Business communication

UNIT-5 THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION

Objectives
After reading this unit, you should be able to:
 understand the importance of consistency in human communication.
 explain various theories of cognition.
 outline the relevance of source credibility in the process of persuasive
communication.
 list out the kinds of groups and their {ole in communication.
 explain the significance of the cultural approach to
communication.

Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Theories of Cognition
5.3 Theories of Persuasion
5.4 Groups and Communication
5.5 Cultural Theories of Communication
5.6 Summary
5.7 Review Questions

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Communication is a social act, and any attempt to understand the process at only the
individual level is bound to be limited. As a social act, therefore, communication can be
approached through the field of social psychology.' Using social psychological
approaches, the first half of this unit examines the concepts of attitudes, attitude change,
and persuasion. A fundamentalless9n of social psychology is that people often act and
think as members of groups rather than as individuals. This impact of groups on

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individuals applies to the reception of messages, and to other aspects of communication.

This unit also, therefore, examines the role of groups in communication. The' second half
of the unit takes a somewhat broader look at the communication process, particularly
mass communication, as embedded within the cultural structures of society. This cultural
approach is a more recent tend in mass communication research and is concerned with
media messages and how dominant groups in society foster their view of the world
through these messages. With its origins in both European as well as American
scholarship, the cultural studies perspective has gained adherents allover the world.

5.2 Theories of Cognition

A number of theories have been proposed around the idea that individuals in their
everyday interaction strive for consistency between their' attitudes, beliefs, values, and
behaviors. This striving has a social dimension because individuals feel pressured to be
consistent by other people's perception. Further, much of our inconsistency arises in
interaction with others. Various theorists have suggested that humans strive for
consistency in a number of ways - between attitudes, between behaviors, between
attitudes and behaviors, in our perception of the world, and even in the development of
personality. In other words, we attempt to organize our world in a manner that is
meaningful and sensible to us. The concepts of consistency are based on the belief that
human beings act in rational ways. However, we also rationalize behavior that may not
be rational or consistent. The idea of consistency assumes that inconsistency causes
'psychological tension', which leads to internal pressure to reduce or eliminate
inconsistency;
Heider's Balance Theory ,

- Fritz Heider articulated the earliest theory of consistency in 1946. Heider was
concerned with how individuals organize attitudes toward people and objects in relation
to each other within those 'individuals' own cognitive structures. . He postulated that
unbalanced states produce tension and generate forces to restore balance. A balanced

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state, according to him, "designates a situation in which the perceived units and the
experienced sentiments co-exist without stress.

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance is a more general consistency theory and
has generated a great amount of empirical data in social psychology as well as in
communication.

Dissonance theory asserts that two elements of knowledge "are in dissonant relation if,
considering these two alone, the obverse of one element would follow from the others.

It holds that dissonance, "being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the

person to try to reduce dissonance and achieve consonance" and "in addition to trying to
reduce it the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely
increase the dissonance.
In cognitive dissonance the elements in question may be a) irrelevant to one another,
b) Consonant with one another, or c) dissonant with one another. Relations need not, be
logically related for consonance. or dissonance. For example, a relationship may be
logically inconsistent to an observer while psychologically consists to an individual who
holds these beliefs.

The theory of cognitive dissonance has its applications in various areas

of .communication, including decision-making and -role-playing. In the process of
decision making, the more difficult a decision is to make the greater the predicted
dissonance after the decision, Post-decision dissonance would be greater for more
important decisions. For 'example, market researchers have reported that purchasers of
new cars were more prone to notice and read ads about the cars they had just bought than

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about other cars. Thus, new car buyers seek reinforcement for their decisions by reading
ads for cars, they had already purchased.

Another area to which the theory could be related is attitude change following forced
compliance. Suppose an individual is placed in a situation where he or she must behave
publicly in way that is contrary to that individuals privately held beliefs or attitudes, that
individual experiences dissonance from knowledge of the fact. Individuals may find
themselves in such situations 'because of a promised reward or the threat of punishment
or because of group pressures for conformity. If an individual engages in a public action
that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs, dissonance is predicted to follow. One way of
resolving this dissonance is to alter one's privately held believe to conform to the public
act.

5.3 THEORIES OF PERSUASION

Persuasion is one of the predominant modes of communication as well as a strong motive
for communication. Advertisers selling products, public relations specialists creating a
positive image of a corporation, and the political candidate on the campaign trail are all
engaging in persuasive communication: Persuasion seems to be an integral part of human
life. While people have been intuitively attempting to influence others for centuries,
deliberate, rational techniques of persuasion assumes a new dimension with the advent of
media of mass communication.- Much of persuasion is addressed to change of attitudes.

Concept of Attitude

Attitude, as a prominent psychological concept, has come to replace earlier, vague

notions of instinct, custom, social force, and sentiment. It is said that. Thomas and
Znaniecki first used the concept in 1918. According to them, 'attitude' is "a process of

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individual consciousness which determines real or possible activity of the individual in

the social world. Other definitions of the concept include the' following:

Attitude is primarily a way of being 'set' toward or against certain things. An enduring
learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects.
An enduring system of positive or negative evaluations, emotional feelings and pro or
con action tendencies with respect to a social object. Scholars, such as Rosenberg and
Hovland have suggested that an attitude has three components: an affective component
(evaluation of something or feeling toward something), a cognitive component
(perceptual, responses or verbal statements of belief), and a behavioral/ component
(overt actions).

Hovland's Attitude Research

Hovland's approach to attitude change was essentially a leaning theory or reinforcement
theory approach. He believed that attitudes were learned, and that they ~ere changed
through the same processes that occurred when learning took place. During World War
n, the U.S. Army used films and other forms of mass communication on an
unprecedented scale. Hovland and his associates evaluated the effectiveness of these
materials. The results of their research on the Why We Fight series of films (discussed in
detail in Unit 7) showed that: the films were quite effective in conveying factual
information about the war; that they were somewhat effective in changing specific
opinions about the conduct of the war; and that they had essentially no effect at all on
motivation. to serve or in building increased resentment of the enemy. Looking
specifically at the effectiveness of one-side" and two-sided messages, the researchers
concluded that the one sided message is most effective with persons initially favorable
to the message and the two-sided message is most effective with persons initially
opposed to the message. Later research on attitude hanger also emphasized the
relevance of source credibility and fear appeals persuasive communication. .

