Communication function
Communicative function of culture
ensures that people communicate with each other. A person cannot solve any complex problem without the help of other people. People enter into communication in the process of any type of work activity. Without communication with others like themselves, a person cannot become a full-fledged member of society and develop his abilities. A long separation from society leads an individual to mental and spiritual degradation, turning him into an animal. Culture is the condition and result of human communication. Only through the assimilation of culture do people become members of society. Culture provides people with a means of communication. In turn, by communicating, people create, preserve and develop culture.
Nature has not endowed man with the ability to establish emotional contacts, exchange information without the help of signs, sounds, writing, and for communication man has created various means of cultural communication. Information can be transmitted by verbal (verbal) methods, non-verbal (facial expressions, gestures, postures, communication distance, information transmitted through material objects, for example through clothing, especially uniforms) and paraverbal (rate of speech, intonation, volume, articulation, pitch of voice and so on.).
To communicate with other people, a person uses natural languages, artificial languages and codes - computer, logical, mathematical symbols and formulas, road signs, as well as various technical devices.
The communication process consists of three stages:
- encoding of information that must be transmitted to the recipient, i.e. translation into some symbolic form;
- transmission via communication channels, which may result in interference and loss of some information;
- decoding of the received message by the addressee, and due to differences in ideas about the world, different individual experiences of the sender and recipient of the message, decoding occurs with errors. Therefore, communication is never 100% successful; greater or lesser losses are inevitable. The effectiveness of communication is ensured by a number of cultural conditions, such as the presence of a common language, channels for transmitting information, appropriate motivation, ethical, semiotic rules, which ultimately determine to whom, what, when and how can be communicated and from whom and when to expect a response message.
The development of forms and methods of communication is the most important aspect of the formation of culture. In the early stages of human history, the possibilities of communication were limited to direct contacts between people and in order to transmit information they had to come closer to a distance of direct visibility and audibility. Over time, people found the opportunity to increase the communication range, for example, with the help of special devices. This is how signal drums and bonfires appeared. But their capabilities were limited to transmitting only a few signals. Therefore, the most important stage in the development of culture was the invention of writing, which made it possible to transmit complex messages over long distances. In the modern world, mass communication media are becoming increasingly important, primarily television, radio, print, as well as computer networks, which come to the fore as a means of communication between people.
In modern conditions, the importance of the communicative function of culture is growing faster than any other function. The development of communication capabilities leads to the erasure of national characteristics and contributes to the formation of a single universal civilization, i.e. processes of globalization. These processes, in turn, stimulate intensive progress in means of communication, which is expressed in an increase in the power and range of communication means, an increase in information flows, and an increase in the speed of information transfer. Along with this, people’s mutual understanding and their ability to sympathize and empathize are progressing.
Integrative function of culture
is related to communication and is related to the fact that culture unites any social communities - peoples, social groups and states. The basis for the unity of such groups is: a common language, a common system of values and ideals that creates a common outlook on the world, as well as common norms governing the behavior of people in society. The result is a sense of community with people who are members of the in-group, as opposed to others who are perceived as “outsiders.” Because of this, the whole world is divided into “us” and “strangers”, into Us and They. As a rule, a person has more trust in “his own” than in “strangers” who speak an incomprehensible language and behave incorrectly. Therefore, communications between representatives of different cultures are always difficult, and there is a high risk of mistakes that give rise to conflicts and even wars. But recently, due to the processes of globalization, the development of media and communication, intercultural contacts are strengthening and expanding. This is largely facilitated by modern mass culture, thanks to which books, music, achievements of science and technology, fashion, etc. become available to many people in different countries. The Internet plays a particularly important role in this process. We can say that the integrative function of culture has recently contributed to the unity of not only individual social and ethnic groups, but also humanity as a whole.
Normative (regulatory) function
culture manifests itself as a system of norms and requirements of society for all its members in all areas of their lives and activities - work, everyday life, family, intergroup, interethnic, interpersonal relationships.
In any human community, it is necessary to regulate the behavior of the individuals composing them in order to maintain balance within the community itself and for the survival of each individual. The cultural products that a person has at his disposal outline the field of his possible activities, allow him to predict the development of various events, but do not determine how
a person must act in a given situation. Each person must consciously and responsibly carry out his actions, based on the norms and requirements for the behavior of people that have historically developed in society and are clearly entrenched in our consciousness and subconscious.
