Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
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Chapter 7—Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
At a Glance
Why Social Relationships Matter
Forming and Maintaining Social Bonds
Revealing Ourselves in Relationships
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
2. Summarize some of the benefits and costs of social relationships.
4. Differentiate social exchange theory and equity theory.
6. Define self-disclosure and describe some of its attributes.
8. Identify the characteristics of typical friendships.
9. Describe the dynamics of social relationships in the workplace.
Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
Lecture Outline
I. Why Social Relationships Matter
A. We form relationships because we need to belong.
1. The need to belong theory is a psychological theory proposing a fundamental
human inclination to bond with others.
2. We need several things from social relationships.
a. We need social bonds that are both interactive and emotionally close.
3. Online relationships have become so common that it is difficult to distinguish
people who form them from those who don’t.
a. Communication scholar Michael Rabby has identified four specific
relationship types based on the difference between face-to-face and
electronic communication.
B. Social relationships bring rewards.
1. Social relationships bring emotional rewards.
a. Friends provide emotional support, or encouragement during times of
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2. Social relationships bring material rewards.
a. Social relationships help us meet our material needs, such as our needs for
3. Social relationships bring health rewards.
a. Positive social relationships promote good health.
2. There can be material costs associated with doing things with friends.
3. Friendships often require physical investments.
II. Forming and Maintaining Social Bonds
A. Why we form relationships: attraction theory
2. The process of forming most relationships begins with interpersonal
attraction, the force that draws people together.
3. Four factors are particularly powerful in sparking interpersonal attraction:
a. We are attracted by appearance.
i. We value and appreciate physical attractiveness, so we want to be
around people we think are attractive.
4. Culture sometimes influences our perceptions of attractiveness.
Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
a. We see effects of culture most directly on our perceptions of physical
attractiveness.
i. Perceptions about weight and body type vary across cultures.
ii. Cultural diversity also exists in the way people manipulate or mutilate
the body to achieve physical attractiveness.
b. Other perceptions of attractiveness are largely cross-cultural.
i. Across cultures, men are attracted to women who appear healthy and
young.
ii. Women across cultures are attracted to men who look powerful and
appear to have resources.
B. Why we form relationships: uncertainty reduction theory
1. Uncertainty reduction theory, developed by Charles Berger and Richard
Calabrese, suggests that people find uncertainty to be unpleasant, so they are
motivated to reduce their uncertainty by getting to know others.
a. Each new piece of information you gain further reduces your uncertainty.
2. Cultural diversity exists in the way people deal with diversity.
a. Some cultures accept uncertainty as part of life, whereas others tend to
1. The guiding principle of social exchange theory is that people seek to
maintain relationships in which their benefits outweigh their costs.
a. Comparison level is a realistic expectation of what one wants and thinks
one deserves from a relationship.
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
2. Equity theory suggests that a good relationship is one in which one’s ratio of
costs and benefits is equal to the partner’s.
a. At times, we might be over-benefited in a relationship, when our
1. Relational maintenance behaviors theory specifies the primary behaviors
people use to maintain their relationships.
a. Positivity includes behaviors such as acting friendly, being courteous, and
2. Many friends also maintain their relationships by participating in their shared
interests.
III. Revealing Ourselves in Relationships
1. Self-disclosure is intentional and truthful.
2. Self-disclosure varies in breadth and depth.
a. Social penetration theory, developed by Irwin Altman and Dalmas
3. Self-disclosure varies among relationships.
a. Not every relationship is characterized by the same breadth and depth of
4. Self-disclosure is usually reciprocal.
a. The norm of reciprocity explains that when we disclose to other people,
5. Self-disclosure is influenced by cultural and gender roles.
a. Evidence suggests that women self-disclose more than men.
1. Enhancement of relationships and trust
3. Emotional release
4. Assistance to others
a. Some disclosures provide comfort.
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
1. Rejection
2. Chance of obligating others
3. Hurt to others
4. Violation of other people’s privacy
a. Inappropriate disclosures can hurt people who aren’t participating in the
1. We choose our friends, and they choose us; we don’t have to be friends with
anyone.
