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Chapter 1: Basic
Principles and
Communication
Basic Principles of Human Behavior
First-day morgue syndrome – When people become
nervous, they freeze up and act like they are dead.
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Fears – Many people are concerned that they will say
or do the wrong thing in social situations.
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Double standards – People expect others to
understand their inconsistent behavior, but feel that
everyone else should be consistent.
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Basic Principles of Human
Behavior (cont.)
Paradox – People often engage in behaviors that lead
to undesirable responses. They repeat the behaviors
and act surprised by the undesirable response that
follows.
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Positive double bind – If you want to do something,
you often don’t need to. If you don’t want to do
something, you probably need to.
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Risk taking – The more risk you take, the greater
your return in many situations. There is, however, a
risk of vulnerability by taking too much risk.
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Basic Principles of Human Behavior
Observing yourself – Explore your reactions to new
experiences without judgment .
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The ninety-percent rule – People can only be right
90% of the time on 90% of topics for 90% of the people.
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Playing the devil’s advocate – Spending time
focusing on the 10% of the concepts that do not fit into
the 90% rule
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Choice and balance – The more you vary your
responses to match the situation (choice), the more likely
you will be in balance.
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Communication
Elements of communication
1. Reasons for communicating – Learn, play, be helpful,
persuade, influence
2. The process of communication – Encoding and
decoding messages
3. How to be a good communicator – The meaning of
any communication is the response you get.
Nonverbal Communication
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Messages that are transmitted between people by
methods other than words
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Paralanguage – Speed, pitch, volume, rhythm, and
inflection of the voice that can contain additional
information and meaning
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Body language – Facial expressions, eye contact,
gestures, touching
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Space and distance – Intimate distance, personal
distance, social distance, public distance
Gender and Communication
Gender – Roles, behaviors, and attitudes that come to
be expected of persons based on their biological sex
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Rapport talk vs. Report talk
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Women in Western cultures tend to use rapport
talk, which involves using conversation for
closeness and intimacy.
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Men tend to use report talk to convey information
and exhibit dominance.
Self-Talk and Communication
1. Stimulus event
2. Self-talk about the event
3. Consequences exhibited in feelings and actions
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Affirmations – Positive thoughts in the present
tense that often begin with “I am”
Shyness and Communication
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Shyness – Anxiety reaction in social situations, a failure
of confidence, and extreme discomfort when interacting
with others
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Shyness affects the ability to communicate effectively
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Henderson and Zimbardo (2011) found that nearly 50% of
people report shyness causing a problem in their lives
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Shyness includes reluctance to experience new situations,
unassertiveness, limited ability to show personal
strengths, and preoccupation with self
Assertiveness and
Communication
Assertive behavior – Expression of one’s rights and
feelings in a direct manner without violating the rights
of others (Duffy & Atwater, 2011)
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Passive behavior – Not sharing ideas, thoughts, or
feelings when it would be beneficial to do so
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Aggressive behavior – Expressing feelings through
insults, sarcasm, labels, put-downs, or hostility
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Assertiveness and
Communication (cont.)
Electronic Communication
Social networking – Anonymity may foster the
ability to make connections and maintain long distance
relationships. Anonymity may also be used to post
hurtful comments on social networking websites.
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Multitasking – Research shows people get more
accomplished with a higher quality of work when they
focus on one task at a time.
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Diversity, Gender, and
Multiculturalism
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Race – Category of people who are perceived as
physically distinctive on the basis of certain traits.
These can include skin color, hair texture, and facial
features
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Ethnicity – Consciousness of cultural heritage shared
with other people
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Assimilation – The process of giving up old customs
in order to blend into a new culture
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Pluralism – Process through which cultural
differences are acknowledged and preserved
Developing Diversity
Consciousness
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Examine yourself and your world
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Expand your knowledge of others and their world
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Step outside yourself
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Gauge the level of the playing field
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Check up on yourself
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Follow through on new behavior
Diversity Barriers
1. Limited perceptions – If we believe certain people will
act a certain way, we may only notice behaviors that
support those beliefs
2. Ethnocentrism – Assumption that one’s own way of
thinking is superior to others
3. Stereotypes – Generalizations about “typical”
characteristics of members in particular groups
4. Prejudice – Irrational attitude based on limited and
insufficient knowledge
5. Prejudice plus power – When people in power show
prejudice, the consequences can be severe
Developing Diversity Skills
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Flexible thinking
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Ability to maintain pride in one’s background and
culture
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Ability to network and learn from everyone and
anyone
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Ability to deal effectively with barriers
Chapter 1: Big Ideas
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There are basic psychological principles that if
understood and applied will affect your ability to
communicate effectively, improve your ability to get
along with others, make you more productive, and
give you a greater chance for happiness.
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Paying attention to how you communicate with
yourself (self-talk) is important for overcoming fears,
addressing shyness, and becoming more assertive.
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The greater number of behavioral choices you have,
the more able you will be to accomplish what you
want and live a satisfying, healthy, balanced life.
Chapter 1: Big Ideas (cont.)
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Self-examination is extremely useful and everyone
can benefit from it in order to increase satisfaction in
life.
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Electronic communication has some positive aspects,
but research also shows that there are things we need
to be careful of. One of these is the inability of
humans to multitask well.