known through the scientific method and a reliance on the community of scientists.
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| Classical Positivism | The Comtean branch of positivism that assumes that the generation of knowledge must pass through the theological/fictitious stage, the metaphysical/abstract stage, and the scientific/positive stage.
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| Logical Positivism | The Vienna Circle branch of positivism known for its distinction between metaphysics and science, the "verifiability principle of meaning," and concentration on developing prescriptions for an ideal of science.
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| Verifiability principle of meaning | A statement is held to be literally meaningful if and only if it is either analytic or empirically verifiable.
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| Verification vs. Falsification | Distinction between the attempt to confirm a theory based on evidence (verification) and the attempt to reject a theory based on facts that are inconsistent with the theory (falsification).
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| Units | The concepts or constructs that make up the subject matter of the theory.
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| Laws of Interaction | Relationships between concepts or constructs in the theory.
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| Boundaries | Who, when and where the theory should apply.
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| Propositions | Deductions that can be derived from the theory's laws of interaction.
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| Empirical Indicators | The operations through which theoretical terms (units) are to be measured.
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| Hypotheses | Propositions that contain empirical indicators rather than theoretical units. These hypotheses provide the basis for testing a theory.
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| Explanation | An abstract account of why a phenomenon occurs.
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| Prediction | An account of what will happen in a specific situation (based on knowledge of similar situations).
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| Control | An attempt to manipulate the occurrence of future events.
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| Scientific Method | A procedure for testing theories through (1) the selection of abstract concepts, (2) the definition of those concepts, (3) linking concepts through propositions, (4) testing theories with observable evidence, (5) controlling alternative explanations through study design, (6) making definitions and procedures available for public scrutiny, (7) using unbiased evidence to make truth claims, and (8) objectively reconciling theory and observation.
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| Evolutionary vs. Revolutionary Growth of Knowledge | Distinction between the view that knowledge about a given topic steadily accumulates (evolutionary perspective) and the view that knowledge about a given topic is generated through radical shifts in researchers' ways of seeing the world (revolutionary perspective).
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| Cartesian Dualism | The split between mind and body or external and internal reality that has permeated traditional Western thought. Introduced by Rene Descartes during his search for concepts from which to begin an examination of reality.
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| German Idealism | The movement begun by Immanuel Kant that sought to liberate the human spirit from the chains of reason imposed by traditional philosophies.
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| Hermeneutics | The study of texts. Though hermeneutics originally involved the study of sacred texts, it now considers many social phenomena as text. A hermeneutics approach involves a consideration of author, context, theory and theorist in the understanding of a given text.
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| Transcendental Phenomenology | The philosophical school that seeks to bracket off experiences and emotions that are unrelated to the object being studied. It is argued that this will lead to a better understanding of everyday experiences.
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| Social Phenomenology | The philosophical school that seeks to understand the intersubjectivity between a person, the social group that forms his/her understanding of reality, and the object being studied. These issues form typifications that combine to form our knowledge base.
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| Symbolic Interactionism | Theory that seeks to analyze how we create and manipulate symbols to regulate and make sense of the social world.
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| Nominalist Ontology | An ontological position that assumes there is no reality apart from the names and labels developed and applied by human beings.
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| Social Constructionist Ontology | An ontological position that assumes social reality is (re)created through the intersubjective interactions of human beings.
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| Subjectivist Epistemology | An epistemological position that assumes (1) the explanation of the (social) world is relativistic and depends upon the investigator's perspective, (2) inquiry needs to occur through the use of methods in which understandings of motives and contexts are favored over causal and law-like explanations, and (3) local understandings that emerge through situated research should be preferred over understanding gained through the scientific method.
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| General interpretive theory | Attempt to provide an understanding of the process through which communication functions to create meaning in interaction. These theories often propose processes of social construction that can be discussed across situational boundaries.
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| Understanding | Knowledge of the social world that considers the point of view of the social actor.
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| Explanation | Knowledge of the social world that considers external causal influences.
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| Grounded Theory | The process of developing theory based on information gathered in the field. Theorists who adhere to this position seek to develop local, emergent and intersubjective knowledge.
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| Critical Theory | Approach to theory development that emphasizes the role of theorists as active agents of reform and radical change.
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| Alienation | A condition in which the institutional order takes on a life of its own and is perceived as controlling human behavior. Marx saw the processes of objectification and reification as leading to alienation.
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| Substructure | In Marxist theory, the economic and production base of society.
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| Means of Production | In Marxist theory, an aspect of the substructure consisting of the processes through which products are made and services rendered, including technology and labor.
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| Superstructure | In Marxist theory, non-economic factors such as religion, politics, arts and literature.
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| Frankfurt School | Scholars who met in the 1920s and 1930s in Frankfurt, Germany. The Frankfurt School grew out of the Marxist emphasis on critique and was committed to the critical analysis of society and the development of emancipatory alternatives.
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| Totality | The Frankfurt School concept that an understanding of society must consider the objective and subjective worlds of a given era.
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| Consciousness | The internally generated force that ultimately creates and sustains the social world.
