Comforting communication encompasses the verbal and nonverbal messages that people use when trying to reduce others’ emotional anguish. Thus, comforting represents a strategic communication activity that has the primary goal of alleviating another’s emotional distress; it may also aim to enhance the other’s self-esteem, facilitate the other’s coping, and assist the other’s problem-solving in a
Communication apprehension refers to one’s anxious feelings about communication. McCroskey defines communication apprehension as “an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (1977, 78). Communication apprehension has been one of the most studied individual differences in the field of interpersonal communication, under a variety of
Several emerging and existing international communication agencies spearhead the governance of the global media and communications environment. International communication agencies have both specialized and collective responsibilities to advance multilateral and multi-stakeholder cooperation and collaboration on the broad issues of global media governance, including the development of regulation instruments and guidelines for intellectual property, media concentration
Major social changes of the twentieth century include international air travel, global business expansion, increased migration across national boundaries, and recognition of the civil rights of various minority groups. This means that individuals will frequently come into contact with people from other nations and from other cultural groups within a large and diverse nation such
In the twenty-first century mankind lives in a more multicultural environment than ever before. For many health practitioners this means they have to interact with people from different cultures. Good communication is vital to effective health-care, so communication problems in intercultural encounters have the potential to lead to patient misdiagnosis. In such encounters health practitioners
Humans communicate verbally through words and nonverbally via facial expressions and body movements. Nonverbal communication refers to any human behavior, other than words, that serves a communicative purpose. Such behavior can occur voluntarily or involuntarily, either simultaneously with words or alone. Nonverbal communicative behaviors that have been under intensive research include high–low context, silence, turn-taking
Relationships and communication between social groups of all kinds is an increasingly pressing topic in a globalized world in which there are conflicts of resources, religions, and ideologies. Discursive psychology’s distinct contribution is to try to understand this topic through studying how discourse works in the practical settings in which intergroup issues become live. These
Specific communication disabilities affect the ability to understand and produce language. The most common hearing disabilities are congenital deafness and age-related hearing impairments. The primary causes for difficulties with the production of spoken language are traumatic brain injury, stroke, and dementia (Alzheimer’s and related diseases). Of additional relevance is the impact of visual impairment on
What are the means of communication used by people when they conduct their everyday lives; and what meanings does this communication have for them? These are central questions guiding the ethnography of communication. The ethnography of communication is an approach, a perspective, and a method to and in the study of culturally distinctive means and
Communication in its simplest form refers to the ongoing process of sharing and understanding meaning. Many intercultural communication problems stem from the different ways that messages are composed, transmitted, and interpreted. Human beings depend on a variety of philosophical, social, psychological, and institutional standards or criteria of conduct to arrive at reasonable, appropriate, and meaningful