Introduction
Interpersonal communication plays a significant role in expressing, interpreting and coordinating the messages for creating shared meaning and meeting the social and organizational goals effectively. This process includes the exchange of messages among the people with the help of words, sentences, non-verbal behaviors, etc. for conveying the thoughts, feelings, and intentions. There are different types of communication skills which are essential to have for conducting interpersonal communication (Berger 587). These skills include active listening, proper concentration, reading, public speaking, personality, body language and many more.
For the current essay, Friends, a series of TV program is taken into consideration. This program depicts the interpersonal communication in both verbal and non-verbal manner among the friends.
In episode 5 of Friends Season 9, Chandler came back from Oklahoma for meeting Monica over the weekend. They both faced fight due to the smoking habit of Chandler as he smoked so many cigarettes due to which he started smelling like them. Chandler’s wife did not like his habit of smoking, and due to this, he began using oven cleaner for covering the smell. Later Monica came out and smelled smoke on Chandler which made him lie, from one to two tiny cigarettes whereas the reality was three big fat cartons in two days. In this, the principal concept which will be used is communication and power (Berger 90).
Due to the mistake, Chandler lied to Monica for avoiding the conflict and he was powerless and secondly for preventing himself from any punishment. Chandler was aware that he had done something horrible which has given power to Monica to fight. In the situation, Monica would not appreciate the act of Chandler, and this would create a fight between them. The reason was to spend quality time with the wife instead of fighting with each other. However, it is not right to lie in a relationship, but as it was not right time to fight and waste time, Chandler opted to lie and avoid the mistake (Hargie 110).
The second main concept which is used to analyze the event is conflict resolution. In the episode, Chandler was quite aware that he had made a mistake which would not be barred by his wife. In such condition, it is the duty of Chandler to examine his feelings about the issue. Self- analysis would help Chandler in handling the similar situation next time by avoiding smoking. Chandler needs to ask himself, what made him lie and feel regret. Did he lie because he loved his wife and did not want to upset her or he lied to make the same mistake again as he is unable to leave the habit of smoking? This analysis would help Chandler in selecting the right choice of solution for resolving the conflicts in future and avoiding such conditions of lying (Connor 464).
The last concept which is used for analyzing the situation of Friend’s episode is communication climate. This concept helps in knowing the level of comfort people experience while communicating with each other. It is necessary to have supportive climate instead of defensive for handling the conflict by explaining the situation and analyzing the mistake. Chandler can use descriptiveness for developing supportive climate. With respect to this, Chandler needs to explain the entire situation later when Monica becomes calm and understands the reason behind lying. In response, supportive nature of Monica would help Chandler in leaving the habit of smoking. The trust and love of Monica would make Chandler to leave his bad habit and stop lying. By handling the issue in proper manner, Chandler can resolve the issue. Monica would have to pay attention to the problem instead of making issue of lying (Berger 587).
All the three concepts i.e. communication and power, conflict resolution and communication climate would help in analyzing the interpersonal communication properly and effectively. Communication and power concept is used for understanding the need of interaction and type of power both the person i.e. Monica and Chandler possess. On the other hand, conflict resolution helps in making compromise among the parties which lead to develop win-win situation. In the end, communication climate helps in discussing the issue for handling it with the support. All the three concepts have helped in understanding the communication between Monica and Chandler.
Therefore, the situation taken for explaining the interpersonal communication from the Friend’s Episode is accurate as it helps in knowing the different concepts of interaction between Monica and Chandler (Hargie 40).
0Thus, the communicant and power concept, is used for analyzing the need for lying and kind of power both the participants possess in the event. On the other hand, the second concept includes conflict resolution which is used for avoiding the similar situation in future by compromising and analyzing the actual issue. The only method through which conflict can be handled is by using supportive climate instead of defensive. With the help of practical concepts, one can analyze the interpersonal communication and improve the conditions effectively.
Work cited
Berger, Charles R., ed. Interpersonal communication. Vol. 6. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2014.
Berger, Jonah. "Word of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future research." Journal of Consumer Psychology 24.4 (2014): 586-607.
Connor, Paul, et al. "Interpersonal communication about climate change: how messages change when communicated through simulated online social networks." Climatic change136.3-4 (2016): 463-476.
Hargie, Owen. Skilled interpersonal communication: Research, theory and practice. Routledge, 2016.