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| Critique | For Frankfurt theorists, critique involves a consideration of the form and sources of alienation that are seen as inhibiting the possibility of true human fulfillment.
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| Double Hermeneutic | For Giddens, the ontological distinction between the social world, which is constructed by human agents, and the natural world, which is not.
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| Duality of Structure | For Giddens, the notion that structures are produced by human agents and at the same time are the medium in which agency occurs.
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| Empirical-Analytical Cognitive Interest | Epistemological concern rooted in the technical desire to exert control over the physical and social world. This cognitive interest is associated with the post-positivist approach to theory.
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| Hermeneutic-Historical Cognitive Interest | Epistemological concern rooted in the desire to understand the uniqueness of human activities. This cognitive interest is associated with the interpretive approach to theory.
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| Critical-Emancipatory Cognitive Interest | Epistemological concern that sees knowledge as a process of self-reflection through which historical constraints and exigencies can be revealed. This cognitive interest is associated with the critical approach to theory.
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| Ideology | The taken-for-granted assumptions about reality that influence perceptions of situations and events.
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| Hegemony | A process through which a dominant group leads another group to accept subordination as the norm.
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| Ideal Speech Situation | According to Habermas, the situation in which emancipation can be realized. An ideal speech situation is characterized by the communicative competence of participants.
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| Communicative Competence | A quality of interaction-prefigured by the values of truth, freedom and justice-in which logical reflection is the norm.
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| Cultural Studies | A multifaceted intellectual area that explores the ideological interconnections among media, politics, economy and the practices of individuals in a cultural system.
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| Postcolonialism | An interdisciplinary field of inquiry committed to theorizing the problematics of colonization and decolonization. Postcolonial scholars examine issues of geography and history within a context of geopolitics and national and international history.
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| Feminism | Encompass a wide array of approaches, however most share a general approach to theory and scholarship in terms of ontology, epistemology, and axiology. Feminist scholars begin with the claim that gender is among the most important defining features of social life because it influences the ways in which we behave, think, and feel.
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| Inclusion Stage | A stage of feminist theorizing in which scholars work to increase awareness of the inequality between men and women and the reasons that might undergird these inequalities.
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| Revisionist Stage | The second stage of feminist theorizing in which scholars work toward change through political and social action.
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| Liberal Feminists | Feminists who believe that remedies for gender-based inequities should come from within the current social structure and that women should work to gain their fair share of control in institutions currently run by men.
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| Radical Feminists | Feminists who believe that emancipation for women can occur only through the destruction of male-dominated institutions or through the total separation of women from these institutions.
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| Standpoint Feminists | Feminists who believe that, by virtue of distinct material and experiential existences, women view the world from a different standpoint than men. However, standpoint feminists also emphasize the position that not all women speak with a single voice.
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| Postmodern Feminists | Feminists who look at the current discourse in society and attempt to deconstruct male-dominated meaning systems in order to highlight women's perspectives that are currently hidden.
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| Schema Theory | Family of theories developed in psychology and social psychology. These theories suggest that people are active processors of information; schematic thinking derives from the desire for cognitive economy.
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| Schemas | Cognitive templates people use to organize and make sense of information about the social world. Schemas (or schemata) provide guides for understanding and interaction, exist at various levels of abstraction, and change with new information and experiences.
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| Memory Organization Packet (MOP) | A specific schema embedded within more abstract schemata that organizes sequences of interaction. An MOP is used to organize long-term, conceptual, episodic memory.
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| Attribution Theory | Family of theories developed in social psychology that consider the processes through which individuals use causal reasoning to explain their own and observed behavior.
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| Internal and External Attributions | An internal attribution locates the case of a particular behavior within the social actor. An external attribution locates the cause of the behavior in the situation.
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| Fundamental Attribution Error | Observers trying to explain someone's behavior will tend to overestimate the importance of internal factors and underestimate the importance of external factors.
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| Stability | A dimension of attribution that claims either that (1) the cause of an event is always present, or (2) the cause of an event varies over time and context.
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| Controllability | A dimension of attribution that claims either that (1) an actor can affect the cause that influences an event, or (2) the causes of an event are beyond the actor's influence.
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| Third-person Effect | Within the area of mediated communication, there is a fundamental attribution error in which individuals tend to think that other people are more strongly influenced by the media than they, themselves, are.
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| Narrative Paradigm | An alternative to the rational world paradigm, espoused by Walter Fisher, that proposes that all forms of human communication can be seen fundamentally as stories. Within this paradigm, humans experience and comprehend life as a series of ongoing narratives containing conflicts, characters, beginnings, middles and ends.
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| Rational World Paradigm | A framework that suggests we organize the social world in terms of science, logic, and cause and effect thinking.
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| Narrative Coherence | A means for judging narrative. Coherence deals with the integrity of the story's structure or whether the audience thinks the narrative "hangs together" as a story should.
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| Narrative Fidelity | A means for judging narrative. Fidelity deals with the underlying truthfulness of the story or whether it "rings true" with the beliefs of the listener.
