INTERPERSONA
L&
INTERCULTURA
L
COMMUNICATIO
N
Michelle Decruyenaere
Communicatiewetenschappen
2022-2023 | S0215320
,Michelle Decruyenaere Communicatiewetenschappen 2022-2023
Inhoudsopgave
Case Study – Friends...................................................................................................................................... 2
Class 1: Lecture on different paradigms...............................................................................................................3
Class 2: What we talk about................................................................................................................................7
Class 3: How: Verbal communication.................................................................................................................12
Class 4: How – Facial expressions......................................................................................................................15
Class 5: How: Food communication...................................................................................................................19
Class 6: How – Body communication.................................................................................................................21
Class 7: Effect– Communication and cooperation.............................................................................................24
Class 8: Effect – Communication and conflict....................................................................................................28
Class 9 Effect - communication & comfort/consolation.....................................................................................33
Class 10 COMMUNICATION & silence................................................................................................................35
Critical reflection......................................................................................................................................... 38
Four misconceptions about nonverbal communication: The body never lies....................................................38
1
,Michelle Decruyenaere Communicatiewetenschappen 2022-2023
Case Study – Friends
I chose the Friends series for my case study. It is a series I have been watching all my life.
When I get bored, I quickly put on an episode because you can pick up anywhere in the
story. It seemed like the ideal series for answering my questions since the series has many
character-driven characters.
Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which
aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. The show
revolves around six friends in their 20s and 30s who live in Manhattan, New York City. They go
through all kinds of strange and funny things. Each episode tells its own story, but each
episode does have a clear storyline that follows one another.
When we need to zoom in on a character, I will be focusing on Ross Geller.
Ross Geller is the brother of Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox. Like his sister, Ross has
neurotic traits. He pronounces every word blatantly, worries incredibly about small things
and is not a star in relationships. He has been married three times and also three times
divorced.
While he is intellectually smart and can be polite, caring, thoughtful and kind, Ross is often
clumsy, oversensitive and socially awkward - taking the characteristics of the stereotypical
"loser nerd". He also has a dry, sarcastic and witty sense of humor that is second only to
Chandler's. He is the only member of the group of friends with a doctorate and, as such, can
be arrogant.
Ross seems to have an immature need to always be right. This is shown in " The One Where
Heckles Dies" when he finds out that Phoebe doesn't believe in evolution. Shocked by this,
he spends the rest of the episode pestering her and trying to get her to believe in evolution.
He is angered when Phoebe asks him why he has this need for everyone to always agree
with him. He seems to find people irrational if they won't conform to his point-of-view.
2
, Michelle Decruyenaere Communicatiewetenschappen 2022-2023
Class 1: Lecture on different paradigms
1.1 Define some (min 1 max 3) basic mental mechanisms
(needs/desires) relevant to your case. Explain what could have been
the (adaptive) function and potential (side)-effects
Wants and desires = what we hope to get/ accomplish
Needs = what we need to survive
For this question, I like to link the 3 chosen mechanisms. Conflict, Self-image and marriage.
Ross, despite being socially awkward, dates many women throughout the series. Due to his
unsuccessful marriage to Carol Willick, he started to develop fierce amounts of paranoia and
insecurities when it comes to women. Monica states that before Carol left Ross for Susan, he
was never paranoid or jealous... even though it was obvious to everyone except him that all
his previous girlfriends were cheating on him. Due to this, he does not seem to even trust
Rachel to be faithful to him and is often prone to jealousy and is quick to suspect his
girlfriends of cheating on him. Most of his dates are disrupted or completely ruined once his
paranoia or geekiness get the best of him.
These paranoias and insecurities often cause conflict in his relationships; for example, when
Rachel began spending a lot of time with a co-worker of hers named Mark Robinson, out of
paranoia he came to mistakenly suspect that she was having an affair, when in reality she
never considered her relationship with Mark to be romantic.
Though they are best friends, Ross often comes into conflict with Phoebe. His rationality and
Phoebe's self-devised beliefs lead to conflict over the theories of evolution, gravity, and
whether or not Phoebe's dead mother has been reincarnated as a cat.
1.2. Do all people involved share the same needs/desires?
Yes and no
Yes = universal needs: attachment, wellbeing, connection, desire to be loved (Ross cares
about what other people think about him)
How do we fill in these needs?