Hovland and Weiss designed an experiment in which the same message was presented to

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different ups as either coming from a credibility source or a low credibility source. The
experiment was conducted with four messages on four different topics. Subjects in the
experiment were given four articles, each on a different topic and their opinions 'were
measured at an interval of four weeks. Each of the articles was presented with a high-
credibility source for: half the subjects, while the other half were given ones with a low-
credibility source. For example, an article on the question, "As a result of TV, will there
be a decrease in the number of movie theaters in operation by 1955?" was presented in
two versions, one Fortune magazine, a high-credibility source, and another citing "a
woman movie-gossip columnist."

The results for the immediate after-test show that the high-credibility source produced
more opinion change on three of the four topics. The re-test of opinion after
four weeks produced a significant finding.

The Functional Approach

Daniel Katz and his associates attempted to reconcile two divergent models of human
behavior - the irrational and the rational - that have been the bias, for earlier theories of
attitude change. In the irrational model, human beings are conceived as non-thinking
beings whose beliefs are easily influenced by other and whose perceptions of reality can
be influenced by their own desires. In contrast, the rational model accords greater
intelligence and critical thinking ability to individuals and asserts that they are capable of
making wise decisions when given adequate information.
'

Katz and his colleagues point out those human beings are both rational and irrational,
depending On the situation, the motivations, etc. The argument here is that attitude
formation as well as change must be understood in terms of the functions that attitudes
serve for the personality. Katz suggests that the same attitude can have a different
motivation in different people. As he put it: "unless we know the psychological need
which is met by the ' holding of an attitude we are in a poor position to predict when and

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how it will change. Katz identifies four major functions that attitudes can serve for the
personality:

1. The instrumental, adjective, or utilitarian function: People hold some attitudes because
they are trying to gain the rewards offered by their environment and reduce the losses.
For example, voters who think prices of essential commodities are too high might favor a
particular political candidate because that person prognoses to bring down the prices.

2. The ego-defensive function: People hold some attitudes because they are seeking to
protect their egos from their, own unexcitable impulses or from knowledge of
threatening forces externally. For instance, feelings of inferiority are often projected
onto a minority community as a means of "strengthening the ego. In this case, an
attitude of prejudice serves the ego-defensive function-Case, an attitude of prejudice
serves the ego-defensive function., ,

3. The value-expressive function: People hold some attitudes because they permit them
to articulate central values and to give positive expression to their self-image. For
example, individuals who take a rebellious attitude to certain social issues might be
doing so because they think of themselves as being non-Conformist.

4. The knowledge function: People hold some 'beliefs because they fulfill a desire for
knowledge or provide some structure, and meaning in what, would otherwise be a
chaotic world. For instance, many religious beliefs serve this function.

KatZ summarizes the origin 'and dynamics, the arousal conditions, and the change
conditions for attitudes serving each of the four functions (see Table 1 below). A
significant theoretical gain from Katz's work is his insight that attempts to change
attitudes may fail if they are not based on an understanding of the functions served by
those attitudes. For example, any attempt to change prejudicial attitudes by offering
factual information about the positive attributes of a majority group would be seeking to

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do so as if those attitudes were serving a knowledge function. Such an attempt may not
succeed if the attitudes of prejudice are held for ego-defense reasons.

5.4 GROUPS AND COMMUNICATION

That human beings are social animals is a cliché, but one that is well tested by social
scientists. We live as members of groups and our attitudes, behavior, and perceptions are
influenced by our interaction with other people. These groups could be large or small,
formal or informal.

Social scientists have delineated different types of groups. A primary

group is a small collection of individuals who share an intimate, face-to-face, and long-
standing relationship with each other. Examples of a primary group are family, a work
group, a fraternity, etc. A secondary group, on the other hand, is a relatively larger
collectivity whose individual members do not necessarily maintain face-to-face contact,
but, instead, share more formalities. For instance, one is a member of a secondary group
if one belongs to a group of shareholders or holds memberships in large organizations. A
reference group is a group that people identify with and use as a standard of reference,
but may not necessarily belong to. For example, a student wishing to belong to a
particular campus group might begin to dress like its members and adopt their attitudes
even though he is not member.

Group Pressures and Conformity

Members of groups often share certain standards or rules of behavior that can be
referred to as norms. Physical appearance, tastes in popular culture, behavior with' the
opposite sex, styles of greeting, etc. are a few examples of the norms shared by a
particular group or by an entire society. It is through process sociologists call
'socialization' that individuals in society learn the norms of that society. Socialization
takes place right from our childhood and continues through the adult years and the
process is aided by social institutions Such as the family, school religious organizations,

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and mass media.

Social-psychologist Solomon Asch conducted research on group pressure and how

people tend to either conform to pressure or be intendment of it. Asch set up an
experimental situation that seemed to be studying a subject's ability to judge the length
of some drawn lines. Subjects were shown' two cards. One of them had a single line and
the other card had three lines of different lengths numbered 1-3. The subject was then
asked to call out the number of the line that was the same length as the single line in the
first card. There were 12 different sets of cards. This was a simple perceptual task that
people can do quite well in the absence of group pressure. A control group of 37
included 35 people who made no errors, one who made one error and one who added
two errors.
Asch then went on to introduce group pressure into the situation. In this phase of the
experiment, subjects were divided into groups of eight engaged in the Hne-judging task.
Only one of these eight was a true subject, the other seven being the researcher) allies
who ere instructed to give out wrong answers after a couple of trials with correct
answers. They all would give the same erroneous answer, giving the impression to the
true subject that everyone else agrees on a single answer which his ~ senses indicated
was the wrong answer. The results of the experiment indicated that about three-quarters
of the subjects yielded to group pressure and gave the wrong answer at least once.
Additionally, Asch also varied the size of the group giving the invalid answer from I to
15.- He found that a group of three giving a unanimous opinion was essentially as
effective in producing conformity to group norms as were larger groups. When Asch
had at least one other person give the correct answer, thereby providing at feast one
supporting partner to the subject, the pressure to conform came down considerably. A
striking result of the experiment was that even when the researcher made the physical
difference in the length of lines as much as six to seven inches between the correct and
incorrect lines, some people still succumbed to group pressure.