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| Dramatistic Pentad | This analytic method, developed by Kenneth Burke, considers five aspects of social life that should be used to understand how we behave and talk about our behavior in the symbolic world. The five aspects of the dramatistic pentad are (1) act, (2) scene, (3) agent, (4) purpose and (5) agency.
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| Terministic Screen | The language we use shapes or filters our perceptions of reality by emphasizing various aspects of social life. Our language choices predispose us to see certain parts of reality and ignore other parts.
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| Constructivist Theory | A theory developed in the 1970s by Jesse Delia and his colleagues. This theory argues that cognitively complex individuals will produce person-centered messages.
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| Construct Systems | A series of concepts that help an individual to make sense of the world. Construct systems can be considered in terms of their organization, complexity and abstractness.
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| Construct Differentiation | A characteristic of construct systems that considers the number of constructs an individual uses to make sense of his or her world.
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| Cognitive Complexity | A characteristic of construct systems that considers the number of constructs, the organization of constructs, and their level of abstraction.
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| Interpersonal Construct System | The constructs an individual forms about other people.
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| Role Category Questionnaire | A measure of cognitive complexity within the domain of the interpersonal construct system.
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| Person-centered Communication | Communication in which individuals engage an elaborate code that recognizes the intentions, feelings and perspectives of others when communicating with others.
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| Message Design Logics | Different strategies or logics that can be used in interaction.
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| Expressive Design Logics | The message design logic that reflects the view that communication is a straightforward process of encoding thoughts and feelings.
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| Conventional Design Logics | The message design logic that reflects the view that interaction is a cooperative game that is played according to rules, conventions and procedures.
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| Rhetorical Design Logics | The message design logic that reflects the view that communication serves to structure and create reality.
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| Action Assembly Theory | A theory of message production developed by John Greene in 1984.
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| Procedural Record | The part of an individual's memory system in which information about how to execute various behaviors is stored.
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| Output Representation | The actual behavior produced from procedural records.
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| Activation Process | The process through which particular procedural records are selected. Activation is seen as a function of (a) the match between an individual's goals and the outcome portion of the procedural record, and (b) the match between the current situation and the situation on the procedural record.
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| Assembly Process | The process through which a set of activated records is organized into a coherent behavioral representation.
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| Primary Goals | The central purpose of an individual in a given interaction.
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| Secondary Goals | These goals provide a counterforce to primary goals and are typically concerned with relational issues. These include identity, interaction, relational resource, personal resource, and arousal management goals.
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| Metagoals | Two types (efficiency and appropriateness) which regulate and constrain behaviors in a variety of social contexts
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| Efficiency | The notion that interactants often want to achieve their primary goals without wasting resources and time.
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| Appropriateness | The notion that individuals wish to appear polite and act in socially approved ways. Appropriateness often serves as a counterforce to efficiency.
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| Interaction Plan | A road map for achieving interactive goals. Interaction plans are hierarchical and mental representations of goal-directed action sequences.
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| Online Planning | Decisions made during an interaction that are based upon a variety of contingency action sequences.
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| Hierarchy Principle of Plans | This principle considers what happens when plans are thwarted and suggests that individuals will first change plans at the lowest level of abstraction.
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| Cognitive Dissonance Theory | A theory developed by Leon Festinger that examines the relationship between attitude and behavior, with emphasis on the ways in which behavior influences attitude. Because individuals feel discomfort when there is inconsistency between attitudes and behaviors, the theory predicts that individuals often change attitudes to maintain consistency.
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| Theory of Reasoned Action | A theory developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen that proposes that behavioral intent (and subsequent behavior) can be predicted by attitudes toward the behavior and social norms regarding the behavior.
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| Behavioral Intention | One's intention to act in a particular way. According to the Theory of Reasoned Action, behavioral intention is predicted by both attitudes and subjective norms.
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| Attitude | The sum of beliefs about a particular behavior weighted by evaluations of those beliefs.
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| Subjective Norms | The attitudes of relevant people in an individual's social environment. The Theory of Reasoned Action contends that these norms (weighted by the importance of these norms) will influence behavioral intention.
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| Theory of Planned Behavior | An extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action (developed by Icek Ajzen) that adds the concept of "perceived behavioral control" to the TRA model.
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| Social Judgment Theory | A theory of persuasion developed by Muzafer Sherif, Carolyn Sherif and their colleagues that considers the ways in which commitment to various attitude objects can influence the persuasion process.
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| Latitudes of Acceptance, Rejection and Non-commitment | According to Social Judgment Theory, statements with which one agrees constitute the latitude of acceptance. Statements with which one disagrees constitute the latitude of rejection. Statements to which one is indifferent constitute the latitude of non-commitment. These latitudes can vary in size and occupy positions at various points on one's attitude continuum.
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| Assimilation | The process in which one judges a message to be closer to one's own opinion than it actually is. According to Social Judgment Theory, assimilation occurs with messages within the latitude of acceptance.
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| Contrast | The process in which one judges a message to be further from one's own opinion than it actually is. According to Social Judgment Theory, contrast occurs with messages within the latitude of rejection.