Norms of human behavior, both permissive and prohibitive, are an indication of the acceptable limits and boundaries within which a person must act in order for his behavior to be positively assessed by other people and society as a whole. Each culture has its own norms of behavior. There are cultures with a strong normative side (China) and cultures in which normativity is weaker (European cultures). The question of the existence of universal human norms remains debatable.
Through norms, culture regulates and coordinates the actions of individuals and human groups, develops optimal ways to resolve conflict situations, and provides recommendations for solving vital issues.
Regulatory function
culture is carried out at several levels:
- morality and other norms that are strictly observed, despite the absence of special monitoring institutions; violation of these norms is met with sharp condemnation from society;
- rules of law, which are set out in detail in the constitution and laws of the country. Their compliance is controlled by specially created institutions - the court, the prosecutor's office, the police, the penitentiary system;
- customs and traditions, which represent a stable system of people’s behavior in different areas of life and different situations, which has become the norm and is passed on from generation to generation. As a rule, they take the form of a certain stereotype and are stable over the centuries with any social changes;
- norms of human behavior at work, at home, in communication with other people, in relation to nature, including a wide range of requirements - from basic neatness and adherence to the rules of good manners to general requirements for the spiritual world of a person.
Axiological (evaluative) function
culture is associated with its value orientations. Cultural regulation of human activity is carried out not only normatively, but also through a system of values—ideals that people strive to achieve. Values imply the choice of a particular object, state, need, goal in accordance with the criterion of their usefulness for human life and help society and people to separate good from bad, truth from error, fair from unfair, permissible from forbidden, etc. The selection of values occurs in the process of practical activity. As experience accumulates, values form and disappear, are revised and enriched.
Values provide the specificity of each culture. What is important in one culture may not be important in another. Each nation develops its own hierarchy of values, although the set of values has a universal human nature. Therefore, we can conditionally classify the core values as follows:
- vital values - life, health, safety, welfare, strength, etc.;
- social - social status, work, profession, personal independence, family, gender equality;
- political - freedom of speech, civil liberties, legality,
- civil peace;
- moral - goodness, goodness, love, friendship, duty, honor, selflessness, decency, loyalty, justice, respect for elders, love for children;
- aesthetic values - beauty, ideal, style, harmony, fashion, originality.
Each society, each culture is guided by its own set of values, which may lack some of the values listed above. In addition, each culture represents certain values in its own way. Thus, the ideals of beauty vary quite widely among different nations. For example, in medieval China, aristocratic women, in accordance with the then existing ideal of beauty, should have tiny feet; the desired was achieved through painful foot-binding procedures, which girls were subjected to from the age of five and as a result of which they became literally crippled.
People's behavior is oriented through values. A person cannot treat the opposites that make up the world in the same way; he must give preference to one thing. Most people believe that they strive for good, truth, love, but what seems good to some may turn out to be evil to others. This again leads to cultural specificity of values. Based on our ideas about good and evil, all our lives we act as “evaluators” of the world around us.
Recreational function of culture
(mental release) is the opposite of the normative function. Regulation and regulation of behavior are necessary, but their consequence is the restriction of the freedom of individuals and groups, the suppression of some of their desires and inclinations, which leads to the development of hidden conflicts and tensions. A person comes to the same result due to excessive specialization of activity, forced loneliness or excess communication, unsatisfied needs for love, faith, immortality, intimate contact with another person. Not all of these tensions can be rationally resolved. Therefore, culture faces the task of creating organized and relatively safe ways of detente that do not violate social stability.
The simplest, most natural individual means of relaxation are laughter, crying, fits of anger, confession, declarations of love, and honest conversation. Specifically cultural, collective forms of detente, fixed by tradition, are holidays and leisure, freed from direct participation in production. On holidays, people do not work, do not observe everyday norms of life, and organize processions, carnivals, and feasts. The meaning of the holiday is the solemn collective renewal of life. During the holiday, the ideal and the real seem to merge; a person who is familiar with the holiday culture and knows how to celebrate experiences relief and joy. Holidays also take place according to certain rules - observing the appropriate place and time, playing stable roles. With the destruction of these formalities and the strengthening of sensual inclinations, physiological pleasure can become an end in itself and will be achieved at any cost; as a result, alcoholism, drug addiction and other vices will appear.