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Asch's research suggests that some people conform to group norms even when it means
contradicting information they derived from their own senses. Further, the experiments
reveal that people give in. to group pressure' even when members of the, group, are
complete strangers. So it is likely that the power of groups and group pressure would be
even greater when we are dealing with primary groups.

Groups as tools of change

The power of groups to exert social influence is such that they sometimes be used as
agents or instruments of change. Group dynamics and group structure are key to the work
of organizations such as the Alcoholics Anonymous or some groups that help people to
stop smoking, Principles of group norms and group pressure can be seen at work in these
efforts. For example, Alcoholics Anonymous has a group norm that encourages people to
talk about their problems with alcohol. This is in contrast to the larger cultural norm that
almost Prohibits discussion of an individual's alcohol problem: Similarly, in groups that
are involved in stop--smoking campaigns, members are encouraged to' select a 'Quit Day'
and announce it publicly to, the group so that it generates group pressure for the
individual to actually quit on that day and stick by the decision.
A kind of social influence within the primary group of the family can be seen, for
instance, in the ecological movement. Young people have been learning about threats to
the environment from school, television, and rock stars, and have been exerting pressure
on their parents to act in more ecologically sound ways. Often the children are more
aware of environmental issues than their parents. Children have been known to urges
parents to avoid purchasing aerosol sprays, to recycle cans, .bottles, plastic, and paper.
.

Groups and Mass Communication

Groups influence the process of mass communication in a number of ways:
I. Groups function to crystallize attitudes' and make them resilient to change.
2. It helps communicators to predict a person's behavior more accurately if they

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understand the group affiliations' or identities of that person. For example, knowledge of
a potential voter's class, gender, caste, etc., can give a clue to the person's political
preferences and increases the accuracy of voting predictions.

3. Effective communication programs often involve a combination of mass

communication and interpersonal communication Peer group pressures have been
known to influence attitude and behavioral changes in adoption of new innovations by
individuals. '.

4. The advantages of interpersonal communication can sometimes be secured through

communication.

Television programs such as Dial-your-CM where a political leader interacts with the
citizens through phone-in program bring in an element of a conversation. Similarly, an
assembled studio audience questioning a panel reproduces the effect of an interpersonal
situation.

5.5 CULTURAL THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION

Communication research focused a great deal on the effects of mass communication on

individuals (see Unit 7). One of the problems with that approach is that it evades the
question of influence at a social structural level and also does not address long-term
effects of mass communication on cultural institutions and socio-cultural contexts of
behavior. Adequate attention has not been paid in earlier research to the significance
of culture as an intervening variable between the source and individual effects. The
cultural perspective is said to constitute a 'transition to a new paradigm,' the cultural
studies approach to mass communication. According to this view, the media of mass'
communication create a common worldview and shared values that exist beyond any
particular individual or group;

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He argued that media technologies are extensions of human consciousness and that each
innovation in the media transforms our perception of reality. His primary concern was to
discover a meth9d of cultural interpretation that would enable' us to better understand the
impact of technology on our consciousness. McLuhan proposed that the meaning of each
cultural epoch should be derived from the dominance of a particular communication
technology, and that each of those technologies have different consequences for human
consciousness. If a particular medium such as print stresses the visual following of letter
sequences across a page, then this focuses human perception toward a visual, spatial"
linear, sequential pattern of consciousness.

This human perception influences the worldview of a whole culture so that the transition
from oral to print to electronic media causes a linear evolution in cultural history.
Twentieth century technological innovations in the field of electronics have radically
changed the way people think and behave. As the world watched with excitement, first
came radio, followed by television, and then computers, bringing about an electronic
revolution. McLuhan has been the oracle of this 'electric age,' analyzing its implications
for human society and predicting its future course.

Radio, according to McLuhan, was a 'tribal drum' that improved men's sense of hearing
and added an interpersonal dimension to world affairs: Television added sight to sound,
and though satellite communication the world? Couple even closer, shrinking to the size
of a global village McLuhan descended television as a: Visual, aural, and tattle medium
and as being more involving and participatory than print. The TV screen only reveals a
sequence of light and dark dots that must be put together in a person's mind before
acquiring any meaning. So a TV viewer is actively involved in creating for himself or
herself a visual image to go with the sound that reaches his or her ears. Secondly, TV is
participatory in the sense of emotional involvement, in such events as Republic Day 2.
Describe how the group influences the process of mass communication? Parades, wars, or
funerals, 'Ibis involvement and the way people see the world through television bas the

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potential to bring about cataclysmic changes in human thought.

In 1964 McLuhan startled the world with the statement: "the medium is the message."
The implication was that the effects of a medium were not to be seen in its content, but in
the medium itself. As he put it in his inimitable style: "The 'content' of the medium is like
the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind.,,8 The
larger implication, of course, was that the special characteristics of television's form have
revolutionary consequences to society and individuals.

Critics have found fault with McLuhan's tendency to focus on technology as if it were
independent of its historical context and of the material, economic source of cultural
forms. He welcomes the new holistic, intuitive imagination that the simultaneity of
electronic media makes possible, but he is silent on the fact that computers and satellites
could potentially centralize information processes, and thereby, social power. He has
been criticized for not paying attention to the sources of alienation deriving Item cultural
domination and social dependence.

Culture and Cultivation Analysis

George. Gerbner and his associates at the Annenberg School of Communications at the
University .of Pennsylvania are known for their Cultural Indicators Project, which is an
extensive program of research on the influence of television. His 'cultivation analysis' is
concerned with determining conceptions of social reality that television 'programming
may foster in viewers. He sees television as the primary conveyor of contemporary
cultural ' images and patterns. Television viewing, according to Gerbner" has become so
pervasive across lines of social class and age groups that, like a popular religion, it forges
the basic organic unity of culture (at least in the American context). Television is the
ritual that dramatizes the myths underlying American culture, explains and legitimizes

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the major social institutions of American society, and socializes individuals into various
roles.