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| Elaboration Likelihood Model | A model of persuasion developed by Richard Petty and John Cacciopo that considers the likelihood that a receiver will elaborate on message content, and considers the effects of message elaboration on attitude and behavioral change.
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| Central Route to Persuasion | In the Elaboration Likelihood Model, receivers with high levels of ability and involvement are predicted to take the central route to persuasion, in which they carefully scrutinize message content. According to the ELM, the central route leads to attitude change that is relatively enduring, resistant to change, and predictive of behavior.
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| Peripheral Route to Persuasion | In the Elaboration Likelihood Model, receivers with low ability or involvement are predicted to take the peripheral route in which they rely on cues in the persuasion environment such as source credibility and delivery factors. According to the ELM, the peripheral route leads to attitude change that is short-lived, susceptible to change, and rarely predictive of behavior.
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| Heuristic Model of Persuasion | A model proposed by Shelley Chaiken that differentiates between systematic and heuristic processing of persuasive messages.
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| Systematic vs. Heuristic Processing | In the Heuristic Model of Persuasion, systematic processing involves the careful consideration of message content. Heuristic processing involves the use of simple decision rules that allow people to evaluate the content of a message without making the effort to scrutinize message content.
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| Inoculation Theory | Originally developed by William McGuire and refined in the communication discipline by Michael Pfau, this theory considers the processes involved in resistance to persuasion.
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| Threat | A component of the inoculation process. A threat is a forewarning that a challenge to existing attitudes is possible or likely.
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| Refutational Preemption | A second component of the inoculation process. In refutational preemption, specific challenges to existing attitudes are raised and then refuted.
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| Problematic Integration Theory | A theory developed by Austin Babrow that proposes ways in which the integration of probabilistic and evaluative judgments can be problematic and can be resolved. Four basic forms of integration are problematic-divergence, ambiguity, ambivalence and impossibility.
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| Probabilistic Orientation | A component of Problematic Integration Theory that involves the assessment of the likelihood of something occurring.
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| Evaluative Orientation | A component of Problematic Integration Theory that involves the assessment of the relative goodness of a particular state of affairs.
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| Divergence | Occurs when a discrepancy exists between what we want and what is likely.
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| Uncertainty | Occurs when there are "unknowns" that cloud orientations about an event or relationship.
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| Ambivalence | Occurs when two mutually exclusive alternatives are valued in similar ways or when the same alternative evokes contradictory responses.
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| Impossibility | Occurs when there is certainty that something cannot happen.
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| Speech Act Theory | This theory, developed by J.L. Austin and John Searle, posits that when individuals say something they are not just stringing words together, or even representing meaning, but actually performing an action with the words.
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| Sematics | Level of analysis that examines the link between signs and referents.
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| Syntactics | Level of analysis that examines the rules that govern language use.
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| Pragmatics | Level of analysis that considers language in use.
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| Illocutionary Act | The illocutionary force of a speech act involves what the source wants to "do" by making a particular statement.
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| Perlocutionary Act | The perlocutionary force of a speech act involves the effect that a statement has on a receiver.
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| Felicity Conditions | In Speech Act Theory, felicity conditions define the situations in which statements have particular illocutionary force.
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| Coordinated Management of Meaning Theory | Theory developed by Barnett Pearce and Vernon Cronin that attempts to provide understanding regarding how meanings are created, coordinated and managed in the social world.
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| Constitutive Rules | In Speech Act Theory and CMM, rules that specify what particular behaviors or statements "count as" in interaction.
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| Regulative Rules | In Speech Act Theory and CMM, rules that specify a particular sequence of behaviors that should take place in certain situations.
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| Hierarchy of Meaning | In CMM, this hierarchy defines the context in which regulative and constitutive rules are to be understood. The hierarchy consists of the content level, the speech act level, the episode level, the relationship level, the life strict level, and the cultural patterns level. Higher levels in the hierarchy help to define lower levels.
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| Communication Accommodation Theory | This theory, developed by Howard Giles and his colleagues, examines the ways in which individuals in interaction monitor and (perhaps) adjust their behavior during interaction.
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| Convergence | In CAT, the process in which interactants adapt their verbal and/or nonverbal patterns to be more similar to their interaction partner.
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| Divergence | In CAT, the process in which interactants adapt their verbal and/or nonverbal patterns to accentuate and create differences with their interaction partner.
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| Maintenance | In CAT, the process in which communicative patterns remain stable in interaction.
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| Expectancy Violations Theory | Theory developed by Judee Burgoon and her colleagues that examines what occurs in an interaction when interactants' expectations of interactions are violated.
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| Expectancies | In EVT, expectations about what an interaction "should" and "will" be like.
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| Arousal | In EVT, an "orienting tendency" that is the result of an expectancy violation.
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| Communicator Reward Valence | In EVT, reward valence considers factors including personality, physical attractiveness, likelihood of future interaction, status and power. All of these reward valence factors can influence the assessment of an expectancy violation.
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| Interaction Adaptation Theory | A theory currently being developed by Judee Burgoon and her colleagues that examines when matching patterns will prevail or when diverging patterns might come into play within an interaction.
