The interactive side of communication in psychology: functions and what the term means

What distinguishes man from the animal world is his ability to communicate in a variety of ways. The development of speech distinguished man, made him cultural and social. Speech led to the organization of man and his interaction with the people around him. This is why it is so important to be able to communicate with other people. There are three types of sides of communication – communicative, perceptual and interactive. However, the most important are the skills that a person must have in order to successfully communicate with others.

The online magazine psytheater.com calls communication a way for a person to connect with others. If speech did not exist, then people could interact with each other at the level of gestures, facial expressions and sounds. These types of communication, which are called nonverbal, are not excluded. However, the easiest way to express your thoughts and hear what another person thinks about it is language. This is why parents teach their children speech from childhood, since it is much easier to say your idea in one word than to convey it with fingers or pictures.

Speech facilitates interaction between people. At the same time, many difficulties arise here related to people’s inability to communicate, hear others, understand their own desires, and control their emotions, which also result in speech. In other words, speech sometimes replaces not only emotions, when a word is pronounced with a certain intonation in the voice, but even actions.

All people learn to speak. As they say, through the ability to establish contacts a person can achieve great results. It is important here to be able to communicate not only with loved ones and relatives, but also with strangers.

Many of the problems that a person faces in his life and are associated with inharmonious relationships are based on the fact that the person himself does not understand to whom he should devote time, attention and energy, and to whom he should not. Beloved partners quarrel quite often because their other halves spend time with their relatives or friends. Bosses are indignant about the disrespectful attitude of their employees. People often notice that it is easier for them to communicate with strangers than with loved ones. All of these are indicators of an imbalance that arises due to the fact that the person himself cannot understand who is important to him in this life and who is not.

Everything is very simple: there is a so-called inner circle of communication. It should include all those people who inspire you, give you energy, strength and nourish you spiritually, materially, physically. If you make a mistake and place a “parasite” in this circle, which, on the contrary, does not nourish you, but takes something away partially or completely, then you will lose harmony in your relationship.

Most often, your inner circle of friends includes:

beloved partner (if you are someone’s spouse), your children, parents (if you yourself are still a child);
work boss (if you work for someone) or business partners (if you have your own business);
you yourself.

This does not include friends, unless they are the people who pay you money or give you spiritual balance, family and sex. This does not include parents if you are an adult. This does not include colleagues, neighbors, strangers, etc. If you suddenly place in this circle those who were not designated, then an imbalance occurs. If you don’t believe it, then try it, if you no longer feel how your life is falling apart from the wrong placement of people.

Why exactly are these people included in your inner circle of friends? A beloved partner (for an adult) or parents (for a child) is a source of inspiration, security, comfort, and love. The boss or business partners are the source of money. And you yourself... well, there’s no escape from yourself. If you are sick, stupid, unhappy, etc., then you will no longer need anyone else. Therefore, first of all, you must get along with yourself, and then with all the people around you.

All other people (outside the immediate social circle) should occupy a secondary role, since they are not sources of vital resources. Everything they give you, you can receive in your inner circle of friends, if you just establish relationships with all its participants. That is, friends, colleagues, acquaintances are replaced by those who are in any of the social circles.

Perceptual side of communication

The perceptual side of communication is the understanding of the human interlocutor. The process occurs at all levels accessible and understandable to humans. While people communicate, each of them tries to understand, cognize and make one question clear to themselves: who is the person opposite?

To get to know another person, the following are analyzed:

His external data to understand the meaning of his statements.
His emotional state, attitude to the topic, what is happening.
His view of how he connects objects, relates to them, interprets them.
His beliefs, attitudes, worldview, etc.
His system of thinking, train of thought.

At least two people must participate in the process. Each of them tries to get to know the second personality in order to give themselves an answer to the main question about who is in front of them. When a person understands another, then it is easier for him to decide what to say, how to react, what to advise, how to behave, etc. However, getting to know another person takes a lot of time. This is where the brain function of thinking comes into play.

Since each person has experience of past contacts with other people, he already has some ideas about them, has noted some similarities between personalities, he can use this knowledge to supplement the missing information. In other words, a person makes an assumption about who is in front of him based on the experience that he has. Because this happens automatically, people often notice that they are making mistakes. However, the first opinion always seems to be correct, since the person has already encountered something similar, which allows him to think that this time he has encountered the same thing.