One of the major criticisms of Gerbners approach is that his research does not analyze the
role of television within a broader theoretical framework. For instance, it does not explain
the major structural factors influencing the development of particular national cultures.
Having delineated television's role as an agent of social control and its role as the cultural
arm of the industrial order, Gerbner, et al., do not undertake a detailed analysis of the role
of the major agents of cultural production ,viz., sponsors, producers, and administrators.
A further limitation of Gerbner's approach is that it looks only at the cultural influence of
television and, in effect, identifies the national culture with the symbolic content of that
medium alone. Although the results of the Cultural Indicators Project show that the
content of television is reproduced in the psychological perceptions of some heavy
viewers, it is difficult to assert that 'television is, in itself, an initial cause of a particular
pattern 9f American culture. These questions, thus, require a more general theory that
accounts for the interaction of structural conditions, the cultural expression in response to
these structural conditions, and the role of television in cultural expression.

Ideology and the British Cultural Studies

Stuart Hall's ideas symbolize what has come to be known as 'cultural studies' in Britain,
specifically the theoretical, orientations of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
at the University of Birmingham. Hall and his associates avoid identifying culture with
the products of the mass media alone, but expand cultural expression to include such
ritual forms of everyday life as education, religion, conversation, and sports.

The basic premise of Halls approach to the role of mass communication in national
cultures is' that the media are the principal instruments of ruling elites for maintaining
ideological control. Grimacing notion of 'hegemony' is central to Hall's analysis of

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culture.
Hall explains:

Gramsci argued that 'hegemony' exists when a ruling class is able not only to coerce a
subordinate class to conform to its interests, but exerts a 'total social authority' over those
classes and the social formation as a' whole... . Hegemony, then, cannot be won in the
productive and economic sphere along it must be organized at the level of the state,
politics and the superstructures -indeed the latter is the terrain on which 'hegemony' is
accomplished... but crucially, these structures of 'hegemony' work by ideology.

The term 'superstructure' refers to the Marxian notion of the economic base determining
such aspects of life as religion, polity, law, culture and ideology that constitute the
superstructure. Karl Marx contended that those in power of the base would also maintain
dominance over the superstructure. In a much quoted statement, Marx said in his classic
work,

The German Ideology:

The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas: i.e. the class which is
the ruling material force of society is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. The
class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same
time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas
of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it.

Hall bases his analysis of hegemonic ideologies in the Marxian conception of base super
structure, and follows Gramsci' s idea of hegemony to build a theoretical framework
explaining the social organization of the' liberal, capitalist society that underlies
hegemonic ideologies. The hegemonic power structure, according to Hall is funned
through the coalition of dominant interests within a national context. This dominant

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coalition controls the subordinate classes not simply by police, military or legal coercion
but by producing an ideology - a definition of reality favorable to the interests of the
dominant coalition - and by gaining popular consent to this ideology as legitimate.

Institutions central to cultural foundation - the family, education, the church, and most
importantly, the mass media - play an important role in the legitimizing functions of
ideology. .In Hall's view, mass media are the most important instrument of twentieth
century capitalism for maintaining ideological hegemony because -they provide a shared
framework for perceiving reality. Television, for instance, even as it gives the impression
of presenting a diversity of views, excludes some social images as deviant and structures
news, drama, and document tarry in such a way that they reticent the interests of the
ruling coalition. Hall outlines a method that takes into consideration the ideological
influences at. the stage of encoding or message foundation and the material,
socioeconomic conditions that explain the different ways the audience indulges in
decoding messages.13 Encoding is the process by which the mass media accord meaning
to events by placing them within the dominant' ideological contexts. . For example, the
events of 1989 in Eastern Europe are somehow seen as a' repudiation of the communist
ideology and a vindication of the dominant capitalist ideology of the West. Hall avoids
the pitfalls of the effects research through his concept of decoding that draws attention to
how audiences use their own definitions of the situation to interpret mass media
messages. Three hypothetical types of decoding might occur:

a. when the audience member decodes the message in the same terms of reference in
which it is framed;

b. when the audience member accepts the message of a 'negotiable code;, that is, there is
a mature of adaptation to the dominant ideology at a more general level but opposition
insofar as it is applied to the particular situation of the viewer; and;
c. when the receiver takes the information given, but interprets the meaning according to

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a totally different code.

Research within this theoretical perspective has had two different points of focus:
content analysis of mass media messages that help reveal the ideological bias of the
media and analysis of opposition codes in subcultures such as the manifestations of
working-class cultural opposition in popular music.

Cultural Process and Meaning

In James Carey's opinion, most conventional communication studies are grounded in a
'transmission or transportation' view, which primarily sees communication as a process of
transmitting messages at a distance for the purpose of control. The typical
communication, then, is persuasion, attitude change, behavior modification, socialization,
and influence or conditioning.

Carey proposes that in order to understand the role of the media in the development of
culture, the starting point should be the analysis of the cultural process itself. The focus,
according to him, must be the subjective meanings that people generate as they attempt to
make sense out of their life situations. He asserts; therefore, that research must interpret
popular television, journalism, and other cultural institutions, using the methods of the
humanities and cultural sciences such as anthropology, hermeneutics, and semiotics.

The transportation model, he contends, fails to analyze subjective cultural meaning

because a cause-effect perspective dominates it. Carey proposes as more adequate a
'ritual view' of communication, a process through which a shared culture is created,
modified, and transformed.

A ritual view of communication is directed not toward the extension of messages in

space but the maintenance of society in time (even if some find this maintenance
characterized by domination and therefore illegitimate); riot the act of imparting
information or influence but the creation, representation, and celebration of shared even
if illusory beliefs.

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The transportation view of communication, according to Carey, is marked by the virtual

absence of a conception of symbolic processes. There is in this view no serious
examination of mass communication as a system of interacting symbols and interlocked
meanings.

Cultural studies or Carey's ritual view, on the other hand, considers the principal task of
communication studies to be the investigation of the subjective meanings that people are
creating in popular movements, religion, journalism, everyday speech, and mass
mediated events in order to interpret these meanings and detect the systematic worldview
that is running through them. Thus, films, music, and television are at once an
interpretation of the feeling and meanings current in a society and a further reproduction
and refinement of them.

