INTERPERSONAL AND INTERCULTURAL
COMMUNICATION
INHOUDSOPGAVE
Class 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6
M. Buber .............................................................................................................................................................. 6
… And Levinas ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Approaches.......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Interpersonal communication explained in 5 steps ............................................................................................. 8
1) Uniqueness .......................................................................................................................................... 8
2) Intrinsic rewards .................................................................................................................................. 9
3) Irreplaceabillity.................................................................................................................................... 9
4) Intimate – disclosure ........................................................................................................................... 9
5) Interdependence ............................................................................................................................... 11
Chapter one: What interpersonal relations are and why they matter… ........................................................... 12
In every day life ............................................................................................................................................. 12
In (social) sciences ......................................................................................................................................... 12
In sum ............................................................................................................................................................ 14
Practical information......................................................................................................................................... 14
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Class 2: How to study interpersonal relations in modern societies ................................................................. 14
A) Human universals approach .................................................................................................................. 15
1) Mind >< Brain as a physical system ................................................................................................... 15
2) Our neural ciruits were designed by natural selection ..................................................................... 16
3) Different neural circuits are specialized for solving different adaptive problems ............................ 17
In steps .............................................................................................................................................................. 20
Step 1 – The ANCESTRAL CONTEXT is the set of selection pressures that moulded the human mind ........ 20
Step 2 – The ONTOLOGICAL CONTEXT (growing up, your personal history) ............................................... 21
Step 3 – Also the DISTANT CULTURAL PAST will define HOW you execute WHAT the mental mechanism
wants to achieve. .......................................................................................................................................... 22
Step 4 – Every individual behaves differently at different times. ................................................................ 23
4) Consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg ...................................................................................... 25
5) our modern skulls house a stone age mind ...................................................................................... 25
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 25
B) Group and individual differences........................................................................................................... 25
Us versus them: coalitional categorization ................................................................................................... 25
Sex, Race and Age: Race can be erased ........................................................................................................ 28
1
, East, West, inter-dependents and the rest ................................................................................................... 30
Many of us are WEIRD .................................................................................................................................. 31
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 31
C) Interpersonal relations in the digital age .............................................................................................. 31
How will we look at interpersonal relations in the Digital Age? ................................................................... 31
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 36
Class 3: The bright side of interpersonal relations: Cooperation and closeness ............................................. 36
A) Human Universals approach ......................................................................................................................... 36
When did prosocial behavior emerge? ......................................................................................................... 36
Social dilemmas................................................................................................................................................. 37
Why do we cooperate? ................................................................................................................................. 38
Impersonal cooperation .................................................................................................................................... 43
Watch me help others ................................................................................................................................... 43
Some more mechanisms related to prosocial behaviors .............................................................................. 43
Can social exchange theory explain friendship? ........................................................................................... 46
Alliance hypothesis ....................................................................................................................................... 47
Exam (case!!!) questions ................................................................................................................................... 48
B) Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................. 49
Why individual differences? .......................................................................................................................... 49
Love and Resources: sex and gender differences in support ........................................................................ 51
Conforming friendships (Study in Belgium) .................................................................................................. 51
As sciences progresses .................................................................................................................................. 52
Most people are good: cross-cultural differences in cooperation ................................................................ 52
Exam (case!!!) questions ................................................................................................................................... 52
C) Digital age ..................................................................................................................................................... 53
I can’t look you in the eye: Mismatch Theory and cooperation online......................................................... 53
SWITCH: not every meeting should be an online/offline meeting ............................................................... 53
It’s complicated: social cohesion in the Digital Age needs critical attention ................................................ 54
Three main features intrinsic to platform design that affect social cohesion: ............................................. 55
What if we could use social feedback mechanisms to counter destructive forces like misinformation? .... 56
Exam (case) questions ....................................................................................................................................... 57
Class 4 : The dark side of interpersonal relations; agression and conflict ....................................................... 57
Human Universals Approach ............................................................................................................................. 57
Homocide ...................................................................................................................................................... 58
How do we navigate the storms of life? The diversity of ways in which conflict manifests ......................... 58
It starts with a scream: the development of conflict over a lifetime ............................................................ 61
Parochial cooperation: the shadows of acting prosocial .............................................................................. 62
Communicating conflict without violence and with empathy ...................................................................... 63
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................. 66
Group and individual differences ...................................................................................................................... 67
Dealing with conflict across cultures: face negotiation theory (TingToomey) .............................................. 67
Personality and individual differences in conflict: a Dark Triad .................................................................... 69
2
, A few good men: Direct and indirect aggression in men and women .......................................................... 70
Clash: How climate changes influence aggression in interpersonal relations .............................................. 71
Exams questions............................................................................................................................................ 72
Digital age ......................................................................................................................................................... 72