The perceptual side of communication is aimed at understanding the other person. Why is this necessary? In order to further predict your behavior. Since communication does not occur without the desire to influence the interlocutor, change his beliefs, make him a like-minded person, a person must first understand how the interlocutor thinks and what is guided by him in order to use the information received for his own benefit.

This is not good or bad. It just happens automatically, since every person wants to understand those around him in order to choose a model of communication that will be beneficial to him.

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Characteristics of the parties to communication and examples

Gestalt psychology - what is it in psychology briefly

All aspects of communication are closely intertwined. Often they can merge into one whole or periodically replace each other.

Three sides of communications

The generalized classification includes 3 main aspects of communication:

Communicative. The main way of interaction in this form of communication is speech. With its help, people exchange opinions, discuss pressing issues and solve problems. The communicative side of communication is aimed at the direct exchange of information between individuals.
Perceptual. Human interaction occurs at the cognitive level. Personalities make conclusions about the interlocutor based on his judgments, appearance, voice, actions, and gestures. This is how they learn to perceive each other.
Interactive. This third party of communication is aimed at building joint activities. The quality of the relationship between people can be judged on the basis of their actions and actions.

Each side of communication has a number of features that make it truly unique. Effective communicative communication between individuals is possible only if people speak “the same language.”

Additional Information. If the communicator and the recipient have a similar set of knowledge, experience and beliefs, it will be easier for them to interact and share the necessary information.

Example. If an adult man tells a small child about the structure of a car, the child will not understand him, since he does not have the basic knowledge to understand this issue.

Understanding is the key to a successful conversation

The best way to convey information is through speech. This is the most universal remedy, since during a conversation there is less chance of losing the meaning of the conversation.

Non-verbal methods can be used:

Paralinguistic and extralinguistic forms of communication. For example, this is laughter, coughing, pauses and other near-speech additives that convey a certain meaning during communication.
Optical-kinetic types of communication contribute to “reading” the interlocutor through gestures and pantomimes.

For effective interaction, it is necessary to maintain a certain distance from the interlocutor:

Up to 0.5 m is an intimate distance. At such a distance, you can only communicate with close people. Information should be conveyed in a calm and quiet voice, gaze, facial expressions and gestures.
From 0.5 to 1.2 m – interpersonal distance. At this distance they usually communicate with good acquaintances and friends.
From 1.2 to 3.6 m – social or business distance. This distance is appropriate at work during conversations with colleagues and partners. The larger it is, the more official the relationship is considered.
More than 3.7 m is a public distance. It is typical for those who have to speak in front of an audience. The long distance allows you to stand out among the crowd. It is more convenient to look at and listen to a person from the podium.

Knowing the basic concepts and concepts of communicative communication, you will be able to build high-quality contact with any individual. The perceptual side of communication is responsible for establishing mutual understanding between people based on their perceptions.

Important! The better partners understand each other, the more effective their further interaction will be.

To master the perceptual form of communication you need to:

be able to understand your partner and recognize his strengths;
analyze your own behavior, comparing personal and public opinions about yourself.

Only if these two conditions are present can high-quality contact be realized. There are a number of factors that interfere with the development of perceptual communication:

The presence of beliefs, assessments and attitudes that appeared before meeting the person. Because of them, an individual's perception may be distorted. For example, gossip can distort personality assessments. If you follow previously received incorrect information from envious people, you may never know the true face of a person.
Stereotypical thinking. For example, if a person is of the opinion that there are no smart blondes, when he meets a fair-haired girl, he will initially consider her stupid.
Striving for quick conclusions. To assess a person, it is necessary to obtain comprehensive and reliable information about him. If a conclusion about a person is made after 5 minutes of communication, this will not allow the development of effective interaction.
Projection effect. If the interlocutor prefers to judge the emotional, material, physical state of another person by himself, in this case he will not be able to understand the interlocutor and develop the perceptual side of communication. For example, if a man believes that everyone around him is evil, greedy, cunning, then he probably attributes his own traits to other people. Therefore, he should first of all include himself among such bad people.

It is best not to evaluate the people with whom you communicate. Because any analysis of another person is only a reflection of one’s own thoughts, opinions and judgments. Other people are mirrors in which you can see yourself. Everyone should be treated with respect.

Interactive communication is associated with obtaining certain achievements through joint activities of people.

Interactive communication in the office

Important! The more common views there are in the team, the more effective the result of the work becomes.