1. A peer is someone who is similar to us in power or status.
2. We can have satisfying friendships with others who have some type of power
2. Some rules of friendship relate to a specific behavior, such as practicing self-
disclosure or including friends in your activities.
3. Other rules relate to the qualities we should exhibit in our friendships, such as
1. Same-sex friendships
a. Friendships between women often emphasize conversational and
emotional expressiveness.
b. Men’s friendships tend to place a heavier emphasis on shared activities
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
2. Opposite-sex friendships.
a. Both men and women value opposite-sex friendships as a chance to see
things from each other’s perspective.
b. Many opposite-sex friends feel some degree of physical or romantic
1. The most likely opportunity for forming friendships at work arises with
respect to our immediate coworkers.
3. Relationships with coworkers have a social or personal dimension.
1. These relationships are complicated as they include a power difference
between superior and subordinate.
2. Both parties in a power-imbalanced friendship should acknowledge that their
1. Relationships between professionals and customers can be personally
rewarding and can benefit the company.
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2. Friendships between professionals and customers can run into some of the
4. If you become close friends with customers, be especially clear with them
about the boundaries between your personal and professional relationships.
Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
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Key Terms
need to belong theory
attraction theory
comparison level for alternatives
equity theory
Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
Additional Lecture Ideas
1. Invite a representative from your college’s Career Services office to discuss the
2. Assign a group research project in which students look at various social media, including
LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Have students critically examine the
Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
Classroom Discussion and Activity Topics
1. Assign students the task of recording the time, energy, and other resources shared
2. Divide the class into six groups to research and present on one of the theories discussed
in Chapter 7, including attraction theory, uncertainty reduction theory, social exchange
3. Assign each student a partner to practice self-disclosure. Give the students five minutes to
learn two things they have in common with their partners, as well as two ways in which
4. The Dark Side of Communication—Invasions of Privacy Online. Review the tips for
protecting personal information provided in Chapter 7. Lead a discussion about privacy
violations online, and ask students to share examples of situations in which their privacy
Chapter 7 Communicating in Social and Professional Relationships
For Review
1. Why do social relationships matter so much to us?
2. Which characteristics of friendships make them vital to our social experience and well-
being?
3. How do we manage social relationships in the workplace?
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Pop Quiz
Multiple Choice
1. When she meets her neighbor Carma for the first time, Patrice is immediately attracted to her
personality. Patrice is experiencing
a. task attraction.
b. physical attraction.
c. role-limited attraction.
d. social attraction.
2. Uncertainty reduction theory states that
a. uncertainty about someone creates mystery and facilitates attraction toward him or her.
b. we like uncertainty because what we do not know cannot hurt us.
c. uncertainty is unpleasant, and through communication we seek to reduce it.
d. we dislike uncertainty, but there is not much we can do about it.
3. Jake and Peter are best friends who both invest heavily in their friendship. According to
equity theory, the best scenario for Jake is that
a. his rewards outweigh his costs.
b. his costs outweigh his rewards.
c. his ratio of costs to rewards is the same as Peter’s.
d. none of these.
4. The theory illustrating how self-disclosure over time is like peeling away the layers of an
onion is
a. attraction theory.
b. social penetration theory.
c. predicted outcome value theory.
d. social exchange theory.
5. Workplace relationships can be challenging because they contain both a social dimension and
a. task dimension.
b. complementarity dimension.
c. role-limited dimension.
d. network convergence dimension.
Fill in the Blanks
6. The theory that says that each of us is born with a desire to seek, form, and maintain social
relationships is _____.
7. We can be attracted to others who are different from ourselves if we perceive their
differences as _____, or beneficial to ourselves.
8. _____ describes the range of topics we discuss with other people.
9. Because friendships are _____, we choose our friends and they choose us.
10. Relationships between subordinates and superiors can be complicated because they include a
_____ difference that coworker relationships generally do not include.