Rituals also represent a means of collective release and regulate the most important moments in people's lives that relate to the sphere of the sacred (sacred) in a given culture. Among the ritual events are birth and death, marriage, rites of growing up (initiation), especially important in primitive and traditional cultures. This group also includes religious rituals and ceremonies, the implementation of which is one of the best ways of compensation created by culture. Rituals are characterized by special solemnity and cultural richness.
Also, a game that satisfies drives through symbolic means is effectively used as a collective release. The symbolism of the game will create a special psychological attitude, when a person both believes and does not believe in what is happening, it encourages him to use all his strength and skill to achieve the goal. Play allows you to defuse unconscious impulses that are prohibited or unclaimed by culture. Thus, many games contain competitive, sexual motives - sports, lottery, competitions, dancing. In games such as collecting, accumulative drives are realized, which are assessed in everyday life as a manifestation of greed. Finally, there are games that play on the meaning of death - bullfighting, gladiator fights.
On the one hand, today we can talk about the humanization of games, the replacement of many past entertainments, such as street fist fights and public executions, with sports, television, and cinema. But on the other hand, cinema and television show many scenes of violence in films and programs, traumatizing the psyche of people, especially children.
Function of socialization and inculturation,
or human-creative function, is the most important function of culture. Socialization is the process of assimilation by a human individual of certain knowledge, norms and values necessary for life as a full member of society, and enculturation is the process of assimilation of skills and knowledge necessary for life in a particular culture. These similar processes are possible only with the help of specially created cultural systems of upbringing and education. Outside of society, these processes are impossible, so Mowgli or Tarzan would never have turned out to be a real person. Children who, for some reason, grow up among animals themselves remain animals forever.
The processes of socialization and enculturation presuppose the active internal work of the person himself, striving to master the information necessary for life. Therefore, having mastered the complex of knowledge required for a given culture, a person begins to develop his individual abilities, his natural inclinations. This could be the development of musical or artistic abilities, mathematical or technical knowledge, something that can be useful in mastering a future profession or will become a person’s leisure activity.
Socialization and enculturation continue throughout a person's life, but the most important learning is acquired during childhood. Then the child learns to speak his native language, assimilates the norms and values of his culture. Basically, this happens automatically when the child first copies the behavior of his parents, and then his peers, teachers and other adults. This is how the social experience accumulated by the people is assimilated, the cultural tradition is preserved and passed on from generation to generation, which ensures the stability of the culture.
Emotional communication
Human activity is impossible without communication; Throughout our lives we exchange information with our own kind. There are different types and forms of communication. emotional communication is .
Some associate communication exclusively with speech, but this is the wrong approach: a person begins to communicate long before he masters coherent speech
. Therefore, we can conditionally distinguish two types of communication: verbal and emotional communication.
A child’s need for communication appears at the age of approximately one to two months, long before he begins to master speech. Already from the first months of life, the child begins to use emotional communication
, while he begins to master verbal communication at the age of about a year.
Emotional communication is communication through facial expressions, gestures, postures, intonations
. In infancy, direct emotional communication between mother and child (physical contact, voice intonation, smile addressed to the child, etc.) is very important, as it helps to establish a stronger connection between mother and baby.
The task of the mother (or another loved one who cares for the child) is to satisfy his need for emotional communication as fully as possible
. Direct emotional communication gives the child a joyful mood and increases his activity. In addition, emotional communication provides the basis for the development of the child's perception, thinking and speech.
Over time, the child masters speech, but this does not mean that the time has come to say goodbye to emotional communication forever. In the context of communication between adults, emotional communication often means a type of communication in which the exchange of emotional information is the leader in the communication process.
.
In principle, this does not contradict what was said above: in emotional exchange, it is nonverbal means of communication that play an important role
(facial expressions, gestures, postures, intonations).
Emotional communication in this case consists of three main components: cognitive, subjective and expressive.
. The cognitive aspect refers to the perception of feelings and emotions by communication partners. The subjective aspect is the experiences caused by interpersonal relationships. The expressive aspect is the expression of emotions towards a communication partner (both verbal and non-verbal).
Sometimes emotional communication is presented as a way of manipulating people. Some people actually use this type of communication to manipulate others. As we have already said, this type of communication is primarily used to exchange emotions, including through facial expressions and gestures. However, if you can express an emotion through a gesture or facial expression, the opposite is also possible: use a facial expression or gesture to make it seem like you are experiencing a certain emotion
. This is manipulation.