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| Required Factors | In IAT, biologically based factors governing behavior that incorporate basic human needs and drives, operate below conscious awareness, and often take precedence over other components.
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| Expected Factors | In IAT, socially based factors governing behavior that are determined by knowledge of the context, communication functions operative within the context, and knowledge of how a particular partner behaves within that context.
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| Desired Factors | Individually based factors governing behavior that incorporate personality, preferences, moods and other individual difference variables.
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| Interaction Position | A derivative term combining required, expected and desired factors. An interaction position serves as a valenced behavioral predisposition for one's own interaction behavior or for what is anticipated from an interaction partner.
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| Actual Behavior | In IAT, the behavior that actually occurs during interaction. Actual behavior can be compared with the interaction position.
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| Social Penetration Theory | A theory of relational development proposed by Irwin Daltman and Dalmas Taylor. SPT proposes that relationships go through a linear four-stage process in which individuals build an intimate interpersonal relationship by increasing communication breadth and depth in interaction.
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| Orientation | The first stage in SPT, in which little information is shared, and interaction is ruled by social convention and formulas.
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| Exploratory Affective Exchange | The second stage in SPT, in which interactions become more relaxed and friendly, and information is shared beyond the scope of social convention and formulas.
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| Affective Exchange | The third stage in SPT, typically associated with close friendships and romantic relationships. In this phase, interaction is marked by high levels of breadth and depth.
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| Stable Exchange | The final stage in SPT, which is characterized by continued openness and richness in interaction, where communication often occurs at a nonverbal level.
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| Self-Disclosure | Communication about self. Self-disclosure serves to increase the breadth and depth of interaction, and includes communication involving both intimate and non-intimate topics.
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| Reciprocity | The social norm in which the revelation of information by one person requires similar information revealed by the other person.
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| Social Exchange Theory | An explanatory mechanism for movement among stages in Social Penetration Theory. Social Exchange Theory suggests that individuals evaluate relationships through an analysis of relational costs and rewards.
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| Outcomes | In SET, a comparison of the costs and rewards of a current relationship.
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| Comparison Level | In SET, an assessment of past relationships.
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| Comparison Level of Alternatives | In SET, an assessment of possible future relationships.
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| Dialectical Tensions | An alternative or extension to Social Penetration Theory that downplays the linear progression of relationships and highlights the inherent tension of relationships.
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| Trajectories | The variety of courses or paths that a relationship can take depending on the interpretation of events by relational participants.
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| Uncertainty Reduction Theory | A theory, developed by Charles Berger and Richard Calabrese, that posits people, during initial stages of interaction, are motivated by their desire to reduce cognitive and behavioral uncertainty about each other.
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| Axioms | Basic causal statements that incorporate relevant theoretical concepts. Axioms serve as building blocks for theory.
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| Information-seeking Strategies | In Uncertainty Reduction Theory, these strategies include passive, active and interaction methods of gathering information about a target.
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| Predicted Outcome Value Theory | An alternative to Uncertainty Reduction Theory that argues the most central force in initial interaction is the prediction of positive and negative relational outcomes.
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| Anxiety Uncertainty Management Theory | An expansion of Uncertainty Reduction Theory that includes intergroup factors as explanatory concepts, anxiety as a motivational component, and intercultural adaptation as a critical outcome variable.
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| Palo Alto Group | A group of scholars in Palo Alto, California, led by Gregory Bateson, who were concerned with understanding the general nature of communication and how communication could be understood by considering various levels of interaction.
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| Positive Feedback | Deviation amplifying information that leads to change or loss of stability in the social system.
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| Negative Feedback | Deviation counteracting information that preserves the status quo of the social system.
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| Equifinality | A quality of systems in which the same final state can be achieved through many different developmental paths.
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| Theory of Logical Types | Theory of hierarchy in logic that argues that varying levels of abstraction can be considered when looking at systems.
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| Content Function | The semantic meaning of a particular message.
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| Relational Function | What a message communicates about the relationship between interactants.
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| Digital Communication | Communication that has a clear and well-defined syntax (e.g., the English language).
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| Analogic Communication | Communication that does not have a clear and agreed-upon syntax (e.g., body language used to express affiliation or emotion).
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| Symmetrical Interaction | Interaction based on equality or mirroring-statements of a given type are matched by other statements of the same type.
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| Complementary Interaction | Interaction based on maximizing difference-statements of a given type are matched by statements of a different (complementary) type.
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| Double Binds | A dysfunctional relational situation in which an individual cannot choose one alternative without simultaneously choosing the other.
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| First-order Change | Change within the system. This can be ineffective when the system is dysfunctional.
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| Second-Order Change | Change of the system at a higher level of abstraction. Second order change often involves intervention from outside the system.
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| One-up/One-down/One-across statements | Utterances in an interaction that take control (one-up), give control (one-down), or neither gives nor takes control (one-across).
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| Interacts | A sequence of two utterances.
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| Double Interacts | A sequence of three utterances.
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| Dialectics | An approach that proposes relationships as comprised of inherent contradictions. These contradictions are not resolved, but define the nature of the relationship and sustain the life of the relationship.
