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Role of CommunicationSocial Penetration Theory: argues that as relationships develop overtime, exchanges develop and become more personal. Individuals move from superficial layers of interaction to intimacy through self-disclosure.Attribution Theory: claims that people are “naive psychologists” who try to understand the behaviour of others, thus they assign causes to behaviours they observe to make the social world more predictable and thus easier to navigate. Attribution: explains why people make certain decisions by assigning causes, either situational or dispositionalAttribution styles: a preference for attributing dispositional or situational causes to a partner’s positive/negative behaviour.Approaches focusing on attributional styles claim that negative attribution styles (where dispositional factors are attributed to negative behaviour) are associated with less enduring relationships and vice versa (with situational factors attributed to negative behaviour).Approaches focusing on patterns of accommodation:Demonstrates that using communication strategies which acknowledge the disagreement and try to resolve it constructively can be associated with more sustainable relationships, as opposed to destructive and/or passive strategiesPatterns of accommodation: shifts in communication styles that occur between partners to better adapt to each other in the course of interaction,they can be thought of as strategies of resolving interpersonal conflictSelf-disclosure: purposeful disclosure of personal information (such as feelings concerns, fears) to another person.Thesis: This paper will discuss/examine the role of communication, such as attribution styles and self-disclosure, in interpersonal relationships using the studies Stratton (2003) and Sheldon (2009). Stratton (2003) - Attribution StyleAimTo observe attributional styles in troubled families that sought therapeutic helpMethodQualitative, observation and content analysis of transcriptsProcedureResearchers analysed video recording of family therapy sessions from eight families with step-parents or adoptive parentsAll of the children in the household and both parents were present in the recorded sessionsAll the interactions were coded using a comprehensive checklist for coding attributional behavioursThe total number of attributions was 1799 with around 4 attributions per minute per familyResultsParent often used attributions which implied that their children cause bad outcomesAll of the parents made more dispositional attributions for their children than themselves (for example, when the child did something wrong it is because they wanted to, but when parents did something wrong it is because they are forced into the situation)Negative behaviours of children were described as controllable more often than negative behaviours of parentsConclusionsResearchers concluded that for these troubled families, the attributional style was consistent with placing the blame on children in that the children cause negative outcomes and the parents were affected by these outcomes. This shows how distress in family relationships is associated with negative dispositional attributions.EvaluateStrengths:(M): Higher ecological validity; study was not a lab experiment. The study observed transcripts and did not require participants to be placed in an unnatural setting(E): Ethical since consent to be recorded was given(A)Application: Findings can be used to help families identify their attribution styles and thus help with family counselling and communication among family membersWeaknesses(M): Qualitative and so it is only correlational(M): Difficulty in interpretation of discussions, increases researcher bias(M): Social desirability Bias; participants knew they would be recorded(A): Difficult to generalize to all dysfunctional relationshipsSheldon (2009) – Self Disclosure FacebookAimTo investigate self-disclosure, social attraction, predictability and trust as predictors of Facebook relationshipsMethodSurvey243 undergrad students, average age 20ProcedureParticipants given a set of questionnaires:When answering questions about interactions with others online, they were instructed to base their responses on one concrete individual, the person they spoke to most on facebookResultsThe perception of attraction drives self-disclosure, especially the number of topics discussed with the person on FacebookIncreased disclosure was associated with higher predictability (less uncertainty) about the person, which in turn was associated with greater trustThis supports the so-called reduction theory which is that the more people talk to each other, the less uncertainty they experience and are able to like each other moreConclusionsIn online communication between Facebook friends, people initially disclose to those they like. This disclosure leads to being more certain about the friend’s behaviour, also known as predictability. Predictability increases trust, trust increases likelihood of self-disclosure and self-disclosure increases liking which completes the circle.EvaluateStrengths:(M) Method used was convenient and inexpensive, good for replication(M) Sample is large enough to be generalizable(A) Study supports social penetration theory(E) Study was ethical, no physical or mental harm due to participants voluntarily being a part of study (A)Application: Provides insight into how relationships are changing with technological advancementsWeaknesses:(M): Survey; self reported, results could be skewed due to self-reported bias(M): sample only includes undergrad student(A): Social desirability; participants may feel they need to conform to certain expectations (G): Gender not specified; decreases generalizability(C): Culture of participants unknown; decreases generalizabilityConclusion: To conclude roles of communication, such as attribution styles and self-disclosure, are important components that can help promote healthy interpersonal relationships as supported by the studies Stratton (2003) and Sheldon (2009). ................
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