How do relationships affect culture? October Blog Post

The sentence I want to focus on comes from the textbook in chapter 10 that states, "All interpersonal relationships exist within culture." Interpersonal communication involves communicating with someone that you consider to have a close relationship with, whether that be a romantic partner or your parents. Technology has played a huge role in how we communicate in these interpersonal relationships, such as using social media to communicate or Skype. We communicate with these people to gain a sense of the other and form closer relationships in doing so.

Communication plays a huge role in our interpersonal relationships, and without communication most relationships deteriorate or are no longer seen as interpersonal relationships. People create a culture and culture can change and emerge.  Geertz describes culture being able to change as spinning, comparing humans to spiders in this way. Humans are able to make and remake culture. Spinning in a way can be compared to communication. Humans also adjust their communication and understand meanings and messages as what they make it out to be, so culture is what we make of it. A culture is always alive and changing, and who we decide to communicate with builds culture.


  How we identify ourselves to others,and what we are willing to show others is known as our front stage. Our back stage self is what w do in private or "behind the scenes". The context and outside factors shapes oneself and how we view interpersonal relationships. The textbook defines frame as, " the environment or set of circumstances that helps you understand how to process or interpret an instance of communication." The frame helps the viewer get a better understanding of the context and interpret communication. The frame also helps guide us in ways to communicate in a given situation. It also helps us to create meanings in different sets of context.

"All communication relies on patterns." As humans we like to know what to expect in a given situation. When we go into a situations that are unexpected we would likely struggle and feel overwhelmed. When building relationships with others we have norms, or patterns, to get to know someone better. If we are in classroom we may ask the person sitting next to us what their major is, and what grade they are in. When interacting with others we also read the situation, and interact in a certain way because of pattern. Although, some people may misread situations. Rituals produce meaning.

Communication is key when wanting to stay in relationships. The textbook defines relational dialectics as, " helping us explore how our relational lives are always in flux and always shaped by contradictory impulses that arise in and through our communication. When deciding to open up to someone and to share information that my make you vulnerable is what it means to connect with someone else. Relationships can be hard work and involves tensions, whether that be with a romantic partner, family members, etc. When talking with people from an I-it mode you are viewing this person as more of an object. When talking with someone in the I-thou mode you are treating them as a person you respect. Building relationships is complex, but when you are listening and talking to someone with respect it maintains and builds relationships.