Coordinated Management Of Meaning Theory (Cmm)

Front 1

Goal of CMM

Back 1

Explain how people co-create meaning in
conversation

Front 2

CMM Explanation

Back 2

People use rules
– To create and interpret meaning
– Talk creates the social environment in which
we participate

Use different rules, get different meaning

Meaning is constantly coordinated

Front 3

Assumptions Guiding CMM

Back 3

1. Human beings live in communication.
2. Human beings co-create a social reality.
3. Information transactions depend on
personal and interpersonal meaning.

Front 4

Hierarchy of Meaning: Six Levels

Back 4

Content

Speech Acts

Contract

Episodes

Life Scripts

Cultural Patterns

Front 5

Content

Back 5

•Raw data (actual meaning associated with words)
•The first step of converting data into meaning.
• Example: Joe tells his partner how much he
dislikes about mowing the grass. (Joe’s dislike
about mowing the grass is the “Raw data” here)

Front 6

Speech Acts

Back 6

•Actions we perform by speaking
• Such as: Questioning, complimenting, threatening
• Example: A parent says to a child: “If you don’t finish the
homework, you cannot watch TV.” (This parent is trying to
monitor or possibly punish the child’s behavior)

Front 7

Contract (relationship)

Back 7

•The relationship agreement and understanding
between two people.
•Set guidelines and prescribe behavior.
• Example: A couple who hold opposing political views just don’t talk
about politics. Topics of politics become a taboo in this relationship.
The guidelines are specific and varying in each relationship.

Front 8

Episodes

Back 8

•Communication routines related to time episodes
• Where we punctuate the communication process
•Recognized beginnings, middles, and endings
•Individuals emphasize different aspects of an episode.
• Examples: A couple argues about buying a plasma TV. The husband is mad because the
wife made the purchase without telling him. The wife is mad because the husband never
supports her decision. (The husband and wife are focusing on different time episodes of the
event)

Front 9

Life Scripts

Back 9

•Clusters of past or present episodes
• Patterns of communication based on life
experiences
•Shapes and is shaped by communication.
• Examples: When we meet our significant other’s parents, our past experiences (e.g.,
previous encountering with our partners’ parents, how our parents interacted with their
parents-in law, as well as what we learned through media or our friends) form
expectations of how we should act to strike a likeable impression.

Front 10

Cultural Patterns

Back 10

• Cultural, value aspects in communication.
•Culture poses potential obstacles for meaning.
• Example: A couple differ on the house chores. Coming from a family that believes
everything should be hared, the wife thinks the husband should shoulder some house chores.
The husband, however, believed otherwise after growing up in a family taken care of solely by
the mother. The couple obviously don’t have coordination of their meaning

Front 11

Cultural Patterns

Back 11

• Cultural, value aspects in communication.
•Culture poses potential obstacles for meaning.
• Example: A couple differ on the house chores. Coming from a family that believes
everything should be hared, the wife thinks the husband should shoulder some house chores.
The husband, however, believed otherwise after growing up in a family taken care of solely by
the mother. The couple obviously don’t have coordination of their meaning

Front 12

Coordination Depends On..

Back 12

Sense of Morality (Ethics)

Available Resources

Following Rules

Front 13

Rules

Back 13

Descriptions of how to process information

Provide common symbolic framework for
communication

Provide opportunity for choice

Front 14

Ontological Assumptions:

Back 14

In the middle. We do have choice, context matters. Our experience is social. the primary goal is to understand.