Download Communication, Conflice and Power 1

EXPLORING MARRIAGES AND FAMILY, 2ND
EDITION
Karen Seccombe
Chapter 6
Communication, Conflict, and Power in
Our Relationships
© 2015, 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Importance of Communication
• Communication: An interactive process
that uses symbols like words and gestures
to both send and receive messages
– Communication is a transaction
– Communication is a process
– Communication includes co-construction of
meanings
– Communication uses symbols
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The Cultural Context of
Communication: Embracing Difference
• Race, Ethnicity, and Communication
• Social Class and Communication
• Cultural Differences
– Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: The concept that
language shapes our culture, and at the same
time, our culture shapes our language
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The Cultural Context of
Communication: Embracing Difference
– Individualist versus Collectivist Cultures
– High- versus Low-context Cultures
– Masculine versus Feminine Cultures
– Centralized versus Decentralized Power
– High versus Low Ambiguity
– Short-term versus Long-term Time Orientation
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Figure 6.1 The Chinese Character for
“Listen”
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Types of Communication
• Are You Listening to Me?
– Active listening: Extremely attentive listening,
where the listener has good eye contact and
body language, and encourages the other
person to continue talking.
• Verbal Communication: It’s All Your Fault
– Verbal Communication: The spoken
exchange of thoughts, feelings, or other
messages
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Figure 6.2 Five-Stage Model of the
Listening Process
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Types of Communication
– Nonverbal Communication: What Exactly
Does That Smile Mean?
• Nonverbal Communication: Communicating
without words, by using gestures, expressions, and
body language
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Figure 6.3 Hand Gestures in Different
Cultures
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Table 6.1 Electronic Shorthand
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Types of Communication
• Written Electronic Communication
– Informality is the new norm
– Our writing influences our speech
– We have volume control over our messages
– We have more relationships with less depth
– We can live in the moment
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Sex Differences in Communication
• Women’s Patterns
• Men’s Patterns
• Why Do Women and Men Communicate
Differently?
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Table 6.2 Conclusions Drawn from
Research on Sex Differences in
Communication
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Communicating to Keep Your
Relationships Strong: Self-Disclosure
• Self-Disclosure: Telling a person
something private about yourself that he or
she would not otherwise know
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Table 6.3 The Windows on Myself
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Conflict, Communication, and Problem
Solving
• Conflict: Disagreements over decision
making, problem solving, or achieving
goals, which can result from differences
between group members in personality,
perception, information, tolerance for risk,
and power or influence
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Conflict, Communication, and Problem
Solving
• Types of Conflict
– Pseudoconflict: Falsely perceiving that our
partner is interfering with our goals or has
incompatible goals
– Content Conflict: A type of conflict where
individuals disagree about information
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Conflict, Communication, and Problem
Solving
– Value Conflict: A type of conflict that results
from differing opinions on subjects that relate
to personal values and issues of right or
wrong
– Ego Conflict: A type of conflict where
individuals believe they must win at all costs
to save face
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Figure 6.4 Types of Conflict
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Table 6.4 Personal Conflict Styles
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Conflict, Communication, and Problem
Solving
• Intimacy, Communication, and Conflict
– Regulating Couples: Couples who use
communication to promote closeness and
intimacy
– Nonregulated Couples: Couples who have
many negative communication exchanges
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Power, Control, and Decision Making
• Power: The ability to exercise your will
• Personal Power: The degree of autonomy
a person has to exercise his or her will
• Social Power: The ability to exercise your
will over another person
• Intimate Partner Power: A type of power
that involves decision making among
intimate partners, their division of labor,
and their sense of entitlement
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Power, Control, and Decision Making
• Theories of Power
– Resource Theory: A theory of power that
suggests that the spouse with the more
prestigious or higher paying job can use that
advantage to generate more power in the
relationship and thereby influence decision
making
– Principle of Least Interest
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Power, Control, and Decision Making
– Relative Love and Need Theory: A theory of
power that looks at the way that love itself is
feminized, defined, and interpreted
– Doing Gender: A theory of power that
suggests that we take power differentials
among men and women for granted and
continue to reproduce them
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Power, Control, and Decision Making
• Power and Control in Gay and Lesbian
Relationships
– Power operates in same-sex relationships as
well as heterosexual ones
– Couples face many of the same issues
– Researchers have also noted a few
differences which may be rooted in gendered
expectations
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