02. Levels of Communication

Dated: 21-12-2024

There are 5 levels

1. Intrapersonal Communication
2. Interpersonal Communication
3. Mediated Communication
4. Person-to-Group Communication
5. Mass Communication

Intrapersonal Communication

This is the communication within yourself.
You are playing the role of both sender and receiver yourself.
This is part of human growth and develops self-concept, self-determination and self-motivation etc.

The word intrapersonal means "within the person".

The Self

At the center of communication, it is your sense of self which plays the role how you communicate.

Self Concept

It is the image of who you are.
It is how you perceive yourself as a whole being as a combination of all dimensions such as psychological, spiritual, intellectual etc.

It also involves how others see you.
Research reveals that our sense of self comes from our interactions with others.

Self concept is made up of 2 components. 1. Self image 2. Self esteem

Self Image

It is a picture which describes you in your different roles.
There are 2 types of roles

Achieved

These are the roles which you want to achieve. Such as professor or engineer etc.

Ascribed

These are the roles with which you are born with such as brother, son etc.

To be an effective communicator, you should communicate differently in each role.

Self Esteem

It is your own evaluation of your performance in each role of your life.
It is affected by how others evaluate your performance in those roles.

Dependencies

The intrapersonal communication depends on following factors

Frame of Reference

Your frame of reference is your view of the world.
It structures the way you encode and decode messages.
Frame of reference consists of:

1. Beliefs
2. Attitudes
3. Values
4. Memory of experiences
5. Cultural Background
6. Stereotypes
7. Expectations
8. Self concept
9. Feelings
10. Level of stress
11. Thinking patterns
12. Other psychological factors

As a speaker, your understanding of frame of reference of the listeners allows your message to adapt to higher levels of clarity.
As a listener, attempting to understand the speaker's frame of reference allows you to better understand the speaker and your reaction to the speaker.

Creativity

It means to visualize something in a new, unique way.
Habitual and routine thinking patterns prevents free and open problem solving.

Self Talk

It is communication with yourself internally as if you were a different person.

Risk Taking Behavior

Your willingness to take risks largely depends on your interpretation of past experiences.
In communication, there is a risk of rejection.