Interpersonal Communication

Описание

Dear Readers,
I can still recall how my family reacted when I said I wanted to study communication. You already know
how to communicate, I remember one relative saying. Communication seemed like common sense to my
family members, so they weren’t entirely sure why I needed a PhD just to understand it.
As it turns out, a lot of other people feel the way my relatives do. Because each of us communicates in
some form nearly every day of our lives, it’s hard not to think of communication as completely intuitive.
Th at is especially true for interpersonal communication, since forming and maintaining relationships
with others is such a pervasive human activity. What can we learn from research and formal study that
we don’t already know from our lived experience? Aren’t we all experts in interpersonal communication?
Just for the sake of argument, let’s say we were. Why, then, do we so often misunderstand each other?
Why is our divorce rate as high as it is? How come it seems like women and men speak diff erent
languages? How do we explain the popularity of self-help books, relationship counselors, and talk
shows? If we’re all experts at communicating interpersonally, why is it so challenging so often? Maybe
communication isn’t as intuitive as one might think.
When I wrote the fi rst edition of Interpersonal Communication, my goal was to help students see
how interpersonal communication not only aff ects their relationships but also infl uences their health,
happiness, and quality of life. I wanted to guide students to go beyond commonsense notions about
communication and help them see the value of investigating interpersonal processes systematically. I
wanted to meet those priorities while speaking to students in a way that interests them and encourages
them to use both the content and the cognitive tools to relate theories and concepts to their own
experiences.
Our world is changing quickly these days—and so, too, are the ways we communicate. In the last
few years, we’ve seen people use computer-mediated forms of communication in unprecedented ways.
Deployed servicemen watch the birth of their children live via Skype. College students organize rallies
with less than a day’s notice on Twitter. Adults given up for adoption as infants use Facebook to fi nd
their biological parents. And despite the growth of these newer platforms, e-mail is far from dead: Most
adults in a recent survey said their e-mail load either increased or stayed the same over the past year.
Each new technology shrinks our world just a little more, making interpersonal communication skills
increasingly valuable. While keeping the original focus on well-being and everyday applications, this
new edition of Interpersonal Communication helps students build the interpersonal skills they’ll need to
communicate eff ectively in today’s environments.
Ideally, a good textbook will not only interest and excite students; it will also provide relevant,
contemporary, and high-quality support for instructors. Interpersonal Communication 2/e off ers instructors
their own edition of the text, with annotations in the margins, as well as an instructor’s website and test
bank designed to help make the interpersonal communication course come alive in their classrooms.
And instructors and students will benefi t from the addition of Connect Interpersonal, a fl exible,
groundbreaking online learning platform that features LearnSmart, an adaptive diagnostic; hands-on
learning activities; quizzes; and a fully integrated e-book. Connect Interpersonal enables instructors to
better tailor class time to student needs, and gives students more opportunities than ever for interpersonal
skills practice and assessment. I hope you will fi nd the result of these eff orts to be a well-integrated
package of engaging and contemporary materials for the study of interpersonal communication.
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