Axioms of Interpersonal Communication

                                   Axioms of Interpersonal Communication

In 1960, the philosopher and communication theorist, Paul Watzlawick, established the five axioms of human communication in his 1967 book "Pragmatics of Human Communication: A study of interactional patterns, pathologies and paradoxes", which serve as a fundamental for studying human interaction communication.

The axioms that underpin effective communication are:

1.      The inevitability of communication (also known as one cannot not communicate):

Humans are social animals; they communicate as soon as they perceive each other. Individuals cannot remain in an uncommunicative state. Even silence (absence of actions or words) can be perceived as having some meaning. e.g: lack of interest, boredom, ignorance, acceptance, rejection, etc.

“Everything one does is a message; activity or inactivity, words or silence all have message value. They influence others and these others, in turn, cannot respond to these communications and are thus themselves communicating”.   (Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson, 1967, p.1)

Thus, we are in a continuous state of communication. However, to avoid misunderstandings one should be aware of both the verbal and non – verbal communication elements.

2.      Digital and analogic:

Digital, also known as verbal communication, is the discrete communication elements with generally agreed and understood meaning such as words or certain gestures. e.g: 'V' peace sign, telling someone to sit down, etc. it is dependent on analogic communication to convey its full meaning.

Analogic or non – verbal communication is mere representations or inferences about a subject matter. E.g: harsh tone, loud voice, angry face, etc. they are independent of digital communication as they can convey full meaning even without verbal messages.

However, the problem arises when what we say differs from what is depicted by our body language and other non – verbal cues. In such cases, non – verbal or analogic communication is preferred.

3.      Symmetrical or complementary:

Our communication is either symmetrical or complementary banking on whether the relationship is based on differences or parity.

Symmetrical interaction prevails in situations where everyone shares a set of equal power or skills (parity relationship) and everyone is free to bring in ideas and share the experience. e.g: coworkers, friends, siblings, etc.

Complementary interaction is common in situations where there is a power difference between the parties involved and one benefits from the knowledge and experience of the other (organizational hierarchy). e.g: father-son, boss–employee, etc.

These concepts exhibit in three ways:

·       One up - one party attempts to gain control by dominating overall communication.

·       One down - one party attempts to submit to another party.

·       One across - this state attempts to neutralize a situation.

In symmetrical interaction, parties adopt the same style while the opposing style is adopted by parties in complementary interaction.

4.       D4.    Defining relationship by punctuation:

Nature of communication banks on how well we punctuate other's communication procedures. We interpret situations based on our knowledge, experience, personality, point of view, etc; by labeling one event as the cause and the other as the response. Here each person perceives that the other person is the reason for a particular behavior.

However, the problem lies where we fail to consider other people’s experience, knowledge, personalities leading to conflicts in the communication process.

5.       C5.    Content and relationship dimension of communication:

In certain situations apart from the content of the message, an understanding of the context of the message (especially the relationship between the sender and the receiver) could lead to a better interpretation of the message.

The content of the communication differs from situation to situation based upon the relationship between both parties. This relationship exists between parties in form of family ties, status, or nature of the association, which needs to be considered when interpreting a communication sequence.

Another axiom commonly referred to by most theorist is:

6.      Irreversibility of communication:

This means that what has once been said cannot be retrieved or called back, although the adverse effect of a negative message can be mitigated by sending a qualified message or an apology.

This axiom imposes an obligation on the sender of the message to exercise care and abstain from stating something negative or awful to avoid embarrassment or regret.

 

The axioms of communication explain how miscommunication can occur if communicators are not subconsciously aligned. This miscommunication can create further problems by causing communication failure and conflicts between parties involved in the communication process.