36:070
COMMUNICATION THEORY IN EVERYDAY LIFE
Dr. Randy Y. Hirokawa

Theoretical Perspectives

I. Theoretical Foundations For Studying Human Communication

A. Several years ago, an archeological dig discovered a huge monolithic rock in southern China. On this rock were engraved five figures -- from left to right, a FEMALE, a DONKEY, a SHOVEL, a FISH, and a RELIGIOUS IDOL. A special interdisciplinary team of archeologists was assembled to interpret the meaning of these five symbols and. after months of painstaking analysis and often heated debates, the team reached a consensus on the proper interpretation of the five symbols on the rock. At a press conference in Beijing, the head of the archeological team began............ (come to class to hear the rest of the story!)

B. This story reminds us that:

1. There is always more than one way to interpret or explain something.

2. The way we interpret or make sense of something depends on the perspective that we take.

C. In the field of Communication, a number of different perspectives have been used by communication scholars to interpret and explain communication events. Your textbook identifies seven different perspectives -- or what the author calls "traditions." I want to reduce those seven perspectives into three more general perspective -- they are:

1. The "mechanistic" perspective

2. The "biological" perspective

3. The "psychological" perspective

Each of these three perspectives represents a unique way of "looking at" communication events, as well as a particular set of assumptions that influence how social scientists conceptualize, study, and ultimately make sense of human communication.

1. MECHANISTIC PERSPECTIVE

A. The mechanistic perspective begins with the assumption that communication events have spatial and physical properties

Ex: source, channel, message, receiver

B. The mechanistic perspective assumes that communication events are comprised of causal relationships.

Ex: If a person engages in action "A" ............ result (or outcome) "Y" will occur.

C. Finally, the mechanistic perspective assumes that communication MEDIATES causal relationships -- that is, certain actions produce certain outcomes because of the presence of communication; but those same actions in the absence of communication will not yield those same outcomes.

Ex: Suppose someone spills beer on you in a bar downtown. The effect of that action on your subsequent action (outcome) will depend on the nature of communication that occurs between the action (spilling beer) and consequence (what you do).

2. Biological Perspective

A. The biological perspective views communication as the "life blood" of people and social systems like dyadic relationships, groups, organizations, communities, and the like.

B. The biological perspective assumes that all people, and social systems, have fundamental functions that must be continuously performed in order for the individual or system to remain viable (alive).

Ex: William Schutz argues that humans are characterized by three interpersonal needs -- affection, affiliation, and control. Schutz believes that we would die if deprived of those three basic needs.

C. From a biological perspective, communication is seen as FUNCTIONAL -- a social "instrument" used to satisfy basic needs. That is, people "use" communication to satisfy basic interpersonal needs:

Ex: Love Goes Without Saying

3. Psychological Perspective

A. The psychological perspective assumes that communication occurs in a perceptual environment.

B. The psychological perspective further assumes that the perceptual environment within which communication occurs is influenced by psychological factors that determine what we pay attemtion to, and what we ignore.

C. The psychological factors that influence our perceptions include:

1. Emotions
2. Attitudes
3. Values
4. Beliefs

D. The psychological perspective views communication as CONSTITUTING our perceptual world through a DUAL RELATIONSHIP with the psychological factors that influence our perceptual world.

1. Our communication actions are influenced by psychological factors (e.g., our attitudes, values, beliefs, emotions, and so forth).

Ex: If you come into my office and ask me a question, my response to you is likely to differ if I am in a "good" mood or a "rotten" one.

2. Psychological factors are influenced by our communication actions.

Ex: My attitude toward you, or what I believe about you, can be shaped by your conversation with me.

Summary

A. The mechanistic, biological, and psychological perspectives represent three different ways of looking at communication in everyday like.

1. The MECHANISTIC perspective views communication as CAUSAL -- we bring about cause-effect relationships through communication

2. The BIOLOGICAL perspective views communication as FUNCTIONAL -- we achieve goals and satisfy needs through communication.

3. The PSYCHOLOGICAL perspective views communication as CONSTITUTIVE -- we construct our subjective reality through communication

B. Theoretical perspectives are important because they shape the way we ultimately account for, or explain, communication actions and events. That is, they shape the kind of theories we produce.

 
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Randy Y. Hirokawa
The University of Iowa
Department of Communication Studies

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