Means, types, functions of communication

Communication is a complex socio-psychological process of establishing and developing contacts between people, generated by the needs for joint activities and including the exchange of information, the development of a strategy for interaction, perception and understanding of a partner.

Socially, it acts as a means of transmitting human culture and experience. Its specificity lies in the fact that the interlocutors reveal their subjective world to one another and show individual characteristics.

Communication varies according to:

Number of participants: interpersonal, group, mass;
Method: verbal (language, speech), non-verbal (facial expressions, gestures);
Position of those communicating: contact (personal), remote (for example, through the media);
Conditions: official (organized meetings), informal (on your own initiative);
Tasks: installation (for the purpose of getting to know each other), informational (messaging);
Means: direct (hand, head, voice sounds), indirect (trace, radio, television), direct (the ability to see, hear, feel), indirect (through intermediaries).

Communication channels adequate to the senses:

Visual;
Auditory;
Tactile (touch);
Somatosensory (kinesthetic, feeling your body).

People have characteristics in the perception of the outside world and another person (social perception). They are divided into visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners:

visual people – they prefer to see everything with their own eyes, they like to tower over their partner;
auditory - perceive reality through auditory images: music, speech, sounds;
kinesthetics – experience (emotionally) through the state of their body.

Logically, we can name the following communication channels: direct, indirect, controlled indirect:

direct channel – transmission of information in explicit form;
indirect (indirect) – information obtained for the purpose of control or addition to what was previously accepted;
controlled indirect channel - a message perceived as unintentional is presented as completely intentional (a convincing tone in a dubious situation).

Means of communication:

Language is a system of words, expressions and rules for combining them into logical speech;
Intonation is emotional expressiveness that can give a different shade to any phrase;
Facial expressions, posture, gaze - can enhance or refute the meaning of what was said;
Gestures – generally accepted or expressive (for expressiveness);
The distance of the interlocutors depends on the degree of their trust, cultural and national traditions.

In speech, tempo, volume, and intonation are distinguished, which makes it possible to determine the emotional state of the individual and his attitude to the transmitted message.

A person cannot consciously control the entire sphere of means of communication for a long time. Therefore, often even what he wants to hide is revealed, for example, through the movement of his hands, the expression of his eyes, the position of his legs, etc.

Direct and indirect communication

Depending on the style, communication can be direct or indirect. In the process of such communication, the degree of openness of a person is revealed. The choice of communication style is directly related to the culture of a particular people. European and American cultures are characterized by a more rigid, direct, open nature of communication. Here they want to get the clearest possible answer from the interlocutor.

But eastern culture prefers softer communication. The speech here is replete with ambiguous phrases. There are almost no direct answers “yes” and “no”. You have to guess about agreement or disagreement based on the context of the conversation. This style of communication is especially common in Japan, South Korea, and partly in China.

Communication strategy:

Open - closed (Closed communication - the reluctance or inability of one of the partners to clearly convey their point of view, information);
Monological - dialogical;
Role-playing (social-role-playing) – personal (“heart-to-heart”).

An important issue in communication is openness, i.e. not only the sincerity of the speaker, but also the ability to perceive the partner impartially. High culture gives you confidence that you will be understood correctly.

Communication tactics is the implementation of a strategy in a specific situation based on knowledge and mastery of techniques, rules and techniques of communication.

Issues

Psychologists identify a number of problems that prevent people from building communication:

Reluctance to feel the feelings of the interlocutor. If you don't take into account the other person's mood, it is impossible to establish effective communication.
Lack of interest in the problem, inability to express true interest. Situations often occur when one of the interlocutors is interested in something and talks about it with enthusiasm and active gestures. The topic may be indifferent to another person, but according to the rule of etiquette, he must keep the conversation going.
Lack of desire or ability to listen to the interlocutor. This problem interferes with productive communication. The inability to listen is manifested in constant interruption of the interlocutor, a sharp change of topic. A person who does not know how to listen to others often experiences serious problems in finding friends and moving up the career ladder.
Closedness when communicating with others. This is the first barrier that appears when meeting someone. The problem actively develops with a negative attitude from others. A person begins to withdraw and finds it difficult to express feelings.
High or low self-esteem. Only two people with approximately the same level of intelligence can communicate effectively. In this case, there will be no obstacles in understanding the interlocutor, common topics for conversation will appear.