The cockpit effect: A computer mediated perspective on conflict ............................................................... 72
Input and output mismatch in online conflict: Deeper, darker and you cannot escape............................... 73
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................. 73
Class 5: Cooperation – bonding conflict (Verbal – Language) .......................................................................... 74
Human language is unique................................................................................................................................ 74
Trait x proximate: how does it operate? Mechanistic, effects...................................................................... 74
The evolution of language: ontogeny and phylogeny of language use ............................................................. 76
How did it evolve? How does it develop? ..................................................................................................... 76
The functions of language: why language evolved ........................................................................................... 79
Why did it come to existence? ...................................................................................................................... 79
Exam and case questions .................................................................................................................................. 85
Group and Individual Differences ...................................................................................................................... 85
Dialects, pidgin, creole and slang .................................................................................................................. 85
Proximate LEVEL of explanation (How it works) ........................................................................................... 86
Mean girls and other people fond of gossip ................................................................................................. 88
Age differences in language use.................................................................................................................... 89
Gossip & SVO................................................................................................................................................. 90
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 91
Digital age ......................................................................................................................................................... 91
Digilects ......................................................................................................................................................... 91
Input Mismatch: Celebrity Gossip ................................................................................................................. 92
Output Mismatch: from storytelling to storySelling ..................................................................................... 93
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 94
Class 6: Cooperation – Bonding Conflict (Facial/body exporessions) .............................................................. 94
Human universals approach .............................................................................................................................. 94
Emotions, feelings & affect ........................................................................................................................... 94
Misreading Darwin ........................................................................................................................................ 96
Gut feelings ................................................................................................................................................... 98
Universal facial expressions - Ekman ............................................................................................................ 98
Conclusion Ekman ....................................................................................................................................... 100
CONTEXT ALWAYS MATTERS To sum up the Human UNiversals approach to facial expressions .............. 101
Exam and case questions ................................................................................................................................ 101
Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................... 102
Facial expressions in people who are blind ................................................................................................. 102
MINE and OURS: The expression of emotions in individualistic and collectivistic mindsets ...................... 102
Your personal Atlas of Emotions and Facial Dialects .................................................................................. 104
Facial expressions and autism: A two-way struggle .................................................................................... 106
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 107
3
, Digital age ....................................................................................................................................................... 108
Lost in Translation: Emojis as rich or poor forms of communication .......................................................... 108
Gut Feelings in the Digital Age .................................................................................................................... 109
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 109
Chapter 8: An edible system of interpersonal communication ..................................................................... 110
A Taste for Variety: The Uniqueness of the Human Diet ................................................................................. 110
Food Variety as an Evolutionary Force for Cooperation .................................................................................. 111
From survival to symbolism: Foodways as an Edible System of Communication ............................................ 112
Acquire ........................................................................................................................................................ 112
Exchange/redistribute food resources ........................................................................................................ 114
Exchange crucial knowledge about what was edible or not ....................................................................... 115
Experimental studies ................................................................................................................................... 116
As a by-product food (choice) also became a social marker at the level of .................................................... 118
WHAT we eat .............................................................................................................................................. 118
WHO we SHARE food with .......................................................................................................................... 119
Our KNOWLEDGE about food ..................................................................................................................... 119
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 119
Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................... 119
Culinary Capital: Foodways and social power ............................................................................................. 119
To (m)eat or not to (m)eat: on exclusion diets and social exclusion .......................................................... 120
The Family Meal as a WEIRD ideal .............................................................................................................. 121
Meat & Pancakes: Sex and gender in the kitchen ....................................................................................... 122
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 122
Guest Lecture Elina Vrijsen .............................................................................................................................. 122
Icebreaker – food and identity .................................................................................................................... 123
Theoretical conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 123
Chapter 9: The sound of silence in interpersonal relations ........................................................................... 124
Human universals approach ............................................................................................................................ 124
Types of interpersonal silence .................................................................................................................... 124
Types of interpersonal silence .................................................................................................................... 125
Silence as an act: The power of silence ....................................................................................................... 127
Silence as a topic: Taboos as cultural adaptations and irrational traditions ............................................... 133
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 136
Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................... 136
Silence, Self-Esteem & Introversion: individual differences in social silence .............................................. 136
The weird-ness of silence in individualistic and collectivistic mindsets ...................................................... 137
Silenced by Art: Awe and its effect on interpersonal relations ................................................................... 138
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 139
Digital age ....................................................................................................................................................... 140
Breaking the waves: Breaking the Silence Online ....................................................................................... 140
Lurking: Silently Peeping into Each Other’s Lives ........................................................................................ 141
Phubbing: Silenced by social media ............................................................................................................ 141
4
COMMUNICATION
INHOUDSOPGAVE
Class 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6
M. Buber .............................................................................................................................................................. 6
