No doubt, communication is a source of interpersonal reinforcement. As a matter of fact, in all phases of organization, we use a lot of verbal & non-verbal communication, which affect greatly the working of the organization. Keeping in view importance of intrapersonal communication in organization, it is concisely discussed here.
Communication is what the receiver understands, not what the sender says (Davis & Newstrom 1989)[1]. During the process of interaction, human beings try to read each other's mind through verbal and non-verbal means of communication. Non-verbal means of communications are as important as verbal, may be more. For example, facial display is a component of an emotional response to an immediate stimulus; the smile can be classified as an insult, as playful, or can be used deceptively to escape aggressive counteraction (Scheflen)[2]. We take support of non-verbal communication because the overt accusation sometimes can be more dangerous. It is said that people exchange behaviours of aggression, domination, or antagonism, but more often, they interchange only displays or representations of dominance and submission behaviour (often unconsciously).
There is another important facet of non-verbal communication that displays though are not always intentional, consistent, reliable, or ambiguous, they are nevertheless a key part of our human system for interaction (Sims and Gioia et al1986)[3]. Rutter & Stephensen 1979 investigations shows that strangers tend to look at one another significantly more than friends. The function is to collect information about others[4]". During conversation, people not only take into account verbal words but also observe sitting/standing posture, tone, pitch and other body patterns, the context and the situation. Wiener et al. & Bull say that non-verbal communication is means to convey a message. There are ample evidence which shows that non-verbal behavior leaks the information regarding one's true intentions and feelings.” For example, listener might be angry even though speaker uses very polite words if non-verbal cues are not matching with the verbal cues. Here is an example to clarify.
“Upon entering a shop, the sales girl/boy walks quickly up to you and kindly asks if you need help. Aside from the words, the speed or the way with which you are approached is clearly a type of communication. It might mean "I'd really like to help you", or perhaps " hurry up we're about to close". Setting aside other reasons, non-verbal language plays a role whether one would feel comfortable or not in the shop.
Communication is a gestalt experience. In the context of communication, verbal communication works as `figure' and the non-verbal communication and the context work as `ground'. And, if there is a communication gap, it will be filled by past experience. Consider the following Figure 1 and Figure 2 to understand gestalt communication experience.
If we ask someone which square is overlapping in figure 1, the respondent will be perplexed to confirm which one is overlapping. The respondent can come up with different answers but without being sure. We do encounter this kind of phenomenon in the real life when we are unsure which information is giving us more and correct information regarding others' behaviour. When we experience such situations, we use the three following strategies:
(1) get more information; (2) deliberate interpretation from the available information; (3) or, remain confused.
We usually go for second option if there is no access to the first option, for we do not like to remain in confusion. The cognitive dissonance theory suggests that human beings try to maintain consistency among cognitive elements because inconsistency produces psychological discomfort (Fazio & Cooper,1983).
If there is a communication gap it will be filled with inference to avoid dissonance as shown in the above figure 2. If we ask people how many squares they see in the said figure, they will readily reply "two". The square 'C' is not complete but still we see two squares. The reason behind is that our perception is influenced by our previous understanding. When we interact with each other, if there is any inconsistency of message we fulfil the gap through our previous knowledge.
In Conclusion, inconsistent or double barrel communication which does not clear information to the listener hampers intrapersonal communication, which in return negatively affects the organization.
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[1] Davis, k. & I.W. Newstrom (1989): Human Behaviour and Work (p.71) [2] Body languages and the social order by Albert E.Scheflen (p.23-72) [3] Sims, H.P., D.A. Gioia et al. (1986): The Thinking Organization (p.138) [4] Body Movement & Interpersonal Communication, (p.12/124) Peter Bull (1983)
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