The Mass-Mediated Culture

Michael Real has brought together the ideas of Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams, James
Carey, and others in the cultural studies tradition, and has developed a more
comprehensive, systematic theoretical framework for understanding the role of mass
media within the broader socio-cultural development of a society. .

Real has developed operational methods of cultural analysis for empirical research on
mass-mediated culture. In Reels view, a mass-mediated culture emerges from the
interaction between three dimensions of a social system:

a. the political-economic institutions that establish the parameters for individual choice
and for the development of a unified cultural ethos;

b. the symbolic forms of human consciousness that organize raw sense data and define
the meaning of situations;
c. communication, either mass or interpersonal, that provides the two-way linkage
between the institutional base and the sphere of symbolic superstructure.

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The institutional and symbolic levels are interrelated so that, .if one changes, the other
may change, but if one does not change, the other cannot change." For example, the
status of a racial or religious minority is likely to improve only if there is a change in
attitudes (symbolic level) and in the employment opportunities (economic base): Mass
mediated events are important in forming a cultural ethos because they are bringing
cultural symbols back into line with the political-economic base.

Examining cases of contemporary mass-mediated culture in the United States, such as

Disneyland, the football Super bowl, and Nixon's re-election campaign, Real interprets
the 'text' of what is being 'said'. In Disneyland, he finds an ethnocentric American
insensitivity to the Third World (as can be seen in the lack of representation in the show
case of nations), an idealization of the United States past, and a reinforcement of a North

American capitalist worldview

Real also sees a medium such as television as an instrument for ideological hegemony.
But he goes on to add that the manipulations of the media and the exploitative political-
economic system are also generating alienation .and counter-cultural movements that
contribute to changes in the social system. These movements create an alternative
pattern of communication, and this new pattern of communication transforms the
meaning of mass media. .
In sum, the cultural approach to mass communication, especially the cultural studies
branch, locates the mass media and media practices "within a society conceived of as a
complex expressive totality. Many scholars in this emerging field hold that in twentieth
century advanced capitalism the mass media have established a dominant role in the
cultural sphere. As Hall puts it, the media have 'colonized' the cultural and ideological
sphere, and are helping to produce the understanding of a social totality by bringing
together and reconciling conflicting and confusing fragments of reality.

The media, according to .this view, perform several functions to maintain their cultural

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and ideological position: a) they provide and selectively construct social knowledge b)
they classify and reflect upon the plurality of social life. The media's function here
is:...the provision of social realities where they did not exist before or the giving of new
directions to tendencies already present, in such a way that the adoption of the new
attitude or form of behavior is made a socially acceptable mode of conduct, whilst
failure to adopt is represented as socially disapproved deviance.17 Finally, c) the media
organize, orchestrate and bring together that which' it has selectively represented and.
selectively classified. They construct what has been made visible and classified into a
complex, acknowledged order. .
Thus, cultural studies broke away from the models of media effects and created a
framework that drew much more attention to the 'ideological .role' of the media.

Hall summarized the orientations of the cultural approach in these words: It (cultural
studies) challenged the notions of media texts as 'transparent' bearers of meaning... and
gave much greater attention... to their linguistic and ideological structure; it replaced the
passive conception of the audience with a more active conception of the audience, of
reading and of the relation between how media *fSa8Cswere encoded, the moment of
the encoded text and the variation of audience decoding; and finally, it engaged in the
study of the role which media play its the circulation and securing of dominant
ideological definitions and representations.

5.6 Summary
In summary, the two broad theoretical orientations discussed in this unit are: social
psychological and cultural. The former attempts to avoid the individualism of purely
psychological theories of communication by underlying the significance of social context
and interaction. Several social psychologists have examined how interpersonal
communication can potentially alter attitudes and behaviors. However, this approach is
limited in the sense that it pays negligible attention to wider cultural variables and the
role of ideology and hegemony in social interaction. The cultural theories, in contrast,

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draw from' super structural concepts to explain material facts of life, including mass
media consumption.

5.7 Review Questions

1. Why is consistency an important factor in human communication? Explain in
relation to Heider's balance theory.

2. Describe how Osgood's congruity theory enables predictions about the direction
and degree of attitude change.
3. Explain the concept of cognitive dissonance and identify its applications to the
field of communication studies.'
4. Define the concept of 'attitude' and outline its role in persuasive communication.

5. Describe Hovland's learning theory of attitude change. Discuss the relevance of

source credibility in the process of persuasive communication.
6. Identify the major functions served by attitudes for personality.
7. Explain Katz's functional theory of attitudes.
8. List out different kinds of groups and their role in
communication.
9. Describe how group pressures influence individuals' conformity to norms. Explain
the influence of groups in bringing about attitude and behavioral changes.
10. Identify the various ways in which groups influence the process
of mass communication.
11. Explain in McLuhan's terms the cultural influence of
communication technologies, and identify the shortcomings
of his perspective.

12. Describe Gerbner's theory ~bout the role of television as an

agent of socialization and as an instrument asocial control.

13. What is the basic premise of Stuart Hall's cultural

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perspective of communication?

14. Explain in your own words Gramsci's concept of 'hegemony'

and the Marxian. relationship between the material and

intellectual aspects of life Setting aside short-term laboratory

studies on television effects,

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UNIT -6 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

Objectives

After reading this unit, you should be able to:

 explain the different functions of models.
 identify and define some basic components of communication
models. . describe the ful1damental communication model
provided by Lass well.
 explain the linear, mathematical model of communication by Shannon and
Weaver.
 identify the advantages of circular mode1s, with particular reference to the of
good and Such model.
 explain how the helix represents an improvement over the circular
representation of communication.
 describe Gerbner's general model of communication.
 explain the idea of strain in communication.
 explain the ,various elements of Westley and Maclean's model of mass
communication.

Structure
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Functions of Models
6.3 Some Basic Concepts
6.4 Lasswell's Basic Communication Model
6.5 Mathematical Model of Communication
6.6 Osgood and Schramm Circular model
6.7 Gerbner's General Model of Communication

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6.8 Newcomb's Symmetry Model

6:9 Westley And Maclean's Model
6.10 Summary
6.11Review Questions

6.1 INTRODUCTION
A model is a theoretical and simplified representation of the real world. Models should
not be confused with theories. A model is not an explanatory device by itself, but it
helps to formulate theory. It suggests relationships, and it is often confused with theory
because the relationship between a model and a theory is so close. Models are
indispensable for understanding the more complex processes. This is a form of selection
and abstraction and the latter carries with it the danger of oversimplification.