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| Contradiction | The coexistence and conflict of interpenetrated opposites. In relational dialectics, contradictions are tensions that are dependent on each other for their very definition.
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| Totality | The notion that the contradictions in a relationship are part of a unified whole and cannot be understood in isolation.
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| Processes | Relational dialectics must be understood within the context of various processes-conversational processes, relational processes and lifespan processes.
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| Praxis | The choices social actors make in the midst of dialectical tensions, and the ways in which these choices and actions create, recreate and change the nature of dialectical contradictions.
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| External Dialectics | Tensions that define the connection between a given relationship and others in the social world.
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| Internal Dialectics | Tensions that define interaction within a given relationship.
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| Praxis Patterns | Ways of managing dialectical tensions. Patterns include denial, disorientation, spiraling inversion, segmentation, balance, integration, recalibration and reaffirmation.
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| Enactment Process | From Karl Weick's theory of organizing. Enactment processes are ways in which organizational members constitute their environment(s). Enactment is a way of "seeing things" that helps define a situation.
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| Sensemaking | The essence of organizing in Karl Weick's theory. Sensemaking involves constructing meaning, pursuing understanding, and framing events.
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| Selection | From Karl Weick's theory of organizing. Selection processes are used in sensemaking and constitute the selection of a particular structure with which one can make sense of an enacted environment.
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| Equivocality | The existence of multiple interpretations of the same event.
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| Recipes | As part of the sensemaking process, recipes tell us how to handle situations so as to maximize desired outcomes.
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| Retention | From Karl Weick's theory of organizing. Retention involves the storage of sensemaking processes for future use.
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| Causal Maps | As part of the retention process, causal maps link behaviors with outcomes.
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| Structuration Theory | A critical theory developed by Anthony Giddens. Structuration Theory posits that action both produces and reproduces social structures, which simultaneously enable and constrain action.
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| Duality of Structure | An important concept in Structuration Theory. In contrast to dualistic (i.e., competitive or mutually exclusive) structures, duality exists when structures are recursive, thus acting as both medium and outcome.
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| Agency | In Structuration Theory, the concept of agency affords control to individuals, and assumes they have the power to change structures.
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| Structure | In Structuration Theory, structures are the rules and resources that constrain and enable action.
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| Rules | In Structuration Theory, rules are recipes for social life.
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| Resources | In Structuration Theory, resources are capabilities (both allocative and authoritative) that agents draw upon in order to act.
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| Text | In Jim Taylor's Theory of Text and Conversation, a text is the content of an interaction.
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| Conversation | In Jim Taylor's Theory of Text and Conversation, a conversation is a communicative interaction between two or more parties.
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| Distanciation | In Taylor's Theory of Text and Conversation, distanciation is the distance between the intended meaning of a speaker (e.g., text) and how the meaning is interpreted or retained in an interaction.
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| Degrees of Separation | In Taylor's Theory of Text and Conversation, there are six degrees of separation that shift meaning from an individual source through widespread public dissemination.
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| Concertive Control Theory | Developed by Jim Barker, George Cheney and Phil Tompkins, this theory explores the ways in which organizational identification influences communicative processes of discipline and control in the organizational setting.
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| Simple Control | In Concertive Control Theory, simple control is exhibited by a direct and authoritarian exertion of power in the workplace.
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| Technological Control | In Concertive Control Theory, technological control occurs when physical technologies constrain the behavior of organizational members.
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| Bureaucratic Control | In Concertive Control Theory, bureaucratic control is control wielded through a system of rules.
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| Identification | The extent to which individuals define themselves in terms of a collective in which they hold membership.
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| Discipline | A process by which the behavior of organizational members is directed. Concertive Control Theory posits that organizational culture and organizational identification influence discipline processes.
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| Unobtrusive Control | The control that occurs when decisions of organizational members are premised on the values of the larger collective with which they identify.
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| Concertive Control | The control that occurs when organizational members use discipline tactics to keep others in line with the values of the larger collective.
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| Phase model | The study of group processes through examination of the phases through which groups progress
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| Factor model | The study of group processes through examination of the input factors and process factors which lead to valued output factors
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| Group Development | The stages, phases or processes through which groups pass in the process of making decisions; or the factors that lead groups to make certain decisions.
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| Multiple Sequence Model | A model of group development proposed by Scott Poole and his colleagues. This model argues that a group may follow one of three different paths en route to a decision: a unitary sequence path, a complex cyclic path, or a solution-oriented path.
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| Functional Theory | A theory developed by Randy Hirokawa and Dennis Gouran that distinguishes effective groups from ineffective groups and proposes that group communication processes are central to the quality of a decision outcome.
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| Groupthink | From Irving Janis, a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, and when the members' striving for unanimity overrides their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.
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| Structuration Theory | A critical theory developed by Anthony Giddens. Structuration Theory posits that actions both produce and reproduce social structures, which simultaneously enable and constrain action.
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| Duality of Structure | In opposition to dualistic (i.e., competitive or mutually exclusive) structures, duality exists when structures are recursive, thus acting as both medium and outcome.
