Communication in close relationships works when people take time to listen to each other without judgement or interruption, feel valued and supported, and show they care about another’s ideas and feelings. The idea of confirming communication is being able to share you value someone either through a touch, personal acknowledgment, or recognition (339). In contrast, disconfirming communication indicates that someone is not important or has no value to us (339). Typical examples of this behavior are dismissiveness and the refusal to acknowledge someone; the end result is people pushing away from each other. Overall, we communicate more openly with people who make us feel appreciated and valued. These communication characteristics, in turn, bring us all closer together. While taking the Confirming and Disconfirming Communication Assessment, I thought about two different people, Linda and Connie. Linda
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However, I wouldn’t categorize it as a toxic relationship. Generally, it may be true that everything is about Connie because she’s a bit of a stage-hog, but a toxic relationship has four more key parts: you can’t do anything right, you can’t enjoy good moments with this person, you can’t be yourself around this person, and they won’t let you grow and change (Bowlin). She wouldn’t be someone I’d even talk to if these other aspects were present in our relationship.
The communication climate sets the tone for how valued people feel in a relationship (338). Therefore, in a negative communication climate there would be a person who feels less valued than another. This is different than disconfirming communication where the message from one person to another would either implicitly or explicitly state that “you’re not important to me”, or “I don’t like you” (339). A relationship where someone feels less valued is much different than one in which someone feels they have absolutely no
However, I wouldn’t categorize it as a toxic relationship. Generally, it may be true that everything is about Connie because she’s a bit of a stage-hog, but a toxic relationship has four more key parts: you can’t do anything right, you can’t enjoy good moments with this person, you can’t be yourself around this person, and they won’t let you grow and change (Bowlin). She wouldn’t be someone I’d even talk to if these other aspects were present in our relationship.
The communication climate sets the tone for how valued people feel in a relationship (338). Therefore, in a negative communication climate there would be a person who feels less valued than another. This is different than disconfirming communication where the message from one person to another would either implicitly or explicitly state that “you’re not important to me”, or “I don’t like you” (339). A relationship where someone feels less valued is much different than one in which someone feels they have absolutely no