A model provides a framework within which we can consider a problem, even in its
early versions it may not be useful, prediction "A model, may also point out important
gaps in our knowledge that are J1Qtapparen1, and it may suggest areas where research
is needed. Failure of a model when it is tested may lead to an improved model.

The structures and processes we are interested in modeling in this unit have to do with
how humans communicate, both in interpersonal as well as in mass, communication
situations. This can be the way an individual does with reality within his or her own
mind; how a newspaper, television, network, advertising agency, etc is structured and
functions; how information flows in a society; or how new ideas are adopted or
rejected in a social system.

6.2 Functions of Models

A model is a deli simplified description in graphic form of an element of reality. A
model attempts to display the main components of any structure or process and the
relationships between these components. A model is "a structure of symbols and
operating rules which is supposed to match set of relevant policies in an existing

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structure or process. The main advantages of models in social sciences, according to

Deutsch, are:

a) they perform an organizing function by bringing some order and relating system each
other and by offering linkages of wholes that are otherwise difficult to perceive;

b) they provide explanations, by simplifying' complex or ambiguous information; this is

also referred to as the heuristic reflection of models by which one's attention is drawn to
key elements of a system or process; .

c) they also have a predictive function, i.e. models make it possible to predict outcomes
or the direction of events. Models could- fOfl!1 the basis for identifying probable
outcomes of research and assist researchers in formulating hypotheses;

d) they enable measurement of phenomena, allowing even for completely quantitative

predictions with a degree of precision.

Some scholars have argued against the use of models because they think that models
tend 'to confine their creators and other users within its boundaries and that this might,
in turn, inhibit development of theories and perspectives. Another problem is that a
model or a series of models may perpetuate a dubious assumption made at the outset by
making it the basis for subsequent understanding of the relevant systems and, processes.
For example, in the field of communication there is a tendency to represent
communication as a unidirectional process in which a sender deliberately attempts to
influence a receiver. Such an understanding tends to ignore the circularity, negotiability
and openness of communication.

So there are analytical risks in using models, as they are necessarily incomplete,
simplified and involve some hidden assumptions. There is obviously no model suitable
for all satiations; levels of analysis and purposes of research should act as guides in the
choice of models. It should also be remembered that none of the models discussed in this
unit are so sacred that they cannot be adapted differently for different stallions. Models
act as aids to thought particularly in the study of communication. Model-building is

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particularly appropriately communication because even as it is 'the binding force in

social relationships, it lacks visible or tangible form. As McQuail and Windahl put it:

Acts of communication take predictable or recurrent forms within a given structure of

relationships and have consequences for, this structure without being readily open to
observation. There is, consequently, an attraction in being able to 'draw' the 'lines' which
stand for the links we know to exist but cannot see and to use ' other devices to show the
structure, topography, strength and direction of relationships.

6.3 Some Basic Concepts

In the most general sense, we have communication wherever one system, source,
influences another, the destination, by manipulation of alternative symbols, which can be
transmitted over the channel connecting them. Communication may be defined as 'social
interaction through messages'. In general terms, communities imply a sender, a channel,
a message; a receiver, a relationship between sender and receiver, an effect and all of this
combining within 'a context. Sometimes intention to send or receive is communication is
also a factor .in the process. Communication could then be seen as any of the following:
an action on others, an interaction with others and a 'reaction to others. Other concepts
that come up in these models are 'encoding' and 'decoding'. Encoding refers to the
preparation of a message into an appropriate code or language for transmission to
intended receivers. Decoding refers to the re-translation of the message in order to secure
its meaning at the receiver's end of the communication process; In a typical conversation
between two persons, the encoding' is performed by' 'speech or non-:verbal gestures, and
the decoding function is performed by the consensus of hearing and sight.
In mass communication, encoding could refer to the technical transformations necessary
to transmit signals and also to the choice of words, images, etc according to' established
semantic prosecutes and perceived audience expectations.

Feedback is another key component of the' Communication process and. of incorporated

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in models. The term 'feedback' refers to, a process by which the. Communicator obtains
information about whether and how a particular message has been received. Such
information helps the 'sender of the message to' modify ongoing or communication
messages. Questions in face-to-face situations, gestures~ other verbal responses, etc.,
are some examples of feedback. In mass communication feedback appears in the form of
audience research, sales figures, letters, and phone calls, and such.

Mass Communication as a special kind of communication process needs to be rarified as

well. According to one definition: Mass communications comprise the institutions and
techniques by which specialized groups employ technological devices (press, radio, is,
etc) to disseminate symbolic content to large, heterogeneous and widely dispersed
audiences.
The sender in mass communication is, always part of an organized group and often a
member of an institution, which has formations other than communication. The receiver
is always individual but may also be seen as a group or collectivity with certain, general,
attributes. The communication channel is no longer the sensory, but includes large-scale
technological devices and systems. These systems have a social component because -
they depend on law, custom and general real expectations. The message in mass
communication is a mass 'produced, complex, and repeatable linguistic structure. The
public and open creature of all communication is particularly significant in the mass
communication process.' Restricted and controlled 'access to transmission facilities, the
impersonality of the sender-receiver, relationship, and the intervention of
institutionalized arrangements between sender and receiver are also critical elements of
mass communication. These characteristics of Communication have order it a certain
omniscience and ubiquity, leading the lay public as well as communication scbo1ars to
attribute a great deal of power to .it. It is for this reason that the next unit on effects of
communication concentrates almost exclusively on the effects of mass communication.
.

Research into communication had, its origins in the desire to test and increase efficiency

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and -effectiveness in the spheres. of education,' propped, telecommunication,

advertising& and public relations. Research activity>began with practical concerns and
was fuelled by developments in psychology and sociology and by the general advances
in methodology, especially the use of experiment, social surveys and statistics. It was'
not until the end of the Second World War that the possibility of an empirically based
communication science was discussed for the first time in the United States. The decade
of the 1950s proved to be a period of prolific model-building activity.

