Research Paper on:
Theories of Interpersonal Communication

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
discovered that even plants can communicate with one another. What separates humans from other species however is an added dimension to communication,  called interpersonal communication. As with many other topics regarding sociology and human beings, many theories have sprung up regarding interpersonal communication and how it is defined. This paper  will define some of these interpersonal communication theories, develop a hypothetical situation between two people, and then attempt to define the situation using these theories.  Before getting started on this paper however, it would be a good idea to have a general definition of interpersonal communication. When it comes to human  beings, such communication involves more than simply for dynamics of speaking with one another. In short, a basic definition of interpersonal communication is "a selective, systematic, unique and ongoing  process of interaction between individuals who reflect and build personal knowledge of one another as they create meanings" (Halverson-Wente, 2003). The  keys to the above definition include "ongoing," "knowledge" and finally, "interaction." While theories about interpersonal communication differ, all of them share these common terms. Brief theory descriptions  As mentioned before, the study of interpersonal communication has yielded many theories. We will discuss them as follows.  Attribution Theory. This theory assumes people are always trying to search for a reason behind certain behaviors of other people (Heider, 1958). In other words, there  must be a behavioral cause for each type of behavior (Heider, 1958). Such causes can include a persons desire to perform the behavior; because that person was able to