For communication to be effective, you need to follow a number of rules:

Learn to reject selfishness, think about the problems of your interlocutor.
Every day learn to listen to others.
Show interest in the topic of conversation.

When interacting with other people, you need to watch your words. It is unacceptable to insult the interlocutor, speak negatively about his point of view, or ridicule statements.

Types of communication:

Mask contact (formal communication) – lack of desire to understand the partner, to take into account his individual characteristics. The usual cliches are used (politeness, severity, compassion, equanimity, etc.), artificial facial expressions, gestures, a set of phrases, which allows you to hide the true attitude towards the interlocutor;
Primitive communication - a person is evaluated based on his usefulness. Needed - they will actively make contact, interferes - they will not notice, they get what they want - they will push them away;
Formal-role-based, when both the content and means of communication are regulated, instead of studying the individual, they make do with knowledge of social (official) functions;
Business communication – the individual’s psychological qualities, character traits, motives, and mood are taken into account. However, the interests of the case are higher and more significant than possible personal differences;
Spiritual communication of friends - they can talk without words, using facial expressions, intonation, using gestures, movements;
Manipulative communication – pursues one goal: to extract benefits from a partner using various techniques (revenge, intimidation, “showing off”, deception, demonstration of kindness, courtesy, etc.);
Secular communication - its essence - is non-objective, i.e. people do not say what they think, but what is appropriate in some cases.

History of the study and researchers

It is easier to understand the history of the study by the main researchers of communication if we consider the main models of information transfer between people:

Socio-psychological - founder T. Newcomb.
The linear model of communication was created by G. Lasswell.
Noise model - founders K. Shannon, W. Weaver.
The factor model was created by G. Malecki.
Text model - founder A. Pyatigorsky.

In addition to these models, there are two well-known theories - communicative acts (creator T. M. Newcomb) and means of communication (founder Marshall McLuhan).

Communication functions

In psychology, there are many classifications of communication functions.

According to the criterion of the purpose of communication, eight functions are distinguished:

contact – establishing a state of readiness to receive and transmit messages;
informational – exchange of messages, information, plans;
incentive – stimulation of subscriber activity;
coordination – mutual coordination of actions;
understanding – perception and understanding of the meaning of the message, attitudes, intentions;
amotive – arousing the necessary emotional experiences in the interlocutor;
establishing relationships - awareness of one’s place in the system of role, business, interpersonal connections of the team in which a person acts;
exerting influence – changing the partner’s state and behavior, incl. his opinions, intentions, attitudes, needs, etc.

We will consider a generalized version - three functions (they are called sides, aspects) of communication:

Communication (exchange of information);
Interactive (organization of interaction);
Perceptual (perception and formation of an image of another person).

Communicative function of communication.

Communication is a process of two-way exchange of information leading to mutual understanding (Communication (lat. communicatio) is an act of communication, a connection between two or more individuals based on mutual understanding; the communication of information by one person to another or a number of people.). In their activities, people exchange with each other various perceptions, ideas, interests, moods, etc. This is the information of human communication, which is not just sent, but also formed, clarified, and developed.

The communicative side of communication has its own specifics:

Communication is not just the movement of information. Here we are dealing with a relationship between two individuals, and each of them acts as an active subject (their mutual information implies the establishment of joint activities). The significance of information is determined by the fact that it is not just accepted, but also meaningful and understood;
The exchange of information involves mutual influence, psychological influence on the partner’s behavior in order to change it. In this case, participants must have a unified coding system, i.e. when the signs and their meanings are known;
There may be barriers to communication. On the one hand, there is a lack of a common understanding of the current situation (social aspect); on the other hand, obstacles can be of a psychological nature due to personal characteristics (secrecy, mistrust, incompatibility, etc.).

Classification

In psychological practice, types of communication are usually distributed based on the methods of its implementation in social activities. The main types include verbal and nonverbal communication. In turn, the latter type is determined by gestural, iconic, symbolic or facial manifestations.