It was a mathematician, Claude Soon, who first provided 'the stimulus to social
scientists to formulate their thinking about communication in model form. This approach
had its appeal initially because of the predominance of interest in effects and
effectiveness and also because it was consistent with the stimulus-response, model of
behavior control and learning which was fundamental to psychology. During the 1950s
the basic sender channel of receiver model under went modifications, in response to
changes in several aspects of human communication. For example, communication had
come to be recognized as non-linear, i.e. that the process is typically circular, recurrent
and spiraling, initiating new 'loops' at different points arid on different places. 'Feedback
became incorporated in communication models as a more integral component of the
process.

Further-elaborations of the basic mathematical model enlarged as possible threats to the

success of communication, conceptualized earlier only as 'noise' in the system, were
understood to emanate from the fact that receivers perceived, interpreted, and retained
messages selectively'. Later models emphasize the transactional character of
communication and, also that any meanings which are derived are dependent on the
assumptions of the receiver and the context in which communication takes place. This
point is to do with the inter subjectivity of communication, suggesting that all
communication involves, in varying degrees, elaborate exchange and negotiation
between senders and receivers.

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A point of departure in the model-making tradition in communication is the separation

out of models dealing specifically with mass communication. As the collective character
of the sender and the social organization of the receiver came to be recognized as also the
formal - and informal social settings which influence the relationship between the sender
and receiver became better known, model making produced distinctive understanding of
the mass communication process. In the 1960s and 1970s scholars tended to shift by from
seeking a general understanding of the mass communication process and towards
research on specific aspects' of, the process: longer-term social cultural and ideological
effects; 'the media organ ion and its relationship to society; the social and psychological
bases of audience choice and response.
6.6 Lasswell's Basic Communication Model
The American political scientist Harold Lasswell verbalized communication as a process
'that deals with ''who says what in what channel, to whom, 'with what effect".

The Lasswell formula has been applied to a wide range of communication situations. He
implies that more than one channel can carry a message. The 'who' refers to the issue of
control of messages arid 'says what constitutes the subject of content analysis.

Other scholars such as Braddock, while finding as well model limited, added other
dimensions:”

The Lasswell model has been criticized for being oversimplified and for implying the
presence of a communicator and a purposive message. It takes for granted the
communicator's' intent for pension and assumes that messages always have effects. The
model does not provide for any element of feedback.

In Osgood's view, each person Pt. a 'speech community" is seen as an integrated

communication system.” Wilbur Schramm proceeds from a simple human
communication model' to a more complicated model that represents the accumulated

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experiences of two individuals trying to communicate ~d then to a model that considered

human communication with interaction between two individuals. In the Osgood and
Schramm perspective, feedback is a critical component and there is Continuous 'loop' of
shared information.

..
.
The emergence of this approach meant a break from the traditional linear, one-way
image of communication. A possible point of criticism of this model' is that it projects
an image of equality in communication. Unequal communication resources; power and
time often make communication tilted in favor of the more wealthy ~d powerful in
society.

While acknowledging the circular model is a. more adequate approach to descending the
communication process, Dance suggests that even the circular analogy is inaccurate as it
suggests that communication comes back full circle to exactly the same point from which
it started; He suggests that the helix is a better representation of communication as it
shows how the process moves forward.9Any communication at a given point builds on
the structure and content of communication that has preceded it, making it an endless
loop. .

Fig.. Dance's helical model

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Dance's model takes communication from the earlier static image and gives it a dynamic
form. 'The communication process contains components, relationships, and contexts that
are continuously changing. ,In a conversation, for example, the cognitive field is
constantly widening for the individuals involved - they continuously get more and more
information about the topic of -conversation, about the other person's point of view, ,etc.

6.7 Gerbner's General Model of Communication

George Gerbner, the American mass media researcher, attempted to provide a model with
a wide range of applications. The model could be presented in multiple shapes depending
on the kind of communication situation it describes.. It enables description of simple as
well as complex communication processes as one of production of messages and of
perception of messages and of events that Cont need to be communicated. The model
brings forward the relationship betweenro1 perception and production.

Communicating &gem and communication product Media Gerbner's model is

almost an extension of the Lasswellian formula:

Verbal model Areas of study

1.Someone Communicator and audience

research
2. perceives an. event Perception research and theory
3. and reacts Effectiveness measurement

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'~~~
4. in a situation Study of physical and social setting
5. through some means. Investigation of channels, media, controls
6. to make available materials Administration; distribution;
access
7. in some form Structure, organization, style, pattern
8. and context Study of communicative setting,'
sequence.
9.. conveying Content Context analysis, study financing
10. of some consequence Study of overall changes.
Fig. Gerbners general model of communication

The process in the model starts with preceptor of an event (E) by a perceiver (M) as event
(E1). When the model refers to human communication, May be a man, while in a non-
human context M may ~ a machine. 'The relation between E, M and E1 is one of
perception. One - extreme dimension of this approach is 'transactional' in which E1 is
regarded as a function of M's ''assumptions, point of view, experiential background and
other related factors. What E1 will be perceived by M depends on factors within or tied to
M. The- other extreme dimension Gerbner calls 'psychosocial'. 'There E in itself is the
most important factor, giving rise to a. perception of "fidelity and adequacy under
favorable conditions".. What will be perceived by M is determined by his way of
selecting, the context in which the E is to be found and the degree of availability of this
and other Es.

In the next step, it is assumed that M walts to communicate about E1 to someone else.
M produces message SE (statement about event). S stands for 'shape, form', while E is ,
'content'. According to Gerbner, S is always combined with E, the representational,
content qualities of the signal. To send his SE, M is dependent upon channels - media
over which he has control to a higher or a lower degree.

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The message (SE) may in turn be perceived by another communicator (M2). SE will be:
perceived by M as SE1. It can now be seen more clearly how the model is projected as a
perception-production-perception channel. The event, condensation of moisture in the
air, is perceived by M as ‘rain’ which gives' rise to the statement about the event, "it's
raining", which is perceived Dr understood by M2 as "it's raining".

