Interpersonal Communications: Concept Analysis Paper
Katie Latimer
November 1st, 2012
COMM 218
Concept Application Paper
Communication takes place in any and all locations, intentionally and unintentionally, and it can be positive or negative. Many of our personal traits and character qualities can affect how we communicate with other people, and how they communicate with us. Recently, I had an experience that further proved this point to me in a very real and tangible way. Growing up, I have been known as levelheaded and optimistic. I don’t let a lot of distractions or emotions change or affect the way I act around others. As an athlete, my coaches always knew that if they called me into a game I would handle the pressure and play to the best of my ability, so I decided to change that about myself for a day. The night before my “experiment”, I somehow ended up in a fight with my parents, (not purposefully, of course) which really set the stage. The next morning I woke up with a negative outlook on the day, the thoughts of our fight playing over in my head. I went to school, and no one talked to me, which hasn’t happened since my first day of classes, and even then I felt like people were more convivial with me. I think that because I woke up thinking that it was going to be an awful day, I made choices and acted in ways that made that idea come to fruition. This is called “self-fulfilling prophecy”. According to Alder, Rosenfeld & Proctor (2013), “A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a person’s expectations of an event, and her or his subsequent behavior based on those expectations, make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true. (p.74)” At school, because of my sour disposition and gloomy temperament, I was ignored. Not one person talked to me throughout my three classes that day. It was really quite discouraging. I believe this is because in our culture, we learn (or at least I did) that someone who doesn’t look like they want to be talked to, doesn’t want to be
November 1st, 2012
COMM 218
Concept Application Paper
Communication takes place in any and all locations, intentionally and unintentionally, and it can be positive or negative. Many of our personal traits and character qualities can affect how we communicate with other people, and how they communicate with us. Recently, I had an experience that further proved this point to me in a very real and tangible way. Growing up, I have been known as levelheaded and optimistic. I don’t let a lot of distractions or emotions change or affect the way I act around others. As an athlete, my coaches always knew that if they called me into a game I would handle the pressure and play to the best of my ability, so I decided to change that about myself for a day. The night before my “experiment”, I somehow ended up in a fight with my parents, (not purposefully, of course) which really set the stage. The next morning I woke up with a negative outlook on the day, the thoughts of our fight playing over in my head. I went to school, and no one talked to me, which hasn’t happened since my first day of classes, and even then I felt like people were more convivial with me. I think that because I woke up thinking that it was going to be an awful day, I made choices and acted in ways that made that idea come to fruition. This is called “self-fulfilling prophecy”. According to Alder, Rosenfeld & Proctor (2013), “A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a person’s expectations of an event, and her or his subsequent behavior based on those expectations, make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true. (p.74)” At school, because of my sour disposition and gloomy temperament, I was ignored. Not one person talked to me throughout my three classes that day. It was really quite discouraging. I believe this is because in our culture, we learn (or at least I did) that someone who doesn’t look like they want to be talked to, doesn’t want to be
References: Adler, R. B., Rosenfeld, L. B., & Proctor, R. F. (2004). Interplay: The process of interpersonal communication. New York: Oxford University Press.