Based on the subjects of communication, as well as the types of interaction between them, in psychology it is customary to divide the following types:

Intergroup

Types of interaction between individuals, which are determined based on belonging to certain social communities or categories of the population. Does not depend on interpersonal relationships or individual preferences.

Public

Type of instrumental or status-oriented communication in public space. In most cases, it is characterized by affecting social and semantic interests.

Mass

A type of systematic development of information content, which is of a purely official nature, including the transfer of pre-prepared information using certain technological means.

It also refers to the processes of the dynamic nature of social consciousness, acts as a mood among the masses and has a strong impact on the individuality of each member of a certain group of people.

Interpersonal

A type of personal-oriented communication that is associated with the exchange of information and its subsequent interpretation by 2 or more subjects who enter into relationships with each other.

The most significant and frequently used type is interpersonal communication, which is distinguished by the following types of verbal interaction between subjects:

Dialogue

It is the most active form of communication, in which both communicants share personal phenomena or ideas. Speech of a dialogical nature is determined by the specific situation in which the conversation takes place.

Characterized by the presence of a thematic component or motives of the interlocutors. Each participant in the conversation acts as a speaker and a listener, who alternate between each other. Interaction according to G. Bush is divided into groups of a discussion nature, thematic discussion, or “question-answer” type.

Monologue

Functionally developed and meaningfully produced speech of an individual subject, which is a direct result of his objective activity of the speech apparatus. It is based on expressing a personal position based on certain experience. Identified by the nature of the discussion or the question addressed to the problem.

It does not differ in the immediate reaction of observers and exists in both written and oral form. It is the most important form of verbal communication.

Polylogue

Type of interpersonal communication between several participants in a conversation - from 3 subjects.

Modern psychological theory cannot say for sure who was the first to identify and develop communication theory. It is generally accepted that one of the pioneers in studying speech characteristics is the sociologist V.L. Skalkin, who added to the main forms of communication the term “trilogue” - a conversation between only 3 individuals.

Verbal and non-verbal means of communication

(Verbal (lat. verbalis) - verbal, oral.)

Verbal communication is oral and written speech, i.e. Language serves as a sign system. Its structure includes:

The meaning and meaning of words, phrases;
Speech sound phenomena (modulation of voice pitch - smooth, sharp; rhythm - uniform, choppy; timbre - rolling, hoarse, creaky; tonality - high, low; diction; intonation; speech rate - fast, medium, slow). They are studied by paralinguistics;
Expressive qualities of the voice - specific sounds - laughter, grunting, crying, whispering, breathing; separating sounds - cough; zero - pauses, nasalizations - “hmm-hmm”, “uh”, etc. They are studied by extralinguistics.

Forms of oral speech – monologue and dialogue. Many factors influence the effectiveness of communication. Among them: intentions - moods, attitudes, suggesting active interaction between partners; their involvement in joint activities; the presence of feedback (allows you to reveal the accuracy of perception of the meaning of information); skills and abilities.

Although speech is a universal means of communication, it is complemented by the use of other sign systems. Scientists believe that in communication words make up 7%, sounds and intonations – 38%, non-verbal interaction – 53% (according to other sources, up to 80%).

Nonverbal communication.

Kinestics – studies the external manifestations of feelings and emotions (based on general motor skills of various parts of the body) – these are facial expressions, gestures, pantomimes;
Takesika – studies touching, shaking hands, kissing, touching, stroking, pushing, etc.;
Proxemics – considers the norms of spatial and temporal organization of communication;
Visual communication (“eye contact”) is an important addition to verbal communication.

Facial expressions are movements of facial muscles that show an emotional state; it can give a true “picture” of what a person is experiencing. Facial expressions carry 70% of the information, i.e. eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, chin can say more than words (A person is considered to be trying to hide his information (or lying) if his eyes meet his partner’s eyes for less than 1/3 of the conversation time.).

According to its specifics, the view can be:

Business – fixed in the area of a person’s forehead;
Secular – goes down to the level of the lips;
Intimate – directed not at the partner’s eyes, but below the face – to other parts of the body up to the chest line;
Suspicious (critical) - a sidelong glance.

Gestures are also important when communicating.