This model- suggests that the human communication process may be regarded as
subjective, selective, variable and unpredictable and that human communication systems
are open systems. The dynamic character of this model it function at different levels. At
an individual-individual level, it may be useful to demonstrate communicative and
perceptual problems in the psychology of witnessing before a court. McQuail and
Windahl pose the issue.

How adequate is, the perception of witness M of event E, and how well is E 1 expressed'
in SE, and to what degree does the perception SE1 of judge M2 correspond to SE?

Similarly, at the societallevet

Let E be potential news or just reality, let M stand for mass media, SE for media content
and M2for media audience. We then have a model that gives us the possibility of asking
questions such as 'How good is the correspondence' between reality and the stories
(between E and SE) about reality given by the media (M)' and 'How well is media content
(SE) understood by the media audience (M2)?

6.8 NEWCOMB'S SYMMETRY MODEL

Theodore Newcomb's model, based in social psychology, is an extension of earlier work
by Heider. Heider was concerned about the degree of consistency that might exist
between two individuals in relation to third object or person. His theory was that in
situations where two people who have an attitude of like or dislike towards each other

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and towards' an external object, some patterns, of relationship will be balanced (as when
two persons like each other and also both like the third object) and Some will be
unbalanced (as when two persons like each other, hut one likes the object and the other
does no etc.)

Where there is balance; participants will resist change and where there is imbalance,
attempts will be made, to restore 'cognitive' balance. Whereas Heider's theory was
related to cognitive processes internal to either of the two participants, Newcomb's
work attempts to apply the theory to Communication between two or more people.

Newcomb suggested that in situations such as the one described above, there would be a
'strain to symmetry' ding to widening of the area of agreement through communication.
He assumed that communication serves to enable individuals to maintain simultaneous
orientations to each other and towards objects or persons external to their environment.
Communication is, thus, perceived, response to strain' and communication activity
(information giving, seeking, etc.) will be - under conditions of uncertainty and"
equilibrium.

In this simplest form, the, Newcomb model represents a person, A, who transmits
information to another person, B, about something, X.
1. A's orientation toward X, including both attitude toward X as an object to be
approached or avoided... and cognitive attributes (beliefs and cognitive structuring).

2. A's orientation towards, in exactly the same sense (Newcomb speaks of positive and
negative attraction toward A or B as persons and of favorable. and unfavorable
attitudes toward X).
3. B's orientation toward X.
4. B's orientation toward A.
This is a model for intentional, two-personcommunicative'8CtS. Newcomb derives the
following postulates from his model:

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1. The stronger the forces towards A's co-orientation with respect to B and X; (a) the
greater A's stain toward symmetry with B with respect to X and (b) the greater the
likelihood' of increased symmetry as a consequence of one or more communicative acts.

2. The less the attraction between A arid B, the more nearly stmin toward symmetry is to
the particular Xs toward which co-orientation 'is required by conditions of association.
Symmetry, bas the advantage of a person (A) being readily able to calculate the behavior
of another person (B). Symmetry also validates one's orientation toward X. This, is
another way of saying we have social and. psychological supping for the orientations we
hold. When Bs' we hold in esteem share our evaluations of Xs, we tend to be more
confident of our orientations. It follows, therefore, that we communicate with individuals
we hold in esteem about objects, events, people and ideas (Xs) that are important to us to
try to reach- consensus or co-orientation or, in Newcomb's term, symmetry.

The social psychologist, Leon Fastener proposed a similar thesis. In his theory of
cognitive dissonance he contended that decisions, choices and new information have a
potential for creating a feeling of inconsistency for an individual. Such dissonance will
be 'psychologically uncomfortable .for the' individual and will motivate him or her to
seek information that supports the 'choice which has already. been made. One example
from marketing research provides evidence for this proposition: new car owners
typically read advertisements about the car they had recently brought more than they
read advertisements about other cars. This kind of process, highlighted by Newcomb and
Fastener, suggests that people me likely to attend to sources of information that are in
line with their existing positions and look for information that supports and confirms
their actual behavior. Discovery led to theories of selective influence: which will be
discussed in the next unit under effects of communication.

6.9: Westley And' Maclean's 'Model

This, model was developed in 1957, in modification of Newcomb-'s ABX model, for
providing a more systematic treatment of mass communication. There are two stages of

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the adaptation, based on received difference between mass communication and

interpersonal communication. These differences are:
a) The fact, that ii1 mass communication the possibilities for feedback are minimal or
delayed;
b) The larger number of As (alternative media sources and Xs (objects in, the
environment) to which a given individual B (as an audience member) must be oriented
and amongst which he has select.

The model represents the activity of A, a source of information selecting from a range of
Xs to communicate with B. In addition, B can have some direct perception of an X (Xlb)
and CCW respond through the feedback link, fBA. This would capture the most common
interpersonal communication context where an individual is seeking information of
another, expert source. I I
The second adaptation of the Newcomb model by Westley and Maclean involves the jI
Additional element, the channel, C, which stands for the mass communicator. C acts as
i
the 'gatekeeper' for messages being transmitted between A and B. In the model, A stands
I
for a source in society and B for a member of society. The channel is conceived as
playing an impartial role in interpreting the needs of B and then satisfying them by !
misfiring meaning into a shared symbol system and transmitting messages to B by way of .1
a channel. ,I
;i
6.11. Review Questions
I
1. What are the different functions of models? Identify the analytical risks of
modeling. I
2. Why is model building a necessary and relevant exercise in communication !~
research? 'i
3. Identify and define some of the basic components of communication models. !
4. Describe the fundamental communication model provided by Lasswell and show ~
how Braddock's extension improves upon it.
~

i
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~!
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5. Explain the linear, mathematical model of communication by Shannon and

Weaver.

6. Describe how DeFleur's development of the Shannon and Weaver model

incorporates new elements of communication.
7. Identify the advantages of circular models, with particular reference to the Osgood
and Schramm model.
.
8. Explain how the helix represents an improvement over the circular representation
of communication.
9. Explain the relationship between perception and production in relation to Gerbner',
general model of communication.

10. Gerbner's model suggests that the human communication process may be regarded
as subjective, selective, variable and unpredictable" and that human
communication systems are "open systems". Comment.

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