How to avoid falling for this hook during emotional communication? The so-called emotional intelligence is responsible for awareness and understanding of both other people’s and one’s own emotions. The higher the level of emotional intelligence of a person, the less likely he is to be fooled
during emotional communication.
To avoid becoming a victim of a manipulator, you need to pay more attention to the body language of your interlocutor. The fact is that a person is usually not able to suppress (at least instantly) or imitate some physiological reactions that accompany emotions. These include, for example, the reaction of the pupils, breathing and pulse rates, etc. Therefore, attention should be paid not only to gestures and facial expressions that a person can use consciously, but also to those signals that are practically beyond control
.
So, emotional communication is most important in infancy, but even after we master speech, it continues to play a significant role in our relationships
with the people around you.
Related publications:
Concept, functions and means of communication
Home Favorites Random article Educational New additions Feedback FAQCommunication is a process of interaction aimed at intentionally influencing or influencing the behavior of another person. It represents part of the activity of the coach and the athlete. Direct interpersonal communication has internal and external sides. The external side is the actually observed communicative behavior of partners in the form of speech and non-speech addresses. The internal side of communication consists of: a) features of the partners’ subjective perception of the communication situation; b) emotional experiences in connection with real and expected contacts; c) motives and purposes of contacting; d) psychological effect of communication (change in attitude, relationships, motivation, state, etc.). The interpersonal relationships of the participants are either a prerequisite or a consequence of their communication. Communication in sports activities:
1) represents its relatively independent component;
2) characterized by subject orientation (to another);
3) subordinated to interaction tasks;
4) carried out using speech and non-speech signals.
Communication functions. Communication as a necessary process of interaction performs certain functions, which are as follows:
1 Function of socio-psychological reflection. Communication arises as a result and form of “objectified”, conscious reflection by partners of the peculiarities of the course of interaction. Depending on the nature of the mutual influences, coordination, clarification, and mutual complementation of the substantive and quantitative aspects of individual reflection occur with the formation of a “collective reality” as a form of collective thinking of athletes or, on the contrary, a collision of data, their neutralization, suppression.
2 Regulatory function. In the process of communication, there is a direct or indirect influence on the partner in order to change his behavior, state, value system, activity, etc.
3 The cognitive function of communication lies in the fact that, as a result of contacts, partners acquire certain knowledge about others, themselves and much more.
4 Expressive function. Various forms of communication express the emotional states and experiences of athletes. This is a unique way of expressing one’s attitude to what is happening through an appeal.
5 Function of social control. To maintain the necessary consistency and organization of group activities, a variety of forms of social control (approval, praise, blame, disapproval) are used. Often, lack of communication can be considered as one or another sanction (censure).
6 Socialization function. This function is one of the most important in the work of a trainer. In sports activities, it is often hidden behind training, education, improvement of sportsmanship, and the desire for high results.
Means of communication. The main means of communication between people is the word. A system of words and expressions forms a language, which arises as a result of the historical development of labor and social relations. Sports activity has its own language, with the help of which communication and interaction in teams is organized and carried out. These are a kind of sports slang words, these are shouts, these are gestures, facial expressions during competitions (with the help of a system of practiced gestures, basketball players of the same team easily understand each other when organizing interactions on the field).
The essence of language as a means of communication is that it must be the same for all participants in communication. Only under this condition can it be understandable to each partner. Words used in communication evoke a variety of thoughts and images in people. Therefore, not only the meaning of the words is important, but also the tone in which they are spoken. Sometimes the tone matters more than the content of the word itself.
In addition to the meaning and tone of words, the volume of their pronunciation, timbre and sonority of the voice play an important role when communicating. You can get completely different effects by saying the same word loudly or in a whisper, slowly or quickly, once or repeatedly. All this has a certain psychological significance when constructing speech, when organizing words in the process of influencing the consciousness of a communication partner.
As the outstanding Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky noted, a word is a sign of certain relationships and things. The word as a sign replaces them. The word “bread” means the same thing for all people: the staple food. But for the grain grower, an additional meaning is added to this general meaning, understandable only to him: “bread is the product of my labor.”
Establishing a common meaning or common understanding of words used in communication is called a thesaurus.
