Interconnections,
1st Edition

Part I: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION FOUNDATIONS.
1. Interpersonal Communication Overview.
Interpersonal Communication Defined. Models of Communication. Foundational Principles of Interpersonal Communication. Interpersonal Communication Channels.
2. Identity and the Self.
Identity. Cognition and Schemata. Identity Management. Self-Monitoring. Self-Portrayal and Social Media.
3. Individual and Intercultural Motivations.
Interpersonal Motivations. Beyond Initial Attraction. Group Membership and Attraction. Communication Cultures and Attraction. Intercultural Competence.
Part II: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION IN ACTION.
4. Verbal Messages.
Rhetorical Foundations. Characteristics of Language. Message Construction and Management. Verbal Theories.
5. Listening.
Comparing Hearing and Listening. Listening to Verbal Messages and Message Processing. Elements of Effective Listening. Hindrances to Effective Listening.
6. Nonverbal Messages and Perception.
Nonverbal Communication Basics. Nonverbal Communication Characteristics. Nonverbal Codes. Intercultural Challenges and Nonverbal Communication.
7. Maintaining Our Changing Relationships.
Relational Maintenance. Charting a Relationship. Relationship-Focused Behaviors.
8. Relational Difficulties.
Relational Transgressions. Aggression. Unhealthy Conflict. Deception. Infidelity. Jealousy and Envy.
Part III: UNIQUE INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION CONTEXTS.
9. Romantic Relationships.
Romantic Relationships. Love and Other Matters. Attachment.
10. Families.
Our First Relationships. Defining the Family. Types of Family Structures. Family Systems Theory. Types of Family Functions. Types of Family Challenges.
11. Workplace Interactions.
The Culture of Work. Tensions in Workplace Relationships. Popular Team-Based Work Contexts.

• Jonathan M. Bowman

  Jonathan M. Bowman is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of San Diego and a winner of the National Communication Association's Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education, the highest teaching award in his discipline. His research focuses on communication associated with intimacy and close relationships, with recent publications addressing male friendships. He was the recipient of the WSCA Distinguished Teaching Award, the Keck Faculty Fellowship for undergraduate research, the Innovations in Experiential Education Award for his commitment to high-impact practices and USD's Outstanding Preceptor Award for excellence in teaching and advising. He serves as a mentor to undergraduates in multiple capacities, including those involved in student government, Greek life, academic honors and campus faith-based organizations. Dr. Bowman's research program investigates interpersonal and small group communication processes in a variety of contexts, with an emphasis on intimacy and self-disclosure. His work has been published in numerous scholarly journals, including COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, THE JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, THE JOURNAL OF MEN'S STUDIES, SMALL GROUP RESEARCH and COMMUNICATION RESEARCH REPORTS, as well as multiple book chapters. His specialties include Interpersonal Communication, Small Group Communication, Self-Disclosure, Sex and Gender Differences, Intimacy and Friendship. Bowman is actively engaged in the NCA, working on multiple executive committees and serving as a delegate to the NCA Tuning project, a think tank that worked on developing core learning outcomes for the discipline. In addition to scholarly publications, Dr. Bowman has contributed his expertise to local and national media outlets, including newspapers, radio and television news programs.

• CONTEMPORARY FOCUS ON MEDIATED COMMUNICATION. Today's students spend as much or more time interacting with others via social media as they do in face-to-face conversation. INTERCONNECTIONS takes this as a given, referring often to issues that can arise from connecting on Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms. INTERCONNECTIONS focuses on students' current lived experience.

• TEACHING WITH STORYTELLING. The text's unique narrative style uses storytelling to engage students in otherwise difficult material through brief examples, video interactions and extended vignettes. Stories are at the root of interpersonal relationships, and throughout each chapter students read intriguing anecdotes about people in common communication situations.

• FEATURES TO ENGAGE STUDENTS. Six featured boxes in each chapter highlight human diversity, address the impact of technology on relationships, explore ethical dilemmas, help students gain insight into their personal relationships via questionnaires and journal writing, and use current media depictions of interpersonal relationships to illustrate key concepts. Each box ends with questions that ask students to reflect on the interpersonal interactions depicted in the narrative and apply it to their own lives.

• THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON RELATIONSHIPS. Emphasizing the role of technology in shaping our interpersonal interactions, "iPersonal" boxes in every chapter explore in depth the implications of innovative communication technology on human interaction in an increasingly mediated social environment.

• DIVERSITY ON CAMPUS AND IN THE COMMUNITY. "InterFace" boxes focus on specific praxis-based behaviors that can be applied directly to interactions with diverse others, combining both scholarship and practical advice to highlight some of the common challenges that an engaged student may face in an increasingly complex social world.

• INTERPERSONAL ETHICAL DILEMMAS. "Commendable Connections" boxes examines ethical issues that are widely known yet rarely discussed in a modern classroom context. Each boxed feature provides an extended example of an interpersonal communication dilemma, asking probing questions to encourage the exploration of ethical communication.

• PERSONAL INSIGHTS USING KEY INTERPERSONAL RESEARCH. "Let's Get INTRApersonal" boxes include scholarly questionnaires that students can use to gain insight into their own personal experiences. These reflective self-assessments use the scales and measures associated with key interpersonal research to enable students to collect unbiased behavioral data about themselves, which they can process at their own leisure or during class discussion.

• JOURNAL TOPICS FOR QUALITATIVELY INCLINED STUDENTS. "InterConnect" boxes share lay prompts to allow students to reflect in writing on their communication patterns and behaviors. By responding to journal prompts, an engaged student can consider the topic of each chapter from a more personal perspective.

• THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS AND RELATIONSHIP CONTEXTS. After receiving a solid foundation in theory in Parts I and II, students can approach the study of interpersonal communication the way they process it in their own lives: by scrutinizing specific relationship contexts. Part III is devoted to these contexts. By moving through family relationships to casual romantic encounters or early dating partners to long-term committed partners to a variety of workplace relationships, Part 3 allows for the specific application and explication of theory within contexts that students can understand.

• KEY CONCEPTS ILLUSTRATED BY CURRENT MEDIA DEPICTIONS. "Communication Currents" boxes use recent film and/or television selections to further expand upon chapter content. These media selections briefly illustrate key theories or concepts in an accessible, student-centered way. Embedded links in the e-book on MindTap allow one-click access to short clips from these television episodes.

• FLEXIBLE ORGANIZATION. Giving instructors complete flexibility, Parts I and II of the book can serve as a comprehensive stand-alone text in a traditional course structure, while Part III can be used as supplemental chapters or as reference materials and further readings for students.

• WRITTEN FOR MULTIPLE LEVELS. The book can be used for both lower- and upper-division courses, depending upon the instructor's selection of boxed features, additional readings and chapters from the final section of the book.

• PEDAGOGICAL AIDS. Every chapter opens with guiding questions to help students begin to process the concepts presented, especially the opening extended anecdote. Learning objectives spotlight what students need to focus on the most. Chapters end with discussion questions that provide lively starting points for class, group or dyadic conversations; "Making Connections" questions to help students synthesize concepts across chapters; and a quiz so students can test their comprehension. Throughout the chapter, marginal definitions call attention to key terms, which are also listed at chapter's end.

• EXTENSIVE CHAPTER-END REFERENCES. Each chapter ends with references that instructors can assign for a deeper consideration of critical concepts and that interested independent readers can peruse for further background and discussion.

Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

Cengage Testing, powered by Cognero® for Bowman's Interconnections: Interpersonal Communication Foundations
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Cengage Testing, powered by Cognero® for Bowman's Interconnections: Interpersonal Communication Foundations and Contexts, Instant Access
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Instructor's Website (with Cengage Testing, powered by Cognero®, JoinIn™ Student Response, ExamView®, Instructor's Resource Manual, Video) for Bowman's Interconnections: Interpersonal Communication Foundations
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MindTap: Interconnections 12 Months
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