Nature = Nurture /= (F.e. falling in love Joey vs Ross)
3
L&
INTERCULTURA
L
COMMUNICATIO
N
Michelle Decruyenaere
Communicatiewetenschappen
2022-2023 | S0215320
,Michelle Decruyenaere Communicatiewetenschappen 2022-2023
Inhoudsopgave
Case Study – Friends...................................................................................................................................... 2
Class 1: Lecture on different paradigms...............................................................................................................3
Class 2: What we talk about................................................................................................................................7
Class 3: How: Verbal communication.................................................................................................................12
Class 4: How – Facial expressions......................................................................................................................15
Class 5: How: Food communication...................................................................................................................19
Class 6: How – Body communication.................................................................................................................21
Class 7: Effect– Communication and cooperation.............................................................................................24
Class 8: Effect – Communication and conflict....................................................................................................28
Class 9 Effect - communication & comfort/consolation.....................................................................................33
Class 10 COMMUNICATION & silence................................................................................................................35
Critical reflection......................................................................................................................................... 38
Four misconceptions about nonverbal communication: The body never lies....................................................38
1
,Michelle Decruyenaere Communicatiewetenschappen 2022-2023
Case Study – Friends
I chose the Friends series for my case study. It is a series I have been watching all my life.
When I get bored, I quickly put on an episode because you can pick up anywhere in the
story. It seemed like the ideal series for answering my questions since the series has many
character-driven characters.
Friends is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which
aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. The show
revolves around six friends in their 20s and 30s who live in Manhattan, New York City. They go
through all kinds of strange and funny things. Each episode tells its own story, but each
episode does have a clear storyline that follows one another.
When we need to zoom in on a character, I will be focusing on Ross Geller.
Ross Geller is the brother of Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox. Like his sister, Ross has
neurotic traits. He pronounces every word blatantly, worries incredibly about small things
and is not a star in relationships. He has been married three times and also three times
divorced.
While he is intellectually smart and can be polite, caring, thoughtful and kind, Ross is often
clumsy, oversensitive and socially awkward - taking the characteristics of the stereotypical
"loser nerd". He also has a dry, sarcastic and witty sense of humor that is second only to
Chandler's. He is the only member of the group of friends with a doctorate and, as such, can
be arrogant.
Ross seems to have an immature need to always be right. This is shown in " The One Where
Heckles Dies" when he finds out that Phoebe doesn't believe in evolution. Shocked by this,
he spends the rest of the episode pestering her and trying to get her to believe in evolution.
He is angered when Phoebe asks him why he has this need for everyone to always agree
with him. He seems to find people irrational if they won't conform to his point-of-view.
2
, Michelle Decruyenaere Communicatiewetenschappen 2022-2023
Class 1: Lecture on different paradigms
1.1 Define some (min 1 max 3) basic mental mechanisms
(needs/desires) relevant to your case. Explain what could have been
the (adaptive) function and potential (side)-effects
Wants and desires = what we hope to get/ accomplish
Needs = what we need to survive
For this question, I like to link the 3 chosen mechanisms. Conflict, Self-image and marriage.
Ross, despite being socially awkward, dates many women throughout the series. Due to his
unsuccessful marriage to Carol Willick, he started to develop fierce amounts of paranoia and
insecurities when it comes to women. Monica states that before Carol left Ross for Susan, he
was never paranoid or jealous... even though it was obvious to everyone except him that all
his previous girlfriends were cheating on him. Due to this, he does not seem to even trust
Rachel to be faithful to him and is often prone to jealousy and is quick to suspect his
girlfriends of cheating on him. Most of his dates are disrupted or completely ruined once his
paranoia or geekiness get the best of him.
These paranoias and insecurities often cause conflict in his relationships; for example, when
Rachel began spending a lot of time with a co-worker of hers named Mark Robinson, out of
paranoia he came to mistakenly suspect that she was having an affair, when in reality she
never considered her relationship with Mark to be romantic.
Though they are best friends, Ross often comes into conflict with Phoebe. His rationality and
Phoebe's self-devised beliefs lead to conflict over the theories of evolution, gravity, and
whether or not Phoebe's dead mother has been reincarnated as a cat.
1.2. Do all people involved share the same needs/desires?
Yes and no
Yes = universal needs: attachment, wellbeing, connection, desire to be loved (Ross cares
about what other people think about him)
How do we fill in these needs?
Nature = Nurture /= (F.e. falling in love Joey vs Ross)
3