Thanks to communication with other individuals during joint work, each personality is formed:

new skills and knowledge emerge;
a person begins to struggle with the most pronounced shortcomings of his own, which he notices in himself when compared with other people;
the individual learns to respect not only his own conclusions, but also the experience of others.

Thanks to the development of science and technology, a person has a large number of opportunities to realize interactive communication:

Using instant messengers or computer programs online, employees of one company can negotiate or exchange information in the form of files. The main thing they need is to indicate the email of their colleague on their work PC.
Thanks to the development of distance learning, schoolchildren and students have the opportunity to gain new knowledge using the Internet without leaving home. At the same time, the quality of the educational process does not decrease. For example, everyone can take a short course in English or knitting.
With the help of interactive communication, you can organize your leisure time: invite friends over, have a party, collect and take food to an animal shelter, organize a corporate event in a cafe.

This side of communication has a beneficial effect on people’s social adaptation, allowing them to achieve high results in any field.

Short and superficial relationships between people most often reflect a communicative or interactive form. To build a strong and interconnected union, three main parties must be involved at once. After all, only a single mechanism of communication with its complete structure is capable of building effective interaction between individuals.

The interactive side of communication

The purpose of any communication is to change the behavior of another person, in other words, to influence. And for this to happen, joint activity during communication is necessary. People don’t just use words to convey their thoughts, but fill them with meaning, emotions, stress, and activity. All this should influence the interlocutors, convince them and direct them in a different direction.

The interactive side of communication is often regulated by social norms, that is, etiquette and rules of decency. That is why a person, while maintaining a certain style of communication, must adhere to its rules, which help him achieve what he wants. Whether it’s business communication or an interview, each style has its own rules that show what needs to be done to achieve a particular result.

The need to adhere to certain boundaries forces people to be responsible for their own behavior. Those who do not adhere to the framework are also responsible for the results they achieve. So, each person plays a certain role according to certain rules. And each person in a given situation occupies different roles.

The causes of conflicts between people are the inability to conform to social rules, to play roles correctly, and to adhere to norms. Sometimes people conflict because they do not want to engage in the activities that are offered to them. Everyone tries to take the role of the other, and not the one that is offered to him. Each offers its own types of activities that conflict with the needs and desires of opponents.

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Manifestation of the interactive aspect of communication

The aspect is manifested in the presence of the following characteristics of joint activities :

common goal,
common motives,
a single space in which the participants of interaction function,
set time for completing assigned tasks,
coordination of participants’ actions,
the presence of patterns of interpersonal interaction,
transfer of information.

Similar characteristics are common to all forms of interactive communication. But in a positive form, the unity of motives and goals leads to cooperation of efforts and obtaining a joint desired result.

In competitive and negative forms, the goals and motives of the participants in the interaction may be combined, but the joining of efforts will not occur due to the confrontation of interests, views, and strategies.

The communicative side of communication

The communicative side of communication is understood as the transmission and reception of information in the narrowest sense of the word. However, people usually not only convey their thoughts and ideas by speaking words, they not only send and receive (perceive) information. There are also many other aspects that occur during the communication process:

Exchange of emotions. A person expresses his emotions through facial expressions, gestures, and intonation in his voice.
Exchange of instructions. This is manifested in the intonation of the voice, accompanied by facial expressions and gestures.

In the process of communicative interaction, it becomes important how correctly people use words to convey their thoughts and how correctly their interlocutors understand them. Problems arise when a person incorrectly selects words that do not convey his main ideas, and also when interlocutors interpret words in a meaning other than their intended meaning.

Quite often, during communication, people try to find the hidden meaning of what was said. Under the words “What did you eat today?” many may hear “I want to control the process of your nutrition.” Although in fact the person simply inquired about the interlocutor’s eaten menu.

The problem disappears when people not only talk and listen, but also resort to various clarifications, questions, retelling, asking again, etc. All this allows them to expand the meaning of what was said, which often cannot be conveyed in one sentence. People gain greater understanding when they try to understand what they hear rather than instantly deciding what they hear.

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Dividing the communication structure into levels

Functions of communication in psychology and their brief description

The structural components of communication are divided into levels, each of which allows one to analyze the characteristics of the influence of one person on another, as well as the nature of their communication.