Types of gestures:

gestures - assessments (scratching the chin, extending the index finger along the cheek, standing up and walking);
gestures of confidence (joining fingers into a pyramid dome, rocking on a chair);
gestures of nervousness and uncertainty (pinching palms, tapping fingers on the table);
gestures of self-control (hands behind the back, the pose of a person sitting on a chair and clutching the armrests with his hands);
waiting gestures (rubbing palms, etc.);
denial gestures (folded or crossed arms, tilting the body back, touching the tip of the nose);
positioning gestures (putting hands to the chest, intermittently touching the interlocutor);
gestures of dominance (exposing thumbs, sharp movements from top to bottom);
gestures of insincerity (“covering your mouth with your hand”, “touching your nose”, turning your body away from your partner, “running gaze”).

Gestures can be divided into five groups:

Gestures-illustrators, i.e. messages:
pictographs (pictures of images - “this is such a figure”);
kinetographs - body movement;
gestures - “beats” (“hello”, raised above the head - “goodbye”);
Adapter gestures are human habits associated with hand movements (scratching, twitching of certain parts of the body; touching and spanking a partner; stroking; fingering nearby objects (button, pen));
Gestures – affectors – express certain emotions through movements of the body and facial muscles.

Pantomime reflects the motor skills of the whole body, posture, posture, gait, and bending. These dynamic positions characterize the psychological state of the individual, including the readiness and desirability of communication or reluctance to do so.

Proxemics is the idea that time and space carry meaning in communication.

There are four zones (distances) in interpersonal contact:

Intimate (15 cm) - only close, well-known people are allowed into it. Characteristics here are trust, a quiet voice, touch;
Personal or personal (45–120 cm) – intended for casual conversation with friends and colleagues and involves visual contact;
Social (120–400 cm) – observed during official meetings in office premises, as a rule, with those who are not well known;
Public (over 400 cm) - implies communication with a large group of people - at a rally, in a lecture hall.

The different relationships people have with each other can be expressed in what place they occupy at the table:

B2B3B4

B1 – corner location is typical for those engaged in casual conversation;

B2 – position of joint activity, partnership, equality;

B3 – competitive defensive line, where the table is a barrier;

B4 – an independent position for those who do not want to interact.

Business conversations are held at a square (official) table, emphasizing chain of command. Here, cooperative relationships are established by the boss most of all with those nearby. Round (informal) – intended for confidential communication, “convenience” of discussion.

Proxemics and eye contact

Proxemics is nothing more than the organization of time and space in the process of communication. Consider, for example, the norms for a person’s approach to an interlocutor, characteristic of American culture (in centimeters):

From 0 to 45 – intimate distance.
From 45 to 120 – personal distance.
From 120 to 400 – social distance.
From 400 to 750 is the public distance.

Team members should be to the right of the leader.

In addition, each person has his own “personal space zone”, which can be realized intuitively. As a rule, it varies from 40 to 50 centimeters. If this zone is crossed by an unsympathetic or unfamiliar person, spontaneous irritation appears. However, when dealing with attractive people, you should expect the opposite reaction. By changing the physical distance, you can even control the state of your interlocutor. You should know that for women this distance is to some extent greater than for the male part of the population. That is why ladies react more painfully to its reduction.

Visual contact should be understood as the duration of glances, the frequency of their exchange, a change in the dynamics and tactics of glances, or their avoidance. For example, researchers have shown that a woman's pupils dilate when she looks at her loved one. Undoubtedly, this makes her face more attractive compared to her face in a situation where she looks at an unpleasant or unfamiliar person.

Interactive communication function.

It is associated with the development of strategy and tactics for interaction between people.

Communication involves changing the behavior and activities of another person. Here it (communication) acts as interpersonal interaction. Its signs:

The presence of an external goal (object), the achievement of which is determined by joint efforts;
Explicitness – accessibility for observation from the outside and registration by other individuals;
Situationalism – fairly strict regulation by specific conditions of activity, intensity, norms and rules of relations;
Reflexive ambiguity is the dependence of the perception of interaction on the conditions of its implementation and the assessments of the people participating in them.

