Interpersonal Communication
Emotional Intelligence, also referred to as EI is the ability of an individual to identify and successfully manage their emotions and those of others (Wood, 2015). It possesses three skills, which are emotional awareness, emotional harnessing, and emotional management. An individual is said to be emotionally intelligent; for example, an individual who successfully identifies his emotions and applies them in problem-solving with regulation and management is termed an emotionally intelligent individual. In influences of emotions, the psychological model of emotions is one that elicits the appraisal internal patterns of coordinated responses of an individual (Wood, 2015). The perceptive model coordinates the way emotions affect an individual view on different issues. Equally, emotions develop a cognitive model which refers to the emotional attempts to change ideas and thoughts (Wood, 2015). The interactive model dictates the effects of emotions on the socialization of an individual. Feelings and emotional work are the way emotions affect the activities of an individual.
The rational emotive approach by Ellis is an approach that aids an individual in identifying irrational beliefs and thoughts that may result into development of emotional issues (Wood, 2015). For instance, the rational emotive approach is helpful to people with phobia and depression as they are helped develop strategies that replace their emotions. Ineffective emotional expression is the way individuals express their emotions inappropriately. Examples of ineffective ways of emotional expression are speaking in generalities which is the description of an individual’s feelings in general terms and not owning feelings which is the stating of feelings by disowning personal responsibility (Wood, 2015). Counterfeit emotional language is the expression of emotions without actually conveying the emotions accurately an example is when an individual asks to be left alone; there is no specific emotion he expresses (Wood, 2015). It thus can be termed as a counterfeit expression as it means many different things.
Personal relationships are the interactions that individuals develop with others in daily interactions (Wood, 2015). There are various elements of satisfying personal relationships which include the following. Trust, when individuals develop trust for each other, their personal relationship is satisfied as they will have understanding of each other. The relational dialects between the individuals; in personal relationships, once individuals understand the habitual predictability between them, their personal relationship is satisfied. Further, the commitment made to maintain the personal relationships is also an element that satisfies personal relationships between individuals (Wood, 2015). The various guidelines for self-disclosure are; self-disclosure motivation. An individual must develop a sense of interest in any relationship by him or her to enable them to disclose their emotions. For example an adolescent must develop an interest on the opposite gender to disclose their feelings before engagement. Self-disclosure propriety; in this, the self-disclosure should align with the environment and the relationship between the two parties communicating. Self-disclosure of other individuals; It is important that during self-disclosure, other people to be given chance too to disclose their emotions (Wood, 2015). These guidelines yield a successful self-disclosure. In relational dialects, there are three core values in any relationship. They include; autonomy and connectedness; this is the internal desire to develop connections with other individuals verses the desire to have separation from other individuals (Wood, 2015). For example an athlete who wants to express her talents but at the same time wants to connect with her athletics team. Openness and closeness is the dialect that dictates the urge to be open with information versus the desire to be private for example a secretary addressing her boss about her family may develop the desire to be open and also the desire to be private about her family. In novelty and predictability, there is a desire to have a predictable relationship versus that to have a clearly new relationship (Wood, 2015). An example is a romantic relationship between two couple which might be predictable and at the same time seem to be new. The dimensions of positive and negative climates are recognition, acknowledgement and endorsement principles. In recognition, an individual either confirms or denies the existence of another person (Wood, 2015). An example; when a father enters home and his child hugs him, the child confirms his existence. In acknowledgement; an individual confirms another person’s feelings or what they say (Wood, 2015). An example is nodding during a conversation while listening. Endorsement recognizes and approves another person’s feelings (Wood, 2015). An example is when you see a frowning individual and you tell them they are disappointed. In communication climate, there exist two different climates which are the defensive climate and the supportive climate. The defensive climate behaviors create a threatening environment for communication while supportive climate behaviors create a space for the development of trust in a communication (Wood, 2015). Some of the behaviors in defensive climate are evaluative, controlling, strategic, neutral, superior and certain. The behaviors in supportive climate are descriptive, focusing, spontaneous, emphatic, equal and provisional. An example of defensive climate is a policeman communicating with a suspected criminal while an example of a supportive climate is a doctor communicating with an ailing patient. Some of the guidelines for creating and sustaining healthy climates are; accepting and confirming others during communication, doing self-disclosure whenever it is appropriate, respecting diversity in various relationships and accepting and confirming yourself. Individuals behave differently; differences in the assertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive and passive behaviors are; assertive individuals try to meet everyone’s needs as much as possible and obtain a win-win situation. Aggressive behavior involves constantly putting one’s own needs ahead of others’ needs. Passive-aggressive behavior involves deliberate expression of anger on other people while passive behavior involves putting the needs of other people ahead of your own.
A conflict is a serious disagreement that usually arises between people, organizations or states that have different opposing opinions (Wood, 2015). The various principles of conflicts are; conflicts are natural. Here, conflict is regarded as part of relating with each other. Conflict may be expressed in different ways either covertly or overtly depending on the behavior of individuals (Wood, 2015). Equally, conflict behavior meanings are shared among social groups this means that the social groups that go into conflicts have a specific belief in handling conflicts. Conflict management can be done in various ways depending on the individuals involved and conflicts can be benefiting for individuals as they can create an understanding of one another. In conflicts, there are various orientations that develop and result out of the conflict. They first pattern is lose-lose orientation. In this pattern the parties involved in the conflict exit. In the win-lose orientation, the losing party ignores the conflict and in the win-win orientation the conflicting parties develop a loyal relationship between them. The most effective pattern of dealing with conflict according to various researches is the consensus pattern where both parties discuss and agree hence a win-win situation (Wood, 2015). However, the ineffective pattern of handling conflicts is the overt expression of conflicts as it does not create a peaceful environment for conflict management.
To sum up this study is useful as it gives ways in which individuals should interact and develop sustainable healthy communication climates. Further, it outlines ways in which individuals and other parties can handle various conflicts that may arise between them but through effective management they maintain good relationships.
References
Wood, J. T. (2015). Interpersonal communication: Everyday encounters. Nelson Education.