INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: PSYCHOLINGUISTIC ASPECT

Introduction

Interpersonal communication is the process of exchanging messages and their interpretation by two or more individuals who come into contact with each other. Interpersonal communication involves a psychological aspect, which regulates and aggravates the process of bilateral exchange of information. Since interpersonal communication is achieved by direct contact between the subjects of communication, in this case there is a possibility of feedback.

Interpersonal communication is reflected in its functions: information, expressive, motivational and social, which gives it a more standard, rational and instrumental character compared with the mass forms of communication.

The basis for the theoretical foundation of interpersonal communication is the theory of speech activity as verbal means of communication play a major role in the process of interpersonal interaction. L. Vygotsky and A. Leontiev considered this activity in terms of psycholinguistic foundations of the behavioral theory. As the key factors of speech communication, they identified motive and purpose. The motive correlates with communicative activity, it serves as a subject’s motivation for activity. The goal is almost always deliberate, while the motive may be understood, but may be non-deliberate. Motive and purpose may be the same when the plan is achieved. In the process of interpersonal communication, it is important to be able to unravel the interlocutor’s motive, especially if you the meaning of his or her statements is unclear.

Interpersonal communication can help to change opinions, attitudes of individuals involved in the exchange of information. Social relations are the social base of motives. The motivational basis of interpersonal communication can be studied on the basis of the developed motivational theories. They can be divided into the motivational theories of equilibrium and motivational theories of satisfying the needs. [10, p. 61—62].

Interpersonal communication can be successful and effective if the communicators have reached the spaced targets to the highest extent, to which their high degree of communicative competence contributes.

Communicative competence in the process of interpersonal communication is manifested in the following:

- the ability to predict the communicative situation, navigate it;

- the ability to find a communicative structure adequate to the subject of communication and implement the communicative intent;

- the ability to analyze one’s own psychological potential and the potential of the partner;

- skills self-tuning, self-regulation in communication, including the ability to overcome psychological barriers, remove the unnecessary stress, emotionally adjust to the situation, distribute the efforts in communication.

The American psychologists P. Watzlawick is credited in the description of some properties of communication of great practical importance in the context of interpersonal interaction, called axioms of human communication. The knowledge of these properties allows us to explain what the researchers called pathological communication, i.e., the complications that can lead to difficulties or even deadlocks of interpersonal communication. [1, p. 184-190].

All communication processes occur in a particular context. Forming the specific context of communication may be the time and place of the meeting, the intention and purpose of dialogue participants, the presence or absence of unauthorized persons, group norms, etc.

The important characteristics of the situation, influencing the behavior of people are the following: familiar - unfamiliar; formal - informal; communication-oriented; surface - deep. There are the following types of situations:

- official events;

- personal interaction with close friends or relatives;

- casual, occasional meetings with friends;

- formal contacts at home and at work;

- conflict and negotiation;

- group discussion.

This classification situation is not unique. E. Berne considers the situation from the perspective of the need to structure time in interpersonal interaction. He proposes to consider the following ways of structuring time: isolation; rituals; pastime; joint activities; games. [1, p. 340-344].  Another classification of social situations distinguishes three levels of communication depending on the degree of personal involvement of participants in the transformation of relations: social and role; business; intimate and personal. Each level of communication requires appropriate behavior models, ways of interacting. The most important condition of interpersonal communication is the ability of an individual to identify such standard, typical social situations and know how to behave in them. People who are quite educated, can understand the behavior of each other, coordinate their actions and goals, find common ground and agree. This is a typical situation. There are also difficult situations - the situations of confrontation and expressions of discontent; situations of disapproval or criticism from others. An important aspect of the analysis of interpersonal communication is perception as a process of selection, organization and interpretation of the sensory data.

There are some rules following which will organize the management of one’s perception. Rule 1. The process of perception has a personal basis: different people have different perceptions and interpretation of the same signals. Rule 2. If we assume that it is our interpretations that most accurately reflect the reality, we may have difficulties in interpersonal communication. Rule 3. If we allow the vital interests, emotions, needs to "control" our perception, we may skip important messages from other people sent to us.

The formed rules allow the overall process of human perception to identify what belongs to the people's perception of things, that is the perception of each other. The main regulator in the construction of communication is the image of the partner to whom the communication message is sent. During the formation, it is the first impression of the person that is the most important, it can affect the subsequent communication between people.

Social stereotypes are the basis of the formation of the first impression and social stereotyping is the main mechanism of this process. [9, p. 84].  Social stereotype is a stable representation of any events or people, typical of the ideas of one or another group.

An important characteristic of the communicative competence is the understanding of one’s own communicative style and the ability to recognize the partner’s style.

The concept of communicative style denotes the usual, sustainable modes of behavior specific to the person that he or she uses when establishing relationships and interactions with others. Analysis of interpersonal interaction styles addressed by Many prominent psychologists - A. Adler, K. Horney, V. Satir, D. Luft, H. Ingham – addressed the analysis of interpersonal interaction styles. These studies identified common patterns of behavior in interpersonal interaction: the willingness to move closer to the people (focus on people; openness); the desire to avoid them (orientation against people, isolation); focus on fight (orientation against people, dominance); the willingness and readiness to obey (demonstration of weakness, self-abasement).

Thus, communication styles are shown as a set of specific actions and skills corresponding to the psychological orientation of the individual.