Interpersonal Analysis

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Interpersonal communication can be defined in many ways and there is a large debate on what the term actually means; however, the Cissna article defines it as: “Interpersonal communication involves the confirmation of self-concepts and self-esteem through genuine, spontaneous dialogue between two persons based on psychological information about one another” (p.58). From this definition, it is clear to us that Paul is engaging in interpersonal communication when replying to his father. To make it clearer though Paul’s reply fits all four elements discussed in the article which are: a one-to-one relationship, psychological information, genuine and spontaneous dialogue, and the confirmation or validation of self-concepts. To begin, it is evident that the encounter between Paul and his father is a one-on-one encounter with each other and thus interpersonal rather than intrapersonal or person to persons. In the excerpt, Paul is undoubtedly talking to his father and not himself because he is referring to both himself and his father in his reply meaning that it cannot be …show more content…
This element of interpersonal communication is described by the Cissna article as “immediate, spontaneous, focused on the here-and-now, and most especially involves participants who believe one another to be noninterchangeable and irreplaceable” (p.54). The reply is immediate and spontaneous as it is directly following his father’s question, also the conversation is focused on the here-and-now as context wise the reply would not make any sense in any other conversation. Similarly, Paul and his father are noninterchangeable in the conversation as Paul could not use his argument towards any other individual and the father would not be able to ask the question he did to anyone but his son. In summary, Paul’s response is interpersonal communication as it is both genuine and