{"id":118,"date":"2020-03-03T09:03:02","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T14:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/communicationnursing\/?post_type=chapter&p=118"},"modified":"2020-06-07T12:04:25","modified_gmt":"2020-06-07T16:04:25","slug":"interpersonal-communication","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/communicationnursing\/chapter\/interpersonal-communication\/","title":{"raw":"Interpersonal Communication","rendered":"Interpersonal Communication"},"content":{"raw":"Interpersonal communication can be defined as the process of exchanging messages between people whose lives mutually influence<\/strong> one another. This kind of communication involves two or more people who are interdependent<\/strong>. For example, the communication you engage in with family, friends, and peers is considered interpersonal communication, as illustrated in Figure 3.1<\/strong>. Interpersonal communication builds, maintains, and evolves relationships, so it is foundational to many aspects of everyday life.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nFigure 3.1<\/strong>: Example of interpersonal communication\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nInterpersonal communication is interactive and structured by social expectations<\/strong>, including unspoken norms that are assumed or taken for granted during language exchange. These norms are often culturally influenced and contextually relevant, but although they are instituted early in life, they are not immutable \u2013 they change and evolve over time. For example, how you greet people (vocal intonation, whether you address someone by their prefix, whether you shake hands or bow) can change over the years. Furthermore, social expectations are shaped by the parties involved, so how you speak with friends will be different from how you speak with a professor, for example.\r\n\r\nInterpersonal communication is also usually goal-oriented<\/strong> and fulfills instrumental and relational needs.\r\n