Personal Theories Of Communication

Personal theories are something that everyone has, whether they are aware of it or not. We can have personal theories about family and friends, pets, the environment, or even innate objects like doors and television. Personal theories are based on everyday experience, taken for granted, usually private, and very stable. (Ruben, Stewart, & Householder, 2014). These theories help us understand just about everything we do in terms of communicating. They also “help us to describe, explain, predict, and sometimes control phenomena and circumstances we encounter.” (Ruben, Stewart, & Householder, 2014, p. 9). We all have our own personal theories that can change throughout time and can alter the way we view things. I have a few personal theories …show more content…
In the book it states, “The closer we are, the less time, effort, and money that must be expended to engage in vcommunication” (Ruben, Stewart, & Householder, 2014, p. 91). Due to the fact that my boyfriend and I are not in close proximity and that he lives a busy life , we do not get to communicate as often as we would like. We have to rely on technology to communicate with each other. Therefore, because our communicating style through the phone is not a synchronous process, I do not get to hear from him whenever I want to. We have to put in more effort and money if we want to see each other in person. Our communicating is not frequent due to proximity. Another concept to help illustrate my theory is interpersonal media. To communicate, we have to use media because we do not currently live in the same state. It is interpersonal communicating because it is between two people. The media, our telephones, helps enhance our communication. Without it, we would not be able to communicate. Proximity and interpersonal media are two concepts that help illustrate my first personal …show more content…
As it states in the book, “No two of us attach precisely the same meaning to the messages around us. To put it differently, we do not all encode and decode messages in the same way” (Ruben, Stewart, & Householder, 2014, p. 68). This relates to my theory. While my parents may interpret my one word answers as me not caring, I do not. I interpret it as I’m busy and have my mind on other subjects. The message I am sending does not necessarily mean the same thing to the person receiving the message. This aspect of subjectivity is critical. Another concept to help illustrate my theory is the conformity orientation style of family relationships. This “creates a communication climate that is characterized by homogeneity of attitudes, values and beliefs” (Ruben, Stewart, & Householder, 2014, p. 204). Although my parents are not strict and traditional, they still uphold certain values. They appreciate eye contact and conversation, which I do not give them when I reply with one word answers. By doing this, I do not conform to their communication values. I seem disinterested when I cannot hold a conversation with them. Subjectivity and conformity orientation are two concepts that help illustrate my second