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| Reflexive Agents | Structuration theory assumes that individuals act as reflexive agents in that they can look at and assess their own behaviors and actions.
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| System | In Structuration Theory, an institutionalized pattern of social relationships and structures that emerges when structures are consistently enacted across space and time.
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| Modalities | In Structuration Theory, forms of knowledgeability that operate at the levels of action, structure and institution.
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| Cognitive-Information Tradition | This tradition of small-group interaction focuses on argument as cognition of the individual. The process of group interaction is seen as one way of presenting these arguments for consideration by the group.
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| Social-Interactional Tradition | This tradition of small-group interaction posits that argument is constructed by groups in a "language game" that is organized and guided by social rules and institutions.
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| Group Decision Support System | A system designed to assist problem-solving teams through the use of computer, communication and decision technologies.
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| Appropriation | Process by which structural features of a technology are adapted to specific situations. Appropriation occurs through a series of structuring moves.
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| Symbolic Convergence Theory | This theory, developed by Ernest Bormann and his colleagues, posits that the symbolic worlds of individuals and groups can overlap through communication. This overlap can lead to a sense of group identity and connectedness among individuals.
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| Fantasy Theme | A dramatizing message that ignites group interaction. A fantasy theme refers to something outside of the "here and now" of a group.
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| Fantasy Chain | A fantasy chain occurs when individuals elaborate on a fantasy theme with their own input relevant to the theme.
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| Group Fantasy | The product that is created when group members "chain out" on a fantasy theme.
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| Fantasy Type | A general scenario that covers several of the more concrete fantasy themes.
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| Rhetorical Vision | A linking together of fantasy types that creates further abstractions of group experiences.
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| Bona Fide Group Perspective | This approach, developed by Linda Putnam and Cynthia Stohl, treats groups as embedded in their environments and views decision-making as a process that shapes and is shaped by a group's many contexts.
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| "Magic Bullet" and "Hypodermic Needle" Effects | Early strong effects models of mass communication that propose that the media "shoot" the desires of the source directly into the thoughts, attitudes and subsequent behaviors of receiver.
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| Mass Society | The audience involved in the strong effects model of the media
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| Strong Effects Model | This early model of mass communication sees the media as capable of shaping public opinion and swaying behavior in whatever direction is preferred by the source.
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| Limited Effects Model | After the strong effects model, many mass communication theorist switched to this view that proposes that the mass media has very limited power in influencing audience members.
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| Social Cognitive Theory | The further development of Social Learning Theory conducted primarily by Alfred Bandura. Social Cognitive Theory considers the cognitive and behavioral factors that influence learning.
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| Social Learning Theory | A theory of human behavior that posited if humans were motivated to learn a particular behavior, they would be able to learn by observing models and then being positively reinforced by imitating those models.
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| Observational Learning | Learning that occurs through the observation of models, not through actual behavior.
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| Inhibitory Effect | The effect of seeing a model punished for a particular behavior. In this situation, the observer will be less likely to perform the behavior.
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| Disinhibitory Effect | The effect of seeing a model rewarded for a particular behavior. In this situation, the observer will be more likely to perform the behavior.
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| Outcome Expectations | Expectations for outcomes based on observation of others.
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| Outcome Expectancies | Values attached to outcome expectations.
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| Identification | If an individual feels a strong psychological connection to a model, social learning is more likely to occur.
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| Self-Efficacy | An observer's ability to perform a particular behavior and the confidence the individual has in performing the behavior.
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| Uses and Gratifications Theory | This theory considers the social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectations of the mass media or other sources and which lead to differential patterns of media exposure, resulting in need gratification and other consequences.
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| Gratifications Sought and Obtained | In Uses and Gratifications Theory, gratifications sought and obtained from the media include information, personal identity, integration and social interaction, and entertainment.
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| Parasocial Interaction | Process in which an audience member is "caught up" in a media presentation and may even develop a "relationship" with media characters.
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| Expectancy-value Approach | An individual's behavior will be guided by two assessments: an assessment of the value of a particular outcome and an assessment of the probability of that outcome occurring
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| Media System Dependency Theory | This theory, developed by Sandra Ball-Rokeach and Melvin DeFleur, analyzes the tripartite system composed of media, audience and society. These three interrelated systems are proposed to exist in dependency relationships with each other.
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| Dependency Relationships | The media, individuals, their interpersonal environment, and the social environment depend upon one another by drawing on resources of the others in order to satisfy goals.
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| Macro Level of Dependency Relationships | The social environment and media systems
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| Micro Level of Dependency Relationships | Individuals with particular goals and positions within the social environment.
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| Meso Level of Dependency Relationships | Interpersonal relationships
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| Reception Theory | The study of audience members as they interact with both the media and with others in their social environment. Highlights the concept that the audience is active and brings its own values and experiences to television viewing.
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| Agenda-Setting Theory | This theory, developed by Max McCombs and Donald Shaw, examines the ways in which the media shape the topics that are seen as important by the public.
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| Media Agenda | The set of topics addressed by media sources.
