Identity, Perception and Relationships

评估你的身份和感知如何影响人际交往中的人际关系的沟通理解。

Journal Response Paper 2

Identity, Perception and Relationships

Goal: The goal of this journal response is to assess your understanding of how your identity and perception impacts interpersonal communication in your relationships.

Requirements: For this journal response, you should:
• Think of a recent experience with close friends, family or coworkers in which you inaccurately interpreted (i.e., made sense of) an interpersonal communication episode. 
• Reflect on your attributions and your attribution biases. Remember to consider each of the dimensions of attributions.
• Complete the gender and ethnic identity scales (see pages 2-3 of this assignment). Consider how your identity impacts your attributions.
• Answer the following questions based on the text and class discussion, using specific examples:

1. Briefly describe the communication episode that you reflected on. 

2. What were your reasons for making the inaccurate attribution? What attribution biases did you have?

3. What were your ethnic identity salience and gender conversation style scores? Do you think these aspects of your identity impacted your perception and attributions in this situation? If so, how? If not, why? What other aspects of your identity that might have impacted your communication behavior? 

4. How did your communication partner react to the situation? Was the misunderstanding able to be resolved? If so, how? If not, why?

Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, but answering truthfully will give you a better idea of areas in which your interpersonal communication competence can be improved!

**Journal Response should be 1-2 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font, proofread, and stapled.
**Papers should have a header that looks like this:

Your Name
COM 270 Interpersonal Communication
Journal Response Paper 2
Due Date



Last month, I had an inaccurately interpreted episode with a close friend, who is two years older than me. She asked me to check a paragraph of English she translated from Chinese one night, and I was busy with my own schoolwork, so I just picked several mistakes and told her to look up in the dictionary in very brief remarks, leaving no time for her to discuss with me. Somehow, she felt offended and accused me of speaking to her in a condescending way even when she was the older one. Back then, I thought she was just being ridiculous and the reason she felt in that way was because our conversation was via QQ rather than face to face communication since QQ couldn’t express my tone. However, two days later, when I gave it another thought, I couldn’t deny that I was really being condescending because my English had always been better than hers, and I was too proud to discuss with her.
 I think the main reasons for making the inaccurate attribution is because of my Actor-Observer Effect. I tend to make external attributions for my behavior and ascribe the result to our communication tool. I think I also have Self-Serving Bias because I often find excuses for my failures but take the credit of my own intellect or  hard-working for my successes. 
    My ethnic identity salience score is 23 and I get 8 “Yes” answers out of ten questions in the Feminine Communication Style category. Based on the results, ethnic identity is neither salient nor oblivion to my identity and I tend to communicate more through a feminine communication style. I believe only my gender conversation style has impacted my perception in this situation since both of us belong to the same ethnic group. Though my communication style is more of a feminine style, I also have 2 “No” answers which greatly affect my misinterpretation in this situation. On the one hand, I am not a good listener and didn’t give her just one minute to argue her point. On the other hand, I do mind talking about a situation where I was embarrassed. When my friend pointed out my misconduct, I felt embarrassed, so my first reaction was to avoid the fact. I think there are also other aspects of my masculine communication style which have impacted my behavior. In the category of Masculine Communication Style, I got 4 “Yes” answers. The aspects of tendency to criticize people and being a little sarcastic are the most import factors. When my friend showed her disagreement or anger, the first thing I did was to blame her for being ridiculous. Plus, I was being critical for her English and sarcastic for her behavior afterwards.. 
    My communication partner was pretty tolerant after I took QQ as the culprit. She just calmly listed many similar scenarios in which I made the same mistakes. The misunderstanding was able to be resolved because I realized my misinterpretation after further communication and apologized genuinely. Since then, I started to learn how to improve my way of communication either in real life or virtual world. I gradually change the way I think of myself and other people and learn to  talk in less brief way so that it would make my tone much gentler.  





Ethnic Identity Salience Scale

The following scale will help you understand to what degree your ethnic identity is important to you. Indicate the extent to which you agree with each statement, using the scale: 
1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.
1. I have spent time trying to figure out more about my own ethnic group. 1 2 3 4 5
2. I think a lot about how my life will be affected by my ethnic group membership. 1 2 3 4 5
3. I participate in cultural practices of my own ethnic group. 1 2 3 4 5
4. I am increasing my involvement in activities with my ethnic group. 1 2 3 4 5
5. I feel an overwhelming attachment to being a member of my ethnic group. 1 2 3 4 5
6. I am determined to find my ethnic identity. 1 2 3 4 5
7. I think a lot about how my life will be affected by my ethnic group membership. 1 2 3 4 5
8. The ethnic group I belong to is an important reflection of who I am. 1 2 3 4 5
9. Belonging to my ethnic group is an important part of my self-image. 1 2 3 4 5
10. I feel good about the ethnic group that I belong to. 1 2 3 4 5

To find your score, add your responses for each item. Total score: _____23________ 
A score that is greater than 30 indicates that your ethnic identity is highly salient to your identity. 
A score that is less than 20 suggests that your ethnic identity is not a very salient part of how you see your identity. 

[Source: Adapted from Ting-Toomey, S., Yee-Jung, K. K., Shapiro, R. B., Garcia, W., Wright, T. J., & Oetzel, J. G. (2000). Ethnic/cultural identity salience and conflict styles in four US ethnic groups. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24, 47-81.]



 

Is Your Conversation Style Feminine or Masculine?
Put yes (Y) or no (N) for the sentences below. 
Generally speaking, when I converse with people I know: 
1. I am a blunt person  N
2. I tend to criticize people Y
3. I am a little sarcastic Y
4. I ask a lot of questions in a conversation, to find out about people, their thoughts, etc. Y
5. I rarely admit I am wrong about something when I am in a conversation Y
6. I make eye-contact and use body language in conversations Y
7. I get personal with people in conversations; I may even gossip about a mutual friend Y
8. I compliment people spontaneously Y
9. I use four-letter words, coarse language N
10. I like to talk about myself Y
11. I am a good listener N
12. I prefer to talk about non-personal topics, such as unemployment, the economy, current affairs N
13. I usually talk about personal problems, people, their way of being, hopes, desires, my family Y
14. I get personal when I write a letter to someone, but not face to face in a conversation N
15. I help to keep a conversation flowing, I am not provocative, controversial, confrontational Y
16. I like to get my say, get in a few comments, no matter what the topic N
17. I don't assert something, but I might preface a comment with "I think…”, “Maybe…”, “I’m not sure but…" Y
18. If I ask a question, it is generally a yes-no answer I am looking for N
19. I don't mind talking about a situation where I was embarrassed or humiliated N
20. I tend to include a lot of specific details in my conversations Y
Feminine Communication Style – Yes for 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19 and 20   8 YES answers 
Masculine Communication Style – Yes for 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18    4 YES answers
Compare how many “Yes” answers you have for each set of numbers above to determine whether tend to communicate more through a feminine or masculine communication style (the higher number will be the style you tend to use).  

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