… And Levinas ...................................................................................................................................................... 6
Approaches.......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Interpersonal communication explained in 5 steps ............................................................................................. 8
1) Uniqueness .......................................................................................................................................... 8
2) Intrinsic rewards .................................................................................................................................. 9
3) Irreplaceabillity.................................................................................................................................... 9
4) Intimate – disclosure ........................................................................................................................... 9
5) Interdependence ............................................................................................................................... 11
Chapter one: What interpersonal relations are and why they matter… ........................................................... 12
In every day life ............................................................................................................................................. 12
In (social) sciences ......................................................................................................................................... 12
In sum ............................................................................................................................................................ 14
Practical information......................................................................................................................................... 14
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 14
Class 2: How to study interpersonal relations in modern societies ................................................................. 14
A) Human universals approach .................................................................................................................. 15
1) Mind >< Brain as a physical system ................................................................................................... 15
2) Our neural ciruits were designed by natural selection ..................................................................... 16
3) Different neural circuits are specialized for solving different adaptive problems ............................ 17
In steps .............................................................................................................................................................. 20
Step 1 – The ANCESTRAL CONTEXT is the set of selection pressures that moulded the human mind ........ 20
Step 2 – The ONTOLOGICAL CONTEXT (growing up, your personal history) ............................................... 21
Step 3 – Also the DISTANT CULTURAL PAST will define HOW you execute WHAT the mental mechanism
wants to achieve. .......................................................................................................................................... 22
Step 4 – Every individual behaves differently at different times. ................................................................ 23
4) Consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg ...................................................................................... 25
5) our modern skulls house a stone age mind ...................................................................................... 25
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 25
B) Group and individual differences........................................................................................................... 25
Us versus them: coalitional categorization ................................................................................................... 25
Sex, Race and Age: Race can be erased ........................................................................................................ 28
1
, East, West, inter-dependents and the rest ................................................................................................... 30
Many of us are WEIRD .................................................................................................................................. 31
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 31
C) Interpersonal relations in the digital age .............................................................................................. 31
How will we look at interpersonal relations in the Digital Age? ................................................................... 31
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 36
Class 3: The bright side of interpersonal relations: Cooperation and closeness ............................................. 36
A) Human Universals approach ......................................................................................................................... 36
When did prosocial behavior emerge? ......................................................................................................... 36
Social dilemmas................................................................................................................................................. 37
Why do we cooperate? ................................................................................................................................. 38
Impersonal cooperation .................................................................................................................................... 43
Watch me help others ................................................................................................................................... 43
Some more mechanisms related to prosocial behaviors .............................................................................. 43
Can social exchange theory explain friendship? ........................................................................................... 46
Alliance hypothesis ....................................................................................................................................... 47
Exam (case!!!) questions ................................................................................................................................... 48
B) Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................. 49
Why individual differences? .......................................................................................................................... 49
Love and Resources: sex and gender differences in support ........................................................................ 51
Conforming friendships (Study in Belgium) .................................................................................................. 51
As sciences progresses .................................................................................................................................. 52
Most people are good: cross-cultural differences in cooperation ................................................................ 52
Exam (case!!!) questions ................................................................................................................................... 52
C) Digital age ..................................................................................................................................................... 53
I can’t look you in the eye: Mismatch Theory and cooperation online......................................................... 53
SWITCH: not every meeting should be an online/offline meeting ............................................................... 53
It’s complicated: social cohesion in the Digital Age needs critical attention ................................................ 54
Three main features intrinsic to platform design that affect social cohesion: ............................................. 55
What if we could use social feedback mechanisms to counter destructive forces like misinformation? .... 56
Exam (case) questions ....................................................................................................................................... 57
Class 4 : The dark side of interpersonal relations; agression and conflict ....................................................... 57
Human Universals Approach ............................................................................................................................. 57
Homocide ...................................................................................................................................................... 58
How do we navigate the storms of life? The diversity of ways in which conflict manifests ......................... 58
It starts with a scream: the development of conflict over a lifetime ............................................................ 61
Parochial cooperation: the shadows of acting prosocial .............................................................................. 62
Communicating conflict without violence and with empathy ...................................................................... 63
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................. 66
Group and individual differences ...................................................................................................................... 67
Dealing with conflict across cultures: face negotiation theory (TingToomey) .............................................. 67
Personality and individual differences in conflict: a Dark Triad .................................................................... 69
2
, A few good men: Direct and indirect aggression in men and women .......................................................... 70
Clash: How climate changes influence aggression in interpersonal relations .............................................. 71
Exams questions............................................................................................................................................ 72
Digital age ......................................................................................................................................................... 72
The cockpit effect: A computer mediated perspective on conflict ............................................................... 72