Joint activities must be accompanied by mutual understanding. Mutual understanding is a form of interaction between individuals who are aware of the content and structure of the partner’s present and possible next actions, understand the feelings and moods they experience, and contribute to the achievement of a real goal and a specific result.

Comparison of categories

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The most important property of communication is universality, the ability to competently connect the types of relationships between people that exist today, which serve as a tool to satisfy the need for teamwork and enable each person, through the category of mutual understanding, to consider himself as a unique individual. This primarily includes communication (the type of communication that is considered the main one), interaction between participants in the communication process and their direct perception of each other as partners developing a dialogue.

Perceptual function of communication.

It includes the process of forming an image of another person (this is achieved by “reading” his mental properties and behavioral characteristics), determines the perception and understanding of the partner and oneself and the establishment of mutual understanding and interaction on this basis.

Mechanism of social perception:

Identification (identification, likening oneself to another.);
Reflection (awareness of how a person is perceived by others (understanding by thinking for a partner.);
Empathy (feeling - one’s attitude towards a person is formed).

Interpersonal perception is an interaction that has two sides: evaluation and change of some characteristics of subjects due to the fact of their presence. At the same time, they strive to interpret behavior and the reasons behind it. In conditions of a lack of information for interaction, its attribution, “completing” begins. This is called attribution.

The attitude in communication is of great importance in perception. Often the formation of the first impression of a person depends on the characteristics given to him.

Errors are possible during interpersonal perception. They are based on various effects:

The “halo” effect is a kind of “stigma” on the image of an individual, which prevents one from seeing his real behavior. During communication, through attribution, an attitude towards a previously existing idea of this person is formed;
The “primacy” effect occurs when a person is perceived and depends on the order and significance of the information conveyed about him. The information presented earlier, although contradictory to the latter, plays a decisive role;
The “novelty” effect is that new information turns out to be the most effective;
The “stereotype” effect occurs due to insufficient experience and information and exists in the form of a stable image. The result is prejudice towards people.

In the process of perception, not just the perception of a partner occurs, but emotional relationships arise. The mechanism of their formation is studied by attraction. Attraction is the formation of the attractiveness of one person to others, a mechanism for the development of attachments, friendly feelings, sympathy and love. Techniques (methods) of its formation:

“Proper name” - you need to address yourself by name and patronymic - this is pleasant for the interlocutor, evokes positive feelings, makes him be more open, predisposed to a productive conversation;
A person’s face is the “mirror of the soul”; facial expressions are almost beyond control; by it one can judge the actual attitude towards a partner. A friendly expression and smile indicate good intentions;
“Golden words” - do not skimp on compliments, praise, approval, which every participant needs;
“Patient listener” - the ability to listen to a person, give him the opportunity to speak, and facilitate this in every possible way;
“Knowledge about people” – about marital status, hobbies, individual characteristics, psychological qualities of the individual.

The boss’s three basic rules for regulating relationships:

First, people's positive relationships are influenced by interesting activities. It involves its participants in meaningful business and personal contacts, allows them to get to know each other better and find attractive traits. At the same time, poorly delivered work is a reason for dissatisfaction, contradictions, and conflicts;
Secondly, take care of maintaining effective connections, taking this into account when distributing instructions and tasks to performers, and not break sympathies and established groups;
Third is the fairness of the leader. If he avoids such mistakes as pitting specialists against each other, excessively praising some and rudely blaming others, and thoughtlessly encouraging rivalry, then he will create favorable social and psychological conditions for bringing people together.

Communication Mechanisms

Communication mechanisms are those socio-psychological phenomena and processes that arise as a result of the mutual influence of people on each other and have a direct impact on the level of their communicative activity, the depth and completeness of their psychological contact and understanding, the nature and effectiveness of their communicative behavior. Communication Mechanisms:

Psychic infection is a product of both the impact of the powerful energy of an individual's or group's mental state on others and the human ability to perceive, empathize, witness and empathize with that state. Psychic infection is usually non-verbal in nature;
Indoctrination, unlike infection, is a more complex form of socio-psychological influence associated with the development of a person’s verbal activity and his individuality;
Persuasion is a kind of conscious and organized influence on the human psyche from the outside;
Imitation is the imitation of individual characteristics of demonstrated behavior patterns.