INTERPERSONAL AND INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION.

[DR.MARIAPPAN GOVINDARAJAN]

COMMUNICATION:

                        Communication is the process of exchanging information usually via a common protocol.  Human communication is the sharing of knowledge and experiences.  It includes sign language, speaking, writing, gestures and broadcasting.   Communication in respect of human communication may be of two types – one is interpersonal communication and intrapersonal communication.

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION:

                        Interpersonal communication is the ability to relate to people in written as well as verbal communication.   It can occur in either one to one or a group of people.  It also means being able to handle different people in different situations.  Gestures such as eye contact, body movement and hand gestures are also part of interpersonal communication.   Listening, talking and conflict resolutions are the common features of interpersonal communication.   The types of interpersonal communication may vary from verbal to non verbal and from situation to situation.

                        There are four specific perspectives from which to study interpersonal communication as below:

• Situational – communication that occurs between two people in a specific context;
• Quantitative – dyadic interactions, including impersonal communication;
• Functional – communication for the purpose of interpersonal goals;
• Relational (qualitative) – communication in which the roles of sender and receiver are shared by two people simultaneously in order to create meaning.

There are four principles of interpersonal communication-

• Interpersonal communication is inescapable;
• Interpersonal communication is irreversible;
• Interpersonal communication is complicated;
• Interpersonal communication is contextual.

Interpersonal communication is inescapable.  It is always existing in house, office, road, bus, class rooms etc.,   Without this no communication can be exchanged and no work can be carried out by any body because each one is not independent but dependent on somebody.  We constantly receive communication from others through any of the channel.

                        Interpersonal communication is irreversible because one cannot really take back something once it has been expressed.    A Russian proverb says – ‘once a word goes out of your mouth, you can never swallow it again’.  Therefore once a person is going to express something he has to take care of expressing the same and he has to know what would be the effect on others.   The effect must inevitably remain.

                        No form of communications is simple since the number of variables involved is complex.  Theorist note that whenever we communicate there are really at least ‘six’ people involved-

• Who you think you are;
• Who you think the other person is;
• Who you think the other persons thinks you are;
• Who the other person thinks he/she is;
• Who the other person thinks you are;
• Who the other person thinks you think he/she is.

We don’t actually swap ideas; we swap symbols that stand for ideas.   This also complicates communications.   Words or symbols do not have inherent meaning.   We simply use them in certain ways and no two people use the same word exactly alike. 

                        Communication does not happen in isolation.   There is:

• Psychological context – the needs, desires, values, personality etc., are the participants in communication all form the psychological context;
• Relational context – this concerns one’s reactions to the other person;
• Situational context – it deals with the psycho-social ‘where’ the communication is taken place.   An interaction that takes place in a classroom will be very different from one that takes place in a bar;
• Environmental context – it deals with the physical ‘where’ the communication is taken place.  Furniture, location, noise level, temperature, season, time of day are the examples of this type.
• Cultural context – it includes all the learned behaviors and rules that affect the interaction.  If you come from a culture (foreign or within your own country) where it is considered rude to make long, direct eye contact, you will out of politeness avoid eye contact.   If the other person from a culture where long, direct eye contact signals trustworthiness, then we have in the cultural context a basis for misunderstanding.

INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION:

                        Intrapersonal communication is defined as the communication process within an individual.   It is the foundation for all communication.   Each and every one is having intrapersonal communication at all times.  It begins with language and thought itself, but includes our perception of what language and thought are.   Every individual may see something and assume a particular attitude toward the subject; however one can be certain that each assumption made is distinctly different.  

                        Intrapersonal communication is a challenge because one has so many variations that arise from our perceptions at particular moments.  This type of communication can encompass-

• Sense making – interpreting maps, texts, signs, symbols etc;
• Interpreting non verbal communication like gestures, eye contact etc.,’
• Communication between body parts – feeling hungry etc;
• Speaking aloud (talking to oneself), reading aloud, repeating what one hears; the additional activities of speaking and hearing what one thinks, reads or hears ,may increase concentration and retention;
• Writing, one’s thoughts or observations; the additional activities, on top of thinking, of writing and reading back may again increase self understanding and concentration.   It aids ordering one’s thoughts; in addition it produces a record that can be used later against. 
• Making gestures while thinking; the additional activity, on top of thinking, of body motions, may again increase concentration, assist in problem solving and assist memory;
• Day dreaming;
• Nocturnal dreaming.