Levels according to A.B. Dobrovich

A.B. Dobrovich divided the structure of human interaction into 7 levels:

Primitive. He is characterized by easy and simple communication.
Conventional. The level at which partners are able to build communication on the rules that they themselves have established.
Manipulative. To obtain benefits, one of the partners may use tricks and tricks.
Standardized. During communication at this level, partners strive to hide their true motives, goals, desires and feelings.
Game. Communication is built on sympathy for the partner, the desire to make a pleasant impression on him.
Business. Communication involves solving any important issues that require mental activity.
Spiritual. This level is characterized by the presence of mutual interest of partners not only in each other, but also in joint activities. In the course of a common cause, each participant receives moral satisfaction.

It was proposed to allocate 2 times fewer levels by B.F. Lomov:

Macro level. A person’s relationships with other individuals are built according to social norms, customs and traditions.
Mesa level. Communication covers only a few substantive topics. Communication at this level can be either reusable or one-time.
Micro level. Interaction is built only on the basis of short contact: a handshake, a pantomic or facial act, a question and answer.

The micro level in the structure of communication is the foundation underlying all other communications.

Communication between people can be harmonious and complete only if there is a close relationship between non-verbal and verbal signals and the behavioral actions of the participants. The more individuals are focused on quality contact, the more strongly these factors need to be demonstrated.

Bottom line

From childhood, a person learns speech, which allows him to more quickly and easily convey his thoughts, objections and ideas. However, in the process of communication there are many hidden aspects that must be realized by a person in order to interact more deeply and accurately with others.

In the process of communication, it remains important to understand both the interlocutor himself and his messages that he conveyed to the person. If everything is perceived correctly, then the person will have no questions left. He will understand everything very clearly and clearly for himself, without any guesses and conjectures, which are often erroneous.

Manipulative communication

Manipulation. - hidden control of human behavior, carried out for the sake of some benefit of the one who controls. A person who, in his own interests, controls the behavior of another against his will is called a manipulator. Manipulation of consciousness is present in all spheres of public life.

A manipulator is a kind of puppeteer who uses “threads” to control others. Such threads can be human complexes, ambitions, public opinion, spiritual and moral values. Who uses manipulation and why:

Manipulation is used in cases where the purpose of manipulation is an action or intention that is immoral in the eyes of society;
They are manipulated by individuals for whom it is impossible to express their intentions or requests due to the influence of various complexes (feelings of guilt, feelings of superiority, increased anxiety, worries about the future, and others);
Naturally, politicians always manipulate. Just out of habit, so as not to lose shape;
Journalists, TV presenters, investigators, prosecutors, lawyers and other lawyers definitely manipulate.
manipulated by doctors, teachers and psychologists.

A manipulative system can be defined as a manipulative or gaming stereotype. Four main manipulative schemes can be distinguished.

An active manipulator attempts to control others through active methods. He avoids showing his weakness in relationships, accepting the role of being full of strength. Usually attracted by his social position.
A passive manipulator is the opposite of an active one. He decides that since he cannot control life, he will give up effort and allow himself to be controlled by an active manipulator
The competitive manipulator views life as a state that requires constant vigilance, since here you can win or lose - there is no other option. It oscillates between the methods of the first or second and can therefore be considered as something in between.
The fourth form of a manipulative system is a system of indifferent manipulation. The manipulator plays the role indifferently, hoping for nothing and trying to escape. “I don’t care” is his favorite phrase.

The first sign is that a person behaves unnaturally, insincerely and at the same time in a rote manner, i.e. plays the role that is most convenient for him at the moment. False notes in the voice, exaggerated or, conversely, unnaturally suppressed emotions are also a sign of manipulation. Manipulation, in addition to all this, also has verbal manifestations - these are all kinds of verbal cliches, cliches, banal figures of speech that do not carry a semantic load.

general information

The interactive side of communication is, in essence, the process of interaction between people. The founder of this direction, Gerberd Mead, believed that a person develops and realizes, understands himself better not with the help of the feedback from others, but directly at the moment of joint activity. He believed that if a person wants to change and become like someone, simply observing someone is not enough. The process will begin if they start doing something together, then, by contacting and touching with their true selves, they will unconsciously influence each other.

The very structure of joint activity consists of goals, that is, intended and expected ideal results. As you already know from the article about proper goal setting, each goal is divided into tasks to make it clearer how to implement it.

The next component of the structure is the motive, that is, what motivates all participants, inspires and gives energy for achievements. Then comes the interaction itself , and the final one is, of course, the very result of the common efforts.