Coordinated Management of Meaning

• Assumptions of Coordinated Management of Meaning

  Human beings live in communication, human beings co-create a social reality, information transaction is dependent on personal and interpersonal meanings.
• Human beings live in communication

  Communication is a way of living and doing things
• Human beings live in communication

  Social situations are created through interactions
• Human beings live in communication

  Because individuals create their own conversational reality, every interaction has the potential to be unique
• [Human beings live in communication] Communication should be contextualized to understand human behavior.
• Two concepts under "human beings co-create social reality"

  Social constructionism and social reality
• Social constructionism 


  The belief that people in conversations co-create social reality
• Asking "What are we making together?"

  Social constructionism
• Social reality

  Person's beliefs of how actions and meanings fit in his or her interpersonal encounters.
• In creating new social realities, realities are influenced by past conversations. Current conversations create new social realities as two people come from different point of views (from the past conversations).
• Personal meaning


  The unique experiences that an individual brings into an interaction
• Interpersonal meanings


  When two people agree with each other's interpretation
• Interpersonal meaning is co-created by participants
• Interpersonal meanings is negotiation based on both meanings from two people.
• Human beings organize meanings in a hierarchical manner (how much weight is given to a particular message)


  The Hierarchy of Organized Meaning
• In the hierarchy of organized meaning, higher levels interpret lower level meanings
• The hierarchy is a model rather than a fixed ordering system because meanings differ for individuals)
• Parts of the Hierarchy of Organized Meaning

  Content, Speech Act, Episodes, Relationships, Life script, Cultural patterns
• Content


  Converting raw data into meaning (A message without a context)
• Speech act


  Actions we perform through speaking
• Speech act


  Communicate intention and indicate how communication should be taken (Also include nonverbal communication)
• Episodes


  Communicaiton routines with defined beginnings, middles, and endings
• Relationships


  The agreement and understanding between two people
• Relationships


  Contracts which set guidelines, behavior, and boundaries in a conversation
• Life scripts

  Clusters of past and present episodes
• Life scripts


  COmmunicate the individuals' sense of self
• Cultural patterns

  Images of the world and a person's relationship to it
• Cultural patterns requires shared meanings and values
• Individualism


  Values personal needs or values over group ones
• Collectivism 


  Values group values and needs over personal ones