Input and output mismatch in online conflict: Deeper, darker and you cannot escape............................... 73
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................. 73
Class 5: Cooperation – bonding conflict (Verbal – Language) .......................................................................... 74
Human language is unique................................................................................................................................ 74
Trait x proximate: how does it operate? Mechanistic, effects...................................................................... 74
The evolution of language: ontogeny and phylogeny of language use ............................................................. 76
How did it evolve? How does it develop? ..................................................................................................... 76
The functions of language: why language evolved ........................................................................................... 79
Why did it come to existence? ...................................................................................................................... 79
Exam and case questions .................................................................................................................................. 85
Group and Individual Differences ...................................................................................................................... 85
Dialects, pidgin, creole and slang .................................................................................................................. 85
Proximate LEVEL of explanation (How it works) ........................................................................................... 86
Mean girls and other people fond of gossip ................................................................................................. 88
Age differences in language use.................................................................................................................... 89
Gossip & SVO................................................................................................................................................. 90
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 91
Digital age ......................................................................................................................................................... 91
Digilects ......................................................................................................................................................... 91
Input Mismatch: Celebrity Gossip ................................................................................................................. 92
Output Mismatch: from storytelling to storySelling ..................................................................................... 93
Exam questions ................................................................................................................................................. 94
Class 6: Cooperation – Bonding Conflict (Facial/body exporessions) .............................................................. 94
Human universals approach .............................................................................................................................. 94
Emotions, feelings & affect ........................................................................................................................... 94
Misreading Darwin ........................................................................................................................................ 96
Gut feelings ................................................................................................................................................... 98
Universal facial expressions - Ekman ............................................................................................................ 98
Conclusion Ekman ....................................................................................................................................... 100
CONTEXT ALWAYS MATTERS To sum up the Human UNiversals approach to facial expressions .............. 101
Exam and case questions ................................................................................................................................ 101
Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................... 102
Facial expressions in people who are blind ................................................................................................. 102
MINE and OURS: The expression of emotions in individualistic and collectivistic mindsets ...................... 102
Your personal Atlas of Emotions and Facial Dialects .................................................................................. 104
Facial expressions and autism: A two-way struggle .................................................................................... 106
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 107
3
, Digital age ....................................................................................................................................................... 108
Lost in Translation: Emojis as rich or poor forms of communication .......................................................... 108
Gut Feelings in the Digital Age .................................................................................................................... 109
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 109
Chapter 8: An edible system of interpersonal communication ..................................................................... 110
A Taste for Variety: The Uniqueness of the Human Diet ................................................................................. 110
Food Variety as an Evolutionary Force for Cooperation .................................................................................. 111
From survival to symbolism: Foodways as an Edible System of Communication ............................................ 112
Acquire ........................................................................................................................................................ 112
Exchange/redistribute food resources ........................................................................................................ 114
Exchange crucial knowledge about what was edible or not ....................................................................... 115
Experimental studies ................................................................................................................................... 116
As a by-product food (choice) also became a social marker at the level of .................................................... 118
WHAT we eat .............................................................................................................................................. 118
WHO we SHARE food with .......................................................................................................................... 119
Our KNOWLEDGE about food ..................................................................................................................... 119
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 119
Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................... 119
Culinary Capital: Foodways and social power ............................................................................................. 119
To (m)eat or not to (m)eat: on exclusion diets and social exclusion .......................................................... 120
The Family Meal as a WEIRD ideal .............................................................................................................. 121
Meat & Pancakes: Sex and gender in the kitchen ....................................................................................... 122
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 122
Guest Lecture Elina Vrijsen .............................................................................................................................. 122
Icebreaker – food and identity .................................................................................................................... 123
Theoretical conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 123
Chapter 9: The sound of silence in interpersonal relations ........................................................................... 124
Human universals approach ............................................................................................................................ 124
Types of interpersonal silence .................................................................................................................... 124
Types of interpersonal silence .................................................................................................................... 125
Silence as an act: The power of silence ....................................................................................................... 127
Silence as a topic: Taboos as cultural adaptations and irrational traditions ............................................... 133
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 136
Group and individual differences .................................................................................................................... 136
Silence, Self-Esteem & Introversion: individual differences in social silence .............................................. 136
The weird-ness of silence in individualistic and collectivistic mindsets ...................................................... 137
Silenced by Art: Awe and its effect on interpersonal relations ................................................................... 138
Exam questions ............................................................................................................................................... 139
Digital age ....................................................................................................................................................... 140
Breaking the waves: Breaking the Silence Online ....................................................................................... 140
Lurking: Silently Peeping into Each Other’s Lives ........................................................................................ 141
Phubbing: Silenced by social media ............................................................................................................ 141
4
