This week we discussed some of the different aspects of
communication and its importance within the family unit. In class, we described
the way that communication is like a circuit – if there is any break in that
circuit, the whole thing will be thrown off. So in other words, communication
has to go both ways. Something that greatly influences the effectiveness of
communication is self-disclosure. Self-disclosure enhances both satisfaction
and the feeling of intimacy. The more a spouse engages in self-disclosure, the
more that both partners are likely to be highly satisfied with the relationship
and feel that their intimacy needs are being met. Sarcasm is a dangerous thing
that interferes with language. Sarcasm is both deceiving and usually has
negative undertones within, which is why it should be avoided while trying to
communicate with one’s significant partner. It is a useful skill to learn power
within communication. Power is the ability to get someone to think or feel or
act in a way that he/she would not have done spontaneously. There are a few
different types of power; they are: coercive, reward, legitimate, expert,
referent, and information. Each power is
used to manipulate the conversation to do something that benefits the
conversationalist with power. Coercive power is a way to avoid punishment by
spouse, reward power is a way to obtain rewards from spouse, legitimate power
is a way to make one’s spouse feel that you have a right to ask something and
they in response have a duty to comply, expert power is when a spouse has
special knowledge or expertise, referent power is the identification with, and
admiration of, spouse and desire to please him or her; and information power is
manipulating the conversation by persuasion by spouse that what the spouse
wants is in their own best interests.