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| Public Agenda | The set of topics that members of the public believe is important.
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| Policy Agenda | The issues that decision makers believe are important and are acted on in policy initiatives.
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| Need for Orientation | A combination of high interest in an issue and high uncertainty about that issue.
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| Issue Obtrusiveness | The level of direct contact that members of the public have with a particular issue.
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| First-Level Agenda Setting | Portion of agenda-setting theory that deals with the "objects" on the media and public agendas.
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| Second-Level Agenda Setting | Portion of agenda-setting theory that deals with how attributes of objects are considered in the media and public agendas.
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| Framing | The process by which the media call attention to some aspects of reality while obscuring other elements.
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| Priming | The effects of a particular prior context on the retrieval and interpretation of information.
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| Spiral of Silence Theory | This theory, developed by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, posits individuals assess public opinion of an issue and fear being isolated from society. These two factors influence an individual's willingness to speak about their personal opinion on the issue.
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| Fear of Isolation | According to Spiral of Silence Theory, individuals have a strong need to be connected to a social collective and fear being isolated from that collective.
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| Quasi-Statistical Sense | According to Spiral of Silence Theory, the innate ability individuals have to judge the climate of popular opinion.
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| Cultivation Theory | This theory, developed by George Gerbner and his colleagues, proposes that television is a pervasive, highly accessible and coherent medium that impacts and shapes viewers' perceptions of reality.
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| Cultivation | The long-term and cumulative impact of television on our views of reality.
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| Content Analysis | A method used in tests of Cultivation Theory, in which quantitative counts of television content are assessed.
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| Cultural Indicators | A method used in tests of Cultivation Theory, in which individual views of the social world are assessed.
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| Mainstreaming | The tendency of television to homogenize viewers or bring them into the mainstream views of society.
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| Resonance | The tendency of television viewing effects to be particularly pronounced in individuals who have related experiences in real life.
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| First-Order Cultivation Effects | The effects of television on statistical descriptions of the social world.
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| Second-Order Cultivation Effects | The effects of television on beliefs about the general nature of the social world.
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| Culture as Community | Approach that describes a named group of people that share a common cultural identity and common cultural memory. This approach to culture puts a border around a group of people and looks for shared characteristics and processes.
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| Culture as Conversation | Approach that considers the conversations that pattern people's lived experiences. This approach sees culture as constantly emerging through the discourse of cultural members.
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| Culture as Code | Approach that considers the values, meanings and behavioral norms that constrain but do not dictate the behavior of cultural members.
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| Emic vs. Etic Approaches to Culture | Emic seeks to understand the local view of cultural insiders by describing emergent aspects of observed culture. Etic research seeks a universal understanding of culture through the objective observation and comparison of many cultures.
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| Speech Codes Theory | The speech codes framework, developed by Gerry Philipsen, conceptualizes culture as a code system that lays out meanings and ideals. Speech Codes Theory looks for ways in which culture and communication function to guide and constrain behavior, to coordinate behavior in a recognizable way, and to integrate and bind cultural members.
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| Speech Codes | The coding principles or rules that govern what to say and how to say it in a particular context.
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| Constitutive Meaning | What a particular utterance should "count as" in interaction, as defined by the speech code of a given cultural community.
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| Metacommunication | A way of "talking about talk." Speech codes are woven into speaking in a metacommunicative vocabulary that reveals how talk is defined within the speech code.
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| Individualistic Culture | A social grouping in which the needs, values and goals of the individual take precedence over those of the group.
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| Collectivistic Culture | A social grouping in which the needs, values and goals of the group take precedence over those of the individual.
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| Low-Context Culture | In interaction, members of a low-context culture will derive meaning primarily from the verbal content of the message.
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| High-Context Culture | In interaction, members of a high-context culture will derive meaning from the social situation, the relationships among interactional participants, and the cultural norms in play.
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| Positive Face | An individual's need for social approval, connection and inclusion.
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| Negative Face | An individual's need for autonomy and independence.
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| Autonomy Face | A desire to appear independent, in control, and responsible.
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| Fellowship Face | A desire to be seen as cooperative, accepted and loved.
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| Competence Face | A desire to appear intelligent, accomplished and capable.
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| Face Threats | Occasions when an individual's desired identity in an interaction is challenged.
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| Facework | The ways in which face threats are managed in interaction.
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| Preventive Facework | Avoiding or minimizing face threats before they occur. Politeness strategies are a type of preventive facework.
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| Corrective Facework | Attempting to repair face damage that has already occurred.
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| Co-Cultural Groups | Within the multiplicity of cultural groups in the society, groups that are not the dominant group are termed co-cultural groups.
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| Standpoint Theory | A cultural theory with roots in Marxist economic thought. Feminist Standpoint Theory states that women in Western industrial societies occupy a position that is shaped by history, by material influences and by experience.
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| Feminist Standpoint | Because there is a sexual division of labor between paid "productive" work and unpaid "nurturing" work, men and women have different views of the world.
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| Muted Group Theory | Theory that explores the ways in which women's different experiences influence their view of the world and their patterns of speaking in the world.
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