The Theory of Human Communication, by Paul Watzlawick, suggests that the inconveniences that arise with our receivers happen when we do not share their point of view. Failure to comply with certain communication rules results in failures in mutual understanding. If you want to know more about this theory, keep reading!
Human communication Theory.
Paul Watzlawick was a tireless worker, researcher, and clinician. Along with Janet Beavin and Don Jackson, he writes a book in 1967 where he compiles all the research that was being developed (clinical and theoretical) with the MRI (Palo Alto Mental Research Institute); entitled «Pragmatics of Human Communication», the Spanish translation should have been «Pragmatics of Human Communication», however, it was translated with a more ambitious title than the author would have imagined and it is "Human communication Theory".
In this work, the problems that arise when the communication with our receptors is not assertive due to the fact that the points of view are not shared are raised.
The book has a series of assumptions, the result of clinical research and theoretical reflection by its authors and the MRI team. The first approach is that communication is the vehicle of the observable manifestations of a human relationship. The next establishes "Communication and Behavior" as synonyms; all behaviors communicate something. At this point, we encompass nonverbal content, body language, that is, what happens in a human relationship and can be observed. You can delve deeper into the comunication elements to better understand these concepts.
Another approach that is important to understand is the Context where the communicational action between individuals takes place, where there are certain phenomena that seem inexplicable if they are studied in isolation, but which, understanding the communicational context, make sense.
From there arises the last approach, which is the Emphasis on the study of Communication, which is placed above all on the relationship established between sender and receiver (Speaker and listener) where communication is the means of establishing that relationship and its meaning is always cut based on a context.
That said, we understand that Assertive and Empathetic behavior is the basis for good interpersonal relationships, if you want to know the relationship between both behaviors and their positive impact on human behavior, go to our article Assertive and Empathetic Behavior.
The 5 Axioms of the Theory of Human Communication.
The authors affirm that for the existence of an adequate communication, a series of Axioms must be followed. If any of these fail, it can lead to miscommunication.
- It's impossible not to communicate: Watzlawick points out that all human behavior communicates something. We don't need to use our voice; our body also communicates, as do our postures and gestures. We even communicate with silence. This is where the symptom strategy, a disqualification technique, stands out. Watzlawick defines disqualification techniques as unusual ways of communicating, where someone invalidates their own message or that of others, for example, by leaving the message unfinished. The aforementioned strategy (Symptom) involves attributing the lack of information to physical and mental states.
- Content and relationship: All communication occurs in two directions: content, which is what we are expressing, and the relationship we have with the other person, which influences how that content will be interpreted. This level is subordinated by nonverbal communication, which can be crucial for understanding the aspects of family communication.
- Sequence scoring in events: This Axiom states that all interaction occurs in both directions; this point is closely linked to the previous one. It means that communication consists of two modes: analog and digital. In the former, there is a proportional transmission of information. In contrast, in the digital mode, the message is qualitative and binary.
- Digital and analog communication: For Watzlawick, digital communication is one that uses digits, to speak and to write. Analog communication is more related to the non-verbal, that is, the same message can be interpreted in two different ways depending on gestures, tone of voice, posture, among others. Usually, we focus on only our point of view, and ignore the other people in the conversation. This is why there is the mistaken belief of a single correct interpretation, when in reality, there are many variants.
- Symmetry and complementarity: Depending on the relationship between the interlocutors, a relationship is defined as symmetrical or complementary. When both parties are at the same level in the exchange (e.g., employee-employee), a relationship is defined as symmetrical. The term "symmetrical" refers to the fact that the relationship has the same amount of power. However, a relationship is defined as complementary when the interlocutors are not at the same informational level (e.g., boss-employee). There are various types of complementary relationships: One of the interlocutors can counteract the exchange, dominate the action, or allow the other person to do so.
Paul Watzlawick
Born in Villach, Austria on July 25, 1921, he was a great clinical psychologist, sociologist and philosopher, based in the field of Psychotherapy, with an emphasis on Family Therapy and Systemic Therapy. He was initially trained in Switzerland as a psychoanalyst, and later made a series of trips and stays abroad, where he was at the Universidad del Salvador for a year, living, working and teaching.
After that, he began his contact with Don Jackson (an MRI psychiatrist), due to his interest in the work that was being done in Palo Alto, where he later moved and remained until his death in 2007. His initiative was, once who came into contact with Bateson's work and joined the MRI as a participant since 1961, trying to systematize the ideas that Bateson and his team had been developing since 1952; in relation to human communication with the purpose of ordering a conceptual Corpus, to apply to family therapy.
The concern of the time was to achieve shorter, more efficient therapies that would allow addressing emerging problems (Social, severe), which for the therapies of the time, especially psychoanalysis, did not show convincing results.
This is the initiative that makes Watzlawick abandon his conceptual framework as an analyst and dedicate himself especially to developing himself in systemic-inspired Family Therapy, starting from Bateson's thought, but with the purpose of contributing more consistently.
Paul Watzlawick has been considered one of the most important psychologists of psychotherapy in the XNUMXth century. Later, he turned to constructivism.