Those people who do not understand each other, speak different languages, do not grasp the general meaning of the words and expressions used, are deprived of a thesaurus. In order for a thesaurus to emerge, it is necessary to take into account the needs and mutual expectations of communication partners. People, when installing a thesaurus, usually ask each other questions, find out and clarify each other’s positions, which contributes to better mutual understanding. Difficulties in mutual understanding arise when there is psychological incompatibility, lack of a common language, or opposing intentions towards each other. In such cases, they note with regret: “We never understood each other.”
Expressive movements, motor actions, and actions are widely used as additional means of communication. In sports activities, non-verbal means of communication are used everywhere. You could even say that sports teach non-verbal communication. As psychologist Yu. N. Emelyanov writes, “since ancient times, art has widely used the opportunity to materialize social, including interpersonal, relationships of people by modeling their gestures, poses, facial expression, body diagram, gait, features of tactile and visual contact, spatial arrangement , rhythm of movements, clothing, cosmetics, etc.” These expressive means materialize the communication process and make it tangible for the participants.
Types and types of communication
The types and types of communication in human society are diverse. By type, communication is divided into direct,
either
direct,
and
indirect,
or
indirect
(through a transmitter of information, for example a letter, a telephone conversation). Modern means of communication, in particular video telephones with color images, bring indirect communication as close as possible to direct communication, but cannot completely replace it. Live, direct communication will at all times remain the basis of the psychological connection between people.
There are several types of communication. Friendly,
or
informal,
communication arises on the principle of sympathy and camaraderie.
All people master this type of communication and experience suffering when friendly ties are broken. Such communication is typical for athletes, it meets the ideals of the Olympic movement and the highest purpose of sport, and serves as a means of uniting people all over the world. Friendly communication is the basis for developing a sense of collectivism. However, for a team to emerge, friendly communication alone is not enough. A combination of friendly communication and business cooperation is necessary. Therefore, there is informal business communication
that develops on the basis of friendly communication. It is characterized by a broad thesaurus, which promotes good mutual understanding between participants in friendly business communication.
Business communication can be direct and indirect (for example, business telephone conversations). Bringing the spirit and techniques of direct communication into indirect communication makes it more pleasant and emotionally acceptable. Sometimes you can see how people talk animatedly on the phone, how varied their gestures and voice modulation are.
The opposite of informal communication is formal,
or
role-playing
communication. This communication is official, requiring the fulfillment of certain rules and rituals. It is characterized by role behavior, actions in accordance with the requirements of the role, rights and responsibilities according to instructions.
This is the nature, for example, of communication between military personnel when they salute each other when they meet.
In the process of role communication, people behave like actors performing stage actions; the better the role is understood, the better a person is prepared for its effective performance, the higher the effect of his role interaction with other people. Mastery of a role allows the subject to make maximum use of the qualities of his individuality in communication, thereby bringing role-based communication closer to informal. Thus, often official business conversations between rivals proceed in the form of a friendly conversation, which is morally more satisfying than an unfriendly tone or hostile treatment.
In a business setting, role-based communication between unfamiliar people, for example, between representatives of different teams participating in competitions, is carried out according to the rules of official ethics, which regulate the order of mutual addresses and even their form (for example, in the army, where they do not address the individual as such, and to her rank).
There are also interpersonal
communication, in which each message recipient is known as an individual, and
anonymous
communication, in which strangers interact who are not bound by any relationship of responsibility (for example, fans in a stadium, audiences in auditoriums and auditoriums). In our age of rapid urban growth and the organization of mass public spectacles, including sports shows and holidays, anonymous communication is becoming a common attribute of everyday life. But very rarely does anonymous communication turn into interpersonal communication when people get to know each other. For such a transition from one type of communication to another, special conditions are created, for example, entertainment and holidays, recreation evenings, various clubs, discos, etc. are organized.
In the field of anonymous communication, two opposing trends are emerging. On the one hand, the mass nature of meetings and the forced numerous anonymous contacts of people in public places gives rise to a sense of community. On the other hand, the namelessness and anonymity of membership in a crowd does not contribute to satisfying the need for communication. This state is called “public loneliness.” If there are no friends in an unfamiliar city, a person becomes sad and bored, he wants to return home as soon as possible. The “foreign field” effect in sports is largely explained by the psychological pressure on the athlete from the flow of anonymous communication with a mass of people unfamiliar to him, watching his performance at the stadium, meeting